Crucifido's Corner (By Request)

crucifido · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:35 pm Post subject: Crucifido's Corner (By Request)

Alright guys, I was told to post my articles in here, so I'll start with this one on the Nuggets game.

Lakers vs. Nuggets (Game 39 1/21/2008)

First Team To Play (Some Kind Of) Defense Wins

After the booing debacle, the bad game by everyone outside of a couple against Phoenix and these days off to let it all stew, its good to get back to the business of playing basketball.

How great was that to see the team come to play immediately in the first quarter. It was beyond gratifying to see the whole team play with positive motion. A little hesitation in the beginning of the game, but it faded quickly. Of course it faded faster once Ronny came into the game, but either way at least the tentativeness they showed in the Phoenix game thankfully disappeared.

Whether you believe it or not, the hop in the Lakers step has come from the defensive all year long and it really showed I this game. That first quarter, once it settled into a groove on defense completely altered the energy level on offense. That’s the way the game has and will always go though, defense first, offense follows.

You don’t expect 67 points in a half that much, but with Denver’s struggles against the Lakers, its not unheard of. What has to concern you is the Lakers finding a balance between the fast start and consistent hard play through the game. As this team has aged and gotten more used to playing with each other, its happened less and less, and maybe it’s the worrier in me, but nonetheless, I’d like to see a consistent game long run from the Lakers more often than a quick jump start and a slow go for the rest of the game. They had a god run in the 3rd to get them back on top, but you can’t lean on the possibility of good runs, you have to look to play hard at all times.

Another concern is when a player of Anthony’s magnitude goes down in a game. It tends to spark a team more than bring them down and that happened again tonight. Its important to not let up the pressure when something like this happens. There’s enough experience on this squad right now to know that. You can’t relax when a team is healthy or when they lose a piece. It’s a constant effort at all times on the court.

Good to have Derek back in the shooting form he’s shown more often than not. I mean, wow, 16 in the first quarter alone is unheard of. I mean, my god, that was simply insane to see Derek go off like that. Is it a pure point guard thing, no, but you can’t complain about Fisher’s amazing shooting. I especially love the aggressiveness all game. It wasn’t just hitting the shots, it was his shot selection that was not only on the money, it was the money. That smart, hot shooting got the team off to not only a good start in the scoring column but also eased up the inside game enough to let Kobe and Lamar get their selves inside with a lot more ease than they had in the past couple of games.

Good to see the team and Kwame himself get going quickly. After the bad game he had against Phoenix it was vitally important for him to get early easy looks to get his confidence up enough to play the best he can. His lackadaisical movement on both ends was a bit less. There was more activity moving through the paint tonight which was good to see. Above all, he looked to be part of the plays rather than just ride along like he had for a lot of his time back on the court.

Kwame’s confidence is his biggest hitch. The support of his team and active play like tonight wil lgo a long way to getting Kwame’s game back into the swing of things.

No surprise as soon as Ronny comes in the entire game takes a turn towards hustle. His looking for defensive stops first makes the whole team look for the same thing. When that happened everyone started picking up the collapse on the inside and looking to rotate faster on the mid-range. Sometimes it makes you wonder why Ronny doesn’t start more often, especially during this ridiculous injury run. Offensively, Ronny is knowing his spots on the dive and cut plays better with every passing game. His size seems to make other teams underestimate his effectiveness, but the majority of the battle for Ronny comes on the defensive end and his propensity for crazy swats that make refs call fouls that aren’t there.

It was a hidden player of the game performance for Ronny, but when all is said and done, its invaluable to have a total energy guy come off the bench with the contagious intensity he had tonight.

Kobe did a fantastic job in the first quarter getting the team going. He’s done it before, but it was really good to see the team cash in on opportunities. The way Kobe was setting the table up for everyone is usually there, but the difference in this one was the team making the easy open shots they were given. I would like to see Kobe try to get himself in the scoring column quicker than he has recently along with getting everyone going, but really Kobe scoring at any point is never a concern.

To the casual Laker watcher, it may seem that Kobe’s biggest help to this team is in the scoring, but his true boost to this team lies in his ability to make plays for both himself and others. This has been true for a while, what makes it show better is when the team plays with the same concentration he did tonight.

If you’re looking for an MVP caliber performance from Kobe in this injury laden month, this was a nice first step in that direction.

That run by the Lakers late in the 3rd to regain the double-digit lead was a thing of beauty. It was great to see that kind of heart show itself. Sparked by Derek’s ridiculous shooting, you saw the Lakers move off of it, rather than stay planted and watch him shoot. That kind of pro-active play will stave off the short-handed plague.

Luke played well in the first half as well, using his post strength on the defensive end rather than force the action like he was before on the offensive end. That’s where Luke’s success will come from, on the defensive end in the mid-range to high post. It was no stopper performance but using the majority of his energy on the post on defense will serve the team better. As opposed to the Phoenix game, it was good to see Luke stay mostly on the outside and mid-range offensively, acting as the passing pivot rather than pushing unnecessarily tough shots up against the trees. Also, he’s got get back to using his step back shot.

Javaris again getting himself into too much trouble for what the situation calls for. I appreciate the jab dribbling and probing, but too many times he’s getting himself buried in the paint. When he plays with relative control and stays out of the paint, he does some good things.

Farmar continues to play aggressively. His matching up with Iverson on defense isn’t a complete coup for the Lakers, but it does slow Iverson down somewhat. With Jordan its his intelligence that opened him up tonight. He was hitting his spots with brilliant crispness. When Kobe is doling out the ball as he was tonight and you get to where you’re supposed to be, good things will always come of it. Pair that with the all around persistent effort Farmar had from end to end and buzzer to buzzer and you have another good game for Jordan. It was hard to stand out as a point guard tonight with Derek going nuts, but Jordan did a good job of it.

Lamar played much better. The takes on the side of the key were back. Again, it’s a matter of Lamar looking for his own shot as much as he looks for the pass. What I loved to see was Lamar’s activity in the paint at all times. When Lamar began to fade out to the arc instead of keeping involved in the paint, the Lakers started sputtering offensively. He has got to set the pace inside like he did and continue to pound on it. Even if immediate success doesn’t come for him offensively that way, he has got to use his size on the inside more than staying out on the perimeter. Odom’s biggest help right now with Andrew out (and with him in too) is not out on the three-point line.

It was a really good all around game for Lamar. Of course we can talk about whether it will happen again or not, but you have to take it when it does happen and tonight it did.

Again, for the millionth time, it’s all about Kleiza with Nuggets game. Its one thing to give up points to the big guys, but the run the Nuggets had at the end of the first half was due mostly to Kleiza opening up the inside game and draining the outside game because for some reason or another the Lakers have trouble closing out on shooters. The Lakers showed that they know how to do that closeout against a shooter (ala the Grizzlies with Miller and to a lesser extent with Stojakovic), well the same applies here. The Lakers have got to close on shooters and make them pass the ball or change their role long before they get into any shooting groove.

It took a little longer to get it going, but it happened and that’s great.

As always sealing up the backdoor or weak side lob is key to beating Denver. This game was no different. In the first half the Lakers did decent job keeping passes from getting over the defense to either weak or back door plays. If you can minimize the easy dunks from martin and more importantly Camby like that, you’ve cut down a lot of Denver’s movement along the baseline and off the ball in general.

This kind of effort is what its going to take. So off the Lakers go to the Texas Two-Step. Both are tough arenas with tougher teams looking to gain ground on the Lakers. It’s a deadly combination to come up against (Dallas & San Antonio with motivation and at home) but so is determination, defensive hustle and team oriented play.
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Vasashi17 · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:51 pm Post subject:

I got some reading to do later tonight. Olright.....the Corner is back.
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puffyusaf#2 · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 4844 Location: Temecula

Great read and assesment.

I put into a thread I created I think the team continued support of Kwame and each other ine loss to the Suns helped this team more than the fans could see at the time.

I like that Luke went back to that little step back shot in the paint it was his money move last year. Tonight was the first time in a long while I saw him use it instead of just trying to go straight up on his man.

One thing I didn't see you mention but was vital in this game was the 2nd pass in the paint. The Lakers did a great job of negating Camby by getting in deep and making the next pass after Camby commited to blocking the shot. Kwame and RT benifited a lot from that and it was good to see the Lakers attacking the paint so often.

Anyway. great to see the corner back in action.
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Barnstable · Joined: 17 Jul 2006 Posts: 4527 Location: Tacoma, WA

Nice read crucifido jam2

I agree with everything you said.

Also let me say, I loved seeing DJ in there tonight. I was surprised they gave him some minutes even if it was in garbage time. I liked his energy too, reminded me of a taller Turriaf out there.
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crucifido · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:35 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys!

And great point puffy. When they saw Camby make a run to someone they did make the extra pass. Luckily Derek was insanely hot so it pulled Camby off the mark as well. But, yeah real good point.

It was good seeing DJ get in there. I mean overall the guy is nothing more than 6 more fouls, but it was fun seeing him get a couple blocks.

By the way did anyone know what Lamar did to make Kobe crack up like he did in the 4th quarter? It was great to see the team just laughing and enjoying each other's company like that. Gimme team with good on court chemistry any day.
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John3:16 · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:08 pm Post subject:

Satan · Posted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 4:39 pm Post subject:

Excellent read as always.

Love how Kobe picked them apart. Double comes, he kicks (often to Lamar), then the pass to the open man (often Fisher) and SPLASH!

Our point guards tore it up. I almost worry on nights that we shoot so well from the perimeter though. I don't want them falling in love with the three again. They've gotta continue to attack, like you mentioned with Odom.
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puffyusaf#2 · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 4844 Location: Temecula

George Carl last year called the Lakers the best passing team in the League and I think he is right. We keep moving the ball, moving around without the ball and being aggressive we can beat anyone.
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crucifido · Posted: Wed Jan 23, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject:

That was one ugly roller coaster

Lakers vs. Spurs (Game 40 1/23/2008)

The All-Too Familiar Battle Of San Antonio

Say what you will about the Spurs, their troubles at the moment (which are fairly overblown), the age of the team, the sparse young talent coming in behind the big 3, but any way you slice it, they’re still the champs and still a huge mountain that must be climbed if the Lakers are to step back into the shoes of the best team in the NBA.

It’s a pick your poison kind of game with the Spurs, between Ginobli, Parker or Duncan. The Lakers looked as if they chose to let Duncan get what he had to get and to concentrate on Parker primarily. A good choice as Parker is the guy that typically destroys the Lakers.

But with the absence of Bynum being felt particularly hard this game, the gamble wound up backfiring. The outright size of Duncan, let alone the experience, in the low post was too much for kwame’s planted defense. Duncan’s reach on his shot was too high for Ronny to use his low center of gravity to keep him out of easy scoring position.

The 1st quarter was a well-fought quarter and really it’s a good way for the Lakers to get a feel of the Spurs without Bynum. As you watched, you got the feeling that the Lakers were looking for the Spurs game plan and trying to see the seams in their defense. Their point total showed the prodding Laker offense was working well early in the game.

I loved seeing the Lakers take advantage of Duncan’s absence in the game at the beginning of the 2nd quarter. Making little runs like that when a team is running their bench is key to beating any team.

Just like playing the Celtics and letting Perkins or Allen get going though, the Lakers have got to keep an eye on the outside of the core players like Udoka. Sure its better to let them try and carry a team rather than let the better players get going, but you have to be careful of not letting them get into such a rhythm that you can’t get them out of it.

Again, Ronny comes into the 1st quarter and has n immediate impact. His energy and most of all his nose for the offensive boards recently has been unbelievable. He played a fantastic game coming into the 2nd quarter. His help off the ball when the Spurs were swinging the ball around the court was just perfect. There is still a lack of boxing out the off man on rebounds (ala the put back by Udoka in the 2nd), but overall Ronny’s awareness of his defensive position and spacing has seriously improved this year. That room he’s giving himself is allowing him to recover, help and seal off lanes on defense with speed. Its putting that signature Turiaf never say die energy to awesome use. If he continues to knock down those 12-foot jumpers like he has here and there, Ronny becomes a very dangerous player very quickly.

Keeping on the Ronny love fest, its no wonder he’s been getting a ton of dunk attempts recently. He is almost always exactly where he should be on every play. It’s not just the cutting but it’s the positioning early in sets, the motion off of screens and the screen and rolls. His activity everywhere opened up the game for the entire Laker offense in the first half.

You have to love Sasha finally showing his dead eye shooting skill in a game rather than chronically in practice only this season. A lot of it has to do with Kobe’s brilliant table setting, but the second third of it is Sasha assertively spotting up where he should. Where Sasha’s undoing comes is when he gets on a hot streak. He tends to pull himself out of that comfort zone and begins trying to do too much on the court. Mainly getting the ball into bad situations inside. If he keeps spotting up and contributing with what he can do best, the rhythm he gets into rather easily nowadays won’t be disrupted so often.

Kobe’s methodical play this game was interesting to watch. I mean the way he picked apart the Sours mid post defense was something to see. The pass to a cutting Ronny for the dunk in the 2nd quarter was fantastic. I must have replayed that thing 10 times.

There’s more to Kobe’s run too. His communication with the team on the bus, the plane and most of all on the bench during games is outstanding. The leadership role that a lot of people have longed to see Kobe step into with full force has been filled. Not enough can be said about Kobe talking with Crittenton, Karl and the younger players on the bench.

You have the skill set, the leadership and the trust in his teammates all running at full tilt right now.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but Lamar did dunk the ball on a drive in the 2nd quarter, right? Lamar was playing unusually aggressive inside tonight. One can only wish that it stays that way, but at the least it’s good to know that Lamar saw the importance of the game and came out looking to fill the middle more. Odom’s rebounding has been stellar recently. His positioning off of every shot has been deep and in good anticipation of shot distance. The long rebounds aren’t running away from him being too deeply rooted in the paint. The small boards are falling right to him, and watching him put them back up once in a while rather than dishing it out for a lower percentage shot was gratifying.

Defensively it was definitely a tale of two totally different halves for Lamar. The first he was hustling, moving well on all sides, helping quick and playing sharp. Come the 3rd quarter and Lamar let Ginobli send him into defensive confusion. The solid play Lamar had in the first half shouldn’t have been disrupted so easily by one player.

Good early work getting inside from. Luke’s effort on the boards was impressive as well. However, his foot is looking like it’s having a big effect on his lift for his shot. It may be why Luke has taken to forcing shots from the post rather than jumping to shoot from outside. To counter it Luke should be looking to facilitate from the mid range until his foot gets strong enough to work from the post with more certainty.

Kwame has a bit of a jump on Duncan as far as strength in the posts. He used it decently, though pushing Duncan a step or two further in for a pass outside or to make room for a cut underneath would be good to see. Kwame played real well knowing when to stand ground on Duncan defensively and when to give enough room for Duncan to show the ball. Of course Duncan will hit a good portion of his shots, but Kwame did a good job in the beginning of the game making Duncan work for it.

What Kwame tends to do with more mobile big men is take that one extra step to either side after his man has committed to his shot. That extra step usually pulls his stance wider and that pull causes the foul.

Derek was taking Parker to the rack very well in the first quarter. What was good to see Derek do was keep a strict eye on Parker wherever he went. By simply keeping track of Parker off of screens and through traffic, Fisher was able to slow down Parker in the first half. Opposite of dealing with shooters, making Parker an outside shooter helped the Lakers dictate the pace of the 1st quarter in particular. However Parker’s speed eventually wore Derek down and his offense was showing it. IT was a battle of legs at the point, and in the end Parker’s activity wore Derek down enough to send him to the bench for most of the second half.

Come the 3rd quarter and the Lakers looked like they were trying a couple different things out offensively. Unfortunately it got San Antonio that small window they needed to get back into the game. It’s a dangerous game to play, messing with what was working against a good defensive team like the Spurs. It’s a gamble that sometimes puts teams on their heels. You vary your offense; your approach to the game and it takes away adjustment coming out of the half. But at its heart it is a gamble. This time, it didn’t pay off and it let the Spurs back into it.

Obviously you also can’t go 6.5 minutes without scoring against any professional team, but especially when you’re playing a veteran team at home coming off of a weak half.

The Lakers flat out fell asleep from the beginning of the 3rd to the end of it. Letting steals off the inbounds passes or one step from them cannot be allowed. The Lakers must keep their heads in the game whether up or down by anything. They’ve let a total of 5 games slip out from under them due to partly this and having this one join that dubious group was just a crime.

It was really odd to see the post passes from everyone become suddenly very labored, telegraphed and lazy too. Crisp passes into the post should never be taken for granted. In the second half almost every one looked like it was just that.

When it comes down to it, playing high-powered teams is tough to be sure. What makes it easier is making those teams work for everything they get, rather than letting them get into an easygoing rhythm. What also helps is the incredible hustle the Lakers showed as soon as the ball was tipped. That kind of hustle can easily make up for a lack of personnel. For a predominantly stand still type of team like the Spurs, it makes them have to play out of their game in order to keep up. The big thing is that hustle can’t be sporadic, it can’t be only when you’re up on the scoreboard, hustle has to be a 48 minute mindset.
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crucifido · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:23 pm Post subject:

That was beyond annoying...

Lakers vs. Mavericks (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.
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revgen · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:33 pm Post subject:

This team has simply lost their identity with Bynum gone. Bynum forged the Lakers identity on both sides of the court. He was their shotblocker and post defender on defense and their inside precense on offense.

This team looks like a preseason team right now trying to figure it out. They can't be trying to figure things out in the middle of midseason. Especially in the western conference.
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puffyusaf#2 · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 4844 Location: Temecula

I am going to read this later I am a little to annoyed to read long post. Thanks for the write up though jam2

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crucifido · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 12:50 am Post subject:

Sorry about the sporadic articles, just kind of a crazy busy week or so for me.

Anyway, here's one for that scary Knciks game last night.

Lakers vs. Knicks (Game 43 1/29/2008)

Near Disaster, But Maybe Something Clicked

Alright let me get this out before I forget. Aside from the usual never let a team, no matter how bad or good get a look at a possible win (especially on your home court), there was an important thing to be taken away from this game.

“The importance of unpredictability.”

Now sure, teams come in knowing your plays, knowing the style of game you like to play on both ends, but there’s never a static line to any game. In this game tonight the Lakers did a good job taking what the Knicks were giving them defensively. They were daring the Lakers to shoot from outside, so the Lakers exploited the open shots and kept themselves in the game despite radically poor defense throughout most of the game. But the problem with that was when the Knicks decided to vary their defense up. When the Knicks did that, the Lakers failed to adjust. They sank into a pattern that the Knicks wanted them to be in.

What the Lakers saw tonight was that when they leaned on their skill set and the variances in the offense things opened up. It never hurts to actually play defense for two or three plays in a row either. Anyway, it’s important for these Lakers to utilize every weapon in their personal and team arsenal they can muster. The luxury of being able to lean on one skill flitters by with every fallen teammates. As the injuries keep piling up, the Lakers have got to realize that each of them need to more. It’s not as simple as just being a rebounder, or just being a three point shooter, just being a passer. Every player has now – as in right now – have to find it within their selves to pull out all the stops.

Sure it’s not playoff time, and the regular season isn’t where you want to play your best ball. However, with the West being as competitive and tight as it is, the Lakers can ill afford to rely on what has gotten them there. They now have to rely on putting as much of themselves into every game as they can, even if it falls outside of their previously defined role.

I’m not saying that players have got to ignore what they do best, but they have can’t let that predictable role style of play be the norm right now.

With the middle being as soft as it is, and the bench becoming shallower by the game, the Lakers can’t afford to be the predictable post first team they were becoming. With no overtly strong presence in the middle the Lakers have to adjust their game. There were times in this game when the pass into an uber-high post was seen coming miles away.

With Andrew you can pass to the mid or low post and use his skill as the pivot to run the offense around. There just seems to be times when the Lakers don’t realize that running the offense the way they have for most of the season isn’t available right now. They’re forcing action in the post when there’s no action there to be had.

It’s not just one player but it looks to be the whole team has yet to adjust the game around the thinning roster. Sure it’s not easy and it does take time, but when you see defensive collapses happening on the same fronts over and over in different games, it has to be shored up sooner rather than later. Sometimes it looks like they’re all standing, waiting for the presence of Bynum to magically appear.

As the game wore on (and in sparse moments), the guys started seeing it though. That’s when the game turned. When the front court decided to block out the weak side rebounder, help was coming quick to the low post, and perimeter players were being shadowed the Lakers saw that adjustment, that not being predictably relying on a middle that wasn’t there was working.

I think I got my point out, let me know if it was confusing. I knew I should’ve written it down when it first ran through my head – dang it.

Anyhoo…

The help came quick in the paint thanks hugely to Ronny Turiaf – again. The guy continues to broaden his effect on games. Granted the Knicks were hampered inside by Curry’s nutty foul-fest and the fact that it’s the Knicks, but that aside, Ronny played like an All-Star tonight. It was another game where his impact was felt instantly. The first defensive set resulted in Ronny’s first block and then the paint help just kept coming. With Andrew out, play like what Ronny threw out there tonight is needed every night.

The best part is that it’s starting to look like the Lakers can not only count on game changing energy from Ronny, but now they can begin o look to Ronny as that weak side help man in the paint that the Lakers have so long been without. It was hard to find a flaw in Ronny’s performance. He’s still flirting with foul disaster by swinging down with his arm from too high, but it’s hard to complain about that tonight. Ronny keeps bringing the energy and the passion like this, it’s hard to see how his minutes won’t be skyrocketing on this road trip.

Another player of the game, Sasha, played his guts out tonight. After being clocked by Balkman, Sasha clamped down on the Knicks. I love when a player takes their anger (though there was a little bumping on the foul he gave to Balkman soon after) out in their game rather than fighting. The shadow job he pulled on Crawford in the 4th quarter was outstanding. It was a Rip Hamilton type of all footwork defense from Sasha. There was rarely a time that Crawford was open enough to get a pass let alone find a lane to get into to even be seen. Once Sasha locked Crawford down from roaming the top of the key arc like he loves to do, the Knicks became a one trick pony show through Robinson.

Match the good hustle defense by Sasha with dead eye shooting he had going on in the second half and you have a heck of a game, if not his best game. The best part of his shooting tonight was that he was getting to his spots with that Turiaf like certainty and second, he was not shying away from any shot that was given to him. The one thing I was writing down as the first half came to a close was that I’d like to see Sasha take the in along the baseline or just probe the middle a bit on the dribble about every 3rd time he gets the ball. Come the second half and Sasha did just that. It was in line with my point of not being predictable. He alleviated his outside shot for the 4th quarter by showing the Knicks that he wasn’t just playing robotic out there. He showed that he could be threat off the dribble for a pass too. That right there gave him at least 3 open looks immediately in the 4th.

Not much to say about Kobe, but it was another great game in a string of games that has got to be getting him more and more looks for the MVP. Though an individual award is never the main goal of Kobe, it’s tough to ignore that the balance in his game tonight was incredible to watch. His trust in his teammates, even after most of them fell into a slum pat one point or another was admirable. Of course when he needs to score Kobe pulls out some amazing shots, like the 2 turns through the paint for a finger roll or the 360 step through 3 defenders thingamajig he pulled off in the 3rd. Either way, Kobe played a fantastic brand of leadership quality ball.

Lastly as far as the most outstanding players go, it’s good to write Odom’s name in here. After his leg got twisted a bit, it was good to see him suck it up and actually begin to play tougher with it. Though he was clearly not walking, or running right, he gutted it out and it made all the difference. The most encouraging thing for Lamar tonight was that he was taking his first open looks to the rack. Lately, he’s been turning down the first open lane in favor of dribbling outside of it or passing it off. Tonight though, he was stepping into the seams and as a result his skill was parting the Knicks defense with serious ease. His unusual tapping rebounding style was paying off too. Though ideally you’d like to see guys secure boards with two hands, Lamar used his length (and has been for the bulk of this year) very well. With Lamar taking his first looks aggressively and him getting involved in the offensive paint more, it left Kwame to play at his speed a little more. Odom played like a warrior tonight. I’m sure the usual, “Yeah but will he just fade away gain?” thoughts are there, as they are with me. But for now, in this tough stretch of injuries and road games, I have to take it one game at a time. Tonight it was good to see Lamar play like we all know he can.

Kwame played real well tonight. There were the usual slow movements in the paint to recover defensively, but all in all Kwame came into form a bit tonight. His hands were in the ready position more on offense and because of that he wasn’t bobbling passes as much as he has in the past. There were a couple good strong finishes in there and one real good play when he missed the lay-up (which, no isn’t awesome) but stuck with it and got it back in from the other side of the hoop.

Kwame is an enigma right now. I’m sure a lot of it is about confidence, but with more involved games like this one I hope we’re seeing Kwame pull himself out of the mire he’s been in recently. Defensively,. He needs to be more active, especially laterally or once a move has been made on him in the low post. Offensively, I like to see him try the baby hook, but in his haste to get a shot up (sometimes I think because the lift isn’t there in his permanently swollen ankle) he isn’t looking at the hoop. If he slows down by a half second and lifts his head before tossing up the little hook, he’ll have more success.

The last stand out player for me was Farmar. Though he was relatively quiet tonight, he played a real good defensive game on Robinson in spurts. At his best Farmar was closing Robinson out on the perimeter really well. Any picked up dribble or stutter in his motion and Farmar would use it as a time to jump out on him and make him give the ball up. At his worst, Jordan was having trouble fighting through the mid range to get out to Robinson. The Knicks used screens inside well in the 3rd in particular to get Robinson free and Farmar struggled with it. But the worst part of Jordan’s game tonight was still better than 90% of the backup points in the NBA.

Alright, so no, most of the game wasn’t pretty. But it seemed like the Lakers may have had something click. Maybe they realized that Andrew isn’t there and the extra effort it’s going to take from everybody to survive this big trip above 500 will be there in full force.

Keep altering your game on the fly Lakers, use the flexibility in the altered triangle to vary your attacks, stop passing the ball to the other team so dang much, communicate on perimeter help, come with energy every night, box out the weak side, box out and then box out again and I can guarantee this road trip won’t be so bad.
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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

puffyusaf#2 · Joined: 02 Apr 2006 Posts: 4844 Location: Temecula

Thanks Cruc

I agree.

I have been telling people that Kwame will get back to the guy we called "beast" last year as he gets more comfortable. Each game since he has started he has improved. I know "its not hard to improve when you suck" but I disagree with the kid just "sucking".

Our bigs played like they played before the injuries last year with hustle and determination especially in the 4th. Even DJ was very active. This type of energey will only help in the long run.

Kobe is playing the best ball of his career. PERIOD.

I abosolutely loved LO in this game he was aggressive, attacked the boards and actually looked to get into the paint. This LO is the one we need on the road trip.

The Knicks played great they made shots and brought the energy but we withstood it. Lets see how we stack up against Detroit.
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Vasashi17 · Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 11:20 am Post subject:

Dear Crucifido,

I have a confession.

I used to look at your overly-optimistic outlook as foolish.

Man, karma is a bia.

Sincerely,

The foolish one. bricks

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MakaveliThaDon · Random Thread King Joined: 07 Sep 2006 Posts: 5000

Another great read by Cru. jam2

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crucifido · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:00 pm Post subject:

Alright everyone, I'm off of my hell week of work and ready to get back to it.

Lakers vs. Wizards (Game 46 2/3/02)

Movement, Passing, Hustle & Teamwork

Apparently the buzz of the huge trade for Pau Gasol extends far beyond just the rabid Laker fan base. From the looks of it, ever since the deal went down, the Lakers have copped some serious energy from it as well.

Everyone on the court had a pop to their step that was quicker, livelier and crisper than any movement on and off ball they’ve shown this season. During the Lakers 7 game-winning streak there was plenty of great ball movement and footwork on the money, but it’s made a screaming comeback these last two games. Maybe it’s due to the trade or better yet maybe it’s due to this team finding that rhythm they had before the injuries. Being as short-handed as they are and running over teams like the Raptors and Wizards the way they did is not an easy task. They’re a talented team to be sure, but I don’t think many people can say they expected the Lakers to be as sharp as they are after the Detroit heartbreak.

At the forefront of this 2 game energy-laden streak has been the inimitable Kobe. The guy has been on a tear for the whole season pretty much, but as of late he has had a zip to his game that hasn’t been there for a while. It’s the same jump that he had during the Shaq / Kobe era.

Today against the Wizards he continued setting up the offense through the post. There was a fair share of the same face up kind of offense he excels at, but what has really opened up the mid range jumpers and 3 pointers lately is Kobe working the passes from the high post. Its not like he hasn’t done it before, but right now it looks to be becoming a majority of his half court set when he brings the ball up.

I loved seeing Butler on Kobe for a big part of the game too. For all of the good things Butler does on offense, his defense has always been suspect at best and today proved it to still be true. As Kobe moves through this season playing heavy minutes as of late he seems to be gaining power off of his first step. Granted, the defense of Toronto and Washington are far worse than Detroit’s, but man has Kobe really found some serious hop on drives. He wasn’t forced to play too much defense today, but he did a good job of playing the rover. He patrolled the outside and dove down into the paint to help with boards with good timing.

If this keeps up and Gasol breaks into the fold next game, this Laker team will absorb the Bynum injury easier than expected.

Along with Kobe’s great run of games, once again Ronny has been above the call of duty filling in for Bynum in the middle. His game has now gone beyond the simple run in with a ton of energy guy. The 12 to 14 footer he’s been developing was in full effect this game again. What I liked today was Ronny’s hard work on weak side recovery. He’s been coming off screens on the weak side to help inside shots like a madman and his block numbers are showing it. Not only is his hustle from side to side of the ball resulting in numbers, its resulting in changed shots. Changing shots through hustle rather than stature is something unexpected from Ronny. His energy and passion for the game have never been an unusual sight, but what has been a welcome unusual aspect to his game is the passing.

Its not that he’s been a bad passer, but with Ronny in the middle, his vision of the outside spot shooters has grown. The extra pass out of the paint to an open jumper has often run through or come directly from Ronny. By pulling the Wizards defense in with his activity around the rim, he ‘s opened up the perimeter shots. When those shots came open today, he was looking for the kick out pass and hitting it immediately. The points he’s been kicking in were a big bonus today. Though the Lakers seemed to be in good hands with Radmanovic, Kobe and Odom playing well, the double digits coming from an expectedly weak middle were huge. It made the Wizards slack off of the arc far more than most would think they’d have to with Ronny as center.

With the approach of Gasol, Lamar’s role will obviously change. The good thing is that today Lamar flexed his new role before Gasol was even in uniform. Odom did a fantastic job of filling up the middle with a strong defensive presence. Whether the got the board or not, Lamar was always in the mix down low. There few to no put backs from the weak side rebounders today because of Odom’s work in the paint.

The only thing Lamar was sloppy doing today was splitting space between the inside man on the low post and the outside passer. He was favoring the passer a bit too much. Right now with the shortage of big men, Lamar has to be extra careful to bolster the inside defense more than the mid-range.

Equal to the great job on the boards, for the first time in a long time Lamar stepped up his offense when Kobe was out for a bit. The outside shot was falling because he was taking the open looks the Wizards threw him. That kind of aggression, even if the shots aren’t always falling, go a long way to pulling defense out of the mid-range or paint. With Andrew out, the more pressure you can take off the middle, the better. That showed today when as Lamar started taking the shots given to him, and Haywood and Blatche ran out on him, leaving the quick pass to the paint open. Then you take that pass from the paint up to the rim via Ronny, Radmanovic or someone else or you now have a scrambled defense that opens up the threes. That happened in this game.

So – for the billionth time (until Gasol comes raging onto the court), as Lamar went so did the Lakers. Today, Lamar went forward and the Lakers followed.

One great aspect of the game was Mason. All this season, and in seasons past, the Lakers have had a bad habit of letting a peripheral player kill them. Today, Mason looked to be that same story developing. But the Lakers did a good job of smothering Mason after only 8 points were thrown in. Mason got only 2 more after the Lakers concentrated defensive attention on him before he got into a deadly rhythm.

The predominant Laker keeping Mason from blowing up was Jordan. Farmar played a less offensive role today, but that defensive job he did on Mason today was great to see. As usual, offensively he was good. There wasn’t a flurry of points, but what there was a very well run point by Jordan. With Kobe playing so fluidly and Lamar stepping up into the second option today, Farmar wasn’t required to drain as many jumpers as he has this season. However, the game isn’t 100% offense and watching Jordan focus on Mason was a good thing to see. A little UCLA flashback from Farmar today, but it was something that I hope continues with the whole team.

The welcome surprise today was Radmanovic. He looked alive and awake today. What was really opening up his game was getting to his spots without getting stuck in screen sets. Often Vlad takes a rough road through the paint to get to where he needs to go. Today, there was a noticeable difference in his footwork. He was looking for the easier seam to get into the pass option spots. Once there, the shot he was hired for was alive and well.

Oddly enough, one of the most consistent guys in this Bynum-les stretch has been Sasha. This game looked to be no different as Sasha was moving great pop. I’d still like to see him get inside for more than one lay-up a game, but for the most part Sasha has worked himself into a highly valuable contributor off the bench. His defense was the typical harassing style, though a bit ragged letting too many drives slip by him without working around a screen. All that aside, Sasha played a great game and gave the Wizards another outside headache to deal with.

Overall, the spacing on offense and defense today was great. The ball movement was spectacular. The best part of the game today was that the Lakers didn’t sink into the watch Kobe go mode. There was fantastic motion off the ball. As Kobe keeps ramping up his game, the Lakers have realized that this should increase your freedom off the ball. Its given the Lakers far more room to go anywhere they need to on the court. The team’s hands were ready and the eyes were open.

Now, we wait the longest day or so in a while for Gasol to don the #16 jersey. Hopefully the Lakers don’t lose the rhythm they’ve gotten on this road trip. There’s a long way to go and certainly with Gasol the road gets more fun, but they still have to go out there and win.
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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

crucifido · Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:03 pm Post subject:

The way I look at it, it was never as bad as it could've been. The Lakers missed the playoffs once since Shaq's departure. There are some teams that haven't even seen the playoffs in years, let alone won a championship. The Lakers are the Lakers, they'll be in the mix sooner rather than later. Things could've been far worse.

Besides, Vas the only foolish ones are the ones that aren't Laker fans man12

_________________
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

Vasashi17 · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:03 pm Post subject:

crucifido · Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:23 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the good words puffy, Nissan and Vas.

I cannot wait until tomorrow!!!
_________________
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill