LAKERS -at- ROCKETS - 5/14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Wanted: Veteran Leadership... The Rockets are trying to make this series into something akin to the basketball verison of the Apollo 13 story -- overcoming a series of seemingly impossible problems to get their boys home successfully. With a 95-80 loss, the Lakers, however, are bumbling their way into trouble.

For Laker fans, the feeling this season is that failure is not an option. Are you ready for a game seven, Staples? Because it's time to bring it.

You would think that after getting lit up the last time in Houston by not playing to their strengths -- and by dominating at home when they did -- that the Lakers would know what they needed to do.

DFish and Kobe set the tone for this game by hoisting up perimeter jumpers instead of feeding the post from the start. The Lakers had just four back-to-the-basket touches for the PF/C position in the first half. Four. As a result, they trailed by 18 quickly and struggled badly to get their game in sync.

The Lakers paid the price for this lack of veteran leadership. The Rockets had the crowd, the momentum and the confidence. They had the Laker bigmen on their heels instead of vice versa.

In the third quarter, the Lakers immediately came out of the half and pounded the ball into Pau again and again. They attacked the paint and worked the ball inside-out. They cut the lead down to just 2 points in the third before both Kobe and DFish had a couple of turnovers and bad plays defensively. The Rockets pushed the lead back up to 9 heading into the fourth.

"We never got back and recovered," Phil said of the turnovers. Defensively, the Lakers tried to help off of Hayes, but the Rockets brought in Landry and the Laker D struggled again.

This loss is on the guard leadership. If they can come out in the second half and do what they are supposed to, then why did they play like rookie chuckers to orchestrate the offensive in the first half?

Anything can happen in game seven. And with this Laker team, that statement is never truer. The Lakers have to leave it all out on the floor. The Rockets are going to...

"We can't allow the Lakers work harder than we do because their talent is superior than ours right now," Aaron Brooks said after the game.

"The key right now is to win by any means necessary," Kobe said. That will likely require Kobe to refrain from a ton of perimeter jumpers, attack the paint, and most importantly, feed the post from the start.


Kobe -- -- Anyone remember when the Rockets struggled to feed their post and Ron Artest chucked up perimeter jumpers to take them out of the game? That's how the Lakers played early. Horribly orchestrated first quarter from Kobe. The team went right back to the way they played last time in Houston. Pau had a couple of post touches in the first quarter, but Kobe came over on both of those to get the ball instead of letting him go to work. What...are...you...doing...Kobe? Establish the post. Pau even tried to wave him off on one. Pau finally had his first true iso in the first quarter on our last possession. That is a horribly orchestrated game from our veteran guards. In the second quarter, Kobe started to look to get to the rim a little more himself, but we still never established an inside game. Finally, in the third, we gave the ball to Pau early and often and Kobe didn't settle for jumpers. The Lakers jumped all over them until...Kobe and Fish made a series of mistakes on both ends and the lead went from just 2 to 9 points. Bad passes and then no boxing out, giving up layups. Got to do the little things like rebound the ball as he was early in the series. Ballwatching is not heady, championship ball. "We didn't execute right and they jumped on top of us," Kobe said. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 11-27 shooting (1-5 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He bricked a floater in the lane. He airballed a double-clutch jumper wondering where the whistle was. He missed a long jumper. He hit a runner to his right for the Lakers first field goal after about 6 minutes. He missed a jumper after running to the ball instead of letting Pau work on iso. He missed a layup with his left on a nice drive. He took Battier off the dribble from the midpost for a layup. He was 2-8 for 4 points in the quarter. He swished a sideline jumper off a jab step to start the second quarter. He missed an 18-footer from the right side. He missed a runner across the lane. He swished a wing jumper off the two-man game. He charged over Battier trying to attack the rim past Artest. He missed an open three in transition. He wheeled around Artest from the midpost to score a layup. He picked up a bogus tech when he bumped into Artest (Artest flop, Van Gundy: "That's a joke!"), he made both FTs on the Artest foul. He blew past Artest for a dunk. He missed a heave from half court. He had 14 points on 6-16 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with no boards and 3 blocks. Second Half: He attacked and kicked out to Ariza for a three. He drew FTs attacking the paint off an offensive board, he made both. No box out on Scola, putback layup. He drained a sideline three against the shotclock. He missed a floater. He attacked the paint, drew a triple team and FTs, he made both. Horrible pass in the corner trying to go around his man instead of right to Pau, turnover, And-1 the other way. He swished a wing jumper off the pinch post with Bynum. He gave up a putback layup to Battier not boxing out. He attacked off the inside-out sequence and drew FTs, he made both. He took a return feed from Pau for a layup. He missed a layup on a drive. He missed a fading jumper over Artest (attack the paint). With his jersey in his mouth, he attacked to his left around the key and made a runner off the glass. He was hit on a three-pointer with no call, airballed and smiled in disbelief at the no call. He missed on a drive next time down. He hit a bank from the left side. He missed a three. He drew FTs on a drive and hit the floor hard, he made one.

Gasol -- -- "I thought that he was reticent to start the game. That bothered me. He didn't come out aggressive," Phil said. This is where we set the tone. Pau wasn't aggressive because he wasn't getting the ball. When he did get it, Kobe would flash over to take it away. Pau was even waving him off, as mentioned, at one point. If the Lakers can get him the ball in the third again and again, why can't they get him the ball to start. I don't agree with the "reticent" comment on the offensive end. Defensively, he was certainly on his heels. If we go to the post and take it to them, we flip the tables on the Rockets. This is where we get guys in foul trouble so you don't have to defend them on other end. Scola had 18 points and 9 boards in the first half. "He opened it up for us," Brooks said of Scola's start. The Rockets established the post, the Lakers didn't and lost. A very familiar story in Laker losses. "Second half we did a better job not settling," Pau said, talking about the points in the paint the Lakers got. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-15 shooting to go with 11 boards, 2 assists, no blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 42 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He picked up an early foul when Bynum was lost on D and Pau tried to recover. He drew a foul on Hayes cutting weak to strong. He missed a 16-footer. He scored a layup after gathering a high lob pass. He missed another 16-footer. Finally an iso post sequences in the last possession of the quarter, he kicked out and Farmar hit an open three. He was called for his second foul (8 minutes left in the half) when Scola flopped in the post as Gasol was trying to fight for position. He sank a wing jumper off the two-man with Sasha. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed his first jumphook of the game at the 5 minute mark of the second quarter (fourth low post touch for our PF/C spot), we got the ball back because of the crowd he drew. He gave up a reverse to Scola who spun on him with ease for the score. He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting and had 3 boards in 16 minutes. Second Half: He set up an inside-out sequence as the Lakers went to him on the first set of the half. Back to the post and he hit a jumphook with his left. He grabbed a miss, missed a layup, but hit the floor to get it back. Low position in early offense and he scored a layup. He missed a good look at a jumphook, but we got it back. He attacked off the dribble and set up Kobe for the easy score. He spun away from the double and hit the floater over his man. Brooks somehow scored a layup over him when the two met at the rim. To start the fourth, he hit a jumphook with his left. He missed a one-hander in the paint, but Lamar dunked it back in. He missed a face-up wing jumper. He faked right, then went left to score a layup around Hayes.

Bynum -- -- "He had some good defensive play," Phil said of Bynum, highlighting that second half run. So, we got some D. How about the O, which was also a real problem in this game? It's obvious we don't want to feed Bynum in the post...or anywhere else for that matter (two-man game, lobs, high-lows?). Bynum is looking for his offense on garbage plays. He's trying to get the ball off missed shots because he won't get it anywhere else. Every single one of his attempts today were based on that type of play. His offensive stats tonight were all taken trying to clean up the mistakes and misses of others. Just poor game planning, poor use of your bigmen. He was a +4 and only played 18 minutes. We aren't using our size and aren't using to the extent we can. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-3 shooting, had 7 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a tip. He missed a 5-footer after grabbing a Kobe miss. He picked up his second foul on a push call on the offensive boards. He missed a lefty jumphook with a man at his feet after grabbing a missed shot. Second Half: He got an offensive board, but was stripped (keep the ball up high, Drew).

Ariza -- -- Ariza helped ignite a second half run with some good D and making a couple of shots. He started to fade when he couldn't connect from the perimeter. He's been doing a good job attacking off that three line to get into the paint...again, playing to our strengths. He settled a bit in that third quarter after making a three and that hurt. Keep attacking, Trevor. Keep looking for your bigs. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-6 shooting (1-5 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He threw an interior pass between Bynum's legs for a turnover. His post entry pass was swiped by Artest. He drew FTs slicing around Battier on the break, he made one. He attacked off the three line, sliced around Hayes to draw his third foul, he made one FT. Second Half: He swiped a pass and dunked for the Lakers first score of the half. He swished a three on a kickout from Kobe next time down. He forced a Rocket turnover on the other end. He missed a three. He missed an open three (had Bynum under the hoop). He missed a corner three.

Fisher -- -- Leadership. Executing the game plan. These are things you expect from veteran guards. DFish failed the Lakers. The Lakers were a rudderless ship on the court in the first half. When guys don't run the game plan, they usually get yanked. There were hints of Phil doing that tonight, but they came late in the halves or in the fourth. During Kobe and DFish's championship runs, they had guys like Ron Harper and BShaw who gave the team that kind of on-court leadership. At this point in Derek's career, he should be that stable presence. Defensively, he had some issues, but tightened them up better in the second half. We have to get the guards and bigs on the same page on those screen rolls or we are in trouble. We didn't do that throughout the game. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting (0-5 from three) to go with 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed back-to-back threes out of a timeout. He swished a pull-up 16-footer in transition. He missed an early offense three, sheesh. He bricked a layup on the break. He was 1-5 for 2 points.Second Half: He missed a corner three on an inside-out sequence. He deflected a pass to force a bad shot late in the clock. He missed an open three. Slow entry pass, turnover. He then got lost on D and gave up a corner three.

Lamar -- -- "Lamar is out there half a guy right now," Phil said. Defensively, he had his ups and downs. At times, he was one of the few guys to contest shots and get stops. Early in the game, however, he looked a bit stiff and slow to react. The injury could certainly have a lot to do with that as he seemed to warm up as the game went along. He fouled out late in teh game on dribble penetration, looked a bit like a frustration foul. On the other end of the court, he rarely touched the ball. Good job on the boards, good effort, but he is still not in sync in this series...and it's game seven. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 14 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 6 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He blocked Scola to help ignite a break. He missed a jumphook with his right. He drew FTs getting hit from behind on the defensive glass, he made one. He roofed Artest and pushed out the break, then drew FTs going for an offensive board, he made one. Second Half: He attacked off the dribble, missed, got it back and scored a layup, his first field goal. He gave it back up to Landry on the other end on post D. He threw down a Pau miss in the paint. He swatted Lowry. He sank a wing jumper with the shotclock low.

Luke -- -- Offensively, he couldn't hit anything. He did seem to understand the concept of playing to our strengths, but he was ineffective himself. Defensively, he was fine, but not nearly as disruptive as in the last game. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a turnaround in the lane. He missed a sideline three. Second Half: He attacked off the three line and missed a long jumphook in the lane. He bricked a late chuck at a three.

Brown -- -- He needs to be getting all of Sasha's minutes at this point and some of DFish. Not a lot of action from Brown in this game, but we aren't playing our best players. And Sasha and DFish seem prone to chucking way too much. Brown at least seems to understand the game plan. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He drew FTs on the break away after Lamar blocked a shot, he made both. Second Half: He missed an open three. He missed a late heave at a three.

Vujacic -- -- Phil had little patience for Sasha in this game. He's had too much already. Sasha got yanked in the fourth for a horrible chuck from the perimeter in early offense. This is once again the Laker guards failing the team and their bigmen. Run the game plan or sit. We certainly aren't beating anyone with Sasha's perimeter game right now. Somehow, I can picture him playing a bunch of 10-year-olds and still bricking 20-footers over them. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 6 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He airballed a baseline jumper off the inbounds, horrible. He hit Gasol for a jumper off the two-man game. He sank a 20-footer after popping out behind a screen. Wafer hit a couple jumpers off him to force a timeout. Second Half: Horrible shot, hoisting up a 20-footer behind Lamar in early offense. Phil benched him for Brown.

Farmar -- -- Quality game from Farmar. He settled a bit too much offensively, but still had success. His man would leave him to double and he would camp out beyond the arc. He needs to mix it up. Dive down the lane or move in closer for the 12- to 15-footers to keep them honest. He did hit some threes, which you can't say for anyone else. Hopefully, he can play more of a multi-dimensional game like the last time at Staples, where he scored and set up teammates without making bonehead mistakes. Defensively, our bigmen need to show on the screens and allow our guards to go under. The Rockets got too much dribble penetration. If DFish can't run the game plan early in the next one, he needs to be yanked for Farmar. The tone has to be set early. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, no assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: In for DFish and he hit a three off the Ariza kickout. He swished a wing three on a Pau kickout from the post. He swiped an interior feed and pushed out the break for a layup. He was fouled with no call pushing out the break and lost the ball. Meanwhile, he picked up a totally bogus foul in transition (didn't even touch his man for FTs). Second Half: He missed an open three when his man doubled Pau (cut, move in closer). He missed a layup, we got it back and he hit the corner three. He missed a heave from three at the third quarter buzzer. He missed an open wing three. He missed a wide open wing jumper. He attacked from the wing and scored a layup.

Phil -- -- I want to say unbelievable, but it's isn't. It's very believable... The Rockets opened up to an 13-1 start, the Lakers not scoring a field goal after 4:32 of action before Phil finally called a timeout. Out of that timeout, he brought in Luke and Lamar and DFish missed two threes on our next two shots. Out of that timeout, we should have gone straight to the post... We scored our first field after 6 minutes... Farmar came in and hit a couple threes to trim the lead from 18. The Rockets led 27-15 after the first... "We came out and played the same game we played Sunday afternoon," Phil said, citing the Laker shot selection, although not specifically mentioning the need to get the ball down low... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Kobe, Brown, Farmar unit in the second quarter... Second iso post sequence for a Laker bigman (Lamar) came after 15 minutes... Three PF/C post touches after 18 minutes... He went back to DFish to close the half, despite better guard play elsewhere. Then decided against it after a couple of minutes. Fish still struggling... In the first half, the Lakers had just four back-to-the-basket post touches for their PF/C's. Wow... The Lakers trailed 52-36 at the half. They shot 31 percent (13-42, 2-9 from three), the Rockets shot 51 percent (20-39, 5-12 from three). The Rockets had just 2 turnovers. Scola had 18 points... To get back in the game, they needed to win the first 5 minutes of the half and set a new tone... They got the ball into Pau right out of the gates. Kobe attacked the paint on a couple more possessions, and they cut the lead in half... Fourth post touch for the PF/C spot came after 4 minutes in the second half. It took all first half to get that many. The Lakers trailed by just 6... They cut the lead to 54-52 after 6 minutes. Completely erasing the Rockets lead, but errors would cost them... Back-to-back bad plays by DFish and Kobe on both ends of the floor and the Lakers trailed 62-54. Phil called a timeout... The Lakers won the third quarter 29-20 and trailed 72-65 going into the fourth... Phil went with Sasha on Lowry instead of Brown to start the fourth. Kobe sat. He quickly yanked Sasha... The Lakers faded on both ends, having some trouble with penetration and Landry... The Lakers made just 5-23 from three (too many attempts). They shot 36 percent (30-84) for the game. The Rockets shot 51 percent, making 7-18 from three. The Rockets kept their turnovers down to just 8, which we scored 10 points off of... "We play a different game on our home court," Phil said afterward. He said it concerns him, "but what are we going to do about it now?"...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Ridiculous first quarter as the Rockets opened up to a 21-3 start. Lakers need to jump them from the beginning at home in the next one.

[Vishnu]

1st

[ishi331]

2nd

[KingKobe20]

3rd
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"Tryin' to get that Kobe number, One Over Jordan"
-Kanye

aka ILLWiLL20

R.I.P PHIL

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Lakers better get their heads together and win on Sunday.
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"Just show up ready to work, ready to play, Have your big boy pants on, leave your diaper at home." Kobe Bryant
Anything less than a championship is a failure. Period.

[D Nice]

Our 2 primary ball-handlers and veteran leaders didn't play smart ball for anything close to 48 minutes, and our bigs were once again soft as tissue paper. LO is the only one making a difference on the defensive end at this point, and that is a BIG concern.

[Arizona]

Wow. I guess lightning can strike twice. Dejavu. This team never learns.
_________________
“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

[J.C. Smith]

Nice writeup. Agree with pretty much everything written in it. I hope we bring it on Sunday.

[Vishnu]

DB: what do you think the chances are that Jordan Farmar starts on Sunday? I felt that when Phil didn't put Fish back in during the 4th quarter, it was almost as if he was admitting that Fish doesn't have it right now. Then again, it's game 7 and I could see how it would not be the time to pull the veteran in favor of the young guy.

(also, I think I should get a for my posting the past 24 hours. I don't if anyone noticed, but I was a posting machine today. Well over 100 posts. I was multidimensional too: posting in off-topic, best of, and the Lounge)

[SoCal88]

Fisher announced his retirement on the charter flight home.
































I wish.
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Lakers | Dodgers | ACFC | COYS | LA Kings | Rams

[SoCal88]

[DancingBarry]

[Vishnu]

[mefor3]

awful

[hellsling]

1f

[8750]

thanks, DB
that's a mentally weak team with a mentally slow and old coach...

[LakerSanity]

Pau just straight up got abused both on defense and in regards to rebounding the 1st half. I have never seen Pau look so soft as he did in the 1st half (and that's saying something). He bounced back in the 2nd (as did the team in focusing on getting him the ball), but it was too late.

I have no words for Fish. He should be ashamed of himself. I never thought I'd say this about him, but the dude is playing selfishly. He's looking to get himself going at the expense of the team... and Phil's just letting it happen, looking the other way. (Although there were hints in the 2nd half that Phil was catching on).

Kobe took some bad shots in the 1st, but from the 2nd quarter on, I felt he played a good game. Ariza played a terrible 1st quarter... just was all over the place and sloppy.

Sasha should be permanently benched for Brown. Not only is he missing all his shots (even his wide open ones), but his attitude has become completely tiresome. Sasha has become a symbol for this team - guys who believe they do nothing wrong and blame everyone else for their problems.

WHERE IS THE LAKER PLAYER WHO SAYS "I NEED TO STEP UP AND I LET MY TEAM DOWN"?

All I hear is "we," as if to a player each is alluding that someone else dropped the ball, but not/never them. Where is the individual accountability? And where is Phil calling out his team for the poor effort? Forget this "respect the opponent" crap, the Lakers lost games 1, 4, and 6, the Rockets didn't win them.
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[Corto Maltese]

[Showtime88]

all i can say is that watching these games is seriously giving me a heart problem.... i can almost bear losing....

what i cant bear is seeing them lose with no effort...

game 7.... if the lakers go down.... go down swinging.... dont lose and say you didnt give 100% on the court, because honestly, they probably have only played 2 games this series with 100% effort/intensity....
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"Everybody on a championship team doesn't get publicity, but everyone can say he's a champion."-- Earvin Magic Johnson

[lakersfreak]

Pau needs to make a move as soon as he gets the ball, not stand there looking around while he counts to 10

[JUST-MING]

Thank you DB

I stopped watching the game after the first quarter; and figured I would just watch Game 7, instead.

[Corto Maltese]

[lakersfreak]

What happened to the 'we have the height and can pass over the top' plan?

[usa]

[lakersfreak]