Crucifido’s Corner: Lakers vs. Jazz (Round 2 / Game 4 5/11/08)

All Tied Up And Back To L.A.

The Lakers went into Game 4 looking to get the win and wrap things up back home in 5, which would’ve been a real nice way to get some more rest before the next round and let the (now multiplying) bumps and bruises get some own time.

But, as we all know, it didn’t happen.

Before I get into the hows and whats of the game though, remember this in your pre-panic phase. The Lakers have yet to truly be beaten in this series. Both of these dings on the Lakers’ otherwise perfect playoff record have come largely in part to the Lakers not taking care of business. There hasn’t been something magical Utah’s done that has taken the Lakers out of their game. Both losses are mainly because of what the Lakers did wrong, rather than what Utah’s done right.

This isn’t to take credit away from the Jazz. They could’ve easily folded, but they fought back to tie it up. Great for them and all, but what is great for Laker fans is a couple things.

One, they’re getting tested. This kind of push into a 6 or maybe 7 game series can go a long way to fortifying this team. It gives them even more experience under duress (in more ways than one) and shows them that they can’t just cruise through these tough Western playoff rounds without giving it their concerted effort for 48 every night out.

Second, a longer, tougher series can get this team more sure of what they can and can’t do. It vividly illustrates the things they need to improve on, but on the more positive side it also shows them exactly what they can do that other teams can’t cope with.

Sure, the series is tied when it could’ve been finished with or been done this Wednesday, but things are what they are. And right now, things need to be addressed in order for the Lakers to finish off this series in their favor like they should.

First off, the giant positive in this game was Lamar. When Kobe tweaked his back and the Lakers had limited options (due to Pau playing in spurts), Lamar seriously took over. He showed elements of leadership in both keeping his teammates spirits up and becoming very aggressive to the basket. Lamar started things off a bit sleepy, letting the couple of alley-oops behind him go off with barely a nod. But once those were done, Odom woke up.

One instance came in the 2nd quarter when Sasha made an unsuccessful hustle play for a loose ball, but Odom came sweeping in, helped him up and got him back in the game, giving him a hand and making him get back in the game instead of sulking. That’s a Lamar that I don’t think anyone ever thought would emerge. If Kobe’s injury affects the team more, and even if it doesn’t, having yet another morale lifter on the court can keep the Lakers motor running when they hit those flat spots.

The entire game, I thought that the Lakers should have fed Lamar far more than they did. Not only because of his assertiveness, but because he flat out had Boozer’s number on both ends. Boozer was a no-show in the first half and that was because of Lamar again establishing position and holding it fervently even when the Jazz would try to push their way through. If Lamar is operating that successfully the rest of the Lakers (and the coaching staff) have got to swing the weight of the offense towards Lamar. He looked like he was ready to handle it yesterday. Hopefully come Wednesday’s Game 5, he’ll still be in that same alpha mode.

Pau improved his game as well. He wasn’t holding the ball so long in the post and even better he was stepping out of the paint more often waiting for the drive to collect attention and for him to swoop in. He was looking to pass it out, took more varied shots from the post and overall didn’t look like he was being overpowered at every turn.

Defensively he got into the mix better and made his presence known on a couple of boards. But as the game wore on, he still didn’t have that same positive hop in his step running the floor and moving without the ball. For the Lakers to get back to where they were in the first 2 games, Pau has simply got to be active on all fronts.

Derek was stellar in this one. Not only did he play under a ridiculous amount of juvenile ridicule puked his way by the less intelligent of the Jazz fans, he was playing like the vet the Lakers needed a couple years ago against Phoenix. That run of 3s he hit in the 4th was the old Fisher that can have an impact at any given point. More importantly Derek had a knack of doing what he had to when the Lakers needed it despite some heavy traffic in Utah’s defense. He’s gotten back to playing more of a point guard role, jabbing a bit here and there and throwing down some takes to the hoop once in a while as well.

Defensively, he has Deron’s number at times. Williams’ speed still stumps Derek but Fisher used his strength well working off of Utah’s screen sets. When Williams would beat him off of screen, Derek bullied his way through Utah’s traffic almost every time, keeping his body in front of Williams’. What he has to do next game is stop swiping at the ball. The refs are obviously sensitive to attempted steal this series and Derek has to adjust to stay on the court longer.

Luke did a good job of keeping physical with Harpring and moreover Korver, taking Korver off of his shooting game when he did. Luke was battling and had some real nice buckets in traffic to show for it.

Kobe’s back tweak had to have you squirming a bit. It most definitely had a hit on the Lakers’ morale. He lost his spring on his drives and subsequently lost some ability to pull Utah’s defense wherever he wanted them to go. Once his drive and kick took a backseat, so did the Lakers movement off the ball. They had poor movement for most of the game anyway, but when Kobe had trouble letting guys play off of his motion, it got worse.

It’s not fair to be too judgmental on Kobe because of his injury. Hopefully next game his back will shore up a bit and he can get back to inspiring the Lakers to move into option positions sharper than they did in this one.

There were a bunch of things the Lakers have got to kill by Wednesday.

One of the most subtle (as far as noticeable goes) things is going away from the hot hand. When Vladi had it going in Game 4, the Lakers left him out of the passing cycle for too long. In this one Fisher had it going early and the Lakers just didn’t exploit it enough.

Sasha has got to guard Korver according to his game. All Korver is in there for is to shoot, everyone knows that but for some reason both Sasha and the help off of screens with Korver let him loose way too easily on the arc. And really anywhere else he wanted to go.

The Lakers did a terrible job dropping to the level of the ball on both ends. Offensively when the ball was put in the paint, the driver was left almost alone. There were no options gotten through movement to the open spots, resulting in some blank drives that could’ve been easy scores. Defensively, when the ball was moved into the middle or along side the key the Lakers did the same thing. They’d have one defender dropping down and nobody else on the wing moving down with them. If they did move down they lost all sight of spacing to the outside shot and again let easy shots fly in from all over.

Every single Laker has got to stop leaping at the first he4ad fake they see. The 1 block out of every 10 leaps they do isn’t worth the chunk of points they give away by letting the Jazz run right by them unabated.

Bad shot decisions coupled with and apart from one pass offensive sets won’t get you anywhere on the road or at home.

Free throws – don’t miss so dang many free throws. 1 make out of the 10 missed would’ve finished that game in regulation – just 1. Don’t let it happen again.

Watch the 3rd quarter. Utah scored on almost every possession in the 3rd simply because the Lakers looked lethargic on defense. They know better and should be trying to keep extra sharp coming out of halftime.

Every chance the Lakers had to take the lead when they were tied was botched by rushed play or taking their eyes off the ball. Maybe some was due to the pressure, some due to the crowd, but mostly it was due to the Lakers not keeping their minds on the game.

Alright, I could go on but let me end on a big positive – something to take into Game 5s victory. Despite all the b.s. in the 1st half, the Lakers came out of it tied. They did that by keeping their composure. That veteran type of control in tough circumstances is what can get them through this round. They showed the focus is there, it just needs to be tapped into - it’s not that far beneath the surface.

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