SPURS -at- LAKERS -- 3/30 -- Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Winning Streak Snapped... The Lakers gave up a 19-2 run during the third that lost their lead and buried them for good. The offense stalled, lost their post play and wasn't making the extra pass. And the defense got chewed apart as the Spurs won that quarter 35-18.

The Lakers had more turnovers (18) than assists (14). In the end, Kobe didn't have it going, our offense was out of rhythm, and we had too few healthy bigmen to match up or control the paint. Top that off with not making Tony Parker try to hit from the perimeter, and we're toast. "He went right by our guards," Phil said of Parker in the Times. "I don't think he had to take a shot. He hit all layups." Kobe was eventually thrown on Parker, but late in the game. "We didn't cover the basket very well," Kobe said. "We just didn't contain penetration. They just busted us open."

(Note: I will not be able to cover the next game. Sean2023 will kindly step in. I hope to cover Sunday's game.)


Kobe -- -- Kobe missed his last seven shots in a scoreless 16-minute stretch between trips on the bench in the second half. The back injury that he went to the locker room with in the last most likely still had its effects. At times, the team looked stagnant, not making the extra pass and not moving without the ball while Kobe was in the game. And, Kobe never seemed in rhythm with the rest of the team. He scored 23 points on 9-26 shooting (going 0-6 from three and 5-5 from the line). He had 7 boards, 2 assists and a team-high 6 turnovers. Just not his night. Hopefully, he doesn't tighten up after the game. He banked in a runner in transition for the first score of the game. He drew FTs on a jumper, making both. He flipped in a floater in transition. After missing a few jumpers, he got into the lane and hit a 12 footer. He created off the dribble, got a screen and hit a baseline jumper. He missed another pull-up jumper off the dribble to end the quarter. He finished 4-8 for 10 points in the first quarter. He blew past NVE on a switch and hit an And-1 floater, making the FT. He surveyed the floor, saw a seam and attacked, hitting an And-1 scoop off contact and making the FT. He picked up his second charging foul at the end of the half. He had 16 points on 6-15 shooting in the first half. He attacked in transition, took contact and banked in an And-1, making the FT. He attacked the rim and kicked it out to Cook for a three. He hit a runner across the lane from 10 feet out. On the next possession he hit a 20-footer. He missed a three. He missed a layup at the rim. Phil sat him for half of the fourth as the Lakers made a comeback. He came back in and missed a jumper. He attacked the lane and threw it out of bounds. He missed a three. Phil sat him a couple minutes later after our offense tanked.

Odom -- -- He was drawing doubles in the post early in the game, which opened up the floor. Later in the game, we seemed to forget to go back to that and our offense became flat. Lamar has had some good games against the Spurs this year, but this one kind of fizzled. He finished with 13 points on 4-13 shooting, 6 boards and just 2 assists in 43 minutes. He went into the post early for a few possessions. He took a long three and missed. He posted up, backing his man down and then he drew FTs, making both. He sealed his man in the paint and got a lob and scored a layup. He scored in the paint when Ronny tapped an offensive board to him. He posted up, drew the double and kicked out to Sasha for a three. He was switched onto Duncan at the end of the first half and played solid. Those are my notes for the first half. The second half had considerably less action, including nothing to mention in the third quarter. Finally back in the post to start the fourth and he scored an And-1, making the FT. He hit a pull-up three. He went back to the post and drew FTs on Barry, he made one.

Kwame -- -- I will say it once again, anyone who can D up Duncan like that has some value in the Western Conference. Kwame put together another strong night against Duncan, who was only able to do his damage in the post against other Lakers. On the offensive end, Kwame lost some of that poise and simplicity that he had been playing with. He went away from the bump and jumphook after hitting one early. He still finished with decent numbers to go with his D. He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting and had 10 boards (5 offensive). He posted up Duncan, bumped him and hit a jumphook. He then cut Duncan off defensively and drew a charge on the other end. Another good defensive stand on Duncan forcing a post miss. He missed a turnaround attempt over Duncan. He scored a layup off an interior feed from Smush. Back in the game, he set a pick for Kobe, ran to the front of the rim, grabbed the rebound and dunked it back in. He got called for a weak blocking foul against Duncan in the post. He got a little OC in the post trying to draw a foul and bricked. Great D again on Duncan, holding the post position and forcing Duncan to fall back and brick. He missed again on the other end trying to hit fallaway in the post. Great hustle, outmuscling Duncan for an offensive board, then drawing a foul on him, he made one FT. He drew another charge, this time on Nazr in the post. He drew FTs on an interior feed from Luke, he made one. He missed another turnaround jumper in the post. He got low position, drew the pass and foul, and made one FT. He got the ball poked loose trying to post up. He pulled down a missed shot, and rushed up a one-hander and missed.

Smush -- -- He gave up too many layups and did too little on the other end to make Tony Parker work. Smush finished with 4 points on 2-4 shooting in just 24 minutes of action. He did lead the team with 5 assists, but had 3 turnovers. Nice bounce pass to Kobe on the break who scored in traffic. He overplayed a passing lane and got backdoored for a layup. Nice lob to Lamar who had Finley sealed for a layup. He posted up Tony, got the entry then fed Kwame for a layup. He gave up another layup off the dribble. More penetration and other layup. Play him for the shot already, Smush! Tony had 12 points on nearly all layups early on. Smush attacked the lane and hit a layup with the shotclock running low. He attacked Tony off the dribble, got into his chest and scooped in a layup. He threw a bad kickout on the break right out of bounds. Tony had 19 points, Smush had 4.

Cook -- -- Uggh. At one point in the third, it looked like Cook had a big target painted on him and the Spurs were making us pay. He had to cover Nazr while Kwame manned up on Duncan. Nazr ended up with 12 points in 22 minutes. Cook got 8 back, hitting a couple of threes and attacking once. Cook got sealed badly under the hoop and didn't move his feet to get around his man, giving up an easy score. Cook took Duncan off the dribble and scored a layup. Nice weakside help on Parker once who got penetration, but that was about the only time. He splashed in a three off a drive and kick from Kobe. Nazr Dunked on him. Cook didn't box out, gave Nazr an offensive board and then gave up an And-1. He threw a bad pass for a turnover. He then fouled Nazr who was posting him. He knocked down a three on a pick and pop with Kobe. He stepped out of bounds for a turnover when he was catching a pass.

George -- 8) -- Devean hit the glass well tonight, fighting for 7 boards in his 24 minutes. He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting. He ball faked, attacked off the dribble and drew FTs, making one. He hit a corner three in the fourth.

Walton -- -- Luke brought some nice spark to the team off the bench, helping with a comeback attempt in the fourth. He finished with 10 points on 4-7 shooting, 5 boards, 2 steals and 2 assists, but he had 4 turnovers. He worked off the dribble around the key until he hit a bank from about 7 feet away. He stripped Nazr in the post to save a hoop. He got picked by Parker trying to post up and it resulted in a layup the other way. He was whistled for a ridiculously bad charge, mowing over Manu on a bad spin move in transition. He got Duncan on his hip off the dribble, missed, got it back and scored an And-1, making the FT. He attacked from the corner, got to the rim, hung and took contact for the And-1 against Nazr, he made the FT. Nice trap with Lamar on the sideline to force a turnover from Horry. He scored a reverse layup attacking the baseline.

Sasha -- -- Sasha was hitting his jumper. When that drops it adds a lot to the team, as we are missing that offensive spark from his spot off the bench. Tonight, he finished with 11 points on 4-5 shooting, including 3-3 from beyond the arc. He missed a pull-up jumper to start the second quarter. He swished a three on a kickout from Lamar. He missed a pass to Luke who was wide open under the hoop while Sasha was dribbling. He swished a wing three early in the fourth. He snagged a pass under the hoop from a Spur falling out of bounds and hit a reverse layup. He drained another three in garbage time.

Green -- -- He played a couple garbage time minutes and scored 1 point on three attempts and a trip to the line. He missed a jumphook in the post. He missed a jumper. He drew a foul in the backcourt for FTs. He barely grazed rim on another jumper.

Turiaf -- -- Last, but certainly not least, Ronny played a great game for the Lakers. He's overmatched right now against Duncan, but he gave the team some quality minutes in place of Mihm and Bynum who have the bad wheels. Ronny showed some great shotblocking anticipating, quick off the floor and using his reach quite well to swat 4 shots in his 9:52 of action. He also scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting and grabbed 5 boards. Good D against Horry on his first defensive stand and he got a stop in the post. He tapped an offensive board to Lamar for a score. He blocked a shot in the post to draw a jumpball. He caused back-to-back turnovers against Manu who was trying to create off the dribble. He grabbed a loose ball in the lane, up faked Duncan, then went past him for a layup. Great D, jumping off Duncan to contest a layup, then contesting Duncan's putback attempt for another miss. Back in the game to start the fourth and he swatted Manu at the rim. He missed a 20-footer. He gave up back-to-back And-1s to Duncan. He blocked another shot in garbage time. Great activity, showing some of his potential for the team down the line.

Phil -- -- "I thought we got forceful," Jackson said in the Daily News, "and guys got out of the concept of what we were trying to get accomplished out there and had some problems." Offensively, we sputtered and flatlined in the third. Kobe and the team seemed out of sync... Cook was getting killed in the third. He eventually switched out Luke for Cook midway through the third. It still didn't help... We started taking tough shots and not getting the ball to Odom in the post. We went without a field goal for six and a half minutes on a Spurs 19-2 run... Phil went to a Turiaf, Odom, George, Walton, Sasha lineup to start the fourth and we seemed to get some life back. Finally, we got a field goal when we go back to Odom in the post... Phil sat Kobe for half of the fourth as we made a comeback. Then, he brought back Kobe in at the PG spot to cover Parker. The flow we had going on the offensive end died when Kobe came back in as players stopped moving and attacking and Kobe missed some shots... "This is a good measure of what we would see in a playoff situation," Phil said prior to the game. Hopefully, we will step up our play...

[DaggerInTheHeart]

Watching the 3rd quarter was extremely painful, especially when we had to see Cook get killed each time on the post, this is diffenently a game i wanna forget.

[JUST-MING]

I'm disappointed in everyone tonight, with the exception of Turiaf. I think he should start.

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB

Why is Cookie trying to do something that is not part of his game that resulted in his 'BAD' passes and inept defense during the 3rd quarter? Did he have "brain cramps" - PJ should start limiting his PT if he is doing this and not consistently making his "3s." His 22 minutes were 11 minutes too many. Would a quicker "hook" get Cookie's attention?!?!

Smush, as stated by Tony Parker, was often "floating and taking advantage of this numerous times where PJ didn't even bring Smush back in the 4th quarter. PJ limited his PT, hopefully it will get his attention that he needs to play 150% while he's on the floor. What is left to get Smush's attention?

Why was Jim Jackson not used - especially considering Kobe's back issues?

[magic_bryant]

[DancingBarry]

For Cook, I just think it was a bad match up defensively, but Phil's hands are pretty tied at this point.

Smush need more BShaw in his face.

Jim Jackson - Don't know...

[Richcbt]

[magic_bryant]

I've given up on Smush. If he STILL hasn't figured out what's wrong, then he never will. He doesn't even TRY to recover on D once he's beat. That's the sign of a matador. Sasha, last year, just used bad fundamentals but was always racing out to shooters and/or chasing back to recover on his man that had subsequently blew past him.

Smush just stands at the top of the key once his man gets past him.
_________________
Stephon Marbury on Kobe: "He's the only person on 'dis earth that can do 'dat. He guards people, like shuts 'em down. Then, to do 'dat on 'da offensive end. It's like 'Damn, I can't score on him AND he about to bust my ass."

[Muad'Dib]

Too long of a layoff between games? The starters looked flat, Luke, Sasha and RoRo were the only ones that had energy, IMO.

That 3rd was eerily reminiscent of the last one at Staples vs SA, where they just simply couldn't get a stop.

[Laker7]

This is the kind of game I point to whenever people rave about Cook. He has games where is goes off offensively and everyone raves. The problem I see is that when his shot is off, he gets eaten alive on the defensive end and it costs big time. I see Cook more as a scorer off the bench than a starter. But like DB says, PJ's hands are tied right now.
_________________
Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Texas_Pete]

DB, great recap as usual. I got one question for you:

What does Kwame have to do this Summer to improve his game?

I mean, he has made strides offensively (TD does play good defense -- so no surprises that he didn't have many easy looks) and his defense on TD has been stellar. I've been noticing that he was open a number of times and didn't "always" get the ball. He routinely beat TD up and down the court but didn't get the ball. He needs more touches because he is actually a good passer. Plus this puts pressure on TD (or whoever is guarding him) to play both sides of the court.

I like our future with Kwame in it.

Go Lakers!

[T3D]

The lakers were on a comeback until kobe came back in

[prisma8slg]

and once again, 3rd quarter =
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[dewit8]

The problem is, Phil needs to give Cook a longer leash, not a shorter one. Look at the beginning of the game. Mohammad posted him up once and got an easy bucket. But Cook got a steal, a block, a nice drive around Duncan, and a couple of boards. Smush, on the other hand, was getting eaten alive by Parker. So who does Phil take out--Cook? And the Spurs took out Mohammad for Nestorvic. We could have used that matchup to our advantage. Instead, Cook makes one bad play and he's pulled. If you had that hanging over your head EVERY time you walked out on the floor, how well would you play. Plus, Cook hit two 3's in the 3rd, and gets pulled for the rest of the game for Walton? Yes, Cook was struggling defensively, but is Walton going to do any better against a guy who's 6 inches taller than him? But no one ever mentions this. It's always face value-- Mohammad scored, so Cook sucked. Odom had a terrible game last night. 4-13 shooting, with just 6 boards and 2 assists. So he gets 40 minutes. Makes no sense.

[mike_dee23]

I put this L on Smush and Cook. We're up, then turnover Cook, turnover Smush, Turnover Smush - bucket and fouls Nazr, bucket Nazr, layup Tony Parker, layup Parker - and BAM, we're down by 15...

Smush is just as bad a defender as Chucky Atkins ever was. It was sad that at halftime Tony Parker even said (in response to a question) that Smush didn't look ready on defense, so he kept attacking... Phil really needs to bench him when he isn't playing defense. Cook needs to stop playing - except in 3-point situations...

[prisma8slg]

[karlmalonefan]

Well, I put this loss on the layoff. We got rusty and came out flat, just like Haley said we would.I didn't like the way #8 played tonight. Too much dribbling, one on five, bad shots. Sure he made some, but 9-26 for 23 points is horrible and 6 turnovers way too many for our best player. Sure some of it might have been his back, but that's when you settle into the offense instead of trying to do everything yourself. We were out of synch tonight, the offense looked horrible. And as the TNT commentators said, Smush needed help on the pick and roll and he got hung out to dry. Hopefully tonight we will play more in synch, but I expect Kobe to go at Ray all night, in some sort of silly personal vendetta that nobody else cares about, so it'll probably be more of the same.

[20,000]

The Lakers had a nice comeback until Kobe came in cold and started hoisting up bad threes. Now I know we need Kobe to shoot, but he was totally not in rhythm of the game.

But that is not why the Lakers lost. The Spurs just have too many good defenders and they can hit their shots when need be. When Nazr Mohammed dominates like he did, you know we are in for a bad night.

What I don't get, is that the Lakers knew Tony Parker drives to the lane, yet throughout the whole night Smush was crowding up on him as if he was trying to deny him the outside shot instead of backing up and guarding against the penetration. Don't they have videotape of Tony Parker playing basketball somewhere?

I know it is dirty, but effective. Would getting a bruiser on the team help the Lakers against Tony Parker? Someone like a Charles Oakley who would lay the smack on him, warning him to get that sh.... out of here? If you come in here again you WILL be dropped again!
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[wolfpaclaker]

We have to consider a couple things.

1- The Spurs defense is incredible. For the Lakers to score on them, they need to be running their offense extremely well. The Lakers just never were able to get into a flow as a team. Some good post ups from Lamar and some nice scores from Kobe. But neither were really very effective from the team standpoint. The Lakers didn't have the same off the ball cutting and scores that they had in SA.

2- The Spurs have outside shooting that can kill a team in certain games. Horry, Finley, Ginobli and Barry. Tony Parker penetration. That combined is very hard to stop.

I thought the Lakers didn't run their offense well - and neither Kobe or Lamar played effeciently. That being said, I think the Spurs when they have their outside shooters hitting their shots like that - are unbeatable.

The biggest thing with this team is that they were never able to run their offense as a team. Apart from that stretch where Phil benched Kobe to start the 4th, the ball movement and aggression from the rest of the team was very low. It was a step back into the "Let's watch Kobe take shots and lead us home" mentality. They need to be aggressive with Kobe in the lineup too.

[LakersSpirit]

At the risk of being banned... I think one of the commentators called it right, on Kobe,... "...that's one weakness in Kobe's game, he doesn't know when to give it up,...to teammates". We have to find another game plan, besides trying to let Kobe take it over, in the 4th.

Kwame looked too intimidated, by Duncan. I think Kwame's game was thrown off... He looked out of rhythm again, and those hands looked like they were full of chicken grease, at times. You could tell, they were testing Kwame's toughness. Kwame began to look like someone that had been mauled by a cat. Kwame was making those faces, like "Can I get some love??... What kind of war did I get into??"

Smush played, as if he thought he was back in streetball. He totally couldn't handle his fellow namesake. Tony Parker said that Smush was "floating"... I guess Tony thought of Smush as just a soap bubble in front of him. In fact, the Spurs must have seen us like a big cream puff, because, after Smush, there was just that soft, creamy interior, that just parted away... All Tony had to do was throw it down!!
_________________
"Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson

[Sleepy]

Kobe needs to step up and take some blame for this loss - or at least for the Lakers being out of sync. When he's having off nights and other guys are playing well, he needs to recognize that and not feel the need to get his shots. Him coming in during the 4th quarter is a perfect example of that. He can get guys like Cook wide open 3's whenever he wants to with the attention he draws, but he seems to prefer taking jumpers while double-teamed instead of finding the open guy.

I think the key turning point was when Tony Parker got away with a travel and ended up with a basket and a FT in the 3rd - that 5-point switch turned the game around and that started the Spurs' run. Any night Kobe only takes 5 FTAs means either the refs screwed him or he didn't attack enough - I think last night was the latter.

And Turiaf definitely needs to get more playing time...he's that scrappy, energetic guy the Lakers really needs. He reminds me of what Malik Rose did for the Spurs for years. If Ronny can learn to hit open jumpers, he could be a starter or a 6th man soon.

[20,000]

[quote="wolfpaclaker"]We have to consider a couple things.

1- The Spurs defense is incredible. For the Lakers to score on them, they need to be running their offense extremely well. The Lakers just never were able to get into a flow as a team. Some good post ups from Lamar and some nice scores from Kobe. But neither were really very effective from the team standpoint. The Lakers didn't have the same off the ball cutting and scores that they had in SA.

So true. I was watching Bowen on Kobe, and for all the holding and other annoyances everyone complains about, I saw good man defense tonight. He was always busy with his hands, just being annoying. I did not watch him the whole game so I don't know if there was a lot of jersey-holding, but at least when Kobe had the ball it was just good defense.
_________________
Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[Drifts]

Lamar is a better pinch post player, I like him there especially against the slower PFs. He's not as good as Duncan in the low post but he's also effective there. He needs to add more to his arsenal in the post, but I'd rather have him post up than play the point.

Last night, the Spurs had Lamar scouted real well. We tried to establish him early but the Spurs defense knew what to do and how to react - and it limited Lamar. Better luck next time, Phil was outcoached last night.

I think we lost because Cook couldn't guard Nazr. That really hurt the team.
_________________
"Now, if life is coffee, then the jobs, money & position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold & contain life, but the quality of life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

[bounty]

[BigE32]

The third quarter was just like the previous third quarter when we played them in the Staples Center. That 19-2 run sealed our fate. Mihm would have been nice to have this game. Hopefully, he'll return in the next couple of weeks. Let's forget about this one and be ready tonight. Thanks again, DB, for an excellent recap as always.