GRIZZLIES -at- LAKERS - 11/6 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Scorched Earth... You stare at the torched carnage before you. Even though you arrive early in the morning, smoke still smolders from a lump of blackened something. What exactly it was, you aren't sure. Looks like some kind of animal, maybe a bear.

What happened here, however, you know with certainty. The Horsemen known as Death ... he was here.

He doesn't care about moral victory. Just victory. And he loves the smell of napalm in the morning.

Heat radiates from the ground. There's a darkened path of scorched earth everywhere he's rode. It's clear he knows how to defend Little Larry O'Brien.

He is ruthless.

He is determined.

He is the stuff of tales and legend.

As you get up to leave, you spot an oddly out of place stone. It's marble white against a charcoal landscape. You pick it up and find a note. DancingBarry:

The Horsemen were here. Without their largest of warriors, they weren't without their most lethal. He had help and lot's of it, but he simply went through this opponent. They had no answer.

I will continue to track them.

"It was killer instinct out there tonight," Phil said afterward of Kobe's game. Kobe went after the Memphis defenders relentlessly for 41 points in this milestone game. Kobe scored his 24,000th point -- the youngest to do so. With Allen Iverson on the bench, Kobe then passed him on the NBA all-time scorers list as the Lakers took a 114-98 win over the Grizzlies.

It was the right team at the right time for the Lakers. Two teams on opposite ends of the win/loss column, the Lakers spotted Memphis a couple bigmen (who both may end up in the All Star game this season). They needed a big game from Kobe with Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum out, but they also had to have others step up. DJ Mbenga pulled down 13 boards. Josh Powell scored 13.

Those were key contributions, but with Lamar Odom going into Invisible Man mode this game still might have still been lost. Fresh off the Ron Artest vs. Trevor Ariza subplot in the last game, this one showed the differences between those two players. Phil was able to slide Ron from the SF spot to the PF spot and go small at times with success. He was also able to play Kobe just 34 minutes while Ron powered the second-unit lineups.

After misfiring offensively in the first half, the Lakers scorched the Grizzlies for 38 points in the third on 16-24 shooting. Ron and Kobe combined for 28 in that quarter.


Kobe -- -- A virtuoso performance in a milestone game for Kobe. He passed the 24,000 mark in the second quarter of the game becoming the youngest player to do so. Later, with AI watching from the bench, Kobe passed him on the all-time scorers list (16th if you don't combine some ABA points from certain stars, 21st if you do). "It's always a great honor to be in that elite category. I'm just very blessed, very fortunate," Kobe said. When he wasn't blowing past OJ Mayo and other defenders, he was simply shooting right over them. His turnaround jumper deadlier than ever from the post. The Lakers needed him to drop a big game, he obliged scoring 41 with just three makes from the freethrow line. Standing O for No. 24 as he left the court with a minute left. The Stats: He scored 41 points on 19-30 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He was called for a completely bogus foul, swatting Gasol from behind, all ball and a clean block. He missed a turnaround off the glass. We got it back, he cut off Artest, took the bounce pass and slammed. He dunked on his next post up when Mayo gambled and lost. He drew two quick fouls on Mayo in the post (Mayo was grumbling to himself on the bench after 3 minutes). He missed a layup after collapsing the D. He posted up and hit the jumphook with his left in a crowd. He missed a turnaround. He attacked left, switched hands while twisting his body and flipped it in over a defender. He picked up 2 more fouls on his next defender, crossing him over badly on one and drawing FTs, he made both. He missed a step-back jumper. He missed a spinning one-hander in the post. He had 10 points on 4-9 shooting in the first. After a 7-minute rest, he came back in and quickly hit a wing jumper. He drilled a turnaround jumper right over Mayo from the left elbow, his 24,000th point. He missed a step-back from the same spot next time down. He missed a reverse on a baseline attack. His man overplayed, Kobe backdoored him for an oop dunk. Bad clock management at the end of the half, passing off just as the clock went off. He had 16 points on 7-14 shooting. Second Half: He reversed off the baseline cut and a bounce pass from Mbenga. He scored a layup off the Mbenga swat and a bust out. He missed a layup he should have had. He threw down on his next finish, spinning right around Mayo. He missed the runner in the lane. He threw down a reverse jam, cherry picking in transition. He drew contact on baseline turnaround, he made one of the FTs. He sank a turnaround from the wing over Mayo. He took a long outlet, hit the bottom of the backboard trying to sneak it up, got it back and banked a fallaway over Gasol before hitting the floor (he was hit on the arm, too). He swished a pumping 21-footer over his man at the end of the quarter. He swished a short turnaround on the baseline. With the clock low, he swished a turnaround at the elbow. He spun away from a double team and hit the baseline turnaround. He got tapped on a turnaround from the other side of the court. He bailed out the offense with an elbow turnaround just beating the shotclock. Working back and forth on the dribble in the post and he swished another fallaway from 12 feet out.

Lamar -- -- Come on, LO. I know it's your birthday and all, but the Lakers needed their impact players to make an impact. Thankfully, others picked up Lamar's slack. He always struggles against Randolph defensively, he didn't do anything on the other end, either. Phil said before the game it was the lefty vs. lefty match up that causes the problem in that head-to-head. It just shows the Lakers depth with Ron that they could pull this off with LO...MIA. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 6 fouls in 29 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He swipped the ball on a double team. He missed a corner three in early offense. He choked a layup on a great feed from Artest. He swished a corner three. He attacked past Gasol and was hit on the arm with no call, seemed pretty obvious. He was called for a push off on the offensive glass. He had 3 points on 1-5 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He overpassed with Conley on him under the hoop, but Fish buried the three. He missed a wing three.

Artest -- -- After getting on track on the road trip, Ron's game carried over to the home floor for the first time this season. He was doing a little bit of everything: swishing long-range jumpers, setting up teammates with great court vision and mixing it up defensively. Ron's ability to play PF was huge as the Lakers needed a big body (268 pounds, he says) with their bigs out (or MIA). He was a +28, second best was Kobe's +16. Phil was able to run Kobe just 34 minutes as Ron drove the second units. A very efficient, under control game from him. This team is just deadly when he can chip in like that. Some very good triangle reads throughout. "It's all about the team and how we feel together," Ron said. he mentioned getting into a rhythm with the team and getting the timing down. He said he likes not having to be a focal point and being able to take those heavier players from Kobe on the defensive end. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-14 shooting (3-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. The Action: He hit Kobe with the bounce pass for a dunk. He tipped in a Kobe miss. He set up DFish for FTs on a baseline bounce pass. He missed an open wing three. He got past his man, but couldn't power in the layup. He missed a three next time down. He posted up in the middle of the paint, spun and drew FTs, he made both. He grabbed an offensive board, powered up and scored the layup. He posted up, spun to draw a double team and hit Powell for the open dunk. He was blocked by the rim trying to stuff it, he got it back and missed. Next time down, he threw down a reverse jam off the Luke pass. He had 8 points on 3-8 shooting and 5 assists. Second Half: He swished a wing three when the offense stalled and LO swung it to him. He sank a 21-footer behind the LO screen. He swished a wing three off the dribble. He drew a charge on the other end on Randolph. He swished a sideline three off the kickout from Luke. He missed a layup, hustled back to steal a pass, then outlet to Powell for the dunk. He missed a wing jumper.

Fisher -- -- DFish and the rest of the guards kept their Memphis counterparts under wraps. After shooting blanks in the last game, we saw a more vintage DFish game (including his patented toe-on-the-three line jumpers). He was hitting shots and making quality passes within the offense. He took a couple hard hits in the game and was in pain after each. He gathered himself and trucked on like a pro. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 7 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He sank the baseline jumper on his first attempt. He drew FTs when Artest found him cutting in the Tri, he made both. He missed an early offense chuck from the sideline. He missed a step-back 18-footer straight away. He swished a 20-footer. He lobbed to Kobe backdoor for a dunk. He missed a wing jumper. Second Half: He swished a three in transition after LO kicked out. He attacked and kicked to Powell for a three. He swished an early offense toe-on-the-three line jumper.

Mbenga -- -- "An incredible first quarter," Kobe said of Mbenga's effort tonight. DJ got the start with Drew and Pau out and promptly pulled down 9 boards in that quarter. "To start the game that strongly, he gave us a dominant feel inside," Phil said. That was a career high for Mbenga, which he extended to 13. And for good measure he added a number of swats. He gets off the floor very quick and was able to provide some nice help D behind our PFs. Offensively, he was his usual quick-triggered self. Teammates were fairly cautious in giving him the ball. Great job by the bench bigs stepping up. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 13 boards (5 offensive), 2 assists, 4 blocks and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. The Action: He crashed the glass, knocked it off the rim and regained an offensive possession. He took a charge on Gay on the baseline with excellent position. He grabbed a loose ball and drew FTs, he made one. He rushed a face-up jumper in early offense and missed. He rejected a shot at the front of the rim. He tipped in a Kobe miss. After a good 9-minute stint, he had to sit after picking up his second foul, but he had a career-high 9 boards. He blocked a shot on one end, was called for a 3 seconds on the other with his heels in the lane. He had 3 points, 10 boards and 2 blocks. Second Half: He hit Kobe for a layup along the baseline. He swatted Randolph with a scream on help D. He missed a 15-footer off the pick and pop. He missed an 18-footer (should have reset the offense). He sank a 16-footer when his man sagged off him. He swatted a shot and helped knock the ball loose a few seconds later. He coughed it up on the other end, fumbling the dribble when we gave it to him in the post. He missed a 16-footer, then gave up an And-1 in taco time.

Luke -- -- With Ron sliding to PF for stretches, Luke worked the SF spot. Those two combined for 14 assists. Luke found Ron a couple of times for scores. A very well-rounded effort from Luke. In fact, that was a triple-double pace for him given another 10 or 15 minutes. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. Luke lost his man on the dribble at midcourt, missed a floater, got it back and set up Powell for the layup. He hit Artest cutting baseline for the reverse jam. He missed an elbow jumper trying to score over Mayo. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Ron for a three. He hit Powell with the extra pass for a dunk. He sank a corner three. He kicked to Farmar for the three. He scooped up a loose ball, attacked and reversed.

Brown -- -- Phil didn't play him the first half, but brought him in as the first guard off the bench in the second half. Not sure what that was about. Phil may have been wanting to match up some speed with AI coming off the bench in the first half. That didn't seem to matter much. We haven't had a spectular Brown dunk for a couple of games. He had a nice one on the baseline tonight. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 3 assists and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He attacked baseline, hesitated, no closed, so he threw down with both hands.

Vujacic -- -- He and Shannon weren't finding a lot of minutes tonight. Sasha did a decent job with what he got. He hit a couple jumpers after losing Mayo (which didn't seem very hard to do). The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards and 1 turnover in 4 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He lost Mayo with a behind-the-back dribble and hit the FT jumper. He lost the handle, we got it back and he missed an open three. Mayo gambled for a steal, lost and Sasha hit the short wing jumper. Second Half: He did not play.

Farmar -- -- As soon as he entered the game, Iverson took it to him for multiple scores. We seemed to bottle that up and Farmar settled into a decent game. He had no turnovers tonight and was hitting from long range. Right now, Artest seems to be captaining the second units more than Farmar, but maybe that's for the best as Farmar seemed to be more comfortable out there. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offennsive), 2 assists and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: Quick first step to blow past Iverson and he scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He deflected a pass in the backcourt, then threw it off AI to regain possession. He missed an early offense three. He bricked a wild drive in the paint. He grabbed an offensive board up high, missed trying to score it, but Ron cleaned it up. Second Half: He drained a three from the top of the arc when Luke hit him. Farmar has Mbenga to his left and Ron to his right on the perimeter as he's creating off the dribble and he throws it to Mbenga. He swished a wing three.

Powell -- -- "He's been our most reliable substitute off the bench," Phil said. He might be our most reliable three shooter as he sank another one tonight. He looks like money from the sideline threes. Some scrappy play from Powell. Teammates set him up for dunks and layups for the most part. He looked a little gassed late in the second half, but a good job as our back up C. One thing he needed to watch was giving up silly fouls. When our bigmen are depleted, he has to be careful with those, which he wasn't. It's a different role for him and DJ. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-11 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: In for Mbenga and he quickly picked up an offensive foul on the glass (can't afford to do that tonight). He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He dunked off the Artest spin and set up. He scored a layup when Luke set him up. Bad D, giving up low post position and an easy layup. Another offensive foul trying to get a board. Second Half: He missed a 21-footer. He swished a corner three off the Fisher kickout. He missed a 22-footer from the wing. He dunked off the interior feed from Luke. He dunked off the long outlet from Artest. He missed a wing jumper. He spun off the pick and roll feed and hit the jumphook over a couple defenders.

Morrison -- -- With Artest getting a rest, Phil went to Adam against Gay at the SF. It wasn't our best stretch of ball, but it was good to see Adam get a little bit of run in the first half. Ideally, we'd have a more athletic SF to come off the bench. That would help for players Luke can't stick with. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting and was a -7 in 5:20 of action. The Action: He hit a short floater, wide open in the lane out of a timeout. Second Half: He did not play.

Phil -- -- With Bynum added to the walking wounded because of the elbow strain at the end of the last game, Phil went to Mbenga. DJ pulled down 9 boards and had 3 points in his first 9 minutes before having to sit with 2 fouls... A lot of Kobe in the post early and often... The Lakers led 25-22 after the first. Kobe with 10 points... Phil went with a Powell, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup. He subbed out LO for Artest, going smaller... Phil went with a Mbenga, Lamar, Morrison, Kobe, Fisher lineup after Ron carried the second unit... He called Morrison's number for a score in the lane out of a timeout... The Lakers trail 51-49 at the half. They shot 37.7 percent, the Grizzlies 48.6 percent. The Lakers killed the Grizzlies 15-4 on the offensive glass. The Lakers were 1-7 from three, the Grizzlies 3-3. Poor first half from LO... "We just have to do a better job of converting the shots we have," BShaw said... Lakers went on a 7-0 run, Memphis reeled them in after a timeout... The Lakers went on a 9-0 run, another Memphis timeout. They wouldn't reel them in this time.. The Lakers got 15 from Kobe and 13 from Artest in a 38-point third quarter. They tag teamed to get a 87-75 lead. The Lakers made 16-24 shots in that quarter... Phil ran a Powell, Artest, Luke, Brown, Farmar unit to start the fourth. That unit had to get it done with LO in foul trouble and Kobe resting. They forced a timeout when they stretched the lead to 15... Randolph started getting some easy scores as Artest/Powell looked gassed after the long stint. Phil finally called timeout after the third one, still up by 11 with 5:52 left. Good job by that second unit.. Phil returned with a Mbenga, Lamar, Artest, Kobe, Farmar unit... The Lakers ended up shooting 50.5 percent for the game after the slow start. They had 35 assists with just 8 turnovers. The Grizzlies had 13 assists with 11 turnovers...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Interesting chart tonight. Memphis was never able to get any kind of big run.

[Ray_Gonzoles]

Thanks again for the recaps DB!

Wow, without Gasol or Bynnum, DJ and Powell stepped up, along with a certain KB24.
As Truehoops/FB&G was speculating, the Lakers without Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol are still better than the Memphis Grizzlies.
_________________
"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.

[Marty]

Thanks, DB! Been waiting for this.

Great game again by Bean.

[ecksor]

Thanks, DB!
_________________
We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire... Give us the tools and we will finish the job.
- Winston Churchill

Who is my avatar? Kharunisia

[lakergreenmachine]

Thanks DB, here's to a win over New Orleans!
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"Moment of Silence For the Champions."

[dino]

amazing game from 24 and great effort from artest...

thanks db...

[Tanlentueux]

thanks for the recap.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks again DB

I wonder how many people actually remember the other Dancing Barry

[Downunder]

Thanks DB.

Artest's playmaking is very nice to see. Reminds me of Rick Fox a bit.

[IPK]

[limchrc]

thanks

[dmlakerfan01]

DB, you should write a novel or something. You're a fantastic wordsmith.

[TooCool]

Great post DB.
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[chilake24]

DB，

[lounger]

thanks DB. Boy do I feel good.

[ElginBaylor]

Have any of you artists out there ever done a graphic of the four horsemen, as depicted in DB's epic saga? I'd love to see that.
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Not a legend

[Laker7]

Great job as usual by Kobe. I am starting to think of Ron Ron as a chameleon. He does whatever he needs to do on any given night. Other guys are hot, he becomes an assist man. Starters out, he becomes a scorer. Other team has a hot guy, he becomes a defender. He seems to be doing whatever the team needs him to do and that is awesome!

Phil was right in that Powell has become our most reliable scorer off the bench. Glad to see someone stepping up. And despite his propensity (like them big words huh!) to jack shots up, DJ seems to be our second best. Due to the bigs going down, he has come in and been adequate. Not going to run anyone out of the gym but big boards, big blocks and big help defense go a long way to helping teams win. Guys like Farmar, Sasha and Brown may have better stat lines but Powell and DJ are the glue right now that the team needs.

L7
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Rick12322]

Thans, DB. Loving Kobe's game. Really liking what Ron's bringing to this team.

[Rick12322]

I get the feeling LO is not in game shape, and has not gotten his timing back yet.

[hoopschick29]

[JM]

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

i see DB is already in mid season form.

kobe looked a lot like MJ last night
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"When (Kobe) gets you on life support, he won't give you mouth to mouth. HE PULLS THE PLUG." -stu

[Freakout]

Very happy and surprised by the win. I knew Odom would struggle with Randolph but the team helped out DJ when he was stuck ISO against Marc. Probably since he was our only center they wanted to keep him in good shape foul wise.

Derek chipped in, Ron was on, but the guy that helped the most off the bench was Luke in my opinion. More so than even Powell. Luke was very active on the glass and those 7 assists were huge.

[socalfan2708]

[wolfpaclaker]

re: LO

LO is falling in the same trap he did a few years ago when he was the initiator/primary guard. He is leading the team in assists and raking them up with ease but his scoring has become too much perimeter. Pretty much most of LO's shots are from 15' and out these days. I understand his J is better, but LO's best talent is that left handed drive or using that left hand to finish plays around the basket. He can't stop attacking the paint or working his way into the post off the ball. Although part of the thing has probably been the fact that we've got so many other good post up players in Kobe, Andrew and Ron even has big size mismatch in there.

Regarding his D, I think it's all the minutes. He hasn't played 40 a night since 2-3 years. Phil has been riding the starters, and clearly we see Lamar's legs aren't what they used to be. He'll be much better when Phil can get his minutes down 30. That isn't a good enough excuse though, because I have high standards for Lamar's defense. He was one of our best last year in defending. He started off strong this year but the last few games his D has slipped. Need to get that back. I think minutes going down to 30 will help him a great deal.

Plus, I think LO focuses better in short stints. We all know he can't focus for long stretches. Playing him high minutes wind up having him play a few stretches with no thinking process at all.

On a positive note LO is averaging sound numbers. 11.2 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 4.7 apg, 1.5 spg, 0.9 bpg. You definitely take that from your 4th option and soon to be 5th.