Crucifido’s Corner: Lakers vs. Heat (Game 50 2/10/08)

Road Weary, But Still Winning

First things first – you just didn’t want the Lakers to take this game lightly. Coming into a broken team like Miami on the high the Lakers are on could’ve been dangerous. You add the first game from Marion on a team desperately looking for an infusion of energy from anywhere and this game could easily spell trouble. The 4th quarter run of the Heat showed just how giving any team a look at a comeback can be bad news.

Off the bat, I loved Kobe’s takes on Wade’s typical lackluster defense (and no one semi-blocked shot doesn’t count as a game of defense) in the first quarter. Pushing the ball into the middle like he was along with Pau being inside had Miami immediately dumping all defense down low. When the defense was drawn in, Kobe’s mid range jumper was left wide open. Then when Kobe’s jumper got shut off, Sasha, Farmar and everyone else were spotting up at great angles for the pass (i.e. – Farmar’s 1st quarter ending three off of Kobe’s take).

Kobe’s passing was spot on today too. In fact I think he may have passed a couple times too many in the first half, but as usual Kobe getting his on offense is never a worry. The jab dribbling, and the pushes to the inside set the Laker rhythm up really nicely overall. That was as smooth a 30+ point performance as you’ll see in the NBA.

As we all know it’s not all about the offense with Kobe. Since he’s gotten the inspiration to play defense with determination from his international stint, he’s been on a tear. Though it wasn’t mostly the intense rebounding he showed in Orlando, today it was lock down perimeter D.

The stop Kobe pulled off on Wade in the 3rd quarter with seconds left; resulting in a travel was A sampling of the genius of Kobe’s D.

Odom played really good perimeter defense today. Rarely, if ever, biting on head fakes and keeping perfect distance between him and shooters or slashers, kept Miami from moving the ball through any defensive position he was filling.

Radmanovic did a good job early on playing off the curl to the basket. Coupling with Kobe’s jabs to the middle, Miami was sent scrambling pretty often. The problem with Vladi offensively was him crowding the lane almost every time anyone got the ball even in the mid-post. When he stepped out to the three after running through the key instead of holding up in the paint, everything eased up. Also, he’s lagging after missing a shot on getting back. There’s too much sulking or complaining for the foul from Radmanovic. He doesn’t have the speed of or defensive ability to carry that off. Stop griping and get back quick – every time.

Luke finally looks to getting himself back into shape and able to trust the ankle more. Some good passes off of the block and cuts underneath for a lay-up or two were more what we’ve come to expect from Luke.

Sasha has just been the unnoticed killer this season. It continued today as it has for the entire season. I’ll be the first to admit I gave up on him far too early in his career. This season he has been magnificent at spotting up. Whether he makes the shot all the time or not, Sasha’s understanding of the offense and where he needs to be has improved exponentially.

With Sasha nailing the shots like he did in this game, Miami was forced to go single coverage on the floor. Not being able to double Kobe off of Sasha (or Farmar either) was huge. Having yet another guy that the Heat couldn’t leave to shoot at will was just another thing that sent Miami’s “defense” into scramble mode even further.

Defensively Sasha did a decent job keeping tabs on his man. He crowded the shooters and kept from getting picked off as much as he could.

The thing about Gasol on offense that I find impressive is his almost immediate knowledge of spacing and where he needs to be on every single play. Already there are few times Gasol is crowding, out of step or slow to move from post to post.

His pass after cutting along the baseline to Walton for the lay-up was beautiful. Versatility in the post like that is a rare commodity in the NBA.

Defensively, Gasol showed his weakness in the post. It has always been a soft spot in his game, but the activity of Blount in the paint really froze Pau. Once he can get to the high post and swoop in to get boards or help defense with Andrew in the idle, that weakness won’t have that big of an impact on the Laker D.

It was yet another good game from the player of the game for me, Odom. Now that he’s free of having to do things he’s doing the same things with ease. Most impressive today was his rebound positioning – consistent, proper and strong, every time. When the 15-foot jumpers are flowing from Odom’s hands, you know he’s having a good game.

His rebounding was effortless and better than that, it was always under control. Controlled taps, two hands on all boards, kicking it back out to reset the offense and holding it well to set the Laker offense into motion off of defense.

His defense was good too. I liked him running from the free throw line down to the baseline with purpose. There was no hitch in his movement as he fought through a lot of traffic to consistently get involved in every play from the mid range down to the block.

Farmar woke up offensively. Though he was shooting a bit too much from the arc, it was good to see Jordan get his legs under him on his shot again. Defensively he was still about a step or two slow off of screens or off of lateral moves. It just looks like Jordan needs the All-Star break.

The Lakers had plenty of sleepy weak side moments again on defense. This season has gone from perimeter defensive problems from the last couple of years, to weal side defensive board lapses this season. There was far too much attention paid to the ball coming down the middle on the beginning of slashes. It’s of course proper to stop the ball first, but the Lakers were throwing 2 guys at the ball every time down the middle. They only needed to put one on the ball, but when they sent the extra man Pau was stuck guarding two guys on the block.

Along those same lines, there was a touch too much trapping on the outside on guys that didn’t need trapping – ala Davis.

Still frustrating to see guys like Blount or Wright go off on the Lakers, but the Lakers did good making the little guys try to beat them, rather then letting Wade go crazy on ‘em. With Bynum back you’d like to think that big games from mediocre bigg-ish guys will go by the wayside.

In the first half the Lakers were succumbing to the Heat’s running game a bit too. There were a lot of rushed shots, particularly in the 2nd quarter. Patient, post driven offense is the order of the day with the triangle and the Lakers personnel. Though they can run if necessary, The Lakers work better in the half court from the post out – no news there, I know, but in this game the Lakers were looking to play 7 second shot ball a little more than they should have.

Come the 3rd quarter the Lakers got back the deliberate play they do best with.

The Lakers were slow on their defensive transition as well. The first half saw too many 2 on 1’s happening. The 4 on 1 situation in the 2nd quarter with only Derek back can’t happen. There’s got to be a whole team effort to get back or at the very least 3 guys coming back on breaks. There’s no given make on a break. How many times have we seen Kobe or Lamar block a shot or Derek stuff a drive into a pull-up jumper without anyone backing them up to get the board?

There was one instance in the 3rd with Farmar, Walton and Gasol coming back to stop the break and low and behold they wound up forcing a turnover.

There were some hiccups with the Lakers today that looked like they may be symptoms of the long road trip kicking in. They have to hold it together for only 2 more games though, get home 7-2 and re-gain some energy during the All-Star break.

WTF Of The Game: That Miami announcer is just ridiculously annoying, not on par with the Pistons overbearing guy, but dang close. It’s the audio equivalent of watching special teams in football freaking out over an average tackle.

As this road trip slowly (really slowly) comes to a close, Andrew’s return gets closer and Ariza is on his way back, things are running as smooth as they can for the Lakers.

Off to Charlotte they go, looking for win 33.