BARCELONA -at- LAKERS - 10/18 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Rain from Spain was Mainly Tamed with Lakers in the Passing Lane... (It was worth a try, anyway). Despite some pretty shooting from behind the three line by Barcelona, the Lakers had a layup line throughout the game. They jumped the passing lanes and turned defense into offense (41 points off 27 turnovers). Dunk after dunk by the Lakers carried them on their way to a 108-104 win.

The guys on the bubble had a rough time keeping the Laker leads in both halves. These may not be the playoffs, or even have the flavor of a regular-season rivalry, but these are big games...they are some of the biggest games of a few young players' careers.

Here is C.J. Giles, a bigman with a troubled college past, trying to earn that first NBA payday. He's got three bigmen in front of him at the center spot. He's got another three at the power forward position. Every practice, every minute counts.

Here is Joe Crawford, the late second-rounder out of Kentucky, a Detroit native looking to make his NBA dream come true.

Here is Coby Karl, the incumbent. The kid with NBA genes who has overcome his own obstacles with cancer and is trying to show that he belongs in this league.

Here is Brandon Heath, already with a brief taste as a journeyman after playing overseas in his first year out of SDSU. All he wants is a chance.

The battle for the roster spot is four games deep. We don't see what goes on in practice, but we get a glimpse of each as they make their case in the preseason. It's easy for fans to rip on them for struggling, but if you don't think they feel every one of their mistakes, you're mistaken. They do...and then some.

If they don't make the NBA, they'll be looking for that paycheck from teams from faraway places like the Lakers opponent tonight, Barcelona. None of them have stood out in games, but they've each had their moments.


Kobe -- -- A more Kobe-esque game for No. 24 (for preseason, anyway). A few times in this game he would yell "Get up!" on his shot, trying to talk the ball over the front of the rim. His jumper was more there tonight than it has been all preseason. He simply overpowered his men on a number of occasions, as well. Defensively, he was a cat on the prowl, tallying 6 steals in limited minutes. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 10-14 shooting (2-4 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 6 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 27 minutes. The Action: He posted up Navarro with ease and drew a foul, he made one FT. He lost his man on a step-through move from the elbow and banked off the glass. He couldn't guide in a long alley oop. He then drained a wing three in transition on the next offensive set. He posted up, took the entry pass and scored with ease. He pushed out the break off the Fish steal, ball-faked behind his back then lobbed to Vlad for the oop. He pump-faked, tried to draw a foul and swished the 18-footer. He missed a three next time down. He was short on a sideline three. He missed an easy layup and was wondering where the foul call was. He hit a short pull-up jumper in the lane. He swiped a pass from a big, jumping into a lane and drawing FTs on the break, he made both. He swiped another pass and collided with a player for more FTs, he made both. He had 16 first half points. Second Half: He overpowered his man for an easy pull-up in the lane. He jumped the passing lane and went in for the uncontested dunk. He swished a pull-up three from the left wing. Bynum poked a ball loose and Kobe swiped it for a breakaway dunk. He attacked from the wing, took contact and banked with his left for the And-1, he made the FT.

Gasol -- -- Pau went up against his old team, FC Barcelona, where he spent 5 years. Because of that, Pau said prior to the game that he was a little more motivated in tonight's match up. He put in short minutes, but played well. He's finding himself in some odd spots on the floor in the Triangle, but seems to be avoiding problems. The most odd was probably running the pinch post with Bynum, taking the handoff and attacking off the dribble. His highlight of the game was probably the push-out on the break and no-looking to Vlad. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-11 shooting (1-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. The Action: He quickly found Vlad off the Bynum jumpball for a score. He missed a face up jumper from the right side. He hit a quick And-1 turnarond in the lane in early offense, he made the FT. He sealed his man, took the entry off the Tri corner sequence and scored with ease. Good job running the floor and Lamar lobbed to him from 30 feet away for the dunk. He missed a hook, tracked the ball down and reset the offense, then cleaned a Luke miss with a putback. Second Half: He backed his man down and scored a layup with ease. He took the corner entry from Vlad and dunked. He got swatted on a layup. He got low position, took the pass, missed, got it back and drew FTs, he missed both. He pushed out the break, went between his legs, looked off a defender while bouncing a pass to Vlad for the score.

Bynum -- -- Bynum's agent said that he had grown an inch and now stands at 7-1. Seems like we hear that every year, but he does look taller than Pau. He was flat-footed on D tonight and didn't do a good job on the glass. The two-way activity level seems tough to maintain for him so far this preseason. Offensively, he had some nice moments, including a dunk that showed some good explosion. Good sign. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-7 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. The Action: He took the corner entry, went to the other side of the rim and hooked with his left for the score. He took the ball at the freethrow line, went to the dribble with two men on his hip, then went up and under with his left for a score. He missed a FT jumper on the next possession. He drew FTs on an entry pass, he made one. He pulled down a Kobe miss and drew FTs on the putback attempt, he made both. He dunked off the quick entry pass from Karl from the perimeter. Second Half: He took the Gasol pass, attacked, pivoted and hit the short jumphook. He missed a layup that he should have dunked and wanted the foul. Nice reach on the perimeter to poke a ball loose and it led to a Kobe dunk. Lamar threw one up for Bynum and Drew streched and threw it down from the top of the restricted circle. His best throwdown thus far.

Fisher -- -- Quiet game from DFish. Not much to report in this one. Some decent D at times. He mixed it up a little with Santiago under the hoop and both went to the floor. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting, grabbed 2 boards, dished 3 assists and had 2 steals and 2 fouls. The Action: He missed a couple attempts from three.

Radmanovic -- -- Vlad got the start in place of Lamar, which allows more room for the bigs underneath. He had some nice triangle sequences, particularly with the corner entry passes to bigs that led directly to scores. He also had several dunks throughout the game, getting out on the break. Defensively, he was active and jumping the lanes, which he can do with those bigmen behind him. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 18 minutes. The Action: He scored a layup off a quick pass from Pau out of the opening tip. He missed a wing three. Nice anticipation snagging a pass in the middle of the lane. He deflected a pass, nearly causing a steal and dumping someone's nachos in the process, but we couldn't recover it (the pass...or the nachos, I guess). Excellent perimeter challenge, switching with Bynum and forcing a brick. He threw down, attacking with aggression after Lamar found him in transition. He hit Pau on the corner sequence for the easy layup. Some excellent rotations twice on one defensive sequence and it helped cause a shotclock violation. He threw down when Kobe faked behind his back then lobbed to him on the break. Second Half: He missed a fallaway from the post. He drew FTs attacking on the break, he made both. He took the telegraphed pass and coasted down court for the dunk. He bounced the corner entry into Pau for a dunk. He filled the lane for Pau on the break, grabbed the sweet bounce pass and took it in for the reverse layup.

Lamar -- -- He started on the bench as Vlad got the nod with the tall lineup. He came in for Bynum after 7 minutes. Good all-around minutes from Lamar, the up-and-down nature of the game playing to his strengths. He still had some very good half-court sequences, including one that set Bynum up with a huge throwdown. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. The Action: Nice push out in the middle of the floor, he bounced to Vlad who dunked on the break. He attacked with speed and fed Pau under the hoop, but Pay couldn't finish. He drew FTs in early offense and made one. He grabbed the rebound, pushed it out and lobbed to Pau from 30+ feet for the dunk. He drew FTs on a good defensive box out on the glass, he made one. He powered up an And-1 when Ariza set him up, he made the FT. Second Half: He missed a tough scoop, attacking to his left. He attacked from the corner and let Bynum chase a lob pass for a nasty dunk, great play. He dunked when Farmar flipped it to him trailing the break. He pushed out the break with a high dribble, drew the D and tossed it to Ariza for the easy score. He lost the handle getting ready to finish.

Farmar -- -- Some sweet passing from Farmar in this one. He may not have had a huge game scoring-wise, but he played with impact by setting up others a number of times. He was clearly the better of the PGs tonight. Defensively, he had a few steals and even stood in to try to take a charge. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 18 minutes. The Action: He tried to lob to Ariza on the break and Ariza let it go for a turnover. Next time, Jordan led Ariza with a sweet bounce pass past the defender for the layup. He blindsided a bigman on help D, pushed out the break and lobbed to Ariza for the throwdown. Second Half: Nice crash on the defensive glass to swipe the ball from a Barcelona big. Got to give Farmar some props for stepping in front of an attacking player trying to draw the charge, didn't get the call but it was close (that's what I want to see more of this season). He pushed out in a hurry, drew the D and fed Mbenga for the score. He flipped a pass behind his head on the break to a trailing LO for the dunk. Excellent finish on the long alley oop from Luke, the pass was a little to his left, so Farmar adjsuted and flipped it in behind him after getting up near the rim. He missed a wing three. He swiped a perimeter pass, somehow dribbled between a couple defenders and pitched it to Ariza for the dunk. He set up Ariza for FTs on the next trip. He missed a wing three. He scored a layup with a good cut off the ball.

Ariza -- -- Another excellent game from Ariza. He probably leads the Lakers in getting out on the break first so far this season. He is often one of the first down the floor and it gets him some good opportunities vs. the slow-down half-court sets. Defensively, he like others, was aggressively going after passes. He also had a number of good perimeter challenges. He and Farmar seem to surprise a lot of shooters in that regard. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. The Action: Aggressive attack in transition, he drew the D, hung in the air and dropped the dime to Lamar who scored the And-1. He missed a runner off the glass. He scored a layup off a great bounce pass from Farmar on the break (again, good running of the floor by Ariza). He hung in the air and jammed off the Farmar breakaway alley-oop pass. Second Half: He jumped the passing lane to swipe the ball and ignite the break. He tried to (bleep) back and dunk on a Barcelona big and couldn't finish it. He dunked when Farmar swiped the pass and pitched it to him. Next time down, Farmar set him up for FTs. He finished the push out by Lamar with an easy layup.

Mihm -- -- Good first stint banging down low, pulling down boards, challenging shots. He's looked very good in his short minutes in the past two games. That is a very, very good sign for both him and the team. Again, he put up good numbers in his brief time on the floor. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-4 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 6 boards and 2 fouls in just 11 minutes. The Action: He missed a jumphook with the shotclock low. He pulled down the defensive board on one end, then hit the short fade in the lane on the other. Aggressive work off the two-man sequence, he kicked it out, posted up, banged and drew FTs, just some hard-nosed action mixing it up nicely, he made both FTs. Second Half: He hit a jumphook in the lane. He attacked and spun in an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He went to the line again when intentionally fouled.

Luke -- -- His first action of the preseason came with 2 minutes left in the first quarter. He seemed to be mobile, but wasn't really tested or put on an island defensively. Still, it seems he's in decent shape physically. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 18 minutes. The Action: He missed a short bank from the left side. He got tapped on a layup on the break. He missed an open three from the top of the key. Second Half: He missed a corner three. He lobbed to Mbenga on the break for a dunk.

Mbenga -- -- After some initial turnovers, he seemed to settle in and play decently. Mihm is outplaying him at the moment, but Mbenga still had his moments. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-4 shooting, grabbed 2 rebounds, had 2 steals, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 9 minutes. The Action: No action. Second Half: He scored when Farmar set him up on the drive and dish. He had a couple travels, once pushing out the break and the other trying to post up. He forced a pass into Luke for a turnover. Nice job moving his feet to beat his man to the spot and draw the charge. He got blocked on a post-up. He deflected a lob pass to prevent a hoop. He grabbed a Luke miss and easily scored. He threw down the lob from Luke on the break and did a chin-up.

Crawford -- -- He got in with 6 minutes left in the game. He probably played the best of the bubble boys (although not by much). He and Karl didn't get a turnover, which was rare for those deep bench units that lost big leads. Some of his offense benefited from late, intentional fouls. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-2 shooting (3-4 from the line to go with 1 foul in 6 minutes. The Action: No action, first half. Second Half: He missed a layup on the break. He took the outlet from Sun and scored an easy layup. He was fouled intentionally for FTs a couple of times and made three.

Heath -- -- He got in with 6 minutes left in the game. He looked a little shaky when the pressure D was on. He wasn't very aggressive offensively, and he hasn't made a strong case since the first game. The Stats: He didn't score, didn't take a shot, had 1 rebound and 1 turnover in 6 minutes. The Action: No action. Second Half: He was called for a hesitation dribble trying to create with the shotclock low.

Sun Yue -- -- Yikes. He just had a miserable time out there and looked every bit of a rookie. He played just 11 minutes but led the Lakers with 5 turnovers. Ouch. He just did not look comfortable at all. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting, had 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 11 minutes. The Action: Looked like he got hit on the arm as he passed and the ball went back court for a violation. He missed an elbow jumper, short. He used his off arm to clear out as he brought up the dribble, second turnover. His entry pass to Bynum was deflected for a turnover. His man threw down an oop on him. Second Half: He swiped a pass under the hoop and quickly outlet to Crawford for the layup. He had a pass blocked and turned it over. He missed a corner three. He got trapped at midcourt and tried to throw the ball off a player, turned it over, blocked the shot, but Barcelona scored anyway.

Karl -- -- Not much to report from Coby. He had one of the nicer passes to a big man on the night, but other than that his minutes were relatively quiet. The Stats: He had 1 assist in 6 minutes. The Action: Good work to draw a moving screen call. Great, quick entry to Bynum from the top of the arch and it led to an easy dunk. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Giles -- -- He has shown a good looking jumphook, some range on his jumper and some good athleticism. But didn't show much of it tonight. Again, another of the guys having a tough time seizing an open roster spot. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting, had 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 11 minutes. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He forced a pass to a cutter for a turnover. He missed a reverse layup on a quick attack late in the game.

Phil -- -- He started with the Bynum, Pau, Vlad, Kobe, Fisher lineup and then swapped out Bynum for Lamar after 7 minutes... With 2 minutes left in the quarter, Phil went with Pau, Lamar, Luke, Kobe and Farmar. A minute later he brought in Mihm for Pau and Ariza for Kobe... The Lakers had a 29-19 lead after the first quarter. They had just 3 turnovers at this point... Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Ariza, Farmar at the 7-minute mark of the second... Phil then went with a Bynum, Giles, Karl, Sun, Kobe lineup. Sun and Coby were the two-guard front. They quickly gave away the large lead... The Lakers shot 54 percent to Barcelona's 37 percent in the first half. The Lakers went 1-6 from three, while Barcelona made 9/20. L.A. had a points-in-the-paint advantage of 32-8. So, you can see where the teams were attacking from. L.A. led 53-44 at the half... Some very good defensive rotations throughout the game, but especially in the third... The Lakers led 83-68 after three... The Mihm, Giles, Sun, Crawford, Heath lineup nearly gave away a big lead again. Phil let them win or lose the game down the stretch... The Lakers had 19 steals in the game, but also turned the ball over 23 times. Half of those turnovers, however, were from guys not likely to see a lot of minutes... Barcelona finished the game shootin 15-35 from three. The Lakers were just 2-13 from distance. However, they were 39-61 from inside the arc, with a ton of easy transition hoops off those 19 steals...

[lakersfreak]

DB
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[AllorNothing]

Did our D improved this game? 104 points seems a lot.

[DancingBarry]

[PakaLOLO]

thanks DB

Anyone know why Powell DNP?
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[tw-lakbfan]

[ElginBaylor]

Thanks DB. Being out of the loop here in IN, your write-up is the most thorough report out there on last night's game. I think MSNBC didn't even know it was going on as it's not even listed on their scoreboard.

One of the best things I gleaned from your report was that Mihm is looking decent so far. Like you said, that's great news for him and the team.
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[KingKobe]

Pretty much everyone on the team looked better tonight, from Kobe and Bynum all the way down to MBenga. Part of it might be due to playing against a non NBA team, but I also attribute it a lot to the 5 days of working on our offense and defensive rotations. Also, our weakness of transition D wasn't called into question here as much.

But on that subject, while transition defense might be pegged as our Achilles heel right now, the philosophy of one of the bigs hits the boards and the other sprints down the court for the quick post could come in handy in reverse, where one guy crashes the offensive glass and the other tries to stifle a potential fast break. Right now I think too many people on the team are thinking boards over defensive balance, but I think with some experiance on the court we can minimize this potential disadvantage quite a bit.

Other thoughts, the Mihm/Odom/Walton/Ariza/Farmar line-up looked great out there. This looked more like the Odom of the Clippers then I've seen in a while. Playing with Farmar and Ariza really allows him to play to his strengths, and he looked like he was having fun out there. Despite what might have been said, I think Odom will start looking forward to playing with the bench as much as the staters as he gets to play like he wants and run teams into the ground. In addition, where once Mihm was a a slightly above average starting center, he seems to be finding his place as the very above average back up we always wanted of him. Even Luke looked better out there, as his advantages (passing, setting up the half court set) seemed to fit nicely and his disadvantages (latteral movement) were somewhat hidden by the defensive flexability of the long and mobile Ariza and Odom playing next to him.

It was only one pre seaosn game and against a non-NBA team at that, but I think those 5 days of practice are really showing their dividends in the from of improved offensive and defensive rotations.
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*Warning: The preceding post may have contained sarcasm and/or irony.

"We're all surrounded by idiots." - Kobe Bryant

[limchrc]

Thanks

[dcarter4kobe]

Yue looked to much like Luke Walton
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[Addicus]

Great recap DB.

For those who could not see the game - Vlad was a monster! He jump started the defense with actve feet and active hands. On offense he had great ball movement and fluid cuts. A lot of strong finishes at the rim. Impressive!

I see Heath getting cut for two reasons right now -
1. That terrible discontinued dribble he has.
2. The ugly face he shows to the refs and coaches when he gets called for carrying on that terrible discontinued dribble.

Sun Yue looked not ready for prime time.

Mbenga is a physical beast. His throwdown was Shaq like.

Mimh is back! I am so glad he and the team never lost faith. We are so much deeper with a capable veteran center who can play both ends of the floor.

Luke looked okay for coming off surgery. My wonder is how does he fit into this group of aggressive defensive players with his physical limitations? Also, will Sasha's return eat up his minitues on that 2nd unit? I see him being the odd man out if we play defense like tonight during the season. He better keep those naked pics of Phil he has on tap.
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Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[Freakout]

First unit looked much better than it has. Andrew and Pau had a few sequences that gives one hope.

I honestly didn't even notice the rebounds for Andrew. Often he was confused on the switching when he was with Giles at the 4. On the other hand he and Pau did pretty solid at it.

I thought Luke looked............like Luke.

I do like that second unit and it will only get better when Sasha is back.

[raffi]

Thx DB.

[Tanlentueux]

Thanks for the recap. yeah, Powell DNP.

[ImmortalD24]

Thanks DancingBarry!
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60!

[StuLantz#1]

Thanks DB.

-All the bubble guys are easy cuts (Yue would be there too if he didn't already have a guaranteed contract, the thing I like least about him that I saw time and again in the Olympics is how passive he is; he might get better even though I'm not incredibly optimistic, but it doesn't matter since he's just an experiment player getting garbage time minutes anyway).

-I'm hardly one to make excuses for Bynum's rebound shortcomings, but this was kind of an anomaly game with all those shots from distance that had long bounces. He did have a chance at 2-3 boards he didn't get position on, so no excuses on that. His shot was falling tonight, he's just not going get that many touches in the game since it appears Gasol is still the clear 2nd option.

-I don't think the Gasol/Bynum tandem has figured out a way to exploit teams together offensively even though they looked better out there on Saturday. When they're both on the floor it really seems to lock down our interior d though, but we still get burned from jumpshots. Whenever a perimeter player doubles you know they'll never recover (I wish the rest of the team was showing the activity Rad is, but he's guilty of this too).

-Back in the day when the Kings had Bobby Jackson backing up Bibby I always thought that was a really nice luxury and I feel Farmar brings us the same edge. I can't help but sometimes wonder how good Farmar really is (defensively the guy definitely has question marks which will always limit his true potential, but I mean offensively)--like if you were to put him on some scrub team and loosen his leash. I wonder the same about Bynum, who I think might be able to fill the stat sheet now that he's shown an arsenal of moves. Bynum needs more touches than Gasol to get his head in the game, and I also wish he had Gasol's control/command in the post. This makes me question if Bynum would be any less flustered than Gasol against Boston type D, but Gasol had his chance.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! This is the first preseason game I missed as my internet was not functioning. I appreciate the flavor for the game I can get from reading your summaries.

Your writeup and the replies paint an encouraging picture here:

Seeing Vlad the Impaler take the place of Space Cadet!

Knowing our starting unit is cutting down on the turnovers.

Understanding that Mihm has a chance of proving all of his doubters wrong. 10 pts, 6 rebounds in 11 minutes. I know it's a short stint, but not bad for a guy who was supposed to be finished and crippled for life!!

It also sounds like Odom the heartless is starting to turn into Lamar, the Laker family man.

Now if only Bynum can come around. And Sun too for that matter.

[JM]

[B_P]

[Mation]

Thanks DB!