Crucifido's Corner

[BDG]

[crucifido]

Thanks BDG!!

So I guess 6 days off was a good thing after all.

Lakers vs. Jazz (Round 2 / Game 1 5/4/08)

Rest & Rust Wins Game 1

There’s always been two schools of thought – those who say staying in an every other day kind of rhythm does a team best and those who believe that rest between rounds is the key to long term success. Me personally, I think it depends on the team. Today, the Lakers showed that they’re the kind of team that can not only dispatch a team quickly, but can benefit from it pretty dang well too.

I expected a bit of rough start in the 1st quarter but the Lakers did exactly the opposite, coming out with a focus that wasn’t too much unlike a team with a greater goal in mind. The biggest difference in the Laker game from the outset was the defense of Derek Fisher.

For a guy who’s had some serious trouble keeping up with the speedier guards in the League Derek did a fantastic job of staying in front of Williams. Of course being the guy who mentored Williams as he came into the league doesn’t hurt, but nonetheless, there were few times that Williams out and out beat Derek off the dribble. When Derek did have trouble keeping up with Williams (often on a lateral run) Derek did well in getting around traffic to at least have a presence or a hand in his face afterwards.

Offensively, Derek played like a point guard today. There were few times he settled for the jumper as a first resort which was beyond great to see. There were plenty of times Derek saw a small opening and got the ball moving further into the paint than he has in a long time. The best of these plays came when he worked a great screen and roll / a simple give and go game with Pau. Derek was in top form dishing and moving, bringing Williams with him off the ball allowing Pau quick and plenty of room to operate on Utah’s softening low post defense.

Pau had a bit of an off game actually. What he did do well is what he excelled at his whole career, being in the right place at the right time and having his hands ready. There was one shot clock crunching possession where Pau bobbled the ball in the low post but other than that you’d have been hard pressed to find Pau not ready for anything that came his way this game. That’s the thing with Pau, for his shortcomings in the low post strength department, which got exploited by Boozer today; his mobility today had the Jazz a bit ragged as to whom to run to the low post to cover his post work.

Pau’s movement off the ball had some confusion in it today, as one timeout with Brian Shaw, Kobe and Lamar giving him pointers as to where to move would attest to. It seems of all the players that had a bit of a rough adjustment to this series, Pau had his moments of uncertainty. Then with all that said, Pau still played a good game. It wasn’t an historic performance, but his style of game is something the Jazz may have trouble contending with in conjunction with guarding Lamar.

Speaking of Lamar, the guy just couldn’t buy any love from the refs. Granted, a lot of his calls came from some late rotation on his part, but for the most part the physical game that Lamar has developed since Pau’s arrival was never really allowed to get any momentum. Next game Odom will be well served to watch his diving down to help on Boozer on the post. When he gets caught up on the mid-range defensive game, he was dragging getting himself into a decent post help position.

Then, just like Pau, Lamar didn’t have the game of his life, but yet it still managed to have an impact. Lamar did a real good job of making the Jazz pay for their attention to Pau on the high post, especially in the first half. There were a couple drives along the baseline, opened up by the attention paid to Gasol that Lamar really cashed in on. His finishes were strong on the offensive end. In Game 2 he will hopefully not back off of his rebounding ability due to the calls thrown his way.

Radmanovic played an unusual one. His shot was in and out, but he didn’t get many attempts as the Jazz were looking to crowd Vladi at the earliest chance. What Vladi did well today is what he does well most times, making other parts of his game have some kind of impact. His defense on the post against the Jazz was highly suspect, and Sasha’s massive amount of playing time in the 2nd half will show that. But what Radmanovic was in the mix down low today. He was keeping himself at least aware of where plays were heading and did a good job hustling to help on loose ball situations.

The under the radar key matchup in this series, as far as the bench goes at least is the Harpring Walton matchup. Due to Luke’s cold / upper respiratory infection he wasn’t the killer he had become in the Nuggets series. But Luke did a good job neutralizing Harpring today. When the Jazz’s bench unit tried to get something going via cuts through the paint and some pushing into the low post through Harpring, Luke was having none of it. Though he did do his fair share of reaching due to being a touch slow with his footwork, he kept the Jazz’s bench from ever getting going.

Aside from Luke’s understated performance one big standout today was Sasha. The guy was on the mark today. This is what makes the Lakers so dangerous – the possibility of having a different guy come off the bench and have a big game very night. Today was Sash’s turn./ In fact this series could be a big turn for Sasha. Today he had some good battles with Korver as they both attempted to keep up with each other. What made Sasha a touch more unpredictable was his willingness to put the ball on the floor today. Simply by getting the ball into the paint the one strong drive he had (with the great ball fake and the lay-in) Sasha put the Jazz on their heels against him.

He took great advantage of the green light he had from range, hitting some seriously dead-eye shots when the Lakers needed them most. In that key run during the 2nd quarter when the Laker bench just out hustled the Jazz, Sasha (along with Luke) played an integral role. That role was played well because of choice shot selection off of sharp off ball movement by Sasha. Though most of his long shots won’t be argued against at this point, Sasha had every shot in rhythm today.

In fact, that’s where the Lakers excelled offensively. There were few shots, made or missed that were taken out of the context of the offense. When the Lakers did start shooting off one pass, or forced post shots during the 3rd the Jazz caught up. But, a big change with this year’s team is their ability to correct these mistakes without letting them snowball into a loss.

That ability to right the ship has been a growing development for this team over the last couple of season, but this game showed just how far they’ve come, as it never really felt like the Lakers were out of control of this one. Even when the Lakers let the Jazz get within 4 at about the 5 minute mark in the 4th, there was never a sense of panic.

That control had a good deal to do with Kobe and his calm steady leadership today.

Kobe played this game with an absolute perfect balance of individual and team play. Once again, he got the team rolling early with some seriously amazing passes both in traffic and off of drive and kicks. When Kobe wasn’t pushing the ball down the Jazz’s throat, he was using himself as a decoy. With Kobe being as unstoppable as he can be, on e big dividend comes from the overage defensive attention paid to him. Today the jazz had no choice but to double him quick on the post. Once that double came, between the movement of the Lakers to their pass option spots, the cuts they ran along the weak baseline defense of the Jazz and Kobe being able to see these moves as they happen, there was little hop for the Jazz.

The absolute key moment in the game, when you knew the Jazz got put on the ropes was the 5th foul on Kirilenko (followed shortly by the 5th on Boozer). After that it was so satisfying to finally see the Lakers, via Kobe’s strong inside play take Boozer out of the game. It all played off of Kobe as the control got greater in the game, the Jazz’s frustration grew. No matter what run the Jazz went on, the Lakers had an answer. With Kobe on the court that answer found its way into the game through every player on the court. That right there is why he’s the MVP. He simply had the Jazz on a string today while managing the game from all points on both ends.

Of course the defensive boards have got to be taken care of better. The Jazz won’t shoot as poorly as they did today, and giving them that many 2nd chances again will be tough to overcome. On the positive side, the Lakers will also not be as rocky as they were at times. You have to expect that Pau will have a bigger game, Lamar won’t be in as much foul trouble and the Lakers will now know that Jazz are looking to clog the lane on every shot.

There also has to be earlier help on drives. The Lakers were late in rotating to the middle especially on drives. From that late rotation there was a lot of hip bumping and reaching fouls that were completely unnecessary.

The Lakers have also got to body u on Boozer early in sets. They were playing one on one with Boozer being deep in the paint too much. There has to be some kind of movement into help positions to keep Lamar and Pau from getting cheap fouls again. Boozer is tough customer in the post, but today the Lakers let him bully his way deep too much. The size of Lamar and Pau should give more trouble to Boozer and Okur. The Jazz are a good inside team, but there’s no reason for the Lakers to back down as easily as they did at times today.

Lastly, the Lakers saw today how much refs favor the aggressor. The Lakers have got to turn the tables, maybe taking some early fouls in the process, but overall show the aggression to the boards and defense through the middle the Jazz showed.

It wasn’t perfect for either team, but when all is said and done the Lakers got the win. Barring some major magical re-adjustment from the Jazz, the Lakers should be able to sharpen their play for Game 2. For now, winning this first one was huge. The rust has been shaken off and in doing so the Lakers strike the first blow in what is sure to be an increasingly physical series.
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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

[Ed Guru]

Good write-up, where was Farmar today?

As you say, someone different can step up any given time and we'll need Farmar to have Fish's back.
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..with the sharpness..

[crucifido]

Farmar has been quiet in this series so far, but its O.K.. Williams just over-matches him right now. All Jordan has to be concerned with is keeping up with CJ Miles and the jazz's b3ench smalls. I just don't think this is going to be the series where Jordan makes his mark, Williams is just too good for him right now.

Lakers vs. Jazz (Round 2 / Game 2 5/7/08)

One Trophy Down Two To Go

It’s been a heck of an exciting time for the Lakers and their fans these last couple of days. The Lakers went up 1-0 in this second round and above all else; Kobe finally snagged his first MVP trophy. As the presentation went off without a hitch and all the rigmarole wrapped up there was still business to be done.

That business was taking Game 2.

To start things off, you knew it was going to be a good game when you saw Rick Fox at the scorer’s table during Kobe’s ceremony.

Loved the activity going inside out really early on. The Lakers weren’t settling for the jumper, much like Game 1. They were looking to at the very least jab the ball into the mid-range defense of the Jazz. If it wasn’t jabbed inside every single Laker was at least making a cut to get the Jazz to pull down onto the baseline and off of the mid-range shot.

Pau was doing particularly well with Odom moving in the middle. Every time Pau got the ball in the low post, Lamar was getting himself free to make a move into the paint. If Gasol didn’t see him Odom was still disrupting the set defense of the Jazz.

What the Lakers did pretty poorly (in the 1st quarter that is) was getting out to shooters. If they got caught crowding the deep paint, nobody was popping out to the perimeter to even get a hand in the face of shots. The Lakers can’t just be giving range shots to the Jazz. They won’t be shooting as poorly as in Game1, but for some reason tonight in the 1st quarter, the Lakers were almost daring them to make really open shots.

Radmanovic’s hitch in this one was his sluggishness getting to his man on the perimeter. What Vladi did well on defense was body up on Kirilenko in the post any time he got the ball there or worked his way into it. Also, Radmanovic played the help role on the perimeter fairly well. What Radmanovic has to be careful of on the help is completely losing sight of where he can recover once the ball’s been passed out of the trap or the shot goes up. That’s where Vladi tends to get lost, sometimes leaving Lamar or Pau to guard 2 Jazz players under the board.

Lamar tonight was more active than he’s been thus far in the playoffs. The amount of good footwork he had going from the first tip of the game was fantastic. There was nowhere on either end that Odom wasn’t involved with the play. As he went from grabbing the board on the defensive end to taking Millsap in the post on a nice bank shot in the 1st.

It was good to see Ronny have a bit of an impact tonight. However, when he was playing Millsap he had a tendency to look strictly for the block when he should be bodying him up as soon as he gets below the free throw line. That aside though Ronny’s activity, like Lamar’s on the inside was good to see. Ronny had yet to really make a showing in the playoffs, but tonight Ronny got involved.

What he can do to improve his defense, which had suspect moments, is to stop turning his back to the play. When he tries to keep track of the weak side rebounder coming into the paint, he’s turning away from the actual play way too early.

Overall, Pau simply struggles against the physical type of team. He had a below par showing in Game 1 (despite the double-double). Tonight he was looking apprehensive once the Jazz threw him any kind of tough defense in the paint. Though he did have a couple nice steps, like the step around against the shot clock for a dunk, he had trouble getting into rhythm off the low block.

What Pau can do to improve his offensive game is stop trying to initiate his shot through the post. He’s having the same trouble Luke does when he goes up against stronger defenses. If Pau would step out of the post a bit, use his ball handling to pull traffic out of the lane, pass it off, then take his spot on the side of the key he’ll rack up points like crazy. Pau has got to set himself up as a decoy of sorts. Right now he’s trying to match the physical game, but that won’t work.

One unsung player tonight was Sasha. What made his game such a big improvement over some games he’s had this year was his decision-making. The ball fakes, making the extra swing pass (like the one to Derek for 3 late in the game), and taking shots that aren’t rushed or off kilter were all elements of a pretty solid game from Sasha. Defensively he’s getting lost among the trees a bit, but that’s almost to be expected with the size the Jazz can throw down low. Sasha would be well advised to try and cut underneath the play along the baseline to pop out on the other side of traffic. He can’t do it every time, but when the Jazz pack the middle he can use his speed to catch up on the weak side of the play.

Derek was just money tonight. From that opening shot in the first 5 seconds, the guy played a great game. His defense on Deron Williams was again surprising, surely some comes from him mentoring him in Utah, but its still impressive to see him keep up with Williams as well as he has. Between him and Kobe anchoring this game, there was rarely, if ever, a moment of doubt that the Lakers would come out on top. That calm is a big result from Phil, but hopefully people won’t forget the big impact Derek has on this team, especially in games like these last 2.

Lastly, Kobe was spectacular tonight. The thing that struck me was that when he looked like he may be forcing shots, he had a pass in mind the whole time. That pass to Pau in the paint in the 4th quarter was pure beautiful basketball. He made some amazing shots, but most of all the cont4rol the Lakers showed when Utah made their run stemmed from both him and Derek. That right there is why he’s one of the best leaders in the NBA, if not the best.

The Jazz were still getting too many inside rebounds, but the difference in this game was that the Lakers, Lamar in particular, was seriously contesting every single board. That kind of effort on those missed shots will eventually wear down the Jazz’s physical play and get the Lakers back on a better rebounding track.

Key defensive moment came in the 4th around the 5-minute mark when Lamar and Pau teamed up to stuff Boozer in the lane. That plat right there is what the Lakers were doing well in the first half but sloughed off on. They have got to crowd the lane when Utah tries their 4th quarter push into the paint. It’s been 2 games now where the Jazz suddenly tries to play a drive and kick, but moreover a straight up driving game in the 4th quarter. The Lakers have got to be aware that it’s coming and keep crowding the lane with good enough spacing to put a hand in the face of a shot. They can do it, as that and other plays this game showed. Now it’s a matter of doing it quicker before Utah busts the leads down to shallow single digits.

Since Boozer has been pushed out of the paint effectively in these games it time to look to Millsap and ways to keep him from getting position so often. No doubt the guy is quick and strong but the Lakers look like they’re falling asleep on him far too often. They’ve got to get to him early as he looks to push from the side of the key inwards.

A 2-0 lead does not a series win, but its also not a bad jump to get as you go into one of the toughest places to play in the NBA.

If the Lakers maintain their admirable passing, communication on switches out up top and look to keeping that gorgeous balance of inside and out they had tonight, the wins should come no matter where they are.

For now, its not time to get cocky for the Lakers (and their fans), its time to hunker down and finish this team off as soon as possible.
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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

[crucifido]

Lakers vs. Jazz (Round 2 / Game 3 5/9/08)

The Lakers Beat Themselves In Game 3

The Lakers’ home court was defended. Now in Game 3 came the task of taking the same intensity, the same desire, and the same team play to the NBA’s toughest road arena.

However, that smart play that won Games 1 & 2 was left back in L.A..

In this one it wasn’t the arena that made it rough on the Lakers it was the Lakers themselves. I’ve said it for a while that the only team that can beat the Lakers right now is the Lakers. Tonight proved that point to a T as the Jazz simply swooped in on terribly disjointed and abnormally vacant play by the Lakers on both ends.

The first play with Pau and Kobe in the 1st quarter was exactly how Pau can take his game to the Jazz. He played a passive role, setting a screen, simply rolling while letting the attention go towards Kobe, and then got the pass for the easy deuce. That’s how Pau can do major damage.

But, Pau again had trouble tonight when he tried to go up one on one with strength or with the Jazz pulling Kirilenko or Boozer down into the paint. The blocked shot in the 1st quarter only needed a slight head fake or better yet, a pass back out to the perimeter to reset. Pau has got to use his smarts to make the Jazz almost forget about him, instead of him trying to power through an already strong interior Jazz D.

In the 4th quarter when Pau did just that, made himself a quiet sideline kind of player, the Jazz got scrambled on defense. He has got to step back into the shadows just a bit attacking much more from the quiet weak side of the ball rather than trying to be the bullying go-to guy down low, which he simply isn’t.

Early on that’s what the Lakers had trouble doing, getting the passing game going. They had a quick lead, but it was off of passing sets. As soon as the Lakers get lethargic in their off ball movement, the passes begin to take a backseat to one on one play that got the shot clock down too far or gave the Jazz time to really get set in their defensive spots. The key to this series is movement on all fronts. If the Lakers begin to think they can play one on one offense with a maximum of one pass per set, this series will get extended far longer than it should.

Kobe as again brilliant baiting whatever Jazz player was guarding him into the foul on the shot. Kobe’s 2nd half was much more efficient, but most of all it much more thought out. There was more help off the ball (at times) but mostly, it was Kobe putting his head down and really taking control of himself as he looked much more like the slicing Kobe of the first two games. What Kobe needs to watch is forcing the action. That’s his one hitch in his game, pushing the ball too deep into the clock without cycling the ball through the rest of the team.

When Kobe is driving and kicking in rhythm the Lakers are all moving off of him. In this game (in the 1st half) the Lakers were in watch mode. Hen Kobe did get the ball inside there was little to no movement around him. When the Lakers did move (as Ronny did early on) easy shots opened up all over the floor.

Well, now that I mentioned Ronny, the guy played Boozer real well. He played him just as you should. His spacing on him was perfect. He gave up the 10 to 12 footer but never really let Boozer have any room to get around him to get the easy lay-ups. Ronny only got lost on double screens sets that got Boozer a little freer inside, but in large Ronny played real solid defense.

Vladi looked fairly alert on the defensive end tonight initially. As soon as Kirilenko was getting the ball on the perimeter, Radmanovic was pressed right up on him, giving him no room to do anything but pass. The problem with Vladi’s defense tonight was that as the game wore on, Radmanovic lost sight of his man more and more. You’ll see Vladi get yanked out of the game as you did in the 1st half tonight abruptly because of this reason. That non-defense on Kirlenko’s 3 in the 3rd quarter was inexcusable.

The Jazz were trying to push Lamar out of the post tonight, Odom had none of it. He made a much more concerted effort to hold his ground on the inside. There was no easy pushing out in this one. Odom had trouble in the first couple of games keeping his spot. That wasn’t so in this one. The problem Lamar had tonight though is doubling off of Okur far too much and often when it was unnecessary.

Derek had a real good game through all the muck. His defense on Williams was invaluable right now. Also though his defense running off the pas was spectacular. I don’t think he got enough shots in this one really. But when Derek did get a shot he made good decisions with the ball. In particular Derek did a great job moving off of Williams sand surprisingly enough around screens.

It was the help D once Derek did get screened out that really kept the Lakers from keeping the jazz from cutting through the paint at will.

One of the keys to the Jazz having a better run of it in the 1st half was Derek’s foul trouble. When Farmar has to come in to defend Williams, the Lakers are at an inherent disadvantage simply because of size in the backcourt. So when Williams gets around Farmar, as he has fairly easily this series so far, the help has got to come early and not off of the perimeter, ala Lamar coming off of Okur. The help can come from Kobe off of Brewer preferably, leaving the Jazz a mid-range shot here and there but not giving them the chance for Okur, who can be streaky as heck, to get it going from beyond the arc.

Another key was the Lakers surviving the worst 18-minute span they’ve played in this series so far without being blown out. With Kobe shooting minimal shots, several easy shots missed, some bad decision on defense by almost everyone, the passing game voluntarily disappearing, Farmar running some odd plays (like the quick lay-up towards the end of the quarter), the turnover infection and some other clunky play they came out of it only down by 9. That right there was a sign that even when the Lakers play far below the top of their game, keeping up with the Jazz, even in Utah, isn’t impossible whatsoever.

At 5.24 in the 2nd quarter the Jazz were out of fouls. From that point on, the Lakers shot a minimal amount of free throws. Due to the game being in Utah, you had to know the fouls wouldn’t come in bunches like they did in the first 2 games. However, the Lakers did a better job in the first 2 games taking advantage of a foul-crippled Jazz team.

In the 4th you once again saw a tandem of Pau and Odom shut the middle down with a block a piece. Like I said in the last game, its that firm footing and smart positioning kind of defense on the inside that will force the Jazz to become more of a jump shooting team.

WTF Of The Game: The Jazz having the nerve to freak out about Kobe’s hook in the 3rd quarter. If The Jazz got called for that in every game, these games would be 30-point blowouts in the Lakers favor. I don’t think I’ve seen the Jazz have one drive (outside of Deron Williams) where someone hasn’t thrown an off arm a Laker’s way.

So here’s the thing – you beat brawn with brains and tonight, the Lakers just didn’t play smart. They started out doing alright, but fell apart as the turnovers and stagnant footwork took over. The Lakers did everything they could to give the game to the Jazz and the Jazz took it.

When you look back on this game you can rest assured that the Lakers lost it for themselves far more than the Jazz just beat them. Everything that could go wrong did at some point, yet down to the last second the Lakers were still within serious striking distance.

That in and of itself is a big positive to build off of. You can’t expect the Lakers to play as dimwitted as they did tonight in Game 4. Every Laker now knows what the Utah environment is like and the rash of mistakes that plagued the Lakers throughout this game simply won’t (and can’t) happen again.

Don’t freak out, the Lakers are still up 2-1. Going undefeated in the playoffs just wasn’t going to happen, everyone had to know that. Sure its odd, since the Lakers haven’t lost in a month to see them drop a game, but it happens. This is the playoffs, its never easy. Losing this game may actually work to the Lakers favor. It shows them that they can’t skate through the West. No matter what the regular season records are, everyone steps up in the second season.

Game 4 is now the time for the Lakers to step it back up.
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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill