LAKERS -at- BLAZERS - 4/10 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Chess Match... If this is a team that the Lakers may face in the playoffs at some point, they want to keep a few cards to themselves. It was a shame, however, that down the stretch they didn't exploit some of their known weaponry. With Phil Jackson absent, the Lakers went into Portland and dropped their eigth straight game at the Rose Garden, 106-98.

Would Phil have made a difference? Perhaps. The Lakers can keep that in the back of their minds if they meet up again. In the meantime, we saw one of those recurring themes in Laker losses -- not giving the ball up to Pau in the post during crunch time. The Blazers keyed in on Kobe and our attack was one dimensional.

"Nate McMillan knows how to defend Kobe after dealing with him in the summer," said our substitute coach Kurt Rambis in the Times. "He was going to converge on him and make it very difficult for Kobe to get into those high-quality environments. Kobe had hit those long shots in the past, but there were times I just felt that we should have gotten better shots."

The Lakers wanted this game, but the second night of the back-to-back may have taken its toll on Pau and Bynum. Each had just 1 rebound in the second half. The Lakers did get a notable performance from Shannon Brown, who stepped in as our second guard off the bench and kept Jordan Farmar on the pine in the fourth. These were important minutes for him (and for the coaches to build more trust in Shannon in a playoff environment).

The Lakers SF spot continued to struggle. The team may consider more Sasha at the SG spot and Kobe at the SF. However, they still have a card to play in Lamar, who can stretch the floor just as effectively as Luke or Ariza. All shoot about the same from three, although Lamar has been shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc in his last dozen games while Luke and Ariza have clanked consistently. Will they hold onto this one card for a key moment?

In all likelihood, the Lakers won't be getting a guaranteed home court advantage throughout the playoffs with this loss. They need to get DFish, Kobe and Pau some rest in the final two. Getting Farmar some rest might not hurt, either. He has faded badly since the beginning of the season.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was putting together a reasonable game until down the stretch. He had a few defensive lapses early on with some poor doubles and rotations, but he was attacking, getting to the line and hitting from the perimeter and putting in an overall strong game. Even though he shot just 3-9 in the first half, he was very effective. In the second half, he shot 6-15 missing his last four attempts in crunch time. We let the Blazers key in on Kobe trying to create for himself. We lost penetration of the ball (which, again, is something that can be done via the post to collapse the D). The result was a series of poor shots. Several of our losses this season seem to have this common thread. "We just got beat because they played better in stretches, obviously," Kobe said afterward. Well, we need to clean up some of those crunch time stretches. Kobe passed Charles Barkley for 17th on the all-time scoring list with his first two points. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 9-24 shooting (3-6 from three, 11-12 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He plowed past Przybilla for FTs on the first possession, he made both. He was rejected on a dunk attempt. He sank a three from behind a Bynum screen. He missed an elbow pull-up jumper. He picked up his second foul pushing off and might have had to sit with 4:38 left in the first, but Rambis left him in for a couple more minutes. He missed a wing jumper. He missed another wing jumper. Back in after a long rest, he attacked a seam from the wing and drew FTs, he made one. He got bumped into the crowd on a turnaround for more FTs, he made both. He stopped at the three line when given a hair of space and he drained it from the right wing. He attacked from the left wing across the lane in transition and hit a little jumper over the help D. He missed a leaner, but Bynum got it back and fed him, Kobe then drew FTs, he made both. He was blocked from behind on a layup, should have been a goaltend as it was clearly pinned. He had 15 points on 3-9 shooting (2-2 from three, 7-8 from the line) in just 15 minutes. Second Half: He attacked off the dribble, missed, but Bynum cleaned it up. He missed a flip over his head taking contact and getting no call, he then picked up a tech. He picked up his third foul on a perimeter reach. He drained a long three with the shotclock low. He got pushed in the back at full speed on the break and stretched back to somehow flip in an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He faced up and hit a baseline jumper. He missed a three. He stalled the offense and missed an iso jumper. He attacked to his left and hit a high arching baseline fade with Outlaw all over him. He sank a wing jumper out of the timeout. He missed a long pull-up jumper. He was fouled with no call, kept attacking, got shoved and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He manufactured FTs off the high screen against Oden, he made both. He got Roy in the air, but leaned into a tough wing jumper and missed. He missed a three on poor execution, but we got it back. He didn't draw iron on a forced three. He then threw a pass away on a drive and kick. He airballed a step-back three.

Gasol -- -- Well, another loss where you wonder why we didn't get the ball in the post to Pau more. The Lakers really gave Portland a break by not using their one-two punch. So many of their losses lately have you looking at Pau's stat line and shaking your head. I guess that's good news in this game. If you are looking for easy remedies, getting Pau a few more shots is one of the bigger ones. We didn't use Pau down the stretch and paid the price with horrible offensive execution. Like Bynum, Pau only had 1 board in the second half to go with his 4 points. This is where that second night of a back-to-back hurts...the hustle and muscle stats. But...give the guy the ball a little more, would ya? The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-9 shooting to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He faced up, attacked, spun and went glass with the turnaround. He finger rolled a layup on the break. He hit a fade over Oden in the paint. He missed a jumper. He hit LO cutting for a dunk. He missed a hook with his left in traffic. He crashed the glass in transition and tapped in the DFish miss. Nice challenge on Blake to get a miss when he switched on iso and was taken off the dribble. He drew a charge on Aldrige on the next stand on iso D. He had 8 points on 4-6 shooting and 3 boards. Second Half: He had the ball stripped off him when he tried a turnaround in the post. He drained an open wing jumper. He threw down the lob from Lamar. He was fouled on a drive with no call and lost the ball out of bounds (he was close to getting a tech). Way too few game notes in the second half.

Bynum -- -- His length was evident to start the game with several boards up high. He faded on the glass in the second half, only pulling down 1 board. Rambis really stretched Bynum's minutes, going 31 on the second night of the back-to-back. There were some long stints in there, too. As long as there is no pain, these are good minutes for Bynum to build up that wind and energy. In the first half, when he had that energy, that helped the team get those one and out stops. We saw the first glimmer of the Lakers looking to throw it up to Bynum and go get it, but there were still several sequences where they had that available and didn't go after it. That will come back to the team the more he's out there. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-13 shooting (1-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. The Action: He got tapped on a jumphook. He took a board from behind Przybilla and scored a layup. He missed a tip. He back-rimmed a layup on a lob. He walked before going to the dribble in the post. He spun on Oden and scored the And-1 lob on him, he made the FT. He got completely tapped on a face-up jumper from 12 feet out. He missed another face-up jumper. He dunked off the slip screen with Luke. Nice close out on Roy to alter his shot. Excellent low post position agianst Przybilla, he worked across the lane and scored a layup with his left. Great challenge on Roy again in the paint to force a miss. He missed a jumphook, not as low of position this time. He had 9 points on 4-9 shooting and 5 boards in 19 minutes. Second Half: He cleaned up a Kobe drive and miss. He missed a jumphook. He was blocked in the post, looked mugged with no call. Oden lost him with an up and under and dunked. Bynum went right back at him on the other end, hitting a one-hander over Oden from the right side. He was mugged in the paint and this time got the call, he missed both FTs. He missed a good look at a jumphook.

Ariza -- -- The Lakers have a lot of questions at their SF spot. Ariza had strung together a series of nice games when he moved to the starting lineup. The last two with Bynum back have been sub par. He's only scored in single digits twice in his 14 games starting before Bynum returned. He hasn't gotten to double digits in the first two with Bynum back. His three shot was looking automatic for a stretch of games in March. He is 4 of his last 28 from behind the arc. (During about that same stretch of games, Lamar is 10-24 from three...over 40 percent. So, putting him at SF for some minutes probably wouldn't kill people like they fear). It's going to be a tag team at the SF all playoffs. Be nice to see Lamar in there a few times. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -17. The Action: He swiped the ball from Roy. He attacked and bricked a drive. He sank a 17-footer off the two-man with Bynum. He threw an entry pass away. Second Half: He missed a break-rhythm three to beat the shotclock. He fumbled away a sure dunk on a baseline pass from Bynum. He attacked off the Pau pinch post, spun to lose Roy and scored the And-1, he missed the FT.

Fisher -- -- Fisher is now over 2,400 minutes. His third highest total of his career. They need to go light on his minutes in the next couple. He's been struggling with his shot and he seems a step slower to the ball or on rotations. Two or three more makes from him tonight and it's a different ball game. We depend on him to give us that perimeter threat as he has been one of the few consistent threats. Without that, we've got issues. Defensively, he needs to be more mindful of some of his sagging help D. You can't be doing that when it's not needed. It's been and off-and-on issue for him all season. In the playoffs, we will likely be more purposeful since we will establish some tighter rules. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed two threes on his first two attempts. Horrible sag into the paint for no reason and he gave up a three to Blake. He missed an elbow jumper on the break (it led to a three in transition the other way). He missed a pull-up jumper in transition. He was 0-4 and didn't score. Second Half: He swished a wing jumper having to create with the shotclock low. He should have been at the line for FTs on a loose ball foul, instead he missed a corner three out of a timeout with a minute left, down three. That really was a key no call.

Lamar -- -- Much better game from LO. We saw some of that off-the-ball activity that was clearly lacking in the last game. He used his size effectively on the offensive glass, taking advantage of mismatches. The result was an efficient, effective game. Not nearly the passive Lamar from the last game. The question for the Lakers will be whether they will ever go to the all Four Horsemen lineup. This was a game where you could have gone to that card with some success. The Lakers may not want to reveal all their cards, however. (Of course, they may not use all their cards, either.) Two-way impact players make the difference in the playoffs. We may need to squeeze more minutes from ours in more creative ways. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards (7 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He took a foul in transition D right after entering. He one-handed an offensive board and put it back in. He was pushed with no call and couldn't secure a defensive board. Great dive cut off Pau and he dunked. He hit a step-back elbow jumper over Oden. He missed a baseline jumper. He posted up, got past his man and hit the jumphook over Oden. He took a Farmar missed jumper from behind Fernandez and scored a layup. He stole a ball in transition D. He drew FTs after getting another offensive board, he made both. Rambis brought him back in on the final offensive possession, he attacked and kicked out to Sasha for a corner three at the end of the half. Second Half: He grabbed an offensive board at the FT line, held the ball with one hand, then lobbed to Pau for the dunk. He lost a dribble out of bounds in transition. He swished a three, popping up off a kickout from Luke. Off-balance wing jumper and he missed. He drew a charge on Outlaw's drive. He missed a lob, a tip and then got it to go on the third attempt. He attacked to his right, took contact and no call and missed. He missed a long three at the end of the game.

Luke -- -- Last time we played Portland, Luke went to the bench in our next game after a poor outing. The Blazers looked to exploit Luke on both ends. On weakside help D against Roy, he got torched for several hoops by sagging too much in our schemes. Even though the Lakers didn't mind giving up some threes to protect the paint, they specifically didn't want to leave Roy open. We couldn't take advantage of this mismatch on the other end as well as we could have. Luke got a couple nice offensive boards, but he couldn't score, even got rejected by Roy once. He did rack up the assists, leading the team with 8. Again, his perimeter shot is an issue that teams like the Blazers will sag off of to protect the paint. Luke had a couple costly fourth quarter turnovers. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 8 assists, 2 turnovers and 6 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +/- of 0. The Action: He was swatted from behind by Outlaw. He missed a corner three, in and out. He swiped an offensive board away from his man and hit he short baseline jumper. He short-armed a jumper in the lane. He gave up a three and a dunk to Roy trying to defend the weakside. He tried to post up Roy and was swatted, ugly. Sweet bounce pass to Bynum on the slip screen for a dunk. Second Half: He posted up Fernandez and drew FTs, he made one. He airballed a corner three at the end of the third. He took his eye off the ball and lost a pass out of bounds. He was called for a hook on a spin.

Farmar -- -- Benched? He started the second quarter...that was his only stint. Brown came in midway through the third and stayed through Farmar's usual minutes. Farmar watched from the bench for the entire fourth quarter. If he didn't like Phil's sub pattern, how did he like Rambis's? Maybe he'll pay a little more attention to Phil. Rambis threw down the reality check. Brown thoroughly outplayed Farmar in the pressure-cooked playoff environment. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-2 shooting, had 1 turnover and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He biffed a layup on a drive to his right. He bricked a 22-footer straight away. He charged while attacking aggressively and trying to pull up for a jumper. Second Half: Did not play.

Vujacic -- -- He matched up with Fernandez. I think I would have actually preferred to see him more than the Luke/Ariza combo which wasn't giving us anything. Slide Kobe to the SF. Even though Sasha played Fernandez decently (save for a horrific, crowd-loving, backdoor oop), Lamar at SF against Rudy would have probably been fine, too. The two matched up at times in the game. (The Lakers may save that if it's needed in a break-in-case-of-emergency situation.) Compare Ariza's -17 with Sasha's +10. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 assist and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He missed a wing three. He sank a wide open three from the corner off the drive and dish from Lamar. Second Half: He swatted Oden from behind, but it was erased by a foul on Luke. He worked the two-man with Bynum and hit a baseline jumper. He got backdoored for a reverse jam lob to Fernandez (not the kind of highlight play you want to give up on the road).

Brown -- -- Looks like the change of bringing Brown in as first guard off the bench wasn't just to deal with Billups size last night. He came in for Fisher midway through the first and third, then stayed on to start the fourth. Farmar was on the outside looking in and Brown took the opportunity to keep it that way. He played a superb game. He gave the team much better activity defensively at the PG, but he was the only PG to do anything offensively. Farmar and Fisher were a combined 1-9. Brown hit all four shots he took and again ran the offense with a lot more fluidity. If last night gave him some much needed minutes to build trust, Brown couldn't ask for a better environment to play in than tonight. A tough road game with a crowd as jacked up as they get. He was put to the test and passed. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-4 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and no turnovers or fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He drained a corner jumper on his first attempt. Second Half: He attacked in transition, spun to lose his man and scored a tricky layup. He sank a wing three on the kickout from Luke. He drained another three over the zone at the top of the key.

Phil -- -- Phil? Yes, Phil. Even though he wasn't here, one wonders whether we would have had a less myopic attack in the final few minutes of the game with him calling the shots. The Lakers avoided the post and let the Blazers key in on Kobe down the stretch. This seems to be very similar to what Phil got upset with a few games back. The fact that Phil wasn't there and the "wondering" of how the team might have done with him may be precisely what Phil set up with his "injury". The Lakers may face this team again... Kobe picked up his second foul with 4:38 left in the first and would have had to sit under Phil. He talked Rambis into leaving him in for a couple more minutes. The gamble didn't cost them... Rambis went to Brown and Lamar off the bench for Bynum and Fish. The new sub pattern... The Lakers trailed 24-23 after the first, the Blazers lived at the line. Lakers had 2 FTAs, the Blazers 8. Blazers shot 30 percent... Rambis went with the Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup to start the second quarter. They matched up with a smaller Blazer lineup... He then went with the starters and Sasha instead of Ariza... The Bynum/Pau/Kobe trio imposed their will and forced a timeout when they got a 46-40 lead... The Lakers had a 10-point lead with a couple minutes left, but the Blazers went on an 8-0 run... The Lakers led 53-49 at the half. The Blazers had just 2 turnovers, the Lakers 5 at the half. The Lakers shot 20-46 (43.5 percent), the Blazers 17-43 (39.5 percent)... The coaches didn't mind giving up the threes, except to Roy... The Blazers went on a run to take a 66-59 lead midway through the quarter. The Lakers struggled to control their glass. The Blazer run was 17-6... Rambis put in LO and Brown for Ariza and Fisher. They Lakers went on a run to lead 69-68... The Blazers got a couple calls to go their way, then knocked down a couple threes and led 81-77 after winning the third 32-24. Blazers had just 3 turnovers after three quarters... Rambis started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Brown lineup... He then went with Kobe for Sasha... The Lakers were in the penalty with 8:14 left in the fourth. This was critical... A lot of Kobe trying to attack off the high screen and everyone else just spotting up... Out of a late timeout, we tried to set up Fish for a corner three and he missed (1-7 for the game with this shot, 0-3 from three)... Down 3 with about a minute left, Kobe chucked a bad three again out of a time, then we commit a backcourt foul. Ball game... The Blazers had only 8 turnovers, most came in the final quarter...

Game Flow -- LINK -- The Lakers closed the quarters poorly in each of the last three quarters. Look at the Blazer runs of 9-0, 8-0 and 7-0.

[SladeRider]

DB, do you think it's time for Luke to return to the starting lineup now Bynum is back and we've seen two games with Ariza in there?
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"This is a comptitive city. We're used to winning titles, not just winning games and being in the first round. We want to win championships. Now's the time.", "do something, and do it now."
- Kobe Bryant

[Klone_dd]

First?

[PopcornMachine]

[MedRomLaker]

[Klone_dd]

Just wondered what the big deal is by saying First, but I just missed.

Kobe in hero mode didn't work this time. He's closed many games and is certainly more than capable, but sometimes you gotta mix it up. Either off the ball or use other aspects of the offense. He settled for too many jumpers which ended up being like a Bizzaro-close by shutting the Lakers out.

Great games by LO and ShanWOW. Hopefully LO figured how to be aggressive with Bynum back in the mix. ShanWOW's biggest contribution was keeping JoFar on the bench. He's going to be a stealth weapon in the playoffs.

Nice work DB about Pau and Bynum only having 1 board each in the 2nd half. Oden overpowered both of them during certain stretches, thanks to the refs who must've assumed that since it was nearing Easter it was okay to let him get away with the bunnyhop in the pea patch time and time again.

[Arizona]

Loved Shannon over Farmar. That's about the only decision I liked that Rambis made all night. Luke sucks right now. God, he couldn't do anything right! I couldn't believe the number of whistles Portland got in the second half. Seemed like they shot foul shots every time down the court.

That Kobe ball domination down the stretch is gonna cost us a championship (if it hasn't already). What happened to the Lamar to Pau high low play that had been so effective when they were keying on Kobe so much? Yeesh. Gotta love Kobe getting on LO and Fish(?) for fouling when the real problem was him jacking up that contested 3 with almost a minute to go and us only down three. Take some responsibility when you screw up, Kobe. People might respect you more. I mean why were we shooting a 3 in that situation? Did Pau even touch the ball at all in the 4th quarter? If he did I don't remember it. Although the real problem was that we couldn't get a stop down the stretch.

This team isn't poised the way a championship team should be. Kobe allows himself to lose it (technical) more than I would expect from someone who has been through the battles he has. It's more than a little worrying. Oh, and we complain way too much to the refs. To me that shows mental weakness and lets the other team know we are losing our poise. They all need to shut up and play because whining to the refs doesn't do any good anyway. Disappointing but not unexpected outcome. I hope we avoid Portland in the playoffs. They're the only team in the West that worries me.
_________________
“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

[dna.]

Apparently it takes an act of God for the Lakers to manage a win in Portland.

It's gonna be an interesting second round of the playoffs if we don't get our (bleep) together.

[DancingBarry]

[calistrtballr]

well, im pissed. Our SF's have been garbage lately. Time for phil to roll with Bynum/Gasol/Odom/Kobe/Fisher

2nd Unit: Brown/Sasha/Ariza/Powell/Bynum or Gasol

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB! We had this one. Doesn't hurt, just makes me scratch my while head watching it.

re: Kobe Bryant. He needs to realize that we're no longer just two-deep (Shaq/Kobe) anymore. For years he was our best player and 1st option in the 4th because we couldn't chance - nor trust - the possibility of Hack-a-Shaq happening in the waning seconds of a tight game. He has had tremendous success in the past playing this role of closer. Right now we have the talent in players 2-15 that we don't need him to save the Lakers. 21 year old Kobe, you could kind of forgive him for trying to do it all by himself. But not 30 year old, 13th year veteran Kobe. He has the help. Use them! His focus in the 4th should have been defense 1st to shut down or at least slow down Brandon Roy in the clutch. Then set up teammates and score when they seem like they can't get it done. But take higher percentage shots.

The Lakers wasted an outstanding game by LO. Drew played well especially considering 2nd night of a back to back after a 32-game layoff. Pau played well. All three were reduced to innocent bystanders in the 4th quarter.

Kobe ball won't get it done. Somebody has to have the balls to get in his face and make him play the right way or we'll be watching someone else's championship parade.

Now granted he does deserve the benefit of the doubt but the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter was unacceptable for our best player and leader.

[slippy]

For the most part, I can accept what happened the last 5 minutes of tonight's game. One thing I've noticed this year is that Phil hasn't drawing up a lot of plays at the end of close games, so that there's 2nd and 3rd options out there.

The positioning with the big was really spotty. Bynum was flat out getting the ball way, way too far from the basket, and both Bynum and Gasol were not really in position to rebound.

What gets lost with the loss was that they held Portland down to 42% shooting, and that in the 4th, they got stop after stop after stop. In my mind, that was encouraging. What ultimately hurt the Lakers IMO was that they couldn't control the pace in the game. They went away from their offense and as a result often were out of position in their transition D. But the HC defense was mostly good, and they did a pretty good job running back to cover the 3.

[Sister Golden Hair]

One thing I noticed about Shannon: his long arms allow him to be a better passer into the post than farmar. You really notice farmar's short arms now when he's in the game. Such a simple but important difference between the two players. Also, and this is truly surprising; Shannon does little things like ball fake crisply before passing into the post, and his passes have some zip in them. By contrast, many times this season farmar's passes into the post seem telegraphed and lazy. Consequently, they often get picked off for turnovers the other way.

Brown also takes much more instinctive angles in defending his man. And his feet are by far quicker on defense. Combined with his length, one can see now why he's been touted as being a potentially very good defender at the point.

Lastly, you don't see any teeth-gnashing or crappy vibes from him like you do with Jordan. maybe Jordan's well-known confidence was an overcompensataion for a relatively fragile ego. Whatever the case, they seem to be players heading in the opposite direction. I hope Shannon's shooting lately is a direct result of working on it in practice.

I don't want to pile on with respect to farmar, but Shannon already seems to be a better fit for what the lakers need, and seems to understand his role in the offense without whining (in words or attitude) about how it handcuffs his game. he hasn't been pressed to m uch to expose any issues with his handle, and hasn't been called upon to do a whole lot of playmaking, but then neither has Fish through the years. Both seem to take good care of the ball.

Jordan is about two more crappy games from becoming a full-time scrub.

SGH

[LakerSanity]

^I'd add to that... I think Shannon is a combo guard, but somewhat of a rare sort. On D, he's fully capable of defending almost any PG, but could also likely defend the small SGs out there (like a Ray Allen or Ben Gordon). On O, he has the ability to bring up the ball, but because his offensive skill set pertains more to an SG than a "true" PG, it allows him to play off the ball.

For most teams, those abilities aren't that necessary or needed, but for the triangle and playing next to a ball dominant guard in Kobe? Those are the kinds of skill sets you need. In other words, a tri-"1" playing next to Kobe Bryant needs to be a PG who can guard both small and big PGs but on offense, while also being able to be a ball handler if needed, he must be able to thrive working off the ball.

Farmar's potential (his skillset) always lied in someone who needed the ball if he was ever going to truly thrive... Brown's skillset, OTOH, is a much better fit than Farmar's for the tri (while being able to bring to the table what we need on D as well). The triangle needs players with a variety of skill sets at each position - SB, in contrast to Fish and Farmar, has those skills. Let's hope the ability to consistently execute those skills follows.

When he first came, Brown looked to me like a low bbal IQ player... maybe it was just that he needed time to learn the offense. I wouldn't expect his shooting (as he displayed tonight) to always be there, but even so, I'd like to see him get minutes of for no other reasons than his ability to be the first good PG defender we've had in like forever and the energy he brings (very Ariza-like).

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On another note, I was very disappointed with Kobe (as I have been for the last third of the season). We have Pau (and now Bynum) - if Kobe refuses to get to the rim (and the ft line) as he should, then he needs to give our bigs the ball and feed off them.

If we see Kobe getting to the rim and to the line, I'm cool with him doing his thing. However, if he's just going to take long jumpers (most of which are contested), we have much better options and its up to him to subjugate his ego to recognize that.
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[PopcornMachine]

[LakerSanity]

[8750]

thanks, DB
it seems to me that we keep on facing the same problems without finding any countermoves... last season the celtics won the finals with a defensive strategy that took any breath away from kobe.., now every time some team goes with the same strategy, we look helpless... we don't use staggers, consecutive screens, and we play a very static offense... some people here says that kobe needs to share the ball much more, but it's not so easy when he's surrounded and everyone else is standing there motionless....

[Sister Golden Hair]

[Arizona]

[8750]

let me totally disagree... of course kobe's stubborness is a big part of him, but the problem we face is that our middlecourt offense is very static... playing some motion offense would create room, and playing staggers would help kobe himself to find breath not only to shot but also to pass the ball... but our coach is not a master of flexibility...

[mhan00]

the sf position killed us tonight. sadly enough, luke was the lesser of two evils; trevor's shot has just been offfff lately. both he and luke are thinking way too much about their shots now and they're hesitating on wide open looks. this would have been a perfect game to go with kobe at the sf with sasha at the sg, or even having odom at the sf position. just terrible tonight.

shannon brown was absolutely awesome. i loved the way he moved his feet, bodied up on players, and made them work to get to their spots. that's in sharp, sharp contrast to farmar's "escort the guy to his spot while screening off other defenders for him defense". he keeps nailing those perimeter jumpers and he'll put farmar out of a job.

and i would love to know if that infamous three by kobe on the out of bounds play was designed that way, or if kobe free lanced. that was just an awful, awful play. no reason to jack up a shot that quick when we're only down 3 with 40 seconds left. just dumb. if rambis designed that play then he should be grateful he never got a full-time head coaching gig after that lockout season; he'd have just embarrassed himself.

[Ignaurus]

[mhan00]

[X56]

Thanks DB!

Great to see Brown out there and playing well.

When Roy and Kobe started to do Mano y Mano, I said to myself, Oh No! especially when Roy started to hit his shots with Kobe defending, there was no way in hell that Kobe would let Roy get the best of him. Unfortunately, we didn't play smart. Hopefully, lesson learned (again!)

Well now that the Cavs have a 2 game lead, Kobe, Pau and company hopefully will get the much needed rest.

Looking forward to see the 4 Horsemen and the Death Riders wreaking havoc in the playoffs!
_________________
Game 7 2010 NBA Finals - Lakers 83, Boston 79

[KINGD]

The Lakers willl never win a ring as long as ''kobe ball'' is the only option down the stretch especially against good/great defensive teams. He needs to stop (bleep) settling for these long jumpers. Get the ball to Pau or Bynum.