LAKERS -at- NUGGETS - 4/26 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Win No. 3 - Crushing the Spirit... It wasn't long ago that the thoughts of Colorado could make Kobe's stomach turn sour. It certainly still raises the ire of Laker fans who closely followed that court case. After Laker fans chanted "D-U-I" when Melo went the line at Staples, one wondered if the dark chapters of Kobe's past would swirl through Pepsi Center as Nuggets fans took revenge. Kobe took some "boo's" on his first few touches, but any life the Nuggets fans had was slowly taken from them.

Like a boa constrictor, the Lakers defense tightened around their prey on way to a 102-84 win. Melo and AI combined for 10-38 shooting and just 4 assists. Anytime Melo would make a move, the Lakers converged on him and let him force shot after shot. He never gave up the ball and paid the price.

An emotional team like the Nuggets can feed off their home crowd, but the Lakers gave them little to cheer about. They won the game in the third quarter, holding the Nuggets to 18 points while dropping 30 on them. Kobe and Fish led the charge in that quarter, showing the vet presence that pays off in the playoffs.

"In a game like tonight, on our home court, us giving up as a whole is uncalled for," Melo said. "Yeah. We quit. Everybody. From the coaches to the players, we quit. And I said it." He added, "You could just sense it. I'm saying 'we,' because I'm part of this, too. I'm saying I quit. We all just gave up."

I'm glad that quote wasn't coming from us. The Lakers need to keep the pressure on this mentally fragile team.


Kobe -- -- "I've never seen a chant block a jump shot," Kobe said, anticipating the worst from Nuggets fans. It never happened. Nuggets fans may have throught twice about pushing his buttons after the thrashing he gave Kenyon and Smith. The loudest chants he heard came from Laker faithful late in the game, serenading him with the familiar "M-V-P" chants. On the road. In the playoffs. Ouch... Koeb played a well-rounded game, leading the charge to start the third quarter by draining a number of jumpshots. He kept the Lakers on task by telling teammates to not let up when he had the Nuggets on the ropes. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-19 shooting (a poor 1-8 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. The Action: He was fouled on a three by Kenyon on his first attempt, he made two FTs. He found Fish for a three in early offense. He found Vlad on a jump pass for a score. He missed an early offense three. He traveled getting caught in the air on a pass. He banked off the pass from Pau after a great dive cut. He missed another early three. Good read to help Vlad defend the lob pass. He ballwatched and gave up a dunk to Kleiza. He missed on a spin, got it back and was blocked from behind. He hit Pau slipping the screen for a dunk. He picked up his second foul with a minute left in the first quarter (he wouldn't pick up another). He dunked off some interior passing with Gasol. He was stripped on the attack. He hit a one-hander in the lane. He missed another three off the high pinch post. He sat with a minute left, avoiding a third foul in the first half. He had 8 points on 3-7 shooting and 6 assists at the half. Second Half: He hit a 16-footer to start the second half. He swished a wing jumper with Martin right on him. He missed a baseline jumper. He hit a long jumper with a man on (all of these came at the start of the third and forced a timeout). Martin took a frustration foul on Kobe's next attack and Kobe earned FTs, he made one. He rattled in a quick sideline three. He airballed a real long three and knew he shouldn't have attempted that one. He airballed another three against the shotclock. He missed another three over the zone. He swished a three with the Lakers fans chanting "M-V-P."

Gasol -- -- Defensively, he helped control the paint with his length and help D (although we could have used a little more rebounding as we gave up a few too many offensive boards). Like others, he was especially aware of Melo's myopic game and took advantage of it with a couple rejections. Decent offensive game in the first half and wasn't really needed to score in the second half as he just had 1 point after the half. He left a few points at the line in this one. Seems like he can be a little streaky at the line. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting (4-7 from the line) to go with just 3 boards, 5 assists, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and only 1 foul in 37 minutes. The Action: He missed a layup in front of the rim. He dunked off the interior feed from Vlad. He hit Kobe cutting for a layup. He hit the 15-footer when Kobe drew a crowd. He drained a baseline jumper when Kobe kicked out. He slipped the screen and dunked the pass from Kobe. He hit Lamar for an And-1 under the hoop. He had the ball poked loose in the post for a turnover. Farmar lost the ball right to him and Pau scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He hit Kobe with the extra pass for a dunk. He got fouled on the throwdown attempt, he made one FT. He felt Camby leaning one way, he spun the other way and earned FTs in the post, he made both. He no-looked to Luke for a layup against the zone. He swatted AI at the end of the half. He had 13 points on 5-7 shooting at the half. Second Half: He swatted Melo's drive. He blocked Melo again. He missed a baseline jumper. He was wrapped up as he was about to throw down, he made one FT. He missed a jumphook.

Lamar -- -- We could have taken more advantage of the mismatches Lamar had at times, but we seemed to spread the attack around today. I would have liked to see him go at Kleiza a little more in the post early on. Defensively, Lamar played some excellent help D. He was continually aware of the Melo iso match-ups and would zone up or collapse on him to help clog the lanes. He had some good recoveries on his own man, as well. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-9 shooting (0-1 from three, 6-9 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 41 minutes. The Action: He scored an easy layup over Kleiza in the post. He missed a three, wide open. He went to the rim against the zone, took the pass and scored an And-1 layup over Kenyon, he made the FT. He missed a layup, diving down the lane. He missed a jumphook. He attacked to his left, held the ball high and drew FTs, he missed both. He drew FTs on the defensive glass, he made one. Second Half: He was fouled on a FT jumper, he made both. He pushed out a rebound and drew FTs in transition, he made both. He dunked after sealing Smith in the post. He drew a charge on Najera with a quick recovery on the drive. He traveled on a baseline attack. He missed a baseline one-hander.

Fisher -- -- Some veteran ice water in his veins, hitting big shots on the road when the Lakers needed it in the third. That leadership has been missing at the PG spot since he left. Fish simply outplayed Iverson today. AI scored just 15 on 5-16 shooting with only 3 assists. Meanwhile, DFish was draining three after three to make AI pay for leaving him and roaming. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting (4-5 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. The Action: He swished a sideline three off a cross-court pass from Kobe. AI flopped to draw a foul. He missed a wing jumper. He missed an open three over the zone. Second Half: Nice help on the glass tapping a board to a teammate. He went for a kill with an early three in transition, tasting blood and hitting it for a 16-point lead and a Nugget timeout in the third. He stripped Martin on help D, then took a shot to the head by Martin. He swished a three out of the timeout. He hit a layup off the pass from Luke. He missed a tech FT. He drained a wing three on a kickout from Kobe. He missed a baseline jumper.

Radmanovic -- -- Defensively, he and Luke are crowding Melo enough on shots to make life difficult and getting the support on the drives. With Melo not passing, it results in some lockdown D. Got to love it. If Anthony isn't going to give up the rock, it allows us to cheat off others without paying the price. Offensively, Vlad was a bit all over the place in this one with his shot. Luke is clearly taking up the slack at the SF, though. The Stats: He scored just 5 points on 2-9 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He airballed a wing jumper. He had a layup goaltended when Kobe found him under the hoop. He missed a layup. He missed a corner three. He hit Gasol with an interior feed for a dunk after drawing defenders. He missed a turnaround in the post. He swished a wide open three at the top of the key in early offense. He missed a challenged three over the zone (poor decision). Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He missed a wide open three.

Luke -- -- An efficient, effective and intelligent two-way game from Luke. He sliced up the D with passes on several occasions and stuck with the tight D and the game plan on Melo to help shut down the Nuggets offensive attack. He's certainly strung together some of his best games of the season at the right time. Health might have a bit to do with it, but his decision-making has certainly been better, too. Luke had a +9 off the bench. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-7 shooting (3-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. The Action: He charged on a post up. He earned FTs on a drive at the end of the first (went a little early, but it didn't cost us), he made one FT. He grabbed the Farmar miss and hit the putback. He hit Farmar cutting down the lane for a layup. He cut behind the zone and took the pass from Pau for the layup. Second Half: He stripped Melo in the post. He hit Lamar, Fish and Kobe for layups on three straight plays. He drew FTs boxing out Kleiza, he made both. He got undercut on a breakaway And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He drop-stepped and powered in a layup. He blocked Melo in the post. He scored a layup off the Sasha pass. He pulled down an offensive board and reset the offense. He then flipped in a layup off a drive and dish from Sasha. He missed a pull-up jumper.

Farmar -- -- A little more of a dynamic game from Farmar. Good to see him get into the paint and be effective on occasion. He even rose up and drained a jumper over a defender like AI had been doing to him. Defensively, he also had a much better go at it. We didn't see those easy blow-by's from AI without aid of a screen. He needs to build on this one. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-11 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 1 steal and no fouls in 16 minutes. The Action: He kicked out to Sasha for three. He sank a wing jumper with a man on him. He attacked baseline and went up strong for the layup. He hit Mbenga with a behind-the-back pass in traffic for a score. He got blocked on a turnaround from the post. Quick cut and Luke found him for the layup. He airballed a runner. He lost the ball right to Pau for an And-1. Second Half: He missed pull-up at the end of the quarter. He missed a three. He airballed his next attempt. He was fouled intentionally, he made one. He dunked after a steal in the back court.

Vujacic -- -- Sasha harnesses powers of irritation like some kind of superhero or villian, depending upon your perspective. He drew a flagrant elbow from Najera that will probably result in a suspension upon closer review. Combine that with draining his threes and Sasha played his role well. Good two-way game. He doesn't seem to get quite the help on Smith that we are giving for Melo or AI, but we didn't get killed today. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-5 shooting (2-3 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and no fouls in 19 minutes. The Action: He forced Smith into a turnover, causing him to lose the ball into the back court. He drained the wing three on the kickout from Farmar. He sagged off Smith and gave up a three. He drew a flagrant foul, getting dumped to the floor on the defensive end by a malicious elbow from Najera, he made both tech FTs (Najera will probably be suspended for that). He missed a long pull-up over Najera. Second Half: He knocked a ball loose on help D and it resulted in a transition score. He swished a three off the Gasol kickout. He contested Smith well, busted out and took the outlet to draw FTs, he made one. He missed a long jumper trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a quick-release three getting contested. He whipped a pass through traffic to Luke for the layup. He attacked, drew the D and flipped it to Luke in the paint for another layup.

Turiaf -- -- He got in the game with a few minutes left and hoisted a couple jumpers. The Lakers have handled his illness well in this series. Hopefully, the lack of playing time doesn't get Ronny too rusty. The Stats: He didn't score on two attempts, he grabbed 3 boards and had 1 foul in 4 minutes. The Action: He didn't play. Second Half: He missed a 19-footer on his first touch. He missed a short jumper in the lane.

Mbenga -- -- The Lakers finally had a taco-worthy defensive outing...an on the road no less. Mbenga is Phil's first bigman off the bench right now. That's been a quality late-season pickup by the team. With Bynum's injury dragging on, Mihm still recovering his game and now Ronny's illness, Mbenga has given some serviceable minutes. That's allowed us to have some rest for Pau without losing any ground. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting, grabbed 1 offensive board, had 1 steal and 1 foul in 7 minutes. The Action: He was called for a 5-second violation, not getting the ball in-bounds off a Nugget make fast enough when Farmar was pressured. He hit at the front of the rim when Farmar found him with a behind-the-back pass. He deflected a pass in transition D. Second Half: Nice help D to collapse on Melo and it helped Luke to block the shot.

Phil -- -- The team came to play and Phil had them poised to jump all over the Nuggets to start the third quarter. An excellent collective effort on both ends in this game... The Lakers didn't execute offensively at a high rate in the first quarter (some early threes, didn't take advantage of LO in the post), but we still led 23-20 off some solid D... The team led 53-46, getting a little distance with a run late in the second quarter. Great D by the Lakers on Melo anytime he attacked (he never passed and forced a number of shots, shooting just 2-10 and AI was 3-11 at the half). That helped keep the crowd out of it. We shot just 10-17 from the line and only 3-11 from three in the half, but held the Nuggets to just 39 percent shooting... The coaches stressed the importance of coming out with intensity right out of the half to match the Nuggets. They wanted to win the first 5 minutes... The Lakers pulled out to a 16-point third quarter lead in those first 5 minutes, raining jumpers from Kobe and Fish... The Nuggets went on a 6-0 run and the crowd started to get into the game. Phil didn't take a timeout until another make by the Nuggets. The Laker lead was down to 10 with 4:29 left in the third. This was the only time the crowd really seemed to have some life... After that timeout, we put together a 14-5 run... The Lakers had an 83-64 lead going into the fourth after holding the Nuggets 30-18 third quarter... Phil started the quarter with a Mbenga, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup. They played even for the first three minutes. The Nuggets seemed to wilt for the remainder of the quarter... Phil: "I told the team at halftime, 'They're not going to shoot like this for the whole game. They missed some close shots, some shots they usually make. We'll have to play better defense in the second half.' But they never showed up. They never got it going."... The Nuggets beat us on the offensive glass 15-5, but gave up 16 turnovers to our 8. We shot just 20-33 from the line. Glad we didn't need those points...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Check out the four runs the Lakers went on starting from late in the second quarter. The Nuggets only countered one of those.

[manofpeace]

Good stuff homie
_________________
"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

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap. Great win by the team. Hope we win the next game.

[Canuck]

[Annihilator]

[City_Dawg]

Thanks DB

And as a great man says pretty much everyday on the radio at about noon...

The D, shall set them free...

Step on their throats and let the game film pile up
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*sighs*

!...

[DancingBarry]

[Bryant-Bynum Lakers]

3 wins done, 13 more to go!
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1,2,3 RING.

[limchrc]

[Dr. Laker]

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

[Arizona]

Loved the boa constrictor analogy, DB! Hope we see more of that D!
_________________
“I’m just a basketball player, you know? Just put me where you need me.” -Lamar Odom

“You’ve got to play with pride and guts.” -LO

[ksmgf]

Thank you Now I can go to bed. What took you so long?

[DancingBarry]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[Klone_dd]

I can't really say that our D was stifling. Seemed like the Nugs missed a number of layups, and their iso offense got overly exposed.

Gotta give props to Luke. Very cool and efficient game. He showed some great patience and ability to find gaps in the Nug zone.

Also to Fish for his timely 3's.

[DancingBarry]

[venicebeach]

Great Job DB!!! Let's go Lakers

[Vadorojo]

Thanks a ton, DB! I wasn't able to catch the game, but your play-by-play (along with JD2K's videos!) help me feel as if I did!
_________________
"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

[LakerSanity]

Just watched the George Karl interview, he looked very deflated. Here are some quotes (from memory, excuse if I get a few words wrong)...

"The Lakers have this confidence about them, it's pretty powerful..."

"They are a better team than I thought they were..."

"I knew they were a good defensive team, but they are even better than that..."

"I respect them... I respect their versatility. They beat us three times in three different ways..."
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[jordanplusone]

[BLP711]

Nice recap DB. Thanks.

[DK]

Great recap DB. On the note of the Nuggs playing stupid ball and the physical nature of the game, I'm worried that something bad might happen next game. Kleiza, Martin, and Najera are all really emotional guys and you could see them play it out on the court (frustration fouls, bulling their way to the basket). It's not just dumb, it's dangerous.

[jeremysnowIII]

Hiya Mr. DancingBarry and everyone! I missed writing but Ihv been traveling and doing a lot of projcts for my classes.We just came back from Singapore and met Gramps in Boston.And flew back home. Gramps was so excited about the Boston gametoday.He said that Boston will still easily win the series but we are witnessing the coming of a new star in the League in Al Horford.Gramps says that Horford's Universty of FLorida team could have won a few games in the DL.His doctor colleege that Lives in Needham, and who is a Laker fan and who is close to a few Celtic types said there is a sense of frustration in the Celtics.They are tired of listng to Doc.Also Tom Thibidow is already starting to rub a few Celtic types the wrong way;but they like him becaus he wins.Coach Thibbie also knows there are a few teams that want him as a coaach.So like any teanms there are problms.Gramps compares the Altanta team to the Blazrs.He says the Blazers will be scary next year.Antlanta is startng to gel this year.Gramps calls Joe JOnhnson the poor man's Kobe. He says Atlanta is just a center and a back up point guard away from being confernce contenders.

Gramps feels that the eastern route coud be much toughfer for the Celtics than most people think.Teams with an athletic front line could give the Celtics a scare.Gramps says that if the planets line up correccty,Washington in the next roundcould extend the Celtics to six to seven games.Caron Butler and Antwan Jameson gives the Celtics fits with their athlticism.Gramps also says that the Pisotns would give the Celtics a very toughseries.He says that if the Cletics have to play long series,then it helps us have a slightly better chance.He says the Celtics do notwnat to play six,or seven game series, since they have some older veterns.Gramps says that Kedrick Perrkings and Ray Allen both have naggng aches so its tougher to play defense.But Gramps says we still have a very tough road ahead.

Gramps feels very bad for Andrew. A few weeks ago, Andrew's knee couldnet handle even the simple forward and backward weightbearing.But the Lakers are just taking the attitude that who knows what can happen.If Andrew is better in a few weeks, then fine.If not, then fine also.At least Andrew will be around the team during a very exciting time.Andrew at least he now gets a good days besides the bad days as compared to mostly bad days.So there is some good news but maybe not enough at a Nba level. Gramps says he's be happy if we make the champsionship and Andrew helps us with a few minutes of defense to win game 7.

[KOBE 2.0]

[yanyon]

wooohooo 23rd yessss....