Crucifido's Corner

crucifido · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 12:14 am Post subject:

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

Ed Guru · Posted: Mon May 05, 2008 2:38 pm Post subject:

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 · Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:00 pm Post subject:

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

crucifido · Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 7:59 pm Post subject:

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

crucifido · Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 3:49 pm Post subject:

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

crucifido · Posted: Wed May 14, 2008 9:57 pm Post subject:

Lakers vs. Jazz (Round2 / Game 5 5/14/08)

The Big 3 Play Big – Game 5 Goes The Lakers’ Way

It was Game 5, the most important game in a 7 game series if you ask me. Game 5’s usually swing momentum, regardless of home court, to the winner. With some fight, some spectacular play from the Lakers’ big 3, Game 5 went the Lakers’ way.

Immediately, better footwork from all on defense, but with some bad side effects. They just can’t let pushing up on guys and getting after a man right after a pass let the weak side get loose. It’s mainly up to Gasol to keep an eye to that diving man on the backside. It was Brewer getting crazy wide open looks at any place in the paint. From the alley-oops in the 1st quarter to the put back in the 3rd, he was running roughshod over the Lakers’ interior defense with very little resistance.

Kobe came out of the gates storming the Jazz. Most impressively his fast hands on defense had the Jazz committing some uncharacteristic early turnovers. When the ball got moved around him he was diving into the depths of the key with purpose.

Lamar did a strong job in the middle fending off the flailing off-arms of Okur. On every post Okur had, he was throwing his arm into Odom’s chest, but Lamar was giving up no ground without a fight. Since Game 3, Lamar has really improved his solid footing in all posts.

Offensively, Lamar is using his skill in breaking down the Jazz’s interior defense to get good looks for shooters (ala Radmanovic in the 1st quarter). He’s pushing the ball right into Boozer knowing that he can do nothing to keep up with him except foul. He was setting up the Jazz for those kick out passes is exactly what Kobe was doing in the first 2 games to major success. The aggression of Lamar on the offensive end to get to the post spots was great to see. From the outset, Odom was moving from defense to offensive postposition without any hesitation whatsoever. To that end, the Lakers have got to look to clear space in the lane for Odom.

The thing about Lamar was the leadership for the second straight game. When Lamar was the go-to guy or the Lakers needed a big bucket, Odom was the catalyst almost as much as Kobe was. Lamar played the entire game without making one poor decision. He had his eyes open to every play on the court. Couple that with the overall passion he’s shown the last 2 games and we all have a massively improved Lamar. While the Jazz have a big problem brewing for Game 6.

In one spell during the 2nd quarter where Pau stuck with his post shot 3 times to get the foul, it looked like Gasol found his groove. That play alone showed that Pau can get in there and at least mix it up with the rebounders of the Jazz. By even getting inside to cause traffic (like he does well on defense with Lamar against Boozer) he can disrupt the Jazz getting such easy boards. It may not pay off every time, but over the length of a game if Pau stayed persistent, helping to wear down the Jazz’s rebounding.

Pau had success tonight in diving down the lane for the running pass. The Lakers were running that play all year long and there’s no reason they can’t in this series. The Jazz were sagging off of Pau on dives tonight, the big difference was that both Pau and the passer was looking for it. That confidence from the dives translated into solid short range shooting from Pau. Once the shot started falling you saw Pau use that clogging position he got in the lane to get that huge lay-in late in the game and to get to the line as the second half wore on.

Pau was the factor that he was when he first got here. It looked like this game he finally found where he can be effective. After 4 games of spotty play, it looks like Pau has gotten to where he needs to be for the Lakers to move on.

It looked like the juvenile Jazz fans have fired up Fisher even more so. I don’t think it’s a giant factor in Derek’s motivation, but it certainly couldn’t have hurt Derek’s desire to see that group of disgraceful Jazz fans show their truly ugly colors. He’s had a real good series up to this game, but in this one his fire was shining through big time. His defense kept up the pace with his first 4 performances, but most of all you had to love the fight he was giving to get the ball inside a couple times in the 1st quarter.

The tenacity (like that dive for the loose ball with Boozer) of Fisher went a long way to setting the pace and style for the Lakers’ defense. Seeing Phil pulling him a touch too early was good. Avoiding those fouls that have sat Derek down in the last 2 is vital in the Lakers keeping Williams in check. But when Derek was in the game he did an admirable job of fighting around screens instead of jumping beneath them without ever putting up a fight. In fact, be still our collective hearts, but Derek was getting over screens today more often than he has in a long, long time. That alone had Williams running into his own man instead of finding wide open space to drive, pass or shoot.

When the Lakers were shooting on every foul in the 4th Derek played Williams off the ball to perfection. If he didn’t get the free throw he had Deron pulled away from every play in the paint. Deron’s quick hands were taken out of the equation.

Ronny was losing track of his man off of traps too much. In his effort to push the ball out of the high post, Ronny was giving up even better position down low, often fouling with reaches to try and make up for that lost ground. The coaching staff orders the trap, but that trap doesn’t have to be real tight pressure. Ronny can maintain his spacing between the trap and his man by backing off of his push a bit.

Good morning Mr. Farmar. He came onto the court looking tentative but the 3 he hit and the real nice lay-in through traffic for the 3-point play will hopefully get Jordan back to the level of confidence and hustle he’s shown all year. Jordan needs to go right back into Williams when he gets ran on himself. If Deron wants to push the ball at him, Jordan needs to push right back, not sink into a passive role on the offensive end.

Kobe was a warrior – again. That flat 3rd quarter saw Kobe absolutely imposing his will on the Jazz defense. Despite whom they were throwing his way, Kobe was breaking them down off the dribble. A couple MVP-ish fouls were in there, but for the most part he had every Jazz defender immediately backpedaling to try to keep up with him.

Once Kobe got the Jazz more worried about the foul on him than playing help defense, Utah expended a ton of energy on defense and the offensive game took a hit. It was Kobe’s ability to pick and choose his spots in this one that really got the Lakers in rhythm when they needed it most.

I said it my first article of this series, the match up with Harpring on the floor is the one to watch. As the Lakers’ defense on him or as Harpring has gone, so has the bench play of both teams. The Lakers were letting way too many good spots go under the basket with no contest. As Lamar was looking for Boozer, Harpring was getting loose far too much. Between those possessions and the spots given up to Brewer for open scores, the Lakers let the Jazz close the gap in the 1st quarter too quickly without really running any play.

Tonight saw an interesting ploy by the Lakers, playing units to speed the pace up. When they did it took the Jazz out of any kind of grind it out style they want to impose with their bench. The bad thing was that since Phil threw that lineup in the Lakers looked like they were caught in that mode. They were playing far too panicked, looking to make ill-advised plays about every other time down the floor. From those ill-advised plays (actually compounding on the Lakers’ earlier sloppy ball handling) came the turnover parade.

Unforced turnovers, not just turnovers, but these wild errant passes from the Lakers simply can’t happen. They had a lot of easy possessions with plenty of time on the clock, yet for some reason the Lakers were forcing tough angled or traffic-laden passes.

A lot of Lakers can prevent some of these ticky-tack reaches. Every Laker at one point or another is running at slashers when they have plenty of time to stop in the pathway of the drive. One small short stop can draw a charge, get the Jazz to throw a bad pass or push them into a tougher / lower percentage shot.

I could go on, but the important thing is that the Lakers had faith in each other tonight. From Kobe trusting Sasha with shots even though he was as cold as he’s ever been and Lamar looking for spot-ups on drives, moments of decent communication on D (though it could be a lot better in Game 6) and keeping each other going when the game got tight or someone was cold (ala Kobe staying on Farmar from the moment he came in the game to when he sat), the Lakers looked not so much like one player on a mission as in the past.

The Lakers played that 4th quarter like a team on a mission.

They say the series doesn’t start until a team wins a game on the other’s court.

Well its time for the Lakers to start and finish this series in Game 6.
_________________
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

crucifido · Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 11:25 am Post subject:

Lakers vs. Jazz (Round 2 / Game 6 5/16/08)

Utah Thwarted – 8 More To Go

The Lakers move onto the Western Conference finals, but not after some interesting games in this series and above all the Lakers might have learned more about themselves in this series.

Right from the beginning the Lakers came out with that first hard strike that has served them well all year. Sure, they’ve let teams into games, but it was so vital to dive into this game with determination to get the Jazz on their heels, the arena quieted down and the game within their pace quickly. The Lakers did just that, pushing the Jazz into a bit of a scrambled defensive mode in the 1st quarter.

Every score for the Lakers in the 1st quarter and in the 1st half in general was coming easy. It was coming easy because the Lakers learned that between Lamar pounding the ball right down the middle of the paint and Pau filling the sides of the key, the Jazz had no recourse but to let someone free for an easy shot. Watching the Lakers finally realize this inherent advantage (simply because of personnel) was a big step in the hopefully long-range success of the team. If Lamar can continue to jab into the paint with his dribble, taking a power forward along with him for the ride the court will open up real wide.

If you noticed (and I’m sure most did), the more aggressive Lamar was getting into the teeth of the Jazz’s defense, the more space Kobe, Derek and most of the Laker shooters had to operate. It wasn’t just open shots, but it was creating room for everyone to move off the ball better. That off ball movement is the absolute lifeblood of the Laker machine.

That movement had Utah looking downright confused at points. They were sent into a bit of a panic mode on defense while the Lakers continued to expand the lay-up drill that was the 1st half.

Meanwhile the Laker defense did a fantastic job of packing the middle early on. Any drive the Jazz attempted was met with early help and tons of traffic in the paint. So as the jazz tried to open up the middle of the Laker defense, they were forced to kick it out for lower percentage shots and at the very worst, even normally open drives for Utah were met with some kind of opposition.

The Lakers looked like they learned the benefit of early help on quick guards and small jabs into the side of the paint.

And again, the defensive stand-out was Derek. The defensive ability he showed this entire series was amazing to see. As he struggled with screens and picks all year, this series saw none of that. Surely some come from knowing how the Jazz like to run their offense, but the majority of Derek’s good defensive play came from smart vision. You could tell the communication was improved in this game. What Fisher really did well was attacking off the weak side of the ball. When a drive was going in, or a break got by someone, Derek swooped in really nicely a couple of times in this game (most notably the cleanest steal of the year off of Williams in the 2nd half)

There were still moments of Derek running under screens here and there, but his recovery speed came out of nowhere in this one. When he couldn’t recover the Lakers did a good job of sealing up wide-open looks in the key.

Offensively, Fisher has just been on fire this series. His percentage from beyond the arc has been great and better yet, this series saw a bit of a revival of Derek taking the ball to the rack like a point guard again.

Another thing the Lakers learned in this series was exactly how Pau can be most effective. Pau did a slightly better job in this one of keeping the ball away from the quick hands of the smaller players, but still struggled with his swing move for the hook shot or baby jumper. Mostly though, Pau was playing the low post complementary to his style. He wasn’t necessarily getting into the meat of the mix on boards, but he did a good job of waiting on the wings and swooping in from the side of the key to give some height into the middle.

What Pau lacks in physicality, he more than makes up for in intelligence and almost stealthy play at times. Pau got some confidence in running the middle back, but still has to get back to that crisp movement he had earlier in the regular season. I expect if the Lakers play a less physical team (which they will in the next round) Pau’s movement will free up quite a bit. Pau still looked tentative on a lot of shots in this one. Maybe he was afraid of being blocked, but whatever it was, Pau has got to be stronger in his conviction to finish a play he easily can.

The recurring dividend in this one (and in the series really) came on the defensive end. Pau has really done a good job being part of the help in the middle and rattling off some unforeseen blocks that shored up the inside D. He didn’t leave Lamar alone in the middle (as the Jazz did with Boozer), at almost every turn Pau was right alongside of him making easy inside scores tough for the Jazz to get.

For my money, I think Sasha played a key role not only this game, but in the whole series. When Farmar fell beyond flat, Sasha did a more than respectable job of coming in to spell the backcourt. Then when Vladi had off games, Sasha came in and filled that void as well. In this game, Sasha had some moments of ragged manic play on the offensive end, as he is apt to have. But couple with that were a couple of real nice plays, the least of which was the great drive he had in the 2nd (and later on the 3rd) quarter when he had the Jazz set up for him tossing up a 3. I like his fearlessness in shooting in this one too. Shooting 1-11 last game, a lot of players would lose confidence, but it was great to see it have no effect on a young player like Sasha.

Sasha also had a good game of getting to his spots earlier in sets than he did in Game 5. There was rarely a time that Sasha was out of step.

Defensively, Sasha did a better job on Korver than he had ion previous games. Korver wasn’t getting free off of his baseline runs at all. Sasha, did real well not getting tempted into futile help in the middle, letting Korver get free along the 3 point line.

I touched on Lamar earlier in this, but I don’t think enough can be said of the absolutely huge role he played in this game, but more importantly, Lamar was a massive reason the Lakers got this series done inside of the dreaded 7th game. It was mostly on the offensive end where Lamar really had the jazz stuck with no answer. His recognition of open lanes, even pretty tight ones, in this game was on the money. For the 3rd time in a row Lamar had almost a flawless game in regards to decision making.

Kobe was Kobe again tonight. That shot he hit off the board in the 4th was goose bump-worthy. For the 6th game in a row Kobe’s quick first step (even with the bad back) tore up the jazz’s inside defense, and the subsequent help by forcing the jazz to play defense with their hands rather than their feet. Underscored in this game was Kobe’s defense.

The easy looks that Brewer and Deron got on the inside were all shut down buy some very good defensive spacing by Kobe. There was no room left for the Jazz to move once Kobe found his spot on the defense in between the off man and the drive.

What Kobe needs to be careful of on the defensive end is taking a step away from his man when they pull p for the shot. There were several times in this game where his man would rise up for the shot but for some reason Kobe was backpedaling instead of standing up where he was with hands up or getting a hand in their face.

I mean, there’s not much more to say, but Kobe had you watching this game and this series with your mouth open wondering what else he can be capable of.

I don’t think picking on Farmar will prove any point. Suffice it to say that Jordan’s game can take a big step forward if he stops putting his teammates in bad spots like he did in this one. Make the early pass and cut off of it. Jordan knows what to do; he showed it this whole year. It was a bad series for him; the next round will hopefully be different.

Luke did a good job today of not letting Harpring get free for shots in this one. Game 5 saw Luke struggling to keep up with Harpring’s movement, but Luke did a considerably better job running through traffic to stay on Harpring’s hip.

Ronny had trouble staying on his feet. Looking for the block is fine, in fact he had a real strong one in this game, but for Ronny to have more of an impact he’s got to pick and choose his leaps much better than he did in this game.

Alright, so, I know it was along article, but its hard not to be excited about the prospects of this team. With each of these first 2 rounds you’ve seen the Lakers learn about the kind of team they are, use that to their advantage and best of all, close a series out when they had the chance.

Sure the Jazz had a comeback in this one, but these are the best 8 teams in the league, they don’t go down without a serious fight (as this whole second round can attest to, outside of the Orlando / Detroit series).

The big thing in this Game 6 (and subsequently the playoffs so far) was/is the calm the Lakers played with when things got hairy. The control of a veteran team that’s confident in what they need to do to win was happily evident.
_________________
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

crucifido · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 8:43 pm Post subject:

Lakers vs. Spurs (WCF Game 1 5/21/08)

Utah Thwarted – 8 More To Go

The Lakers move onto the Western Conference finals, but not after some interesting games in this series and above all the Lakers might have learned more about themselves in this series.

Right from the beginning the Lakers came out with that first hard strike that has served them well all year. Sure, they’ve let teams into games, but it was so vital to dive into this game with determination to get the Jazz on their heels, the arena quieted down and the game within their pace quickly. The Lakers did just that, pushing the Jazz into a bit of a scrambled defensive mode in the 1st quarter.

Every score for the Lakers in the 1st quarter and in the 1st half in general was coming easy. It was coming easy because the Lakers learned that between Lamar pounding the ball right down the middle of the paint and Pau filling the sides of the key, the Jazz had no recourse but to let someone free for an easy shot. Watching the Lakers finally realize this inherent advantage (simply because of personnel) was a big step in the hopefully long-range success of the team. If Lamar can continue to jab into the paint with his dribble, taking a power forward along with him for the ride the court will open up real wide.

If you noticed (and I’m sure most did), the more aggressive Lamar was getting into the teeth of the Jazz’s defense, the more space Kobe, Derek and most of the Laker shooters had to operate. It wasn’t just open shots, but it was creating room for everyone to move off the ball better. That off ball movement is the absolute lifeblood of the Laker machine.

That movement had Utah looking downright confused at points. They were sent into a bit of a panic mode on defense while the Lakers continued to expand the lay-up drill that was the 1st half.

Meanwhile the Laker defense did a fantastic job of packing the middle early on. Any drive the Jazz attempted was met with early help and tons of traffic in the paint. So as the jazz tried to open up the middle of the Laker defense, they were forced to kick it out for lower percentage shots and at the very worst, even normally open drives for Utah were met with some kind of opposition.

The Lakers looked like they learned the benefit of early help on quick guards and small jabs into the side of the paint.

And again, the defensive stand-out was Derek. The defensive ability he showed this entire series was amazing to see. As he struggled with screens and picks all year, this series saw none of that. Surely some come from knowing how the Jazz like to run their offense, but the majority of Derek’s good defensive play came from smart vision. You could tell the communication was improved in this game. What Fisher really did well was attacking off the weak side of the ball. When a drive was going in, or a break got by someone, Derek swooped in really nicely a couple of times in this game (most notably the cleanest steal of the year off of Williams in the 2nd half)

There were still moments of Derek running under screens here and there, but his recovery speed came out of nowhere in this one. When he couldn’t recover the Lakers did a good job of sealing up wide-open looks in the key.

Offensively, Fisher has just been on fire this series. His percentage from beyond the arc has been great and better yet, this series saw a bit of a revival of Derek taking the ball to the rack like a point guard again.

Another thing the Lakers learned in this series was exactly how Pau can be most effective. Pau did a slightly better job in this one of keeping the ball away from the quick hands of the smaller players, but still struggled with his swing move for the hook shot or baby jumper. Mostly though, Pau was playing the low post complementary to his style. He wasn’t necessarily getting into the meat of the mix on boards, but he did a good job of waiting on the wings and swooping in from the side of the key to give some height into the middle.

What Pau lacks in physicality, he more than makes up for in intelligence and almost stealthy play at times. Pau got some confidence in running the middle back, but still has to get back to that crisp movement he had earlier in the regular season. I expect if the Lakers play a less physical team (which they will in the next round) Pau’s movement will free up quite a bit. Pau still looked tentative on a lot of shots in this one. Maybe he was afraid of being blocked, but whatever it was, Pau has got to be stronger in his conviction to finish a play he easily can.

The recurring dividend in this one (and in the series really) came on the defensive end. Pau has really done a good job being part of the help in the middle and rattling off some unforeseen blocks that shored up the inside D. He didn’t leave Lamar alone in the middle (as the Jazz did with Boozer), at almost every turn Pau was right alongside of him making easy inside scores tough for the Jazz to get.

For my money, I think Sasha played a key role not only this game, but in the whole series. When Farmar fell beyond flat, Sasha did a more than respectable job of coming in to spell the backcourt. Then when Vladi had off games, Sasha came in and filled that void as well. In this game, Sasha had some moments of ragged manic play on the offensive end, as he is apt to have. But couple with that were a couple of real nice plays, the least of which was the great drive he had in the 2nd (and later on the 3rd) quarter when he had the Jazz set up for him tossing up a 3. I like his fearlessness in shooting in this one too. Shooting 1-11 last game, a lot of players would lose confidence, but it was great to see it have no effect on a young player like Sasha.

Sasha also had a good game of getting to his spots earlier in sets than he did in Game 5. There was rarely a time that Sasha was out of step.

Defensively, Sasha did a better job on Korver than he had ion previous games. Korver wasn’t getting free off of his baseline runs at all. Sasha, did real well not getting tempted into futile help in the middle, letting Korver get free along the 3 point line.

I touched on Lamar earlier in this, but I don’t think enough can be said of the absolutely huge role he played in this game, but more importantly, Lamar was a massive reason the Lakers got this series done inside of the dreaded 7th game. It was mostly on the offensive end where Lamar really had the jazz stuck with no answer. His recognition of open lanes, even pretty tight ones, in this game was on the money. For the 3rd time in a row Lamar had almost a flawless game in regards to decision making.

Kobe was Kobe again tonight. That shot he hit off the board in the 4th was goose bump-worthy. For the 6th game in a row Kobe’s quick first step (even with the bad back) tore up the jazz’s inside defense, and the subsequent help by forcing the jazz to play defense with their hands rather than their feet. Underscored in this game was Kobe’s defense.

The easy looks that Brewer and Deron got on the inside were all shut down buy some very good defensive spacing by Kobe. There was no room left for the Jazz to move once Kobe found his spot on the defense in between the off man and the drive.

What Kobe needs to be careful of on the defensive end is taking a step away from his man when they pull p for the shot. There were several times in this game where his man would rise up for the shot but for some reason Kobe was backpedaling instead of standing up where he was with hands up or getting a hand in their face.

I mean, there’s not much more to say, but Kobe had you watching this game and this series with your mouth open wondering what else he can be capable of.

I don’t think picking on Farmar will prove any point. Suffice it to say that Jordan’s game can take a big step forward if he stops putting his teammates in bad spots like he did in this one. Make the early pass and cut off of it. Jordan knows what to do; he showed it this whole year. It was a bad series for him; the next round will hopefully be different.

Luke did a good job today of not letting Harpring get free for shots in this one. Game 5 saw Luke struggling to keep up with Harpring’s movement, but Luke did a considerably better job running through traffic to stay on Harpring’s hip.

Ronny had trouble staying on his feet. Looking for the block is fine, in fact he had a real strong one in this game, but for Ronny to have more of an impact he’s got to pick and choose his leaps much better than he did in this game.

Alright, so, I know it was along article, but its hard not to be excited about the prospects of this team. With each of these first 2 rounds you’ve seen the Lakers learn about the kind of team they are, use that to their advantage and best of all, close a series out when they had the chance.

Sure the Jazz had a comeback in this one, but these are the best 8 teams in the league, they don’t go down without a serious fight (as this whole second round can attest to, outside of the Orlando / Detroit series).

The big thing in this Game 6 (and subsequently the playoffs so far) was/is the calm the Lakers played with when things got hairy. The control of a veteran team that’s confident in what they need to do to win was happily evident.

Focus Wins The Day

The rust was apparent as the game opened. Though the Lakers had moments of good play, they definitely looked like a team that has had a bit too much time away from game situations. Defensively there were moments of obvious breakdowns that weren’t happening when the Lakers were in rhythm. However, this is a totally different team than the Jazz or Nuggets and adjustment will happen.

In the end, the Lakers showed patience and concentration that Phil Jackson teams always have. It served them well in what is hopefully the most disjointed game they’ll play in this series.

What’s important for the Lakers is that the period of adjustment is as short as possible. This is practically the same team the Lakers’ leaders Kobe, Phil and Derek have seen time and again.

Fisher has got to always remember to give up ground on the outside, not to give any room for Parker to move down and into the paint. The obvious key with parker is keeping him out of short range. Early on in the game Derek was giving ground way too easily on the outside, letting Parker get into the paint with virtually no resistance.

Derek would be well served to not necessarily try to beat the speed of parker on defense, but to at least get the ball into his chest, making him backpedal or need help from the Duncan or Odom. If he can get the Spurs to move off of the side posts on defense it would not only vary his game up, but it would get open looks for Gasol (especially) and Odom on the easy shovel passes. You saw in the 3rd quarter when Derek had a nice take on the Spurs to get the lay-up in traffic. He’s got to pull that move off almost every other time, balancing between outside and inside better.

Gasol tends to not use the glass when he’s trying to throw in a chippy from short range. If he’d look to use the bank shot on closer shots he may have better luck in getting those to fall. The nice post move he had on Duncan in the 1st quarter is the kind of mobility that he can exploit against Duncan’s D. Pau just has to do what he did with Utah successfully, step 2 steps out of the paint and let drives give him the room to scoer easy.

Lamar has got to keep fighting through no calls or fouls he thinks he should get like he did in the 1st quarter. There were 3 instances where Lamar got tapped on his way up to the rack, but he did a good job of keeping at the rebound despite no whistle. Lamar just looked like he eventually got caught up in the refs and let it affect his transition game and ultimately his concentration.

That first 3 hit by Farmar couldn’t have been a better sign. The Spurs’ points are much more suited to Jordan’s game. The aggressive lay-up with the foul he got in the 2nd spoke volumes to Jordan looking like he found a bit more space for his game against the Spurs.

Defensively Jordan got a long run in the 1st half, doing a better job of spacing off of Parker, letting him get more open outside shots than views into driving lanes. But as theat run kept going Farmar looked intimidated again. For some reason he’s shying awayfrom the contact on drives that he was so willingly giving during the regular season. He did better in his time on the floor, and I don’t think this is a permanent thing for his game. But for Jordan to get more minutes he’s got to keep moving like he showed everyone he can. Moving to one spot and stopping never to move again in a set doesn’t work on either end of the floor.

Radmanovic did alright in this one, looking to do more than chuck it up from range. There was a nice tip-in a couple good takes right down the throat of the Sours’ D and overall Vladi played a much-needed active and varied game. Again though, the problem came on defense, where he just looks a half step slow no matter who he’s guarding. He was getting lost off of screens and any kind of traffic.

Ronny did a great job on Duncan in the 1st half. In particular he stayed on his feet perfectly. He didn’t bite on fakes, let his blocking instinct take a backseat and really bodied up on Duncan early in the post. Then came the 3rd quarter where Duncan just straight up used Ronny on the post. He started going for the fakes and left the floor one too many times, letting Duncan get to the line. Those trips to the line slowed the Lakers pace and often got them off kilter right when the rhythm looked like it was going to kick in.

The match up serves well to spell Odom or Gasol for small runs, but I think Phil left Ronny on the floor about 5 minutes too long in this one.

Kobe was so in pass first mode that there were at least 3 wide-open lanes directly in front of him that he was out and out turning down. This pass first mode for Kobe is great to have come from your superstar, but I’d hope that in the rest of this series (which is going to be tight the whole way through) Kobe doesn’t wait 2 and a half quarters to fire the game up.

Tonight though he did a great job in just firing up the team. Once he got his game going, you saw the huge jump in everyone’s play and activity. Most of it was in the sharpness of play. Everyone was back to getting to spots crisply and being in option spots they ignored earlier on. There came a bit of a watch Kobe play time in the 4th, but it faded quickly after a timeout.

When all is said and done Kobe played like an MVP – again. He stepped in when the team needed him most without taking the whole game away from everyone and took the game into the win column on his back.

Sasha was player of the game for my money. He was the only one I’ve seen this playoffs finally making Ginobli go right. He shaded him at every chance to his right and never really let Ginobli find a lane that wasn’t dictated by Sasha’s defense first. Once that drive was taken away Sasha did incredibly well coming off screens to keep up with him.

And in the end for a young player like Sasha to hit 2 clutch free throws like that was awesome.

There was obviously good in the game, but there was quite a bit of junk coming from the Lakers too.

Good rebounding effort on the defensive end. Long rebounds looked to be a bit of a problem as the Lakers did do a good job of packing the middle. This is a differently rebounding team than the jazz, but the Lakers looked like they were still expecting the highly physical inside play that Utah threw at them. The traffic in the middle is good to see though; it just can’t come at the expense of sending someone out to about 6 or 7-foot range to rove for longer boards.

The Lakers had some decent cuts / dives while they looked to push the ball inside early. The blocking foul Odom drew on Oberto in the 1st quarter was a good example of the Lakers not looking to play to the Spurs defense, but rather have the Spurs adjust to their aggressiveness.

There was a bit too much manic play once the ball got into the high post. The Lakers looked like they were pushing the tempo a bit too fast to stay within the methodical offense that serves them best.

The Lakers had the ball hit multiple stagnant points on offense. When the ball got caught up on the sides of the court, motion stopped and the Lakers looked stifled. The problem was that stuck play was the fault of the Lakers. The Spurs played good solid defense in the middle but it wasn’t enough to keep the Lakers from moving to pass option spots and easing up their spacing more.

There was a fantastic / stupendous sign in this game. At the first timeout in the 2nd quarter the Lakers evened the game up without Kobe on the floor – and without Kobe scoring point 1 yet.

The Lakers got beat far too much. There was no help coming onto Parker on his drives and when the Lakers did finally do something to get in their way, they were playing the last resort hands-first defense.

One to no pass offense was pervasive tonight. They did nothing to rotate the ball around the perimeter. No movement off the ball, minimal cuts and basically the Lakers were a team of guys standing around waiting for the other guy to wake up first.

7 missed lay-ups don’t help. It speaks loudly to the amount of mildew that was all over the Lakers’ game.

And the thing is I can go on with everything the Lakers did wrong. Yet despite all of this (and more) they came out with the win. I really don’t think the Lakers could play any worse for about ¾ of the game. The fact that they won (and they won without going 3-point crazy which was great to see develop) is a testament to this team’s newfound (to this season) ability to stay under control in the worst circumstances.

Being home or not, you’re talking about a mostly inexperienced playoff team (in regards to Conference Finals experience) coming back from a 20-point deficit to steal a game against a far more seasoned veteran championship caliber team.
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revgen · Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject:

^ I understand why Kobe wasn't shooting in the first half, but he should have started scoring right when the 3rd Quarter started instead of waiting halfway through it.

In the end I wasn't worried when were down 20 since Kobe hadn't scored much yet, and we all know Kobe can get his whenever he wants to.
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crucifido · Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 9:31 pm Post subject:

Lakers vs. Spurs (WCF Game 2 5/23/08)

The Killer Instinct And Game 2

The monster comeback still fresh in their minds, the Lakers came into this one obviously looking to hold home court. But they gave themselves, and us, much more. They showed the drive of a team looking to dominate, not just win.

All the doubts we as fans (and to some extent the coaching staff) had about this team’s willingness to step on the throats of a downed opponent are now erased.

Watching this team expose that aspect of their collective personality was simply beautiful.

The start was great – as the 2 coldest guys on the court, Fisher and Odom, had real nice aggressive takes to the hoop before the Spurs even got their feet set on D. That aggression didn’t quit and that’s what made this game so special. The Lakers showed a killer instinct to the level of an assassin. When they were up 9, they pushed to 18, up by 18 they pushed beyond 25. This was the kind of game the Lakers have got to deposit in their memories permanently.

Better yet, Derek kept it going by really looking to get the ball jabbed into the Spurs’ defense. That kind of genuine point guard play will get the Spurs backing off of the mid-range game that can be lit up by several Lakers. By getting away from the exclusive outside shooting (especially since it wasn’t working last game) it opened up Derek’s game exponentially.

Good god, Lamar’s confidence is beyond sky high. The multiple strong takes he had to the middle, cutting off of outside ball movement and making the Spurs part the seas in the paint for his move to the rack were amazing. Having a guy with his height to stay in Duncan’s chest, keeping him on his heels while he uses his now excellent footwork to keep looking for space around him was nearly indefensible.

The thing with Lamar in this game is that not too long ago when Lamar had a bad game he’d string together a couple more behind it. Now with this year’s playoffs Lamar is coming off of bad games with a chip on his shoulder. He did a great job in staying aggressive on every single rebound and making his presence not only felt, but painful for the Spurs to try and rotate over to. I don’t remember a single defensive rebound coming off the board or rim that Lamar was not in the thick of the mix for. It got to a point in the 3rd that the rest of the Lakers were even backing off of the paint, letting Lamar take over underneath and getting out on the break quicker than they have in the playoffs yet.

That was Lamar’s best playoff game yet as a Laker.

Pau has to make real sure that once Duncan gets into the post he does his best in keeping him from getting those 2 dribbles into the paint. Once Duncan gets those 2 steps in on Gasol or anyone who’s guarding him, it’s a guaranteed bucket or foul. What Pau did real well was work the high post, dribbling down low then looking for the dish. That increasingly aggressive move as the game went on started paying off more and more as Lamar found his room. That’s the kind of game that Pau can excel at – 3 steps out of the block and using his mobility to get Duncan going backwards.

The pass he had to Lamar towards the end of the 3rd was outstanding. It was that perfect example of keeping Duncan in a backwards motion, unable to either keep up with Pau moving onto the baseline or turn to help a cutting / diving Lamar.

Welcome back to the fold Jordan. After that amazing block he had on Udoka, Jordan’s confidence was soaring. You could see it in his dribble coming into the frontcourt. There was a more certain hop in his step and above all he wasn’t turning down open shots. It is so important for Farmar to be a part of this run. Being able to sit Derek for as long as Phil did in this game will pay huge dividends not only in this series but also in the Finals if the Lakers make it that far. The best aspect of Jordan’s game was his movement off of passing on offense. Versus Utah he passed and stood still waiting for the play to come back to him. Tonight, you saw the Farmar that passes and cuts to the next spot in the set without hesitation. That right there will get him more looks and keep the Spurs’ small guards out of the paint and away from swiping distance on posts and drives by the Laker bigs.

Man that block and moreover the hustle to get back on D was incredible.

Sasha, for the second time in a row, played stupendous defense on Ginobili. The shading to the right is so simple, yet brilliant and above all Sasha’s motion while Ginobili tries to shake him loose off the ball is exactly where it should be. His spacing off of him is perfect.

Then with Sasha playing such hustle defense on him he has Manu looking over his shoulder on every single possession. When he takes that second glance its throwing him off of his shooting rhythm and taking away that quick first step he uses to get himself into the Laker paint. I don’t think enough can be said about Sasha’s contribution to this series so far. The guy has been an unexpected giant player against some seriously formidable competition in Ginobili.

Moving from Ginobili to Barry, he did a real good job chasing him in off of 3-point line and keeping an eye on his popping out to the arc. As Sasha moved through the Spurs defensively, he wound up having an adverse effect on their entire offensive game plan. It was a performance from Sasha that hopefully won’t get buried beneath Odom’s astounding game.

The Lakers cannot let Bowen get the look from the corner for his 3’s. It’s a simple screen and roll to the outside that escapes the Lakers’ view. It’s done well with Duncan usually giving the screen, but whoever is switched onto Bowen form that can’t just stop at the screen. They’ve got to fight to get around it. Right now, the Lakers are looking like they give up and going onto underneath the board, leaving Bowen truly wide open way too much.

There was a spectacular bounce pass from Ronny to Kobe in the 1st. Then comes a couple off pas