Archive for the ‘Anna's Postgame Report’ Category
In the first game without Andrew Bynum, whose absence can last up to two weeks (so far as everyone has been told), the Lakers started lethargically on the floor in the first quarter before finally picking up their game in the second quarter.
On this Noche Latina at Staples, L.A.’s favorite Spanish representative, Pau Gasol, dominated quickly and accurately inside. Pau’s stroke of late has looked exceptionally smooth. He’s going at the basket strong, his mid-range jumper looks sharp as can be and even his free throws are finding their way into the hoop. Finishing the night off with 28 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and one block, Pau appears back to his usual, quiet dominating self. With the absence of Andrew for the next couple of weeks (hopefully no more than that), the quality of Pau’s time on the floor needs to be as efficient and pristine (minus the four turnovers) as it was tonight.
Kobe Bryant, who for the last few games has taken on the role of facilitator, locked in offensively in the first half tonight. His 3-point shooting has been somewhat M.I.A. since his return from injury, but tonight he launched and hit three 3-pointers in a row without breaking a stride. With 24 points on 10-17 shooting, not to mention four assists and three rebounds, Kobe’s obviously aware of what he needs to contribute without another scorer like Andrew on the floor.
Ron Artest chipped in 16 points on a rare, but welcome, offensive effort of 7-10, plus three steals.
Lamar Odom wasn’t as involved offensively as Andrew’s absence usually dictates, but his 13 rebounds and six assists are what make him valuable to this team.
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The thousand watt smile — it’s been awhile since Lamar Odom’s flashed his infectious grin for everyone, but after nailing a fourth shot from downtown towards the end of the game, how could he hide his delight? Lamar was just one of six Lakers who scored in double figures tonight and on a very rare occasion, had single digit rebounds and, what’s this? Zero assists? Yes, this is a rarity, but for a change, Lamar was on the receiving end of passes from assist leader of the evening, Kobe Bryant.
Kobe’s career high in assists for one game is 15 and tonight he passed out 13 dimes. He had seven assists before he even scored his first points on two free throws with just under three minutes left in the first quarter. He tossed numerous, perfectly-timed lobs to Andrew Bynum; in an ode to Showtime, threw a behind-the-back pass to Lamar for his first three-pointer of the game and another behind the back assist, off a Jordan Farmar pass in transition, that was met by a running Pau Gasol who dunked (Hooray, Pau dunked!) and was rewarded with an and-1, which he made.
By halftime, the Lakers had a ten-point lead, with Pau and Andrew leading the way with 11 points apiece.
Kobe didn’t even hit his first field goal until the second quarter — a three-pointer that, upon hitting the net, had him smiling the entire way to the Wolves’ basket. He ended with 22 points to go with the baker’s dozen of assists, not to mention his 4 steals. He did have 5 turnovers, which is never good but it’s obvious his hand injury still plagues him. He played the part of facilitator tonight and, despite the excitement he ensues in everyone who watches his myriad of scoring killer instincts, his court vision, orchestration and execution is, quite simply, an even greater sight to behold. One nod of his head to the right, one point of his finger to the left and suddenly, everyone is in optimum scoring position.
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“I was so tired,” Andrew Bynum told Stu Lantz in a post-game interview. “I thought I was gonna have a bad game.”
If tonight’s showing is a reflection of “tired,” let’s hope Andrew is completely exhausted when the playoffs begin.
With 21 points on 9-14 shooting, in addition to 12 rebounds, and the only Laker who shot perfectly from the free throw line, Andrew played with a different kind of attitude today. Actually, he just had an attitude about him today, rebounding on both sides of the court, never giving up on his missed shot attempts, and dunking the living lights out of Arco Arena.
After scoring the Lakers’ first seven points of the game, it was obvious Andrew had come to play tonight, and not just to score on feeds from his teammates. He was active everywhere, manning the offensive glass (5), and refusing to give up possessions until they had scored. He forbade second chance points for the Kings with his seven defensive boards and even collected two blocks for a well-rounded evening.
And the greatest stat of all for Andrew? ONE turnover, an excellent recovery from the eight that must have haunted him from last night against Warriors.
In all, the Lakers had only nine turnovers, with Kobe Bryant collecting the most with just three, a third of what he collected last night. Instead of throwing the ball around carelessly against one of the youngest and most energetic teams in the league, the Lakers threw crisp passes to each other, handing out 23 assists on 42 made field goals, a few on very impressive lobs.
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If you can’t kill them with your size, kill them with your speed. That’s what Don Nelson must’ve told his injury-ridden Golden State Warriors who ran the Lakers into playing at their pace so effectively that it produced 24 turnovers. Kobe Bryant, alone, had nine and Andrew Bynum had eight. With 29 and 18 points respectively, their efficient scoring was trumped by their sheer carelessness with the ball.
The only negative for the Warriors, and true it’s a big negative, is that they didn’t win the game, but they sure played like the victors tonight.
It was obvious that this game would be played feverishly quick and a foreshadowing of all the negligence to come appeared in the very first Laker possession that ended in Bynum’s first of eight turnovers.
The 33-point Laker victory up in Oakland last November must have been clear in the minds of the Warriors as they ran the Lakers ragged to an almost-vengeful win.
At halftime, the Warriors led 65-59 and had scored 17 points off Laker turnovers. Golden State scored easily and freely, hitting wide-open shots from all around the perimeter, and beating their opponents with a quickness the Lakers could not seem to match in return.
The road team allowed three 30-point quarters by the Warriors (1st, 2nd and 4th) and were lucky they got the win when they did.
The Lakers were no match for Stephen Curry who, despite getting his fourth foul with three minutes left in the third quarter, torched every player in a purple uniform to a near double-double of 29 points and nine assists. This young rookie is fearless no matter where he is on the court. Whether he’s behind the three-point line, driving in for a quick lay-up, or taking off for the deadly teardrop, any number of players defending him are better off just letting him pass, which is what the Lakers decided to do tonight.
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The Lakers have been a topic of conversation in the NBA lately, and not because of anything they’re doing right; mostly because of everything they’re doing wrong. The Lakers have been criticized often for being soft, apathetic or lacking effort on defense, but the one area they’ve always been able to fall back on to squeak out a win is their prolific offense.
The last few games, however, paint a different picture, and though they shot 51% in the loss to Miami and 49.4% tonight against Phoenix, they shot just 36.2% in Charlotte and 37.5% in Orlando.
One bad shooting night is not unheard of in the NBA. It’s a long season after all, but to have two brick-tossing games in a row in the year they are defending a title? Unacceptable. Is the stagnant offense dumbfounding and a bit concerning? Yes. Is it irreparable? No.
Kobe Bryant, reported to have arrived more than two hours before the game to shoot around, scored 21 points from only 16 attempted shots. Playing against the highest-scoring team in the NBA, the Lakers needed to pull out every scoring weapon they had in the armory and Kobe, their sharpest shooter, had to be on point.
Scoring first in the game on a turnaround followed by an and-1, Kobe’s game face was just as it was after his game-winning shot against Toronto — focused and very businesslike.
With 17 games left before the playoffs, and with two teams hovering over their first place seat in the Western Conference, Kobe is done having his fun and some of his teammates seemed to follow suit.
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The Lakers must’ve forgotten what happened the last time they were in Orlando. They forgot that in their last visit with Dwight Howard and company, they played like the better team, the more experienced group of players, the ones who wanted the championship the most. They forgot what helped them win last year — that collective effort on both sides of the court, a fearlessness to stand up to the defensive player of the year, and the intelligence and heart to know what the outcome of the game would be before tip-off.
Those were Lakers that have shown up this season every so often, but not often enough to let even themselves believe they could hoist that Larry O’Brien trophy again, not if they continue to play like this.
The Magic remembered. They remembered how they got blown out in the first game of the Finals at Staples center by 25 points. They remembered the Lakers celebrating the championship on their homecourt.
The Magic remembered… but the Lakers have forgotten.
A win against Orlando might’ve been a small bite-size of redemption from the first two losses on this road trip. Despite the unbelievable number of fouls called on both Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard, it appeared to be anyone’s game in the first half with both the Lakers and the Magic shooting under 40% from the field.
The Lakers had only four turnovers to the Magic’s eight, in the first half, a welcome stat considering the Lakers’ horrible turnover tendencies in the last few games.
Kobe Bryant also seemed to have found his shooting touch.
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The game was close throughout and the lead went back and forth all evening. It could have been an exciting game between two opponents playing their hearts out. It COULD have been that kind of night, but it was far from it. The Lakers could have given this game away. They gave Philadelphia every opportunity to steal one from their own homecourt, but the defending Champs did enough to win tonight.
Their version of enough, however, was barely watchable.
On a night where Kobe played facilitator to the tune of eight assists, both Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol produced an impressive set of double-doubles (20-13 and 23-11 respectively) and five Lakers scored in double figures — the flow and energy of the game could have been a lot more exciting than troubling. Instead, turnovers, which the box score indicates was 10 but on-air stats reflected about 14, seemed to occur every other possession.
The Lakers were throwing passes that were constantly deflected, stolen, and scored from; they committed THREE shot clock violations and the defense? The term “Defending” Champions” might take a hit after tonight’s effort, or lack thereof.
The Lakers might as well have laid a red carpet to the basket because the Sixers walked right up to it with little to no resistance… the entire game.
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With no Kobe in the line-up for a fifth straight game, the need for a clutch understudy was up for grabs.
Sadly, not even a Fish could save Los Angeles tonight. But the Lakers had it. They were almost there. Yes, Boston had dominated for the greater part of the game, but even despite the 11-point lead to break down, there was still hope.
The bench came in the third quarter and nearly ran these old and creaky Celtics ragged. Sasha Vujacic, probably thankful that he was still in a Laker uniform after this afternoon’s trade deadline had passed, chipped in 4 quick points and stuck to red-hot Ray Allen much more effectively than Derek Fisher could the entire game. Allen scored 24 points on 10-15 shooting and proved that his struggles of late were not at all indicative of what he still had the ability to do, and tonight what the Lakers missed most about Kobe was not just his clutch appeal, but his defense on Allen.
Andrew Bynum, still nursing an injured hip, played as well as he could, contributing 14 points on 7-15 shooting and bumping against wide loads like Kendrick Perkins and Glenn “call me Uno-Uno” Davis.
Pau Gasol, not to be intimidated by technical foul-loving Rasheed Wallace, did not back down, but did allow Rajon Rondo to steal the ball right from under him three times too often. Though with 22 points and seven rebounds, this loss was not for his lack of effort.
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For the third game in a row, John Ireland asked the Laker chosen for his post-game interview if this game just played was the best team win they’ve had all season. Either 1) John is finally running out of questions or 2) Teamwork has been so prominent in every win that John can’t help but ask.
Unless our eyes have deceived us these last few days, the reason for these dominating wins is owed, in large part, to efficient TEAM WORK.
Teamwork on defense — staying active and alert, helping on double teams and then recovering quickly back to your man.
In his post-game interview, Jordan Farmar cited their greater attention to detail on both sides of the court as a source of their recent success. The Lakers will never have a problem scoring. The entire roster is full of scorers, but it was forcing eight Utah turnovers and grabbing seven steals that got them that 15-point lead in the first half, not just their 48% FG. And as far as the Lakers’ inability to defend quick point guards, like Deron Williams, who was held to 3-9 shooting tonight? What team finds it easy to defend Chris Paul, Steve Nash or Deron Williams one-on-one? Good job on D-Will this evening.
Teamwork on offense — less isolation and more ball movement. With 19 assists, but 17 turnovers for the night, it wasn’t the Lakers’ cleanest game. The 19 assists, however, were distributed by eight different players (Brown, Gasol and Vujacic each led with four), a glaring comparison to a Jazz team who thrives on Deron Williams’ direction (he alone had 10 dimes).
A small reason for the Lakers’ recent wins without Kobe Bryant in the line-up, is the spread of ball-handling responsibilities. In the triangle offense, there is no need for a pure point guard, which is why it’s always so baffling when “experts” cite this position as the Lakers’ greatest weakness when it’s not a position that their offense necessitates.
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Rejuvenated. Energized. Poised. That is how the Lakers played tonight against a veteran San Antonio team.
For the second game in a row without Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, the Lakers came in with no excuses. No missing teammates would derail them from winning. No loss in scoring and defensive options would stand in their way. The Spurs had beaten them by 20 points in the last meeting, but tonight was not about revenge. Tonight, like Saturday in Portland, the goal was just to win another game.
To win how they did tonight, however, was reminiscent of a style that has been lost on this team periodically this season — Championship-caliber basketball.
The Lakers, again, played excellent team ball, with Odom, Gasol and Artest leading the charge. Together they scored 55 points, seized 34 rebounds, and handed out 15 assists, not to mention Gasol’s 5 blocks.
The frontcourt’s mission to dominate was clear early on, and their aggressiveness on both ends of the court was undeniable.
Odom, in particular, punished San Antonio all evening, doing just about everything he wanted to do; curling around his defender for a lay up, splitting double teams for an emphatic dunk, passing to a running Gasol, and fighting for rebounds.
When asked what he planned to do with Odom in the 2nd quarter, Coach Popovich thought for a second and replied, “We just have to find somebody who can defend him.” Simple enough request, difficult to execute, especially when Odom is the primary ball handler on the floor.
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