LAKERS -at- KINGS - 4/6 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Return of Vlad the Impaler... If you looked at the stats and saw 21 points and 14 boards, you might think Lamar had another big game. Or maybe Pau. Last game it was Lamar, but tonight Vlad went for the season-high numbers.

"I just wanted to step up my game a little bit," Radmanovic said. Phil apparently talked some trash to Vlad before the game. Vlad wouldn't elaborate on what was said, but was smiling about it after the game.

Vlad dropped the season-high 21 points to go with a career-high 14 boards as the Lakers took care of business in Arco with the 114-92 win.

The Lakers didn't get clocked in transition D as they had been in previous games against the Kings. We actually won the battle of the break 14-13. All but 2 of those fastbreak points by the Lakers came in the second half. The Lakers outscored the Kings 64-42 between the second and third quarters.

With the choke job by Phoenix today and this win over the Kings, the Lakers take a firm grip on the Division race. Owning the tie-breaker is the killer. They will set their sights higher, however, with the conference race and higher seeds within their grasp.


Kobe -- -- Not much arc on his jumper tonight, but he was knocking them down. Another one of those controlled games where he was picking his spots offensively, working the high screens on occasion, and generally picking apart the Kings. He put up a very efficient stat line in the process. His minutes were low, but they could have been lower had the second-unit maintained that fourth-quarter lead. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 9-15 shooting (4-7 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing three on his first attempt. He spun away from three defenders in the lane and flipped in a layup with some nice touch. He attacked and no-looked to Vlad for the three. He got caught in the air and threw it away. He missed a freethrow-line pull-up jumper. He drew FTs on a drive, he made both. He stepped through defenders, missed the shot and tapped it in on the follow up. He worked the high screen with Pau, gave him the return pass and it led to FTs. He drew FTs getting hit off the high screen, 35 feet from the hoop, he made both. Bad offensive possession, pounding the dribble to stall the offense, then he got picked for a score the other way. He had 8 points on 2-5 shooting in the first half. Second Half: He sank a baseline turnaround to start the half. He swished a top-of-the-key three. He swiped the ball from Hawes, pushed out the break and drew FTs (M-V-P chants were drawing the ire of Kings fans), he made one. He drained a three off good Laker ball movement. He attacked down the lane, drew the D and dished to Pau for the layup. He swished a wing three over his man. He sank an open wing jumper working off the screens. He was called for a charge on a drive and dish (Moore was in the restricted circle). He hit Vlad on the break for the wide open three. He missed a long three on the wing. He was drilled with no call on the dribble, then stripped for a turnover. He missed a wing three, settling for the jumper. He split a double and lobbed to Gasol for the score. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. Quick first step and he drew FTs at the rim (more M-v-P chants), he made the FTs. He hit a pull-up three on iso.

Gasol -- -- Gasol does a great job running the floor. One of the interesting things if/when he plays across Bynum will be how well he can take advantage of that when Bynum dominates the glass. With Drew and Odom able to get rebounds in high numbers, Gasol will be able to get down the floor quickly. There were a few sequences tonight where he moved end-to-end with speed and we capitalized on it. A couple bad defensive sequences not crowding shooters with the shotclock low, but other than that we controlled the tempo and easy opportunities with Gasol in there. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-11 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 38 minutes. The Action: He drew FTs in transition after Lamar set up him, he made both. He bounced a pass off Lamar's shins for a turnover. He was blocked from behind on a soft finish. He faced up and hit a 12-footer from the wing. He missed a jumphook in the post, but LO cleaned it up. He missed a face-up jumper from the left side. He missed a pick and pop, coming up short on the jumper. He drew FTs on the slip screen with Sasha, he made one. He scored a layup off the high entry from Kobe. He pitched the ball out to Sasha and set a screen on his man to help free him for the open look. He was fouled fighting on the defensive glass, he made both FTs. He drew FTs running the high screen-roll with Kobe, he made one. Second Half: Out on the break with speed and Vlad rewarded him with the pass back for the dunk. He kicked out to Vlad for the open three next time down. He scored the layup off the drive and dish from Kobe. He scored a layup when Lamar pushed out the defensive board and found him (again good running of the floor). He sealed his man on the corner sequence, took the pass from Farmar and scored the layup easily. He scored a layup when Kobe split the double and lobbed to him.

Lamar -- -- The cheap fouls he picked up might have taken a little off Lamar's aggressiveness, but he still played a strong, efficient game. With Vlad snatching all the boards, Lamar was able to lead the Lakers in assists, instead. Scoring-wise, he avoided the jumpers at all costs and looked to get in the paint. Defensively, he matched up against Artest a lot and it took Artest 20 shots to get 19 points. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 7-8 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. The Action: He blew past Moore from the top of the key for the Lakers first score. He lost the handle under the rim on a shot and fouled trying to get it back. He drew FTs, taking a pass in the middle of the zone from Pau, he made both. He took the outlet, attacked, passed off to Gasol and avoided the charge and it led to FTs for Pau. He put back in a missed hook by Pau. He picked up his second foul with 4 minutes left in the first, phantom foul. He threw a pass away trying to thread a needle in a crowd. He attacked on iso from the wing and scored the layup. He lobbied to get his third foul switched to Ronny (rightly so), and they changed the call. He posted up and kicked out to Sasha for the three. He picked up his third foul, total weak call as he held his arm straight up after a challenge and the ref called it late, very odd calls against Lamar in the first half. Second Half: He took the pass from Vlad in the post, sliced his way trough the D and scored the layup. He grabbed the board, pushed out the dribble and then fed Gasol at the last second for a layup. He had a jumphook goaltended. He just beat the shotclock on a reverse when Sasha found him under the hoop. He carried the ball on an attack from the wing. He tipped the offensive board to himself, backed it out, then attacked and reversed.

Fisher -- -- Fish had a couple bonehead plays tonight that made you shake your head. Still, we had no challenge from the Kings guards and didn't let them take advantage of us. His best plays were steals on the defensive end. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. The Action: He missed a 10-footer in the lane. He stole a pass, pushed it up against a couple of defenders and scored the layup. He missed a 22-footer. He dropped to the level of the ball to swipe an Artest kickout. He worked his way to the FT line off the dribble, pulled up and drilled it (excellent job getting to a sweet spot). He missed a sideline jumper. Stupid, stupid foul with 0.2 left in the half bodying his man in the backcourt, gave up 2 points. Second Half: Horrible pass on the break to Gasol who was wide open and it went out of bounds for a turnover. He swished a sideline three of the swing pass from Vlad.

Radmanovic -- -- Sensational game from Vlad. He was a +35 in the game. He killed the Kings by hitting on a couple jumpers after situational subs at the end of quarters. Seeing his shot fall was nice, but dominating on the glass? Very, very nice. I'd like to see more of that. His 21 points came in the first three quarters. Defensively, he had favorable matchups most of the night as we let LO take on Artest. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-14 shooting (5-8 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 14 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. The Action: He missed a layup on a drive, should have had it. He swished a wing three off the Kobe kickout. He missed a three from the top of the arc. He was subbed back in with 2 seconds left in the first quarter, took the pass, turned and hit a wing three at the buzzer. He tapped out an offensive board and it led to an And-1 for Farmar. He swished a wing 18-footer just beating the shotclock. He missed an open corner three. He flashed weak to strong, took the pass and drew FTs on a strip, he made both. He used that long reach of his to slap down a pass and recover it for a steal. He crashed the boards and tipped a miss to himself and reset the offense. He overpassed, got it back and drained the wing three with a man on. He had 13 points on 4-8 shooting. Second Half: He jumped a passing lane on help D to swipe the entry, he gave it up to Fish, then busted out, took the return pass and hit Gasol with the bounce pass for a dunk. He swished a sideline three on a kickout from Pau next time down. He posted up and hit a cutting LO who scored. He missed a couple attempts in the post and wanted the foul. He swished a corner three getting out on the break with Kobe. Another situational sub and Vlad hit the baseline catch-and-shoot taking the in-bounds pass with 2 seconds left in the third. He had 21 points and 12 boards after the third. He missed a corner three. He hit Fish with the swing pass for a three.

Turiaf -- -- I liked seeing that brief Artest vs. Turiaf match up. Turiaf played it very well. His combination of lateral speed, strength and flyswatting came to play nicely in that encounter. Overall, a bit of a foul prone game from Ronny. Offensively, he was a non-factor. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 4 boards, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 13 minutes. The Action: He missed a long wing jumper. He swatted Artest's post up. Covering Artest on iso and he swatted his drive. He picked up his third foul and had to sit with 9:30 left in the half. Second Half: He took the interior feed from Lamar and powered in a layup with his left. He traveled on the post attack.

Farmar -- -- He didn't score at a high rate, but he played some quality two-way ball at times. The second unit couldn't hold down the fort in the fourth quarter, however. Farmar was a +7 with that second unit in the second quarter, but a -6 during that same stint in the fourth. That cost our starters a few minutes. When Drew gets back, this should be one of our bigger strengths. Hopefully, Farmar can floor general to our advantage when that happens. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and no fouls in 20 minutes. The Action: On his first possession, he telegraphed a pass for a turnover and score the other way. Quick first step to get a lane and he scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He swiped a post-entry pass. He missed an open three wide left, ouch. Second Half: Great bounce pass in transition to Pau, but Farmar was shoved for a foul by Garcia who had twisted an ankle. Quick post entry on the corner sequence when Gasol sealed his man and it led to a layup. With the shotclock low, he attacked and kicked to Sasha for the open jumper. On the next defensive stand, he swiped the mid-court pass, pushed it up and scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He missed a long wing three, forcing it a bit. He got the ball deep into the paint and kicked it to Sasha for a three. He missed a layup on the quick attack. He pulled down an offensive board, but tried to attack a couple defenders and missed (should have reset the offense).

Vujacic -- -- He just comes off the bench and gets into your face on both ends consistently. Sasha again led the bench in scoring with some aggressive shooting...maybe too aggressive on a couple of sequences, but overall he played his role well. Defensively, he mixed it up with some scrappy, irritating defense. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. The Action: He swatted Garcia's jumper, then missed a wing pull-up J in transition. He got stripped attacking the lane. He missed an open sideline jumper. He drained a 15-footer, cutting to an open space behind Gasol to get the pass. He missed a rushed look at a three in early offense. Next time down he rattled in a wing three on the kickout from Lamar. Second Half: Crazy hard bounce pass to Lamar after Sasha shed a defender and LO just beat the shotclock with the reverse. He sank a baseline jumper off the skip pass from Farmar. He missed a jumper in the lane. He swished a corner three on a kickout from Farmar. Poor shot selection, rushing a jumper in early offense. He fumbled a loose ball all the way down court and eventually fumbled it right into the hoop against a couple defenders, wow that was ugly but effective. He drew FTs on another steal and push out, he made both. Quick hands to poke away a steal.

Newble -- -- With Luke out and Lamar in a little foul trouble, Newble got some quality minutes tonight. He showed some capable D, with some smarts and strength at times (was foul prone, but some cheap calls). Offensively, he hit the boards well, but he was still a bit lost in the triangle. He struggled to get in position at times and missed a few reads. He got benched at one point for a telegraphed post-entry feed that was picked off. That's why he needs to get minutes now. The more quality time he can get, the more he can get into the flow with the rest of the team. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting to go with 2 offensive boards, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls. The Action: He came in with 36 seconds left in the first quarter. Pressure in the back court and he helped cause a turnover with 2 seconds left in the quarter (Phil then subbed him out for Vlad, who hit the three at the buzzer). He missed a pull-up jumper in transition (looked like he might have had Pau available). He crashed the boards to tap a Kobe miss to himself. He forced Artest into a tough make on a drive. He was called for a foul off the ball trying to muscle with Artest. Great D again, forcing Artest baseline and into a difficult reverse attempt, which we recovered. Poor offensive foul call when Newble just handed the ball off and a player ran into him. He missed a putback attempt on a great crash on the offensive glass. Second Half: He threw a post entry pass away and gave up the And-1 the other way, he got benched for that. He missed a 19-footer.

Mbenga -- -- He played a few garbage minutes tonight. Nothing noteworthy. The Stats: He didn't score on 2 attempts in 3 minutes. The Action: Didn't play in the first half. Second Half: He airballed a jumper wide left and grinned sheepishly down court. He missed a bank shot.

Phil -- -- A few times this season, we've questioned why Phil didn't make some situational offensive subs to get shooters in (even against these same Kings). Tonight, he pulled the right strings with Vlad twice and was rewarded twice... Out of the gates, he called a quick timeout after just a couple minutes, trailing 5-2. More playoff-like timeout calling by Phil... He pulled Newble with 2 seconds left in the first quarter for Vlad, we in-bounded to Vlad and he drained the wing three. That cut the Kings lead to 27-23... The Lakers led 51-45 after a strong second quarter. Could have been bigger, but we missed a putback and DFish made a stupid foul with 0.2 left. We shot 42 percent to the Kings 38 percent. We had 11 turnover to their 8 and a 25-16 advantage on the boards... The Lakers forced a Kings timeout with a 7-0 run out of the gates... They pushed out their lead to 74-54 (some Kobe threes and good transition ball)... Another situational sub, pulling Lamar for Vlad with a few seconds left in the third and Vlad drained the jumper on the in-bounds pass. The team led 87-69 after three. The Lakers shot 83 percent in the third and had 15 assists on 15 makes... Phil wanted to rest the starters, but the lead got cut to 15 on an 8-0 Kings run and he had to bring back Kobe. The starters pushed the lead back from 12 to 22... We out-rebounded the Kings 46-33 and shot 12-22 from beyond the arc... Not sure what he said to Vlad, but hopefully he can push those buttons again...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the starters +/- numbers compared to the bench. The Kings had only one real sustained run, but look at the number of pushes the Lakers made.

[LakerSanity]

First... but I don't feel any different.
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[tsumlakers88]

FOIST!

well, probably not now XD

*damnit, second, haha

[TheLakerFeeling]

Third. Thanks DB.

[manofpeace]

You should create a compilation of these and sell it in a novel. I would definitely buy it.
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"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is precisely why I succeed."

-MJ

[Exick]

Garcia and Kevin Martin renewed their memberships in the Sasha fanclub tonight.
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Game recognize game, Granddad. - Riley Freeman, The Boondocks

[LakerSanity]

[DancingBarry]

[Kobe2Clark]

The Kings are a TOTALLY different team without Udrih. I think he's really underrated..
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"My thirst for domination is fed only by the game. I refuse to get distracted by outside forces." - Kobe Bryant

[Klone_dd]

Hmm, the Impaler and the Machine. In the words of Apollo Creed, "Sounds like a damn monster movie."

Anytime someone else steps it up and Kobe can cruise to his normal numbers, it's death to the opposition.

Whatever Phil said to Vlad, he should tape it and replay it when necessary. Vlad was very, very active. He's got some deceptive quickness when he isn't spacing out during the games. Consistency is what we're after, though.

[zephyr]

hope the lakers can write a great ending for you DB

[Shaber]

Did not see the game (yet), great to read the recap and analysis here.

There was a stint of Turiaf and Gasol together on the floor. I've been waiting for it to happen to see, how it works. The Lakers were -4 statistically. But how did it seem? Could these two be used together efficiently?
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Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap.

[ocho]

Phil makes fun of Lamar's shot and he goes out the other night and leads us to victory.

Phil talks trash to Vlad and he goes out and gets career highs.

you may not always agree with him but the man is effective.

[DancingBarry]

[Michlake]

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

Enjoyed this drilling of the Kings. Also helps to have Beno and Brad out though. I remember when Vlad played for the Clippers and was surprised at how well he could rebound. He surely showed that nose for the ball tonight.

[Dr. Laker]

Good job, as usual.
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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".

[Sage_10]

Nice dominating win. It's been a while since the Lakers have had one of those.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[Texas_Pete]

[Christopher C]

Kobe might be able to shoot 50% from the field for a season next year, if at least two of the three trees are healthy all season.

[KBryantisclutch]

[20,000]

With a win in Portland, the Lakers will pretty much guarantee the division belongs to LA.

Farmar hasn't been as explosive or dominating (sort of) as he was before JC was traded. Is he holding back? Is he hurt? Is he on a very short leash?
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Courage doesn't always roar.
Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying...'I will try again tomorrow.'

[prisma8slg]

thanks DB
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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."

[Heyvoon24]

Thanks DB...

Iv'e been saying this for a couple months now. As bad as Vlad plays at home he always seems to step up when the team needs him on the road. I still don't know why but it's just the way it is.