LAKERS -at- SUNS - 11/2 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Wow... Total domination. The Lakers won 119-98, and it wasn't even that close. They outscored the Suns 65-37 in the first and third quarters, and even had a 33-point lead at one point.

It was a total team effort. The Laker bench, which was MIA in the last one, had 67 points. While Kobe had just 14 points, Vlad Radmanovic led the team off the bench with 19 points on just 6-8 shooting, and Andrew Bynum had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds in just 23 minutes.

The Suns were outrebounded 54-34. Defensively, we played Steve Nash to score (giving up 19 points, but only 3 assists), and we marginalized Amare Stoudemire's game, putting him in foul trouble but also only allowing 7 points on 2-10 shooting. To be fair, it did seem like the Suns had a number shots rattle in and out, while the Lakers couldn't miss (we shot 56.6 percent). Still, the defense locked down the boards, swarmed for loose balls, and cut off passing lanes.

"We need wins like this to kind of get it to another notch," Kobe said in the L.A. Times. "We have to win like this, where we kind of gut it out, play hard and have a big win on the road. It shows that we have a lot of will."

Nice quote, and, yes, we needed this win.


Kobe -- -- Kobe led the Lakers with a +27 while on the court while only scoring 16 points. Such is the nature of a Suns game. The ball movement was crisp and quick. The offense did stall on occasion and did have some iso bail outs, but it seemed to come from a variety of players. Kobe did have a few sequences of ball domination on the dribble, but the offense and spacing generally seemed to flow well. Kobe set the tone on the boards, pulling down 11, most in the first half. He scored his 16 on 6-15 shooting, had 4 assists with 5 turnovers and 3 steals in 28 minutes. Pretty bipolar two games statwise. He took a nice feed from Luke, drew contact on Amare and earned FTs to start the game, he made both. He would only get more trip to the line the rest of the game. He stole an entry pass, but threw it too far ahead to Fish for a turnover. He missed a top-of-the-key jumper short. He got tapped on a reverse. He swished a 20-footer in transition, after licking the fingers on both hands (when he does that, get ready if you're a defender). He buried a three over Bell. Came down again on the next trip and hit a 20-footer from the wing. He hit Farmar out of our sideline lob sequence for a layup. He swished a fade from the elbow. He missed an attack off a Luke pass, got it back and then missed a fade in the lane. He missed a long wing jumper next time down. He got blocked in the paint and wanted the foul. Trapped in the corner, the Lakers drew an illegal D call so Kobe got to shoot a T. Horrible pass out of a double and it went out of bounds. He missed a good look at a three at the halftime buzzer. Kobe had 12 points and 9 or 10 boards in the first half (depending on which announcer gave the stats). He cut off Luke's high pinch post, his man caught in traffic, Kobe got the bounce pass between Marion's legs and pumped on a reverse dunk. He missed a wing three. He threw a pass away for a layup on the other end. Superb extra pass in a scrambled offensive sequence, he went up for the three and whipped it down low to Ronny for the dunk. Kobe curled off a high double screen, cut down the lane and Luke found him from the corner for a layup (nice play, I don't think it was drawn up, though). Great angle on D to flag down a Nash kickout pass and ignite the break. He whipped another pass to Ronny from the wing again and Ronny dunked over his man. He still looks like he's in preseason form a bit at times, but the intensity is there.

DFish -- -- Last season we had to throw Smush and Shammond out there on the floor against the Suns. The upgrade with DFish, a second-year Farmar, Sasha and Critt made its impact. They combined for 40 points and were often on the floor together in combinations, matching up with the small Suns lineups. DFish led the scoring in that group with 14 points on 7-9 shooting in just 21 minutes. Often, he just shot right over Nash. He drained a wing jumper in Nash's grill on his first attempt. He sank another jumper from the corner next time down. He sank his third in a row over Nash on iso with the shotclock low. He drilled his fourth in a row from the elbow a couple possessions later. After a decent stretch of rest on the bench, he came back in, faced up on Bell and swished an 18-footer over him on the wing. He got contact in the lane and was swatted with no call. He picked up his third foul and had to sit with 4:15 in the half. He had 10 points on 5-6 shooting in the first half. He missed a three. Out of a timeout, he curled around the perimeter, took the handoff and pulled up at the elbow to hit the jumper, he wanted the foul, too. Iso'd against Nash again and Fish drilled another jumper in his grill from the right side. Then on the other end, he knocked a ball loose from Nash to ignite the break.

Turiaf -- 8) -- Steady, active minutes from Ronny. Ronny had 6 points on 3-7 shooting, 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and just 2 fouls in his 21 minutes. He didn't have any problems with the tweener situation going up against Marion. In fact, most of Marion's damage was done with Ronny off the court. Ronny missed a fade on a stalled offensive set. He altered Bell's drive, forcing a brick. He picked up a phantom foul on Skinner under the hoop. He and Kobe double-swatted Skinner on help D (great team D, love that). He spotted Luke coming backdoor from the weakside and it led to an uncontested reverse. He missed a jumper in the lane. He finally scratched when Kobe made the extra pass from the three line, whipping it to Ronny under the hoop for an uncontested dunk. He tapped back out a long offensive board to reset the offense. He swished a 19-footer, popping out of the offense behind a Farmar screen. Ronny two-hand dunked over Skinner off another perimeter feed from Kobe.

Kwame -- -- Kwame hit the boards well in this one. He pulled down 9 (3 offensive) in 25 minutes and scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting (1-4 from the line). He played the screen rolls well and did just enough on offense to help get Amare into foul trouble. Still, one wishes he could just overpower the weak Suns interior with some kind of post game. He missed a soft post-up attempt on Diaw. He missed a layup, got it back and got the goaltend call. Horrible help D, letting Nash walk down the lane without contesting. Good jumpout on Nash in the lane to alter his shot and force a miss shortly later (coaches had a few words, apparently he listened). Great follow, crashing the offensive glass and two-hand jamming in a missed drive by Luke (any time guys drive, he needs to hit the boards like that). Kwame's got the reach-around move down on D, he picked Nash at the top of the key with it, then busted out and took the outlet from Kobe for the uncontested dunk. He banged against Amare in the post and drew Amare's fourth foul, forcing him to sit in the third, he missed both FTs. He drew FTs again in the post, he made one.

Luke -- -- Not a great stat night, but he was in the thick of it and helping the offense click. Luke scored 9 points on 4-11 shooting, grabbed 5 rebounds and dished 3 assists in 25 minutes. Nice back door feed to Kobe to draw FTs on the first possession. He missed a wing jumper. He posted up Hill and banked high off the glass. He missed an open 18-footer. Nice reach in on Bell to cause a travel. He got blocked by Marion trying to post him up. Nash left his man to double Luke in the post and Luke hit the cutting Farmar for a layup. He posted up Marion, this time sealing him a little better as he went to his left to finish at the rim. He attacked off the dribble, missed but Kwame followed it and dunked. Excellent read off the ball, fading to the corner, lulling Marion to sleep, then cutting strong side on the backdoor to get a pass and reverse. On your NBA TV No. 3 play of the night, Luke hit Kobe with a bounce pass between Marion's legs from the high wing for an uncontested dunk (very nice). He missed a wing three. Great rotation from the weakside to cover for the pick and roll and he drew the charge on Amare. Good hustle after a loose ball that Fish knocked loose and it eventually led to a dunk by Ronny. They sagged off Luke as he tried to make a post entry to a Nash-covered Kobe, so Luke drilled the three with the shotclock low. He found Kobe who had a step on his man coming off a high double screen and motoring down the lane and it resulted in a layup. He missed an open 17-footer.

Bynum -- -- Bynum looked automatic on some offensive plays in this game. I think I mentioned quite a bit last year that nothing he did looked automatic yet. Good to start seeing some of that. Bynum, with that huge standing reach of his, towered in the paint against the Suns at times. That allowed him to control the boards and anchor the D. He scored 14 points on 7-10 shooting, pulled down 13 boards, dished 3 assists, blocked 1 shot and had 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He came in late in the first quarter. Nice catch off the pinch post lob with Critt and he hit a tough little fading oop (looked like he might have taken some contact). Good feed to Vlad who made a strong cut down the lane and it resulted in a layup. He hit a quick hook in the middle of the lane over Amare. With the offense stalled, they dumped it into Bynum, he went to work, backing up Amare with power and hitting a jumphook after drawing a double team (that's what I like to see). Bynum picked up a couple fouls on penetration and had to sit 4 minutes through the second quarter. Back in later, he took the post entry, waited for the cutter to clear then swished a smooth jumphook in the lane. He missed in traffic after getting a high entry over a defender. He pulled down a missed three by Mo and dunked easily. He somehow missed a reverse, then lost it going back up. He dunked off a drive, draw and dish from Sasha. He worked the two-man game with Mo, took a high feed, never brought it below his head (sound fundamentals on that one) and he dunked in traffic. He came up short in traffic on a one-hander.

Farmar -- -- Better game from Jordan. Still not quite at that level he was playing at in the preseason when his shot was really dropping, but a better spark off the bench tonight for sure. He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting and dished 3 assists in 21 minutes. In to cover Barbosa, he recovered on a Barbosa jumpshot and blocked the shot. He scored a layup, cutting quickly when Nash left to double Luke. Out of a timeout, he took the lob over the top of the D and scored the alley-oop layup. He attacked Barbosa with speed (as Stu said, "a little of his own medicine") and he drew FTs, he made both. He missed a wing jumper. Poor angle entry and it was picked off. He attacked off a high screen, kicked out to Vlad after getting in the lane and it led to a three at the end of the quarter. Great challenge on Strawberry on one-on-one to force a miss. He missed a fade in the lane. Bad pass, hitting the front of the rim trying to get it to a wide open Bynum. He drained a wing jumper off a Bynum screen. Farmar had a +26 in this game.

Crittenton -- -- Critt entered his first real NBA game late in the first running at the 2 guard in place of DFish and he was promptly given a delay of game for not having his shirt tucked in. On the first offensive sequence, he cut off Vlad, took the pass on the baseline and spun in a reverse for his first NBA hoop. Welcome to the NBA. Showing the Bynum chemistry, he worked off the pinch post with Bynum, pulled it back up top and lobbed down low over Amare and Bynum scored the oop. He swished a pull-up from the elbow on the break after the D sagged off him. He dribbled a ball off his foot for a turnover, forcing the dribble into two players. He got yanked a few seconds later. Bad recognition of a man still behind him and Critt lost the ball going behind his back. He attacked Banks on iso off the dribble, got in the lane and drew the foul, he missed both FTs. He swished a jumper with his toe on the three line. He finished with 6 points on 3-3 shooting, 1 assist with 2 turnovers and 1 foul. Fish and Kobe were both in Critt's ear during the game. Good to see them mentoring him. Critt has a real short leash with Phil right now. Any mistake on either end and he was made aware of it.

Radmanovic -- -- Nice to see a healthy Vlad against the Suns. We missed that last year. He has just seemed so much better coming off the bench versus starting. When he gets that shot dropping, he gives the second unit some real punch. He killed the Suns from the perimeter tonight, sinking all four attempts from three. he shot 6-8 for 19 points, grabbed 3 boards, dished 2 assists, but had 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in his 23 minutes. Still, the offense hurt the Suns badly. Excellent bounce pass out of the post to Critt on the baseline to get the rookie his first basket. He missed a wing jumper long. Strong cut down the lane after dumping the post entry into Bynum, he got the return feed and finger rolled a layup. He took and made a tech FT on an illegal D call. Perhaps that loosened up his shooting...he finished the offensive stand with a three, making it a four-point trip. He stole a pass, but charged on the other end in transition. He sank a three about a step behind the line. He sank a jumphook posting up in the middle of the lane. He drew a block foul on the break and made both FTs. He buried an open three off a pass sequence in which four Lakers touched it in just a few seconds. He swished a sideline three at the third quarter buzzer on a kickout from Farmar.

Evans -- -- Not sure if that was a true Hot Mo game, but it was better than average. He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting and actually had 3 assists in his 20 minutes. He pumpfaked and swished a little leaner in the lane. He attacked to his right across the lane and swished a running jumper. He missed a wing three. He took Barbosa off the dribble and powered in a layup. He attacked the paint, drew FTs and made both. He worked the two-man with Drew, threw it up high and Bynum dunked it easily. He missed a jumper. Cold Mo doesn't do any of that.

Cook -- -- I was curious to see what his +/- in this game. It sure looked like bad things happened the most when Cook was on the floor. Sure enough, he led the Lakers in the blowout with a -12. Some of that was certainly a result of garbage time, but he also had some super soft D on Marion, horrible match up anyway. Not sure what Phil is thinking there. Phil sat him after a few minutes of bleeding early on. He brought him back later and could didn't shoot or score in 8 minutes.

Vujacic -- -- With Fish picking up 3 fouls, Phil went to Sasha on Nash. Some pretty solid D by Sasha with our bigs on Nash, taking good angles and using his length well to shut down the attack. He gave up some open looks, too, but overall he did a quality job. Offensively, he was feeling it. He scored 12 points on 3-5 shooting in 15 minutes (2-3 from three, 4-4 from the line). Great pass deflection, knocking down a feed to Nash, then pushing out the break and drawing a foul, he made both FTs. He came in later for Critt, who Phil wanted to do some teaching to, and Sasha hit a jumper facing up out of the high pinch post. He swished a three on the next trip down. He drained a quick, heat-check three. He got into the heart of the D and wrapped a pass around a big to Bynum for the uncontested dunk. He missed a three. He drew FTs attacking to his left, he made both.

Phil -- -- Kobe has bought into Phil's plan of attack against the Suns in recent years. Tonight, it was more of the same. The Lakers moved the ball well, with some superb passing sequences at times, and Kobe was a part of a few of those. The ball stopping or stalling of the offense didn't happen in this one. We had some lapses, for sure, but the team was clicking... Phil has used the full roster to his benfit. Going big against the Yao/TMac duo and then going small against the Suns, putting Mihm and Coby (for Vlad) on the IR and playing Sasha and Critt in this one... Phil got into his players faces after we had to call a timeout on an inbounds play because only Kobe was moving, everyone else stood and watched... Phil went with a Kwame, Luke, Kobe, Fish, Farmar lineup midway through the first to match up with the Suns. He would use those small guard combo's quite a bit. Something you didn't see last year. Or couldn't see with the lack of talent... Lakers perimeter game was going from the first quarter on, especially between Kobe and Fish early. The Laker second unit came in late in the quarter and helped push the Lakers to a 33-20 lead on 14-24 shooting... Phil pulled Critt after a short stint. DFish was in his ear probably talking about how to defend Barbosa... The Lakers extended their lead to 17 points with Kobe on the bench... For the second time in a row, the Lakers biffed an inbounds having to take another timeout. (The Suns were prepared for our first look on our inbounds sequence)... The Lakers led 63-50 at the half. Nash had 14 points, but just 1 assist at half... The Lakers shot 53% to the Suns 42%, had 12 assists to the Suns 6, outscored the bench 31-7 and were even in fastbreak points 6 to 6 at the half. More than all those stats, the coaches pointed to the 27-16 rebound advantage the Lakers had... After the Lakers had three possessions missing three-pointers and then one turnover, Phil called a timeout in the third to focus the team on executing the offense. We got an elbow jumper for Fish to go down out of the timeout... The Lakers looked much smoother after that timeout and went on to extend their lead with a 32-17 quarter (they shot 13-20 to the Suns 8-20). They led 95-67... Phil got the Suns benched tweaked by calling a timeout late in the game leading by 30. D'Antoni might be described as a red ass by Phil for this: "You mean the eight minutes he took over there to explain maybe one play that he probably didn't run? Yeah, I was pretty upset. I thought he disrespected our players. But he likes to play mind games, and that's fine. He might want to try to do it in playoff time when we bust them every year. We have them three more times...That's fine." I'm sure he'll try to get hsi players pumped for the next game. As if they wouldn't be already, getting killed in this one. Still, D'Antoni's trash talk did him no favors and you can bet Phil will remember that, too. Responded Phil: "I think he thought I was trying to showboat. When you have a mandatory timeout coming in a minute and a half or something like that, just get them out of the way so we don't have to endure those four-minute timeouts on ESPN."... On the win over the Suns, Phil said "I don't like the word you use, 'shocking'. 'Remarkable' is a good word to use if you want to change your wording a little bit. It was a remarkable thing to have happen, especially when you look at scheduling. You don't expect something like this to happen."...

[Siguy]

Phew, the recap's up. Now I can go to bed

Great win. I was so depressed by the start of this season that I couldn't even play basketball video games. After this game was over, I played for about three hours, all with the Lakers.

[APeeler]

Thanks for the recap. I started reading these last year. I look forward to them after the game. Thanks for the good work........

[lalakers3224]

Always love your recaps...Thanks!
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"This is Kobe's legacy, the Lakers," Jackson said. "This is where he's grown up and gotten married and had kids. It's like we're still devoted to seeing that, hopefully, being a part of what he is."

[KOBEhastheMAGIC]

Kobe's stats are decieving. He threw one bad pass and lost the ball another time going up for a three. The rest came from being mugged several times with no call. That also accounts for Kobe's poor shooting percetnage. He was shooting well in this game. The disparity on each end in calls in the first half was nauseating.
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Kobe Bryant has brought the Lakers three championships, 4 Finals, carried an absolutely pathetic team to the playoffs in a loaded Western Conference and has given us countless thrills and memories. If you are not a Kobe fan, then you are not a Laker fan.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[AndrewBynum17]

[jbjb]

I'm another one who stays up late for these. Thanks DB, great job!

[KOBE 2.0]

DB are you surprised how much Fisher has shown on defense thus far? did Sloan really bring us a different Fisher in LA with a more improved D?

[lalakers3224]

I miss Dancing Barry at the Laker games
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"This is Kobe's legacy, the Lakers," Jackson said. "This is where he's grown up and gotten married and had kids. It's like we're still devoted to seeing that, hopefully, being a part of what he is."

[pawn]

Thanks DB!

Gotta love how Phil got under D'Antoni's skin tonight

[DancingBarry]

[Omar Little]

[DancingBarry]

[Downunder]

Lotta positive emoticons in this one DB. Damn ggod to see

[kups]

[dirka dirka]

Much appreciated and IMO spot on the analysis, the NBA really needs to hire a meticulous, intelligent, dedicated person as yourself.
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[LakerEric]

Thanks DB!! You're analysis is marvelous! I missed the game while working and caught it online.
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Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[TooCool]

Thanks DB.

After watching the Preseason... I knew we looked good. Everyone looks good.

When we all click like this, we'll be one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA.
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[A Mad Chinaman]

[dirka dirka]

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap.

[DancingBarry]

The emphasis on D is definitely important. Gets us easy hoops. Offensively, they still need to get on the same page. They need to see an opponent's weakness, see the overplays, and as a group get on the same page and run their counters.

Purpose and intent. That's always the key with running the triangle. When LO gets back, getting him on the block against smaller SF's to collapse the D will be vital. Getting or post game more established will help with our consistency.

[dirka dirka]