Crucifido’s Corner: Lakers vs. Mavs (Game 41 1/25/2008)

The Lakers vs. The 3rd Quarter

Another Texas game, another good start.

Another Texas game, another terrible 3rd.

Hustle inside and looking to run plays through the post got the Lakers to the free throw line early and often. That kind of motion inside without Andrew there is vital. With Andrew it is too, but without a certified offensive threat in the middle, establishing some kind of inside intention is needed. That was lacking in the Spurs game, but looked to be corrected fairly quickly in this one.

Unfortunately, the hustle died in the second half. The contesting of shots, the communication all but fell off the map. Correct me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t rest give you some energy, not drain it?

It wasn’t helped out by the stupid amount of unforced errors. What else is there to say but this rash of turnovers for no reason is ridiculous. Its not like the Mavericks are some defensive juggernaut. They’re quite an easy to team to get around, even without a bona fide big man, as the high shot percentage will attest to. The only ones who can explain this turnover problem are the Lakers themselves. For now, we just have to hope that the Lakers will somehow shake this junk out of their system.

Right around the mid 2nd quarter I hoped the Lakers realized that Bass can shoot. Once again they Lakers have got to see someone other than a big time player getting into a rhythm earlier. They simply cannot let these side guys find open space and easy shots for ¾ of the game before they decide to D them up. Once they get into a rhythm you’ve made it doubly hard for yourself to shut them out.

The missed lay-up thing is aggravating. No wait, let me correct that, its completely unacceptable. It’s simply a matter of concentration. Almost every Laker is taking their eyes off the rim way too early. That’s it, its nothing but the Lakers looking the ball into the hoop. It’s got to be stopped – right now.

There has got to be earlier help once a player gets their shoulder past a perimeter player. The outside defense still has weakness in it and it has to be sealed up by rotating off non-shooters far earlier than after the whistle’s been blown

For the second game in a row the 3rd quarter drought hit the Lakers square in the face. They cannot come into the second half looking to just get by, which is what their play is looking like. Giving up these runs, big or small without looking to strike with the same verve they had in the first half is deadly. They’re looking absolutely lost in the 3rd, and it’s a mystery why. On this game there was no offensive scheme change. It was the same offense run, but suddenly the motion off the ball came to a crawl. It became a one on one battle with the whole team appearing confused.

6.5 minutes / 14-0 run / in the San Antonio game and 3.5 minutes / 11-0 run / lead blows up to 17 in this game. Its a tough enough task to win on the road being hobbled, but putting yourself in this kind of hurt going into the 4th quarter is making things even tougher to say the least.

The bottom line is, this can’t happen playing the Spurs, Mavericks or the Timberwolves. Even with the luxury of a fully healthy squad you can’t afford that. Playing at an immediate disadvantage as they are right now has got to make them realize that intensity has to be magnified. The focus coming into every quarter has to be there. There’s no time to kick back. Lax play spells and is spelling disaster.

While I’m complaining – I guess unforced turnovers are back in fashion. Playing teams like the Mavericks that are so savvy at taking advantage of turnovers didn’t make the hill any easier to climb. Its one thing to be defended well, but its an entirely different animal when you basically hand the Mavericks easy shots off unnecessary mistakes.

Kobe is still on his run of MVP play. Venturing beyond the simple scoring for Kobe, this passing binge he’s been on has been astounding. He’s always been willing to pass the ball (despite other erroneous reports), but it’s taken on a different light now. The seams he’s finding on interior defense, like the dish to Odom in the 2nd are just unbelievable.

As much passing as he’s been doing, there has to be more balance in the offense too. Kobe can seemingly do anything he wants against Dallas, but there still has to be help. He tried to use himself as a distraction to open up other players, but nobody stepped up outside of Jordan. Kobe was visibly upset, and well he should’ve been.

What concerns me is that with the injuries, Kobe’s minutes are starting to climb. With those climbing minutes and the injury plague, you’re seeing Kobe sacrificing his body more. In turn getting he’s finding himself in more jeopardizing situations than he had to be in earlier in the year. For the short term he may be able to handle it, but it has to bring up concern for the long run of the Lakers once the playoffs start approaching.

Derek’s shot seemed to liven back up early on. After the poor shooting in San Antonio, you kind of had the feeling that Fisher would be looking to come out a bit more aggressive. The off-ball motion from Derek was really positive. He runs off screens offensively well usually, but there was a hard cut to his step tonight. The speed of Harris was just too much for Derek to handle. In the end, what we know, Derek having trouble with quick guards, is what kept him on the bench for much of the game.

Surprisingly Mbenga did a decent job running the offense. The pick and roll he pulled off with Kobe lobbing the ball to him was good. As well as the same play he ran with Derek. His work on the offensive boards was good too. He seems to use his size well in the high post, which is unusual for a guy of his level of talent. If he learns to give a bit more room to guys driving on him at the start of a drive he can start to get the blocks that he’s bordering on. Though not always yielding points, the hard play and work from him is a big bonus. As basically 6 extra fouls and a placeholder off the bench, any hard work like that is much needed and appreciated.

Ronny’s outside shot continues to gain reliability. It’s still not the most comfortable thing to see him hoist it up from distance, but it’s coming along faster than expected. He was outsized in this one. The height of Nowitzki and the strength of Dampier were too much to handle. As active as he can be, being mismatched like that in both the outside and high post makes for a tough run.

Jordan was nice and crisp tonight. He’s still running the break better than any other Laker right now. As far as the half court sets go he was on the money with his spacing tonight and making good decisions. Though I’m no a big proponent of shooting threes as a first option, I do like Jordan’s looks from the arc. He’s developing a good fell for when his shot starts to fall short.

Better yet, Farmar’s takes to the paint have been spot on. There’s rarely been a time where Jordan gets himself into a spot of trouble without knowing his outs. That ability to probe into the paint without giving the ball up (though there were a couple times tonight, but in general…) is a great quality to have in a point guard, let alone your back up point.

He’s been struggling quite a bit with being posted up recently. It’s not for a lack of effort, but rather it’s from poor positioning. He’s been giving up the inside track a lot. Some of it may be out of habit of having Andrew back there to erase mistakes. But Bynum isn’t there right now and the defensive adjustment has yet to be made by Jordan (or many others) yet. We all heard and saw plenty of perimeter defense woes last year. Just like with everything else I’ve mentioned or will mention in this rant of an article, the big guy isn’t there right now. The middle is weak. The Lakers have got to not only realize this but they have to adjust their defense accordingly. If it’s not done soon, this could be a real rough patch for the Lakers to trudge through – real rough.

I liked Kwame’s passing this game. Other than that there was tentativeness there. That uncertain play led to slow footwork on both ends for him. Whether that was a confidence issue or simply an issue of drive is tough to tell. Whatever it was, with the center position so compromised right now, the Lakers can ill afford a slow-footed, uneasy performance like that in the middle.

The Lakers can’t have Luke be such a donut on the offensive end. He has got to step into the scoring column with some kind of vigor. Right now, if he’s as hurt as his play is showing, he shouldn’t be starting. Maybe a lineup of Ronny at PF and Lamar at SF is worth a gamble.

Lamar was awful. That was an inexcusable performance – inexcusable.

Yeah, yeah, I know the 4th quarter run was nice and all, but if you play the whole game with that same passion you play the 4th with, you wouldn’t have to rely on a miracle run to pull out the game.

Mostly I found myself muttering, “You gotta be kidding me.” A whole lot this game. Not because of the way they lost, but mostly because of the way they came to play in that second half. The injuries certainly change the face of the game, but these guys are too talented, have been together too much and know the system too well on both ends to be playing this mindless for ¾ of a game.

There’s no excuse for it.