RAPTORS -at- LAKERS - 3/11 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Three Crazy... The Lakers set a new season high in three-point chucking, hitting 15-32 from downtown. Tonight, they simply out-gunned the Raptors to take the 117-108 win. Take the win and pack your bags for the road.

The Raptors ran a little zone and packed the paint, and the Laker shooters were all too eager to settle for the long jumpers. As they say you live by the three...and, thankfully, we didn't die by the three. The hot shooting also led to 32 assists.

Phil didn't like the pace of the game early on. "We got the fever and wanted to throw a knock out punch in the first quarter," he said.

Defensively, we never locked down. Chris Bosh didn't play and T.J. Ford killed our point guards for 28 points. We wanted to stay on their shooters, but you need to get some better challenges on shots than we did. We gave up 42 points in the paint to the Raptors.

Our rotations and extra effort on the defensive end have been missing in action lately. They'll have to bring it on the road or they will be in for a rough trip.


Kobe -- -- He started the game with a series of threes and turnovers. He also took a shot to his hand and was in pain again. He shook it off and it didn't seem to affect him again. Kobe didn't get to the freethrow line until the last few minutes in this one. He stayed on the perimeter a lot and never ventured into mid or low posts. He took what the defense gave him, which was usually kicking it out to an open shooter. The Stats: He scored 34 points on 12-20 (4-8 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 7 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 47 minutes. The Action: He missed a midrange jumper. He sank a three off the kickout from Gasol. He drained a three, pulling up from the other side. He dropped a ball out of bounds. On his next touch, he rattled down another three. He got picked on a crossover and gave up a dunk. He missed a long three on his next attempt. He lost the ball in the paint for another breakaway. He got his fourth turnover when he was knocked over with no call. He missed a three short. He hit a jumper in the lane in transition. He swished a short one-hander with his left on the baseline. He had 13 points on 5-8 shooting and 4 turnovers in the first quarter. He was called for a weak flagrant foul, making sure Humphries wouldn't score. Ronny found him and he dunked on the other end, ticked. He scored a layup off a nice feed from Luke. He kicked out to Fish for a three. He practically rolled a dribble through defenders and scored a layup. He kicked out to Fish for a three at the end of the half. He had 19 points on 8-11 shooting in the first half. Second Half: He hit Lamar on a slip screen for a reverse layup. He sank a 28-footer on a kickout from Fish in early offense. He froze his man in transition but was blocked on the attack. He then forced up a three and missed badly. Excellent help D, stripping the post man with a quick reach. He missed a pull-up jumper from the right side, then fouled. He hit Sasha cutting behind the D for a layup. He backdoored his man for the lob dunk from Farmar. He swished a turnaround from the FT line. Next trip down, he pulled up behind a screen and swished a 17-footer. He missed a step-back jumper. He drew a foul trying to throwdown with both hands on a Gasol miss, he got his first FTs of the game with 3:37 left, he made both. He missed a three. He rejected TJ Ford trying to throwdown on him (too bad the Raptors trailed the play and cleaned it up). He lost Parker on a crossover between his legs, drew the D and hit Fish for the three that iced it. He was fouled and went back to the line to loud "M-V-P" chants, he made both. He was fouled again and made both.

Gasol -- -- Very limited involvement for Gasol in this one. We did, however, go to him in the final couple minues and he came through with a couple of scores. Nice to see him continue to hit some big shots in crunch time. We're going to have to use him a bit more on the road. Good things usually happen when the ball is going through him. Defensively, our rotations need to get better. We just don't seem to be on the same page, whether that's Gasol covering for others, or others covering for him. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. The Action: He missed a good look at a running hook. He traveled trying to fake one direction and go the other. He swished an elbow jumper against the zone. He dunked when Luke split a double and found him. He had 4 points on 2-3 shooting, 3 assists and 4 boards in a quiet first half. Second Half: He hit LO in the post for a score. He missed a follow-up tip on the break. He attacked the paint to his right, faked left and went right again to freeze his man and score the layup. He took a pass from Kobe off dribble penetration, got hit on the head and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a left-handed hook on the baseline. He kicked out to Sasha for a three. He missed a turnaround in the lane. He threw a pass away trying to hit LO in the paint. He swished a jumphook in the lane with under 2 minutes left. He sank an elbow jumper with 1:22 left on our next possession.

Lamar -- -- "Teams are getting up to play us and we have to accept the challenge," Lamar said. Great game from LO getting into the paint on the offensive end. Some very aggressive attacks and overpowering of smaller defenders. Loved that aggression. He even chipped into the three-fest with a couple himself. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 9-12 shooting (2-2 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. The Action: He drained a three on his first attempt of the game. He pushed up the ball, saw a gap and attacked it with speed and scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He was called for shuffling his feet before going up. Nice pass deflection after rotating to help. He missed a jumphook, then Rasho tipped it in for him. He had 7 points and 7 boards in the first half. Second Half: He crossed over, attacked to his right and dunked with his left in a crowd to start our second half scoring. He posted up, took the feed from Gasol and powered in the layup. He took the corner entry in the post, rocked Moon back and dunked over him. He slipped a screen, took the pass, hung in the air and reversed. (Great opening to the second half.) He drained a pull-up jumper from the left side on iso. Nice reach on Ford to force a turnover. He missed a jumper on the next trip down. He missed another wing jumper, but drained the three on his next touch of that possession.

Fisher -- -- A lot of open looks for Fish in this game. He's not trying to create his own offense or hit jumpers with guys on him. He's simply getting good looks and taking them. The results have shown in the string of good shooting games he's put together. Defensively, he didn't make Ford work too hard nor challenge shots well. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-14 shooting (4-9 from three) to go with 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, no turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. The Action: He overpassed when he should have taken the easy layup. He missed a three. He missed an open wing jumper. He tied up his man and won the jumpball. He made an open wing jumper against the zone. He swished a long sideline jumper with a toe on the line. He missed a jumper off a kickout from Karl. He drained a wing three off the kickout from Kobe. He swished another wing three off a drive and kick from Kobe at the end of the half. He had 10 points on 4-8 shooting in the first half. Second Half: He sank an open sideline three. He attacked around a screen and hit the early offense layup. He passed up a layup possibility and got the ball back behind the arc, where he missed a three. He missed a wide open corner three. He missed another three. He sank the next one when Kobe sucked the defense to him and hit Fish in the right corner for an open three...ballgame.

Radmanovic -- -- Bad Vlad showed up. Nothing positive in this one. His highlight play came on the defensive end when he blocked a shot on help D. Everything else on D was poor. He shot blanks on the other end. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting (0-3 from three), had no boards, no assists, no steals, 1 block and 1 foul in 19 minutes. The Action: He got blocked on a layup off the Gasol handoff. He airballed a three on a kickout from Lamar. He didn't score on 0-2 shooting in the half. Second Half: He clanked a wing three. He choked a breakaway layup. He missed another three, wide open. He ballwatched and gave up a dunk to his man. He blocked Parker's jumper, but couldn't recover it.

Luke -- -- Decent game from Luke. He tied Kobe with a team-high +9 and even ran a little at PF. Luke was the only non-center not to take a three-pointer in this game. Considering all the guys who had open looks, he did a good job not sticking himself into too many bad spots on the offensive end. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. The Action: He pulled down an offensive board and hit Farmar for the three. He drew FTs in transition, he made one. He posted up and threaded a pass to Kobe for a layup. He missed a baseline jumper. He was doubled and found Gasol open for a dunk. He hit a runner in the lane on the next trip down. He had 3 points on 1-2 shooting and 4 assists in 9 minutes in the first half. Second Half: Nice effort on the offensive glass to get us another possession. Great D rotating to Humphries and stripping him under the hoop to save a basket.

Turiaf -- -- Ronny wanted to make sure we had a little more presence in the paint on D. He had some nice challenges and a block, but couldn't quite get that anchoring we need. A lot of good passing from Ronny on the offensive end. Honestly, we probably have the best passing bigmen in the game, (Bynum included). Our 4s and 5s are all eager passers (Lamar and Ronny, probably a little too eager at times). Ronny's jumper was working for him tonight. Good energy for us tonight. The Stats: Ronny had 9 points on 3-5 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. The Action: He hit a 15-footer from the right side on his first attempt. He took a hard foul on Kapono trying to help on penetration. He picked up his second foul trying to contest a dunk. He faced up and hit the 12-footer from the right side. He took a quick jumper from the top of the key and drained it. He found Kobe alone under the hoop for a dunk. He took a lob and kicked it out to Farmar for three. He had 6 points on 3-4 shooting, no rebounds, 1 block and 2 assists in the first half. Second Half: He missed a tough fallaway to start the fourth. He drew FTs on the two-man game with Sasha, he made one. Nice fake on the handoff, he then quickly attacked the baseline and drew FTs, he made both.

Farmar -- -- Prior to the game, Phil pinpointed Jordan's 4 turnovers in his first 6 touches in the first half of the last game. No doubt that was mentioned to him. He came in with 3 minutes left in the first in this game, and although he played a much cleaner game, he was a bit too eager to chuck up threes. Still, he led the bench in scoring and tied for game-high honors in assists...and did it without any turnovers. Defensively, Ford was eating both him and Fish for dinner. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting (2-7 from three) to go with 1 board, 5 assists with no turnovers and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. The Action: He missed a three and it led to a layup on the other end. He was called for a foul on a reach with 0.6 seconds left in the quarter, dumb...and the refs gave Ford three FTs. He chucked a long early three, missed, we got it back and he swished the closer open three. He lost the ball on a return pass and wanted the foul. He sank a three on a kickout from Turiaf. He had 6 points on 2-4 shooting, 3 assists and no turnovers in the first half. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He missed a three from the other side. He rattled in a pull-up jumper from 16 feet. Next trip, he sank a 17-footer from the left side and forced the Raptors to call timeout. Nice backdoor lob to Kobe for the dunk. He hit Sasha for the three. He missed an ill-advised long three, but we got it back.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha got benched after a short first half stint for chucking shots and not moving the ball in the offense. He was bent, but it was the right call by Phil. Sasha put together a better second half and kept his usual spot in the rotation. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. The Action: Nice double team with Kobe to strip the ball. He missed a sideline jumper. He missed an open jumper in early offense. He missed on a drive in the lane. He was 0-3 in 4 minutes of first half action. Second Half: Another quick catch and shoot from the right side, he missed. Nice return bounce pass to Ronny on the two-man game to creat FTs for him. Good cut behind defenders to get open for a layup off the ball. Poor D on the other end, ballwatching as Kapono cut and hit the open jumper. He swished a wide open wing three off the swing pass. Poor entry pass on an inbounds and it was easily picked off. He drained a wing three on a kickout from Gasol. He crashed the glass and got the Lakers another possession, drawing the foul.

Karl -- -- Phil sent Sasha to the bench early for Coby Karl, just 2 minutes into the second quarter. He had some nice rotations defensively and started to spark the crowd. The offense certainly flowed much better with him in there versus Sasha's minutes. He didn't see any run in the second half as Sasha played better. Good job by Coby tonight. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting, had 2 boards, 1 block and no fouls in 7 minutes. The Action: Great rejection of Delfino who came down the lane with a purpose, Coby sent him packing. He lobbed to Ronny in transition and Ronny kicked it to Farmar for the three. He drained a corner three on a kickout from Kobe (Ronny was doing jumping jacks or something after that one). He got a nice ovation after that 7-minute first half stint.

Phil -- -- Prior to the game, Phil said that when things start to go wrong that "guys try to force it themselves and do it themselves." You could see some of his subs tonight reflecting that message to his players. Sasha got benched early for not working the offense more. Phil added later that on the road they are going to need to make the ball do more work for them instead of settling for threes... Five of the Lakers first 7 shots were from three (we made three)... The turnover-prone, three-chucking ball allowed the Raptors to have a 25-22 lead at the end of the first... Phil subbed in Coby Karl for Sasha and he seemed to help with defensive rotations and offensive execution, sparking the team a bit... We still settled for a lot of threes but led 58-52 at half. We were 9-17 from three. The Raptors shot 9 more FTs. The Raptors had 22 points in the paint in the first half. None of those trends really changed in the second half... Rambis mentioned our defensive issues, especially against the pick and roll. (That was also the case down the stretch in the last game)... We led 83-77, playing even with the Raptors in the third... No real distance from the Raptors in the third. Phil went back to his usual rotation of late, giving Sasha all of the minutes in the fourth... Phil said the three shooting should be kept to around 15 or so threes per game... He's got plenty of items to gripe about to try to get the team to elevate their game on this road trip...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the absence or runs by either team in this game. A couple in the first quarter, but practically nothing the rest of the way.

[Vadorojo]

First?

Edit: First indeed! Now to read the post.

Edit #2: Nice comments, particularly for Farmar and Sasha. I'm glad Sasha recovered his poise and played better in the second half—you could read the frustration on his face as he sat on the bench for Karl.

The only thing that REALLY bugged me about this game was T.J. Ford ... he was making all kinds of crazy running teardrops and jumpers. True, our defense wasn't great on him, but other times, he just couldn't seem to miss! Ah well, we got the W.

Thanks for the recap!
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"I like looking at a guy's face when he realizes that even his best moves aren't going to work on me all night. They look depressed." - Ron Artest

[SanJoseLaker]

After seeing coby play today, do you think he would get more minutes later form now on? Thanks for the recap love it!

[Bas]

Thanks for the recap DB!

Tough game to watch, with the terrible defense. But at least we got the win. Looking forward to the next road trip.

[krstell]

thanks for the recap
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“I’ll do whatever it takes to win games, whether it’s sitting on a bench waving a towel, handing a cup of water to a teammate, or hitting the game-winning shot.” - Kobe

[ocho]

DB- what do you make of the rudy ball? can't we overcome a zone at this point? why not use Gasol and Odom more and dominate the paint like championship teams do? we played right in their hands tonight. our talent won tonight, but it's disconcerting that we continue to struggle so much on the defensive end.

[Trajan]

Another lack luster effort in the first half. I'm confident though that Lakers will do well in on the road trip. Can't remember the last time the Lakers lost to a top playoff team.

[Klone_dd]

It's not winning ugly, but it isn't exactly pretty either. Luckily, the 3-ball was falling because we were way too eager to settle.

Nice game by both LO and DFish.

If Ford was eating up our PGs, I'm really scared about what CP3 is going to do.

[DancingBarry]

[Action Jackson]

Thanks for the recap DB.

[SweetP]

Thanks for the recap, I missed some of the game, doing taxes.

I was plesantly surprised by Coby Karl's play tonight, that block was impressive.

Feels like the Lakers were lucky to win this game tho' and I hope they turn it up once they hit the road. Any clue why the team has played so flat lately? Excitement over Pao addition is diminished? Disappointed Bynum and Ariza aren't back yet? Just a dip in intensity due to a long season?
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[LakerSanity]

[KBryantisclutch]

The Emotion faces seem to fit every player each game.

[Magic'sSon]

[Dr. Laker]

Good job, DB.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[Siguy]

Vlad was a disaster on both ends today. I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's rusty, but he blew lay-ups, open threes, and defense. What else is there?

Farmar got killed by TJ Ford because he went OVER the screens. Dumb mistake. Let Ford shoot open 18 footers (he made many, but that's not the point). Letting him cut to the hoop is just what he wants.

[hellsling]

It seems like Kobe's bad habits are beginning to rub off into his teammates like taking ill advised threes and going after the steals instead of playing solid defene

[melo061]

[jodeke]

DB your recap is on the one, as usual. I get the impression the Lakers are playing to the competition. Phil was asked in the pre game interview if he thought the team was doing this. He said no. I've noticed a lack of energy when we play teams under 500. I hope they bring intensity to NO. If we start there the way we have in the last two game it's going to be a problem. NO is to good to have to play catch up.
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[limchrc]

Glad we won... even though it seems like we are trying to give Raptors a chance to take the win.

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB.

Phil definitely had a short hook on Sasha. my sister was having trouble watching and we were on IM. I told her Coby Karl was in the game, and she wanted to know who pissed off Phil. was really glad that Coby helped energize both the crowd and his teammates, and that Sasha got the message and came back strong.
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"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."

[BigE32]

Thanks again, DB. I stated last night that the way we're struggling with the P/R, I predicted three lobs from CP3 to Tyson Chandler for dunks. The last time we played them, Bynum really outplayed Chandler. He will be missed Friday night. I don't like how we're playing right now. We're playing to the level of our competition. It cost us on Sunday night. That type of mentality can be a recipe for disaster, IMO. I do expect to come out with much more energy on this four game road trip because we know that it is going to be very challenging. I agree that I would like to see us attack the zone more instead of settling for the three point shot. Last night, it worked b/c we shot almost fifty percent from the land of three. However, we can't expect to shoot such a high percentage from that distance on a nightly basis. At least we got a W heading into this difficult road trip. Hopefully, the next couple of days off will help us regain some energy, passion, and focus.

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

how come the 'life with luke' segment never shows luke working on his game?
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