SPURS -at- LAKERS - 4/13 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Lockdown... In the midst of a Western Conference showdown, the Lakers have defended home court with some of the best stints of two-way ball we have seen. Friday was a crushing first quarter against the Hornets, Sunday was a crushing second half against the Spurs.

The last thing I would have suspected seeing would be Kobe shutdown in the fourth quarter...and by shutdown, I mean sitting the whole fourth and icing his knees with 4 minutes left of a 106-85 Lakers blowout win.

The Spurs didn't have the services of Manu, Horry and Barry. The Lakers, of course, are still without Bynum and Ariza. With the scored tied 53-53 at halftime, the Lakers continued to find their offense (53 points again in the second half), but they held the Spurs to just 32 points in the half.

The post D on Duncan was superb. Pau challenged and blocked a number of shots and the Lakers collapsed and helped as Duncan made his moves. Duncan scored 16 points on 6-19 shooting and had just 2 assists. He wasn't effective at getting his own shots nor getting good looks for teammates. Tony Parker had 18 points in the first half, but was held to just 2 in the second. "We did a much better job with our defensive rotations and our execution," Kobe said.

The Lakers now have to take care of business against the Kings...something the Hornets couldn't do, leaving the door wide open for any team with the will to take the Western Conference.


Kobe -- -- "Daddy for MVP" read the signs held up by Kobe's family. With Spike Lee filming Kobe all day, including access to the locker room, the atmosphere was certainly cranked up to playoff level in more ways than one. Kobe was a little sloppy (with 4 turnovers in the first half), but he tightened that up. Despite playing three quarters and having the offense go through a number of players, he still led the team in points and assists. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-14 shooting (3-6 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. The Action: He lost the handle on our first possession. He missed a long three. He attacked off the split and was tripped for FTs, he made one. He was doubled in the post and found Lamar for a dunk. He was whacked from behind on an offensive board, he made both FTs. He stole the ball in the backcourt, then turned it right back over. He banked, facing up on Bowen like he was Duncan. He sank a three on an in-bounds pass with the shotclock low. He hit Lamar for an And-1 off the screen-roll. He missed a three at the end of the quarter. He swished a three working off the cross screen and taking a kickout from Pau. He charged on a pass off. He missed a corner jumper. He missed a layup off dribble penetration, but Gasol cleaned it up. Next trip down, he blew past Duncan for a layup. He had 13 points on 4-8 shooting, 2 assists, 2 steals and 4 turnovers. Second Half: He missed a pull-up jumper. He missed a long two in transition. He rejected a shot badly, sending the ball right to Fish to ignite transition and a score. He attacked off the high screen from Pau and fed him for the score. He fouled Bowen on a three, uggh (Bowen bricked two from the line). He iso'd on Udoka, got into the lane and hit over him. He forced a jumper and didn't draw iron on the shot. He attacked down the lane and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a pull-up from the top of the key. He took the long outlet, pulled up at the top of the three arc as defenders went by and hit the three at the end of the third. He didn't play in the fourth.

Gasol -- -- He may not be a lockdown defender, but his length and smarts give people enough problems. He marginalized much of what Duncan hoped to accomplish on iso. The real key is how Pau defends those screen-rolls. The Lakers really took the Spurs out of that in the second half. Pau has also been good at avoiding fouls. Offensively, again, some great running of the floor. He is such a weapon when we can find him in those situations. He missed a few chippies and jumpers, otherwise he might have had a more effective shooting game. When Duncan came to help others, Pau was able to make them pay when he got the ball. Like Kobe, he got to rest during the fourth. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-15 shooting to go with 11 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. The Action: He missed a jumphook over Duncan. He missed a short one after getting an offensive board. He dunked off the two-man with DFish. He hit a jumphook in transition. He missed a turnaround out of a timeout. He couldn't finish a tricky alley-oop from Kobe. He jumped the passing lane on a sideline in-bounds, tipped it ahead and pushed it out for the breakaway dunk. He swatted Duncan's shot and pushed out the break. He missed a dunk off the two-man with Fish. He dunked back in a Kobe miss layup. He had 8 points on 4-10 shooting, 6 boards and 2 assists. Second Half: He missed a face-up jumper with the shotclock low. He dunked off a great extra pass in transition from Fish. He cut baseline as Lamar drew a crowd, took the pass and finished. He blocked Duncan's post move on one end, then hit in the lane off the pass from Kobe on the other. He back-rimmed an open 10-footer. He grabbed the defensive board and quickly outlet to Kobe at the end of the quarter for a three.

Lamar -- -- Lamar played to his strengths on all but a few occasions today. When he had a smaller man on him, he got into the post. When he had a bigger PF, he attacked him off the dribble. There were a few sequences where he settled for a jumper (he actually made one today), but his ability to otherwise use the mismatch opened up a lot for himself and others. The Spurs might have solutions on how they want to deal with Pau or Kobe, but Lamar is a problem. He was our only impact starter on the floor in that fourth quarter and helped give us that inside-out aspect to our offense. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 14 boards, 4 assists and 1 foul in 38 minutes. The Action: He missed a drive. He iso'd on Oberto and drew a foul, he made both FTs. He dunked when Kobe drew the double and he cut to the hoop. He missed a top-of-the-key jumper. He scored an And-1 layup off the screen-roll with Kobe, he missed the FT. He posted up Finley and drew FTs, he made both. He scored a layup off Ronny's high-low pass. He swished a wing jumper to beat the shotclock (first jumper he's made in I don't know how long). He had 12 points on 4-6 shooting, 4-5 from the line to go with 7 boards. Second Half: He iso'd on Thomas and drew FTs, he made one. He posted up, drew Duncan to him and hit Pau cutting baseline for the score. Probably his poorest few seconds of the game: He settled for a jumper and missed instead of posting up Udoka, then on the other end, he gave up a 4-point play to Udoka after sagging and fouling on the recovery in the corner. He missed an up-and-under in the post, easy make he should have had. He missed a bank, iso'ing with space at the top of the lane and attacking to his left. He missed a three badly with 5 on the shotclock. He sealed Udoka, took the post feed and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a jumphook on the baseline. He dunked back in a lob miss by Turiaf.

Fisher -- -- One of the key players of the game. Fish helped ignite our third quarter on both ends. We needed one of our role players to have a great game. Someone had to rise to the occasion and DFish certainly did that. He hit shots, he set up teammates for layups and he held the line in the second half defensively against Parker. His energy helped spark the team and the crowd today. Even DFish's misses today were in-and-out jobs. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 steal, no turnover and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He hit Pau off the two-man for a dunk. He got tapped on a wing jumper. He drained a sideline jumper. He missed an open three, getting tapped again. He swished a wing pull-up in early offense. Second Half: He swished a jumper behind a drag screen. He missed a sideline jumper. He nearly blindsided Duncan for a steal and dove into the first row trying to save it. He sank an open three when Lamar drew a double in the post. He hit Gasol on the break with a great extra pass for a dunk. He deflected a pass in the backcourt to cause a turnover. He curled around the screens, found himself open and hit the three. He pulled up on the baseline in transition next time down and hit. He hit Vlad trailing the break for a dunk on our next trip. Good D and Parker dribbled the ball off his foot for a shotclock violation.

Radmanovic -- -- He was one of the few weak links we had out there today. Vlad just didn't seem to get engaged in this one. We'll need better efforts if we face up with the Spurs again. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. The Action: He missed a wing three. He bricked badly in the post. Second Half: He dunked when DFish hit him in transition.

Turiaf -- -- Ronny picked a great time to step up his game. He was one of the x-factors today. His jumper was falling and he played some quality D. He made the Spurs pay anytime he got some room to shoot. He also had one of the highlight plays of the game, stealing the ball on the perimeter, then finish the break with a throwdown off the lob from Farmar. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-9 shooting, had 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. The Action: He tipped out an offensive board to reset the offense (it led to a three by Sasha). He blew a lob throw down attempt. He swished a kickout from Lamar from 19 feet out. He drained a wing jumper over Duncan. Nice high-low pass to Lamar for the layup, after Ronny worked on Duncan in the post. He hit Luke on the next trip down with a bounce pass for a layup. Second Half: He faced up and hit a 13-footer from the wing. He rejected Stoudamire's penetration. He sank a 17-footer from the elbow, feeling it. He drew a charge on Parker on the other end. He couldn't finish over Duncan off a pass from Luke. He couldn't finish the lob (wanted the foul), but Lamar cleaned it up. Great play, jumping the passing lane to steal the pass to Duncan, he gave it up to a guard, then got it back on a long alley-oop and flushed it down. He missed a jumper. He was stripped on a drive.

Luke -- -- Luke's size gives the Spurs some problems, but we had our choice of size advantages in this game, particularly with Lamar...so we milked that a lot. When we aren't looking to use him as a hub in the offense, Luke has to be able to hit with jumper or draw the D off an attack. He did a little bit of all that today with some effectiveness. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. The Action: He threw a pass away trying to thread the needle to Sasha. He scored a layup off the bounce pass from Ronny. He bricked badly off a pull-up 18-footer in early offense. No hesitation when an offensive board came out to him and he drained the wing three. He had 5 points on 2-3 shooting. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He stripped the ball off Finley to regain possession. Nice feed to Ronny, who missed the finish, Luke got tapped on the putback then hit hard from behind by Bowen (who argued it, could have been flagrant the way they call them). He took the post pass, his man reached, came up empty and Luke scored the layup. He airballed a jumper.

Farmar -- -- Good game from Farmar. He had a couple of turnovers that weren't the smartest of plays, but he was aggressive at getting into the paint. The second unit killed the Spurs to start the fourth. That is Farmar's critical assignment. To give us a push in those first 5 minutes of the fourth. They did the job today. Defensively, he let Parker have some far too easy drives in the first half. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-5 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: Parker blew past him twice without the aid of screens. He missed a three. He hit a pull-up jumper on the baseline. He drew FTs and made both. Second Half: He worked off the high screen, got penetration and his layup bounced in with some soft touch. He dribbled the ball into the lane and then lost it after stopping. He had Bowen match up on him in transition, he sized him up and attacked off the dribble to reverse with ease. Horrible pass, getting caught in the air, then not bouncing it and it was picked off. He alley-ooped to Turiaf on the break for a throwdown. He sank a wing three.

Vujacic -- -- He picked up a double tech with Udoka (Sasha gonna get in your head, Ime). He his usually effective self from the perimeter but he was a bit OC in garbage time, trying to drive into traffic and create for others. Not his strength, but I didn't mind him doing it at that stage of the game. Hopefully, he will take note that the Spurs are probably too good a defensive team for him to try to attack like that. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 21 minutes. The Action: He kicked out, his man left him, he faded back to the three line, got it back and hit. He missed a weak attempt on a reverse. He lost the handle with no pressure trying to make a move, it resulted in a layup the other way. Second Half: A quick three working off the set play on the wing rattled out. He missed a long corner jumper trying to beat the shotclock. He nailed the three when left open at the top of the key. Bad return pass to Mbenga on the two-man game for a turnover. He curled down the lane and lost the ball. He posted up and swished a turnaround (show me that again, first time I recall him working the midpost...with his size, he should get some good looks on those).

Newble -- -- He got a little run in garbage time. The Lakers held their own at the SF spot in this game and didn't need his D. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting, had 2 boards and 1 foul in 4 minutes. The Action: No first half action. Second Half: He pulled down an offensive board off a Ronny miss. He banged down a sideline three in early offense.

Mbenga -- -- A brief Mbenga sighting late into garbage time. The Stats: He played 2 minutes and had an assist. The Action: Nothing to report.

Phil -- -- I'm not sure if BShaw's call for D from the guards was something the team worked on, but the Lakers have looked much sharper lately on some of our defensive rotations. Hopefully, it's something they are putting more emphasis on now that we have entered playoff time... Phil yapped at the refs early on about Parker's travel on his spin move. (He gets away with some many extra hops and skips on that move)... The Lakers led 25-23 after the first quarter. Parker had 10 points and 4 assists in the quarter... Phil called a timeout after we gave up yet another look at a wide open corner three... He sat Kobe and Pau to start the second quarter. He rested Kobe for 4 minutes, Pau for 5:30 and the second unit held the line... We went to full-court pressure off a FT and gave up an And-1 (we got a steal previously, but had turned it right back over.)... We had a 47-41 lead. (Pop called timeouts twice when we hit threes to get that lead.) The Spurs tied the game up with a 6-0 run out of that second timeout... Both teams were tied 53-53 after the first half. We gave up 30 points to the Spurs in the second quarter. Parker had 18 points and 5 assists in the first half.... The Lakers put together a 26-14 third, an excellent two-way quarter. The Spurs shot 3-17 in the third. "Our defense is the reason we're here with the 12-point lead," Phil said during the interview before the fourth... The second unit destroyed the Spurs to start the fourth with a 15-1 run. Ballgame... We shot 50 percent from the floor and made 10-19 threes. We out-rebounded the Spurs 51-36...

Game Flow -- LINK -- A couple of long runs in the second half. We dominated the third and buried the Spurs with a 15-1 run in the fourth.

[Annihilator]

Very nice writeup.
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“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”

--Anonymous

[KOBE 2.0]

Even if Manu played I think it would have been a blow-out we were just to good today.

[manofpeace]

Is it me or has Vlad lost his touch the last couple games?
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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

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

DID SPIKE LEE EVER FOLLOW CHRIS PAUL AROUND WITH A FILM CREW? NO!
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[big E]

Lose Houston!!!

[Medvedenko]

Great write up as usual....

Vlad has lost his touch lately but as long as he plays decent D and moves the ball around he'll be ok.

[prisma8slg]

#1 seed here we come! :rock I never would've imagined that we'd blow out the spurs today. I knew we could get a win, but to blow them out...

thanks DB

I have to say, Kobe's daughters' MVP signs are adorable
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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."

[hi_ma]

Nice of the PJ to keep his stars out of the 4th .......or I mean thanks to the
role guys. excellent game to watch.
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The lakers will get prince.

[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".

[Trevacious]

[20,000]

Gameball goes to Fish
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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.'

[FerrisVille]

[24KaratGold]

So what is Spike planning on doing with the film? When will we see it?
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Double rings > Double rainbow

[ChefLinda]

Fourteenth! Nice write-up, DB. Thanks.

[Mike C]

DB, thanks for the write up, can't wait until you have an opportunity to include Andrew. Great game for the Lakers, and on national TV too!

[I'm The Dan]

[BigE32]

Thanks, DB. I loved Gasol's post D on Duncan today. I also thought that we did a good job of helping out at times. Good job of staying on their shooters in the second half IMO even though we fouled two three point attempts. They only made five out of 17 three point attempts. LO definitely gave them fits today, and Fish played a really good third quarter. Our second unit did a great job of extending the lead allowing KB and Pau to sit the entire fourth quarter. I know they were shorthanded, just like us, but I liked our effort on the defensive end in the second half. Better job on Parker as he only scored two points in the second half. Excellent win.

[DancingBarry]

[lakerzfan0417]

wow what a nice win this was

[Sage_10]

Thanks DB! Great win.
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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

[Arizona]

[KBryantisclutch]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[Klone_dd]

DFish has really cranked it up the last two games. His long range shooting has been spot on, giving his opposing PG something to worry about.

Pau, also, has cranked it up. Especially on the defensive end. His ankle must not be giving him any problems because he looks very quick and fluid. He's been playing the P&R game exceptionally well, both offensively and defensively.

One more to close out and then the real season begins.