SPURS -at- LAKERS -- 1/28 -- Thoughts and :-(( ratings

[DancingBarry]

Hit Your Freethrows!... For the second straight game, the Lakers couldn't pull off the overtime win at home. This time, at least they put up a fight with multiple lead changes in the last minute of OT before losing 96-94.

The Lakers gave away a 10-point fourth quarter lead prior to that, trailing by three before Vlad hit a wing three to tie the game with 27 seconds left. The Spurs had a 14-2 run late in the game. Horrible job on the freethrow line tonight, giving away points left and right. The Lakers shot just 18-31 from the line. In a low-scoring, close game...you have to hit your FTs.

After the game, Phil said, “I told them we’re not practicing them anymore in practice. I’m sick and tired of taking 20 minutes out of practice to practice free throws when they’re professional players. They have to do this on their own.”


Kobe -- -- Excellent game from Kobe, contrary to what others might say. He got into a much better flow than the previous outing. He helped set up teammates for easy scores in OT and got the offense flowing in the overtime unlike the previous game...too bad we couldn't get stops on the other end. I wish he could have attacked off the dribble with some speed a little more in the fourth quarter. Kobe led all scorers with 31 points on 13-25 shooting, (just 4-5 from the line), 6 boards and 7 assists with 3 turnovers in 47 minutes. He missed a little jumper in the lane. He hit Drew with a behind-the-back entry pass to draw a foul. He missed a baseline jumper. He triple pumped and hit a jumper over Manu. He attacked off the dribble and had it stripped. He dunked a backdoor lob pass from Lamar. He spun through a crowd on the baseline and scored a reverse layup. Sweet, no-looker over his shoulder to Turiaf who was fouled in transition, then missed both FTs. He missed a lob and wanted the foul on Bowen undercutting him. Quick first step to his left and he swished a baseline jumper. He faced up and swished a wing three. He attacked in transition, changed directions with a hesitation move and drew a foul on Manu, he made one FT. He contested Parker on D on a breakaway and got the miss. He attacked in transition and kicked to Vlad for an open three. He hit a quick pull-up wing jumper off a crossover in transition. He had a smooth 14 points on 6-10 shooting, 4 boards and 3 assists at the half. He picked up a couple of quick handcheck fouls on Bowen to start the second half, then got him in the air for an And-1 jumper (Bowen's third foul in a minute and 10 seconds), he made the FT. He worked the two-man game with Drew and set him up for a score in the lane. He charged on a pass off. Wow, he crossed over Manu badly from the wing and Manu made like a matador trying not to foul and Kobe scored a layup. He swished a fading FT jumper over Duncan with the shotclock low. He sank a fading wing jumper off a kickout from Bynum. He missed a two-for-one three. He attacked the baseline after the ball rotated back to him and he drew a foul on Duncan, he made both FTs. He missed a tough fade. He missed another tough fade (not quality shots). With 30 seconds left, he attacked down the lane and tried to hammer a dunk and was furious he didn't get a call (Duncan hit him on the arm), but the rebound went to Bynum who hit Vlad and he swished a three to tie it up. Kobe leveled Horry on a three attempt and got away with it with 2.7 left. Kobe pumpfaked to lose Bowen, then got blocked by Manu on the attempt.

Overtime: Great pass to Vlad while going up for a jumper and Vlad threwdown to start the OT. On the next play down, Kobe worked the two-man game with Bynum and set him up for a monster dunk. On the next trip down, Kobe worked the two-man with Bynum, this time pulling up and hitting the wing jumper. He missed a runner off the glass, easy shot for him going to his right. He pulled up off the Bynum screen, elevated, extended and swished a wing jumper to give the Lakers a 1-point lead with a minute left. He missed a twisting one-hander trying to avoid a charge from a third defender. He drew a foul before dunking, the Spurs had one to give. With 12.9 seconds left, we ran a pinch post to get the ball to Kobe and he hit a fading wing jumper off the Bynum handoff.

Bynum -- -- In the eye of the storm again, going up against Duncan. Defensively, they threw a mix of things at Duncan...a lot of doubling when the Spurs weren't shooting well. All in all a solid job by the 19-year-old, with Duncan getting his 21 points on 23 shots. Drew shot just 4-12, but hit 6-8 from the line for 14 points to go with 11 boards (2 offensive), 3 assists and 1 block. He missed a long jumphook badly on his first attempt. He dunked after kicking it to Kobe, who gave it to LO, who gave it back to Drew. He telegraphed a pass and it was knocked away. He took an offensive board, spun, and somehow missed at the front of the rim. Good low position at the front of the rim, Kobe found him and it drew a foul on Duncan, he made one. He picked up a cheap foul contesting Manu. He drop-stepped Duncan and swished a left-handed hook (very nice). He posted up and drew a foul on Duncan with an up and under that got into his body, he made both FTs. He had a pass deflected off of his foot under the hoop. Great help D, jumping out to reject Parker's penetration and then chase down his block. He missed a turnaround over Duncan. He secured a defensive board on the other end and drew Manu's third foul, he made one FT. He had 8 points on 2-5 shooting and 8 boards at the half. Nice control in the lane after taking a Kobe bounce pass, he hit a short three-foot jumper over a smaller player who was looking to take a charge if he tried to finish strong. He had Duncan on his back when he tried to power up and lost the ball out of bounds, he screamed at the ref and drew a tech. He missed a left-handed hook and wanted the foul on Duncan. Duncan tried to take Bynum off the dribble on the baseline, Bynum kept his hands away and used his body to stop Duncan in his tracks. He tried to throw down a high lob from Kobe and missed off the front of the rim (Drew struggles on his timing with those). Duncan pushed off to get an offensive board with no call. He got tackled by Horry from behind for a foul, he made both FTs. He hit Kobe on a kickout for a jumper. He was called for a travel trying to attack off the two-man game. He couldn't finish a set up from Lamar under the hoop, getting blocked from behind. He was looking dog tired at the end of the game, trying to get up and down the court or slow to get to loose balls. He pulled down an offensive board off a Kobe missed dunk and hit Vlad for an open three to tie the game late. In OT, he worked the two-man game with Kobe, took a great return feed and threwdown with both hands. Nice challenge on Duncan under the hoop and Duncan didn't draw iron. He got taken off the dribble from the elbow by Duncan and Duncan hit with his left to take a one-point lead with 20 seconds left. Bynum played a career-high 43:38. His previous career high was the game before when he played 39 minutes. He definitely had some moments of fatigue, but good to see him handle it reasonably well.

Odom -- -- Good to see LO doing what he does best at times throughout this game. I'm not sure if he's got his legs or wind yet; we certainly didn't get any looks for him in OT and the last couple of minutes -- only once going to him. His freethrow misses really, really hurt. He scored 18 points on 6-12 shooting (2-6 from three and a horrid 4-10 from the line), he had 10 boards and 6 assists without a turnover in 47 minutes. He hit Bynum with an extra pass under the hoop for a dunk. He faced up, attacked on the baseline and reversed around Duncan. He worked himself into the low post off the dribble and hit a jumphook. He pushed out the rebound with speed and scored over Duncan going to his strong hand. Crafty cut across the lane after giving up the entry, he then suprised Horry with a quick seal under the hoop, got the pass and drew a foul, he made one FT. He grabbed a board, pushed out again and drew a foul, he made one FT. Sweet backdoor lob from the wing to the weakside for a dunk from Kobe, who spun on Manu. Great first quarter with 5 defensive boards, 8 points on 3-4 shooting and 2 assists. He airballed a pull-up elbow jumper. Both he and Bynum watched as the Spurs hustled for a loose ball on one sequence (Lamar is usually mixing it up on those). He drained a pull-up wing three. The Lakers had a foul to give at the end of the half, and Odom took it with 2.2 seconds (his second foul of the game). He had 11 points on 4-6 shooting, 6 boards and 5 assists at the half. He attacked with speed on the weakside handoff, took contact and drew FTs, he made one (this play is there for him a lot). He drew a foul on Duncan in transition off the dribble for more FTs, he missed both, however. He missed a corner three. The next time down the court, he pulled up off the dribble, had his body going forward and hit the wing three. He missed a corner jumper. He swished a step-back baseline jumper on the next trip down. He missed a three on the next set. He missed a corner three, not squaring up. He couldn't control a defensive board with Parker on him with 2:22 left. He sealed his man under the hoop, took contact and tried to flip it over his head with 1:10 left drawing a foul, he missed the first FT short, made the second to give the Lakers a one-point lead. Finley swished a long three over LO with 1.3 seconds left in OT to give the Spurs a 2-point lead.

Smush -- -- Smush had a late-game "moment" that reminded me of the Suns series where he gave away a possession with a wild attack late in the pivotal game we lost. He did the same in overtime, forcing a tough shot while trying to create off the dribble instead of working within the offense. You have to value possessions more than that. Defensively, he did a very good job on Parker and we didn't get collapsed with any real regularity from the PG spot. For some reason, Phil is having Smush do a lot of late-game ball handling. I'm sure it's to improve this part of his game and develop it for the playoffs, but it's "nervous time" as Chick might have said when he's handling. He had a late-game turnover today that was ridiculous. He scored 10 points on just 4-12 shooting, had no assists with 5 turnovers (ouch) in 41 minutes. He attacked into a crowd and was blocked. Great help D on Duncan to swipe the ball from him. He attacked Parker off the dribble, got into his body and drew a foul for FTs. He swished a quick pull-up three in semi transition. He stumbled off the dribble from the wing, got into the lane and managed to right himself just in time to flip in a layup over Duncan. He forced up a tough runner and bricked. Horrible pass to Bynum who was wide open and it went right out of bounds. Great D in the first half, Parker never got into the lane to cause problems. He missed a sideline three. He sank an open jumper off the scissor cut. He got blocked again on a drive. Great help collapsing on Duncan when he went to the dribble and Smush pulled out the loose ball. Good D again, staying in front of Vaughn as he tried to create and he fumbled the ball away...unfortunately, Smush tried to create his own shot and airballed on the other end. His ball handling nearly cost us with 3 minutes left, he made a careless attempt to flip a pass off the dribble to the wing man and it got away from him right to a Spur. He let Parker cut behind him and had to foul to prevent a layup (nearly gave up the And-1 in OT). On the other end, he got it back, pulling up behind Bynum and hitting the wing jumper. Horrible possession, trying to create off the dribble instead of running the offense and he took a tough, contested one-hander at the FT line and missed with just over a minute left in overtime (you can see when those possessions start going south before they even happen). Overall, just a lousy day of playmaking or attacking on the dribble. He needs to stick to his strengths within the system.

Radmanovic -- -- Out of the doghouse and into the starting lineup. Vlad hit the late-game tying three, showing some more clutch skills this season. Vlad did a good job in this game. He didn't stick out as badly in the triangle as he has in the past and he hustled on D. For some reason, however, we had him guarding Manu at times when he could have been put on Bowen. That didn't work out great, but Vlad gave a good effort. His D was actually fairly solid on other matchups. He finished with 13 points on 5-9 shooting (2-6 from three) and 9 rebounds in 35 minutes. He let a rebound get tipped out that he should have had easily and it led to a score (Staples groaned on that play). He missed an open three from the sideline. He planted himself in the corner in transition, Kobe found him and he knocked down the open three. Nice tip in of a Bynum missed hook. Smart D on Parker on a switch, going under the screen, then challenging to force a pass. Another good defensive stand, staying in front of Finley, then stripping the ball from him on a double team. He pulled down a defensive board and missed a three at the third-quarter buzzer. He drew a foul on Manu in the post with 3:46, he made just one FT. He missed a good look at a three in the corner with 40 seconds left. On the next trip down, Kobe missed a dunk, Bynum got it and kicked it to Vlad and he swished the wing three with 27 seconds left to tie the game. He dunked off a Kobe pass to start the overtime. He flashed to the strong side, took the pass, turned and bounced a short jumper in over the front of the rim. He fouled Manu on a drive with over a minute left (pretty weak foul call).

Turiaf -- -- Phil only used Ronny whenever Duncan left the game. It would have been nice to have been able to give Andrew a little bit more of a rest with someone else on Duncan for a few minutes. We certainly missed Kwame's strength and size in that regard. Ronny didn't score in 9:22 of action and grabbed 2 boards and dished an assist. Kobe set him up with a great pass in transition and Ronny was fouled, he missed both FTs. He swatted Bowen's penetration. Great help D to challenge Vaughn's penetration and get a miss.

Farmar -- -- Scrappy game from the rook, especially with a couple of fourth-quarter scores when our offense needed anything it could get. He finished with 4 points on 2-6 shooting and 2 steals in 12 minutes. We could use his playmaking with Luke out, if the Lakers want to put the ball in his hands off of some high screens. He missed a layup on a drive. Nice penetration, but he got blocked at the rim. Great D with good lateral speed and a great contest to force a brick. Great job stepping in front of Manu's drive, selling out the body to take the charge (with Farmar's footspeed, he needs to do a lot more of this), Manu complaining on the play was laughable. After Parker hit a couple of jumpers, Farmar took Parker off the dribble and hit a floater. On the next play, he scooped up a loose ball, attacked a couple of Spurs in transition and scored a layup over them. He missed a jumper trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a floater on his next attempt (fourth straight attempt for the Lakers in three possessions in the fourth quarter). Great job, dropping to the level of the ball when Bynum rotated for him and Farmar picked off the Parker pass and drew a foul on Duncan.

Evans -- -- His jumper, again, was MIA and it hurt us. Phil opted for Vlad during crunch time instead of Mo. In 14 minutes, he was 0-5 scoring 2 points on a couple of FTs. He missed a three and a pull-up baseline jumper. He backed down his man and missed an easy bank. He was fouled in transition, he made both. He short-armed a jumper in the lane. We get any kind of perimeter game from him in the last two games, we probably win them.

Cook -- -- Cook played the fewest minutes of all Lakers playing, with just 6:22 of action in which he made his only shot and didn't grab a board. He was pretty much a non-factor. He hit a face up frozen rope from the top of the key for his make. He gave up an offensive board to Horry, who then he hit a three on Cook.

Sasha -- -- Sasha was another non-factor. It would have been nice to see him get a couple of open looks in the fourth when we were struggling, but that never happened. He didn't take a shot in 9:31 of playing time. He attacked once and drew a foul, that was about it on the offensive end.

Phil -- -- I understand Phil's frustration. You knock down your freethrows and you take this game in regulation... Don't know why we had Vlad on Manu for as long as we did. I think I know why we have Smush bringing the ball up late in games, but it's still sketchy. I'm assuming Phil is trying to get a little extra workload off LO/Kobe and give Smush some more responsibility for down the line when the playoffs come, but it's not real smooth... The Lakers offense stalled late in the first, scoring just 11 and Phil called a timeout. He brought in Farmar and Evans for Smush and Vlad. It looked like Kobe started to get a little more aggressive after that timeout... Phil called a quick timeout in the middle of the second quarter to get into Bynum's ear about something. Out of the timeout, Bynum scored a left-handed hook on Duncan... Phil went to a Bynum, Cook, LO, Kobe, Smush lineup for a stint... The Spurs shot 29 percent in the first half, and Phil started double the post, which gave up open looks, but the Spurs were struggling with them. The Lakers had a 44-36 lead at the half... The Lakers got the Spurs in the penalty with 7:32 in the third, which may or may not be a good thing with the way we are playing. A lot of points could have been manufactured... Phil went with a Bynum, Lamar, Vlad, Kobe, Smush starting lineup to close out the game, but the Spurs added Manu to the mix, who was coming off the bench and Vlad had to D-up on him (until Phil finally moved Kobe onto him)... With 2.7 seconds left in the game, the Lakers got the ball back with the score tied. Kobe got the ball, pumpfaked to lose one man, but was blocked by Manu on the attempt... Trailing by one with 20 seconds left, out of a timeout, we took the ball in the backcourt, Kobe attacked with speed and the Spurs took a foul before Kobe threwdown. Again, I mentioned in the last one, I really like seeing us inbounds like that from the backcourt to get Kobe some speed into the offensive zone. I hope it becomes a weapon we continue to use... With no timeout and 12.9 left, we got the ball to Kobe coming off of a Bynum pinch post and he hit a wing jumper with 7 seconds left to give the Lakers a one-point lead in OT... With 1.3 second left, trailing by two, we called a timeout. Usually, we have trouble getting anything but a three off in these situations. We took a timeout not finding a good inbounds option. Vlad got the ball way out on the wing fading from the hoop and airballed a contested heave of a three. Very typical kind of shot we get in those situations... The Spurs shot 33.7 percent from the floor and we still lost. They made 22-24 from the line, leaving just 2 points there. We left 13 points at the line...

[The_Coach]

I can't imagine how frustrating this must be for you. A couple of lousy free throws or a couple of well executed offensive possessions and you're writing a positive critique.

As always ... great analysis. Thanks.

[wolfpaclaker]

"young teams"

What do they say about them again?

That's right. They screw up and do things they shouldn't.

We have to accept this, enjoy the small moments and move on from there. I saw some good things with the bad.

1- Defense. Another game where we held the oppponents under 100 in regulation. Infact, it was under 90. 30% for most of regulation for Spurs. This is a big part of what this team needs to do in going far come playoff times. Sure we lost but I am seeing some very good things defensively aside from rebounding (which should improve once Lamar is 100%)

2- Radmanovic. I thought he played well on both ends for a change. Good first start with a new unit. I liked his play even though most have already given up on him.

Good games from Kobe and Odom (minus the FT's) ... Bynum struggled offensively but became the first Laker Center since Shaq to have 3 straight double-doubles.

I'm just hoping that defense stays where it is (I feel confident that offense will improve quickly) and that we aquire a veteran PG by deadline.

[TheProdigy]

Now that I think about it, I'm not concerned with this loss as previously. I mean, in three games, at no point, the Spurs looked like they were the better team. With Bynum's improvement on the pick-and-roll D, I'm also not as concerned about the Suns. If he keeps up the improvement, by the playoffs, I'd say we'll be ready for the Nash and Stoudamire pick-and-roll.

IMO, here are a couple of things that we need to improve on:

1) Bynum's finishing. When we are running a good set, he has to finish. Otherwise, teams will overwhelm our guards.

2) Smush's killer instinct. He has to identify the important points of the game and take care of the ball better. A good rule to remember is, don't try to play fast under heavy pressure.

3) Take your time on your free throw shooting, especially at "critical" points.

4) Don't settle for threes when you're frustrated and hope they go in.

It's these little things that has plagued this "young" team. In truth, we should have blown out this Spurs team. It's clear that they played much smarter than we did, yet we still had the edge on them.

[Laker7]

Extremely frustrating game. Young team that got a lead and lacked the killer instinct to put them away.

Great game from Drew all things considered. TD was not able to dominate the game and Drew had a double double (14 pts 11 rebs) against 1 of the top 3 bigs in the league. For someone as young and inexperienced as Drew, you have to feel good about that game for him.

Smush is the "sweet and sour" pork today. For every good offensive or defensive play, there was an equally poor one. Forced a shot out of the triangle scheme at the end of the 4th that missed and cost us the game (even with all the missed free throws). No assists from your PG in a big time game like this is pitiful.

I would have liked to seen the ball in Odom's hands more late in the fourth. I didn't track the exact plays but I don't think he touched the ball once SAS got within 5 and we can't afford that. LO is too good to keep the ball out of his hands with the game that close.

L7
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Klone_dd]

Someone should write on the blackboard: "No rebounds, no rings" alongside the message: "Make your free throws."

Can't ask more of Kobe who provided 1/3 of the scoring and 40% of the assists. Good game from Vlad with 13/9 and another 2x2 by Bynum.

LO, ok, I get that he's still working back into the system, but his shot selection was questionable. He shot well, going 6/12, but considering that 6 of his 12 shots were 3's, shows that he was settling instead of attacking.

Not sure what Smushie was doing, but 5 TO's and an absolutely horrible forced shot in OT should've gotten him benched.

Bottom line is the Lakers choked the game away, SA hit some big shots.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[dino]

thanks for the recap db...

more than enough blame to go around but am glad to see some positives based on comments/box score:

- kobe had another efficient game...clutch play to take the lead late in OT - that was a lucky shot by finley...
- odom being aggressive and boarding well (4-10 FT though)...
- vladrad coming close to a double-double (13 pts., 9 rebs.) and hitting some clutch baskets...
- the continuing development of andrew bynum...imagine what this kid will be like NEXT YEAR - definitely will be a monster...

lakers gave this game away from the line though, unacceptably poor freethrow shooting...

methinks this smush at the point thing has run its course...either roll the dice with farmar starting (ala bynum) or just go and aggressively pursue a trade for a better point guard...

[DancingBarry]

[-Yo-]

Most has been covered.

Man, what a painful loss.

Interesting footnote: Robert Horry had 6 offensive boards in 27 minutes.

The Lakers had 5 O-boards, as a team, in the whole game.

58.1% free-throw shooting for the Lakers won't cut it. Lamar--you missed SIX freebies!!!

[8750]

Thanks, DB...
the missed ft, ok.... odom very tired, ok... too many second options for the spurs, ok... but also:
-radmanovic on ginobili... he tried, but he simply can't...
-smush with the ball in his hands so much time... this guy playing in the triangle is a joke...
-bynum too much minutes on the floor... why not turiaf on duncan?...
-and never, never, never a good play coming from a time out in the last seconds...
that's bad coaching...
young team, many posters always say... old coach, it seems to me... a coach with a very good strategy but very slow and lazy reading the games on the floor...

[TooCool]

I'm sick and tired of seeing the late end of game non-calls on Kobe. Refs need to blow the freaking whistle. Yes, EVEN when Kobe got fouled but instead Vlad hit that 3 to tie it up in the 4th quarter. I was happy with the 3, but it wasn't as "cheerful" because of the noncall on Kobe.

But then Kobe did foul Horry when he shot his 3... so.... yeah. Either way, stupid refs gotta do their jobs correctly.

Good entertaining game though. Hopefully we'll beat the Knicks by a lot. I hate the Knicks.
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[A Mad Chinaman]

Bynum and LO played well, with the opportunity to build up their conditioning - they will have the needed extra amount of energy to win in the playoffs.

Smush/Luke
The injury to Luke highlights his ability to bring up the ball that allows the ability to take some pressure off of Kobe/LO to always bringing up the ball. It is not wise to have Kobe/LO bring up the ball and score. It has forced Phil to experiment that his PG (amazingly) can bring up the ball.

The Bynum/Vlad/LO/Kobe/Smush - amazingly - only have two dependable ball-handlers. If Smush is not playing good "D" - it befuddles everyone here on why he is on the court.

[AV]

I am on the east coast so I don't catch all the games, but honestly when ever I do watch, Smush just seems to make bad choices so often, once in a blue it works out, but for the most part, just really bad choices...he really is a second string player, on the starting squad, and that's just not going to get it done....I am not saying we need kidd or someone of that caliber, we just need a pg that can play reasonable defense, and most importantly just make good choices....over a year and a half same smush parker

[SweetP]

[Freakout]

I really liked what I saw out of Vlad. If only that hand was healthy. It gives me hope that he may still work. Though I still think the combination of him and Luke is horrible defensively.

The puzzling thing is with Odom back our defense has looked better but we're struggling on offense now. That 4th quarter was ugly to watch.

As for Andrew, I think he needs to spend more time in practice working on his jumphook. He was hitting it regularly at the beginning of the season but it hasn't been going in for him lately.

[revgen]

[CorkyTomjanovich]

My exact thoughts on Smush, including the flashback to game 6 when the Lakers were up with little over a minute left and Smush tried to attack off the dribble early in the shot clock and got killed.

[Freakout]

[lf4life78]

I don't have a problem with the Lakers losing a hard fought game to a quality opponent. I have a problem with them losing to the Charlotte Bobcats and not showing up for two and and half quarters.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[magic_bryant]

LO was LO. Rebounding and pushing the ball out, questionable shot-selection, couldn't rebound in the big moments, and still can't defend a shooter to save his life.

Kobe was terrific.

Bynum was dominant at times, but looked 4 steps too slow after halftime and allowed the refs and Duncan to get to him.

Radman...blah.
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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."