Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:51 pm Post subject: SUNS -at- LAKERS - 4/8 - Thoughts and :-(( ratings
Free Falling... The Lakers dropped to seventh in the Western Conference playoff seeding, falling to the Suns 115-107 at Staples, and still only beating one team with a winning record since the All Star break.
Midway through the fourth quarter, the Lakers came up with a series of stops but couldn't score on the other end. The team continued to sputter on the offensive end and all it took was a few more possessions from the Suns to pull away after leading by just one point to start the quarter. The Suns went on to score 41 in the quarter (10 of those came when the Lakers went into desperation foul/gamble mode in the final minute).
The Lakers had 17 turnovers, too many against the Suns, allowing them to push the tempo more than we'd like. We also shot a poor 5-18 from three, another stat that works to the Suns favor, tempo-wise. It seemed like the Lakers "team mind" finally started to engage and remember how to work against the Suns in the third, but they couldn't sustain it.
While we did a decent job working Kobe in the post and sometimes Luke, we missed LO and a banging center to step up. Bynum had some moments, but never imposed any strength advantage (if he has it). Kwame was missed in that regard.
Kobe -- -- A methodical, controlled game by Kobe. Defensively, he was the only guy who could check Barbosa. When Kobe wasn't on him, Barbosa worked our other defenders. He scored 34 points on 14-25 shooting (1-5 from three, 5-5 from the line), he had 3 boards and a team-high 7 assists with a team-high 5 turnovers. We got to see some nice variations in the offense when the Suns overplayed certain positions to deny Kobe the ball. Does Kobe need huge games for this this team to win? "It seems like that," he said. "I'd rather that not be the case, but it seems like that. Hopefully we can kind of break out of that funk and have guys step up and make contributions." First Quarter: He went to the post against Bell with some success. Also Bell got a flop to go his way. Kobe knocked down a wing jumper. He hit a FT turnaround and a pull-up from 17 feet. He spun back and forth in the lane, drew the foul and made both FTs. He got called for his second foul with .03 left in the quarter, under the defensive hoop. Second Quarter: He attacked and set up Bynum for a dunk. He missed a three. He didn't score in the quarter. Third Quarter: He attacked down the lane and scored a layup. He guided in a backdoor lob into the hoop. Bell continued to overplay the weakside post entry to Kobe, so out of a timeout, instead of going backdoor, we ran Kobe off a double screen counter move to hit an elbow jumper. He sank a tech. He hit Ronny on the screen-roll for a layup. He blocked Bell hustling around a pick. He posted up Bell and scored with ease. He missed a reverse, but Ronny cleaned it up. He missed a heave at the buzzer. Fourth Quarter: He hit a wing jumper. He missed back-to-back jumpers. He posted up Bell, who flopped badly and Kobe banked in the layup. He sank a wing jumper. He missed a couple of threes. He attacked and hammered down a huge reverse dunk. He drew a foul attacking and made both FTs. He attacked and went behind the back to Ronny for a dunk. He threw down a reverse dunk. He went between the legs to avoid a reach by Nash, then hit Turiaf with a feed for a dunk. He hit a top-of-the-key three.
Lamar -- -- So-so job imposing his game on the Suns at times, seeming to fade in the fourth. He shot a poor 4-13 for 10 points and pulled down 14 boards to go with 5 assists. All decent numbers, but he played this Suns team at a much higher level in the past. He took a shot to his injured shoulder in the game and fought through the pain admirably. First Quarter: He hit a runner going to his left. Second Quarter: He missed a three and a jumphook. He attacked and scored a jumphook despite the illegal D that wasn't called. He missed a tough fade and wanted the foul. A couple of bad passes, one trying to go over the D that was picked off, the other a poor outlet. Third Quarter: He missed a jumper. He got hit under the hoop trying to go up strong with his left, he was in considerable pain after the play, he made one FT. We got his next miss back and he missed under the hoop, but bounced back up and tipped it in. He found Kobe on a backdoor lob. Fourth Quarter: He missed a 16-footer after passing up on a post-up opportunity. He drew a foul and bricked both FTs. He missed an open three. He hit a three off a kickout. He missed a jumphook at the front of the rim.
Luke -- -- Whenever they hide Barbosa on Luke, we need to immediately go to the post and take advantage of it. Happened too much in this game without us trying to overpower him. He scored just 7 points on 3-9 shooting, grabbed 5 boards and dished 2 assists in 29 minutes. Hopefully, he can get his touch back on his fade because it hasn't been falling lately. First Quarter: He missed a couple turarounds and eventually scored going to a more power move in the post. Second Quarter: He finally took Barbosa to the post, overpowered him and yelled as he got the And-1 to drop, he made the FT. He missed a heave at the buzzer. Third Quarter: After running Kobe off a double screen earlier (where Luke then filled Kobe's weakside post spot), we ran the same sequence, this time hitting Luke down low when everyone was watching Kobe and he scored easily. He missed his next attempt over Barbosa in the post. Fourth Quarter: No notes.
Smush -- 8) -- Good effort by Smush, very aggressive offensively against Nash, which is what you would like out of your point. Defensively, he seemed to be shading everying, whether by plan or not, but there were times when it led to easy penetration with no one waiting behind him. Hopefully, he can build some confidence off this game. He scored 25 points on 10-19 shooting (2-6 from three, just 3-6 from the line), he pulled down 5 boards, dished 6 assists with 2 turnovers and 2 steals in 37:33 of action. First Quarter: He scored a layup off a Bynum feed, hit another layup and drained a couple of threes. Defensively, he came up with a couple of steals, a couple fouls and a couple trips where he was in trouble on a switch in the post. (The Suns are pretty automatic in recognizing and exploiting those mismatches.) Second Quarter: He drew a moving screen foul. He hit a stepback 20-footer. He attacked down the lane and flipped in an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He missed a three. He attacked baseline and drew a foul, making one FT. He aggressively attacked Nash, who tried to flop and Smush made both FTs. He gave Bynum a high entry pass for a score. He threw a couple of bad passes trying to go over the D. Smush had 17 points on 6-9 shooting in the first half. Third Quarter: Poor decision on an early offense three on the second possession of the quarter and Phil called a timeout as the Suns scored quickly on the other end. He missed another three. He took the ball in the post and fed Ronny for an And-1. He got swatted on a drive. He missed a baseline jumper. He attacked Nash off the dribble, drew contact and got the ball to bank in as Nash went to the floor trying to get a charge, Smush missed the And-1 FT badly. On the other end, he stripped Nash and Nash got T'd up complaining. Fourth Quarter: After ABC was trying to make a story of Smush being out of the game, Phil subbed him in and he quickly hit a 16-footer. He charged on the break trying to go around his back to fool Nash. He posted up in semi transition and banked over Nash. He banked in a layup over Nash.
Bynum -- -- Bynum has a clear size advantage over the Suns, he just needs tu get more of a strength advantage...or fight harder with the strength he has to get low position. The stronger he gets, the more he can go to power moves instead of the finesse hooks. He was on the floor when the Suns went on a couple of runs and led the Lakers with a -15. He finished with 7 points on 3-6 shooting, 7 boards and 2 swats in 23 minutes. First Quarter: He cleaned up a jumper with a putback. He found Smush out of a double team for a score. Second Quarter: He got blocked by Amare and both he and Phil wanted the foul. He rejected a shot on one end and dunked off a Kobe feed on the other. Next time down, he took the high entry from Smush and flipped in an easy jumphook. He drew a foul hustling after a bad pass and made one FT. He was called for a moving pick when Nash flopped. Third Quarter: He got benched just a couple of minutes into the first quarter for Ronny. Fourth Quarter: No notes despite playing more than 7 minutes.
Evans -- -- Ugggh. Nothing game from Mo. He played 18 minutes and didn't score. He missed a corner three. He missed a turnaround jumper late in the game.
Cook -- -- He had some second quarter action. He curled from the weakside and hit a 10-footer. He missed a three. He missed a bank. He was called for a charge trying to attack off the dribble. He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting in 5:29.
Turiaf -- -- Strong game from Ronny, taking advantage of the Suns biggest weakness, defensive rebounding. He went for a career-high 15 rebounds to go along with 19 points on 8-10 shooting. He got his 19 and 15 in just 25 minutes. That's working. First Quarter: Bad perimeter pass that was picked off for a foul on the other end. He missed a jumphook and a FT jumper. Second Quarter: Great hustle against several Suns to fight for an offensive board and throw it off a Sun out of bounds. He drew his second foul on a flop by Barbosa. Third Quarter: He dunked an And-1 on an interior feed from Smush (Marion picked up his fifth). Good work on both ends of the court getting to boards, pulling down 7 during the quarter. He drained a wing jumper. He worked the two-man game with Kobe and Kobe hit him for a layup. He cleaned up a Kobe missed reverse with a putback. Fourth Quarter: He dunked off a drive and behind-the-back dish from Kobe. He grabbed a missed runner by Smush and drew a foul, making both FTs. He took another drive and dish from Kobe and hit the layup. He cleaned up a Lamar miss with a dunk. He cleaned up another miss, hustling for the board and putting it back in.
Farmar -- -- Not much of a game from Farmar in this one. He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting and had 5 fouls in 12 minutes. First Quarter: Nice recovery around a pick to swat Nash on a wing jumper attempt. Second Quarter: He sank a wing three. Third Quarter: He couldn't connect with Ronny on the two-man game. Fourth Quarter: He was having trouble staying with Barbosa and got pulled when Nash returned.
Phil -- -- "It'd be a pretty quick playoffs if that's the way it's going to go," Phil said afterward. "That's not going to get the job done in the playoffs."... Barbosa was giving the Lakers trouble in the first part of the second quarter. After getting torched, we finally stuck Kobe on him to cool him down. Then Luke posted him up and drew his third foul of the half... Quick timeout to start the second half after Smush took an early three. Shortly later, Phil pulled Bynum... Again, we had trouble with Barbosa to start the fourth. Nash subbed in, so Phil quickly brought Smush back in and put Kobe on Barbosa... We had two odd-man rushes that resulted in turnovers with poor execution on the break. (Smush and Lamar ball handling)... The Lakers got killed with a series of non-scoring possessions midway through the fourth and the Suns got separation with a 14-4 run... The Lakers actually outscored the Suns 64-42 in the paint and 10-4 on the break...
Rony was a bonafide stud today. Thanks DB. _________________ "You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE
There is one thing the lakers will never let you down in , they make always make winning games look harder than what it actually is . Leave people open behind the arc , don't secure rebounds when you get stops , jack up 3's even when there not going down all night , turning the ball over , charges and 3 secs , most importantly forcing up shots which a couple of players tried to do in the 4th.
Joined: 13 Apr 2001 Posts: 13619 Location: West Los Angeles
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:18 pm Post subject:
A few times, the ball was being forced into Bynum, when he wasn't ready... I don't fault Andrew, for some of those bad decisions. Our team has a way of getting out of rhythm after some foolish decision. Kobe was as guilty as anyone... Let's see, it was Kobe, at least twice, Lamar, and Luke, that chose to try and force feed Andrew, even though they had a clear, easy shot, or layup... These things throw the whole team out of kilter.
I'm happy with Ronny's intensity, and he's improving around the basket.... Having said that... I also see, in Ronny, proof, that we all have positives, and negatives. There were times that Ronny seemed to be inattentive, like when Jordan tried to find him, with a quick pass.
We continue to get lured into living by the 3 pointer. Clearly, we should have kept trying to penetrate. This game was winnable, but I think Phil is right... We would have had to play a nearly flawless game... We just aren't one of those flawless teams, that works like clockwork... It's sad, because, even with all our weaknesses, and deficits, if we could work as a team, we could still be competitive, with anyone. _________________ "Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson
Kobe's trying to push a Pinto uphill. There's only so much you can do -- throw on some candy paint, some spinner wheels, cadillac grill.
...at the end of the day, it's still a Pinto.
He needs to push harder, his lack of defense(yet again) on Raja Bell was a big reason why the Lakers lost tonight. You are making it seem like he is actually going out having good games on both ends of the court, which just isn't the case. He needs to step up his game, and lead this team by example.
Kobe's trying to push a Pinto uphill. There's only so much you can do -- throw on some candy paint, some spinner wheels, cadillac grill.
...at the end of the day, it's still a Pinto.
He needs to push harder, his lack of defense(yet again) on Raja Bell was a big reason why the Lakers lost tonight. You are making it seem like he is actually going out having good games on both ends of the court, which just isn't the case. He needs to step up his game, and lead this team by example.
Lakers as a team were switching a LOT because of given penetration to Nash. If I remember correctly, half his threes came against Luke on those switches.
This is not to say Kobe shouldn't step up on defense.. he should.. he played better D on Barbosa in the 2nd half.
DB - thanks for using this day to resurrect the Lakers' playoff hopes.
Observations:
It appears that Bynum seems lost on the court and needs "The Cap" to show (as he has in the past) he can be a force in the paint.
With Smush's quickness (and "shading" - whether on purpose or not), why is Nash constantly getting to the paint with the greatest of ease?
Why are the Lakers getting called for offensive 3 second violations when Kobe is on the low post looking for cutters?
Hey, even with all the problems (and there are many) - the Lakers were still in the game while playing without Kwame, Bynum (he was there, but invisible), Vlad and MO (he was there, just invisible).
btw: Ideally, what should we expect to get from Smush in the playoffs?
Joined: 13 Apr 2001 Posts: 13619 Location: West Los Angeles
Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 11:35 pm Post subject:
A Mad Chinaman wrote, in part:
btw: Ideally, what should we expect to get from Smush in the playoffs?[end quote]
Smush continues to show me signs, that he just chokes up, when the stress increases... The last time he came off the bench, you just see him stiffen up on a mid-range shot, that was relatively easy, and much needed. Smush froze up, last year, against Phoenix, in the playoffs.
This sounds strange, but, on-the-other-hand, we've also seen Smush break games open, by suddenly going to work.... It's a mixed-bag. I still wouldn't want to rely on Smush, in crunch-time, but he could go on a run, from time-to-time. _________________ "Teamwork is a nebulous thing. It is as ephemeral as love, disappearing at the latest insult.".... Phil Jackson
didn't get to see the game today but looking at the box it looks as if two familiar problems creeped up.
the lakers won the boards, shot a better percentage than the suns, had more assists than the suns, and had more blocks than the suns. sounds like a W right?
Free Throw Shooting:
Lakers: 66% (14 points from FTs)
Suns: 85 % (29 points from FTs)
Turnovers:
Lakers: 17
Suns: 10
this simply cannot happen in the playoffs. THE WORST thing to do with the suns is turn the ball over. that's what they thrive off of. as for the free throws...i just don't get how we're that bad. there's no excuse for this continual free throw problem. _________________ 14-5-3-12
With Smush's quickness (and "shading" - whether on purpose or not), why is Nash constantly getting to the paint with the greatest of ease?
While that's just it, he's taking away something to give up something else. So, he's giving penetration to a certain spot, but we were often not on the same page with the rest of the D and it resulted in issues. He did it to Barbosa on that one sequence and he just trotted in for a layup. Hard to say what we were trying to do, whether it was a big's fault or his.
Quote:
Why are the Lakers getting called for offensive 3 second violations when Kobe is on the low post looking for cutters?
Brainlock.
Quote:
btw: Ideally, what should we expect to get from Smush in the playoffs?
I'd pretty much expect the same as he's shown us. Hopefully, the focus will be there. Maybe Phil gets him to give some better second, third and fourth stints. But he has shown he can come out the gates strong and fade a bit with a lot of consistency. Maybe this little public flame throwing changes things, but I'd just expect Smush to be Smush.
Kobe's trying to push a Pinto uphill. There's only so much you can do -- throw on some candy paint, some spinner wheels, cadillac grill.
...at the end of the day, it's still a Pinto.
He needs to push harder, his lack of defense(yet again) on Raja Bell was a big reason why the Lakers lost tonight. You are making it seem like he is actually going out having good games on both ends of the court, which just isn't the case. He needs to step up his game, and lead this team by example.
Do you even watch laker games? Almost all of the 3's were because Kobe had to rotate because his teamates got beat. Look at the game tape, i recall one three which kobe was being lazy. The rest came on Luke walton.
Kobe's defense has been horrible this season but today isn't one of the games to look at. He did a great Job on the Barbosa.
Maybe lamar's disappearing act had something to do with it :roll: _________________
Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 6352 Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:16 am Post subject:
Ronny Turiaf was a mad man. That's how he should play from now on.
Farmar got the rookie treatment with foul calls.
Bynum needs to watch videos of Dwight Howard, get some freakin aggresion in his blood.
Lamar had an off night, couldve done more damage in the post.
Walton had a poor game.
Smush played great offensively, defensively atrocious
Joined: 03 Nov 2004 Posts: 8272 Location: San Diego, CA
Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 8:23 am Post subject:
we wasted a golden opportunity getting Marion in foul trouble, but at least Smush had fun :roll: _________________ "When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu
More of the Lakers 4th Q woes -- poor execution offensively, leaving shooters wide open defensively. Little from the front court, except for Ronny, who has been playing possessed. Much love to him for continuing to battle.
Smushie had fun. So what. He didn't really offset Nashty. Smushie's hot dog play in the 4th really killed our momentum.
Joined: 23 Jul 2004 Posts: 12898 Location: Los Angeles
Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:27 am Post subject:
Mr. EiGhTy-OnE wrote:
we wasted a golden opportunity getting Marion in foul trouble, but at least Smush had fun :roll:
This is the difference between us and a great team like Phx. They can have one of their main guys have an off day and still win relatively easily.
With our team, EVERYTHING has to be working. EVERYTHING. We're not gonna beat a team like Phx otherwise. _________________ So glad we gave you your flowers while you were here, Kobe.
Why the Smush hate today? He had fun, played well and did his part. Did he screw up on the 3 on 2 - yeah. Did Kobe also latter on - yeah.
Get real. This is a breath through if Smush is gonna have fun, participate with a positive attitude and produce positive #'s. What he did against Nash is nothing short of a very good job.
Our problem is our bench and our bigs except for Turiaf did nothing on the offensive end.
Bynum is flat out lost on offense. Sasha doesn't like any shot that's not a long range 3. Mo is inconsitent. Kwame is injured. Mihm is injured. Farmar is below par at this time. McKie is useless. Shamu is useless. Vlad is inured. Wow! Looks like we are playing with 6 players.
Be happy if we make the playoffs. _________________ Stop crying and start doing.
Kobe's trying to push a Pinto uphill. There's only so much you can do -- throw on some candy paint, some spinner wheels, cadillac grill.
...at the end of the day, it's still a Pinto.
He needs to push harder, his lack of defense(yet again) on Raja Bell was a big reason why the Lakers lost tonight. You are making it seem like he is actually going out having good games on both ends of the court, which just isn't the case. He needs to step up his game, and lead this team by example.
Do you even watch laker games? Almost all of the 3's were because Kobe had to rotate because his teamates got beat. Look at the game tape, i recall one three which kobe was being lazy. The rest came on Luke walton.
Kobe's defense has been horrible this season but today isn't one of the games to look at. He did a great Job on the Barbosa.
Maybe lamar's disappearing act had something to do with it :roll:
While Kobe isn't the one to blame if he had to help out on someone, we don't give any break to Bynum when he gives up a dunk to his man because he has to help out on penetration, so Kobe shouldn't get it either.
Basically, while leaving his man open because he has to help out doesn't make him a bad defender, it doesn't make him a great one either. This is why Odom's D is so underrated, he helps out on the pick-and-roll, and is almost always able to recover.
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-- A methodical, controlled game by Kobe. Defensively, he was the only guy who could check Barbosa. When Kobe wasn't on him, Barbosa worked our other defenders. He scored 34 points on 14-25 shooting (1-5 from three, 5-5 from the line), he had 3 boards and a team-high 7 assists with a team-high 5 turnovers. We got to see some nice variations in the offense when the Suns overplayed certain positions to deny Kobe the ball. Does Kobe need huge games for this this team to win? "It seems like that," he said. "I'd rather that not be the case, but it seems like that. Hopefully we can kind of break out of that funk and have guys step up and make contributions." 
-- So-so job imposing his game on the Suns at times, seeming to fade in the fourth. He shot a poor 4-13 for 10 points and pulled down 14 boards to go with 5 assists. All decent numbers, but he played this Suns team at a much higher level in the past. He took a shot to his injured shoulder in the game and fought through the pain admirably. 
-- Whenever they hide Barbosa on Luke, we need to immediately go to the post and take advantage of it. Happened too much in this game without us trying to overpower him. He scored just 7 points on 3-9 shooting, grabbed 5 boards and dished 2 assists in 29 minutes. Hopefully, he can get his touch back on his fade because it hasn't been falling lately. 
-- Bynum has a clear size advantage over the Suns, he just needs tu get more of a strength advantage...or fight harder with the strength he has to get low position. The stronger he gets, the more he can go to power moves instead of the finesse hooks. He was on the floor when the Suns went on a couple of runs and led the Lakers with a -15. He finished with 7 points on 3-6 shooting, 7 boards and 2 swats in 23 minutes. 
-- Ugggh. Nothing game from Mo. He played 18 minutes and didn't score. He missed a corner three. He missed a turnaround jumper late in the game.
-- Not much of a game from Farmar in this one. He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting and had 5 fouls in 12 minutes. 
-- "It'd be a pretty quick playoffs if that's the way it's going to go," Phil said afterward. "That's not going to get the job done in the playoffs."... Barbosa was giving the Lakers trouble in the first part of the second quarter. After getting torched, we finally stuck Kobe on him to cool him down. Then Luke posted him up and drew his third foul of the half... Quick timeout to start the second half after Smush took an early three. Shortly later, Phil pulled Bynum... Again, we had trouble with Barbosa to start the fourth. Nash subbed in, so Phil quickly brought Smush back in and put Kobe on Barbosa... We had two odd-man rushes that resulted in turnovers with poor execution on the break. (Smush and Lamar ball handling)... The Lakers got killed with a series of non-scoring possessions midway through the fourth and the Suns got separation with a 14-4 run... The Lakers actually outscored the Suns 64-42 in the paint and 10-4 on the break...
