Twice Ain’t Nice: Lakers Fall To Grizzlies

A different night, yet the same result.

The Lakers lost another close contest with the Memphis Grizzlies Saturday night, racking up their 2nd loss at the Summer Pro League, 98-94.

Without a doubt, Von Wafer put on the best Laker scoring performance thus far, scoring 29 points off of stellar 10 of 12 shooting.

The Lakers would come close in the waning moments, but Smush Paker passed up a potential game-tying three-pointer and lost the out of bounds, putting the nail in the coffin for Los Angeles.

After putting just 14 points on the board in the first quarter, the Lakers rallied back yet again to take a four point lead at halftime. However, their fourth quarter scoring drought proved to be costly and failed to make the necessary stops in the closing minutes.

Ronny Turiaf missed his second game, still awaiting the results of a physical test as part of the recent contract he signed with the Lakers.

“It’s the same thing as yesterday,�? Turiaf said. “The same physical type of stuff and we have to wait for the results.�?

Wafer attempted to pick up some of the slack by putting on a shooting clinic, but it was not enough to push the Lakers above Memphis.

I asked assistant coach Brian Shaw for his take on Von Wafer’s play.

“He’s doing a pretty good job so far,�? Shaw replied. “It’s difficult to try and pick up all the principles of the triangle in such a short time. But all the guys have done a great job. He’s explosive. He can shoot it. So once he figures out the other nuances of the offense, he should be fine.�?

The Lakers’ Devon Green would also chip in with 15 points and 4 assists, while rookie Andrew Bynum finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Players

Starting Line-Up

PG Smush Parker
SG Sasha Vujacic
SF Carlos Powell
PF Eric Sandrin
C Andrew Bynum

Breakdown

Von Wafer
This obviously was Wafer’s best Summer Pro League performance and I think he is a likely candidate to make the final roster.

His spectacular shooting displayed Wafer’s potential to be a solid shooter at the NBA level. Von’s shot selection was great and 10/12 while working for your own open looks is incredible. He runs very well without the ball and seems to enjoy playing in the triangle.

I asked Von on how comfortable he is in the triangle while running without the ball in his hands.

“That’s the thing,�? Von acknowledged. “I like the system because you have to move without the ball. If you don’t move without the ball you’re not going to get good shots. You have to play within the system. If you don’t play within the system, you’re not going to get good shots. And I like it. The system is so great. It fits me perfectly because I feel I can shoot the ball okay.�?

Andrew Bynum
It was another double-double game for Bynum, recording 10 points and 12 rebounds.

While his play was inconsistent, the third quarter showed that Bynum has superstar potential.

Andrew seemingly did everything right in the third period, rebounding, scoring and banging his big body around down low. His aggressiveness skyrocketed during this time and he was playing smart.

Bynum was dominant in the third. On the boards, he knew exactly how to box out and never let his competitor come close to touching the ball. While fumbling the ball when rebounding had been a problem at times, he wrapped it and secured it tightly off the glass.

On offense, you couldn’t help make the comparisons to Shaquille O’Neal. Bynum finally figured out that he’s 7 feet tall and 270 pounds– he can use his body to create opportunities! He would give quick bumps into his defender, allowing Bynum some space to rise up and slam dunk the ball or softly lay it in. Using his gifted body to his advantage only made the game much easier for Andrew.

While he finished with six points in the quarter, the fundamentals he displayed must have been what Mitch Kupchak witnessed during those workouts.

However, other than this third quarter, Bynum played with some of his bad habits.

Andrew failed to box out and simply did not know how to make the game easier on himself. His shots were close to falling, but often spun in and out of the basket. He was not getting good looks at the basket and he often found himself forcing shots.

I asked Brian Shaw what he thinks Bynum needs to improve on the most..

“With him, it’s just going to take more experience. The more time he spends out on the floor, the better he’s going to do. It’s a learning process for him and he’s young. So we just want to get him as much experience as possible [and] get him to understand leverage. He likes to stand straight up and down and guys that are smaller than him are getting him and pushing him a little bit. But he’ll be fine.�?

Devon Green
He seemingly has improved as the Summer League has progressed.

Green put up a decent performance tonight, scoring 15 points on 6/13 shooting. What concerns me is that he does not make a significant impact out on the floor though.

It appears as if there’s nothing extraordinary about Green’s game. He often picks up “garbage points,�? open opportunities down the lane set up by his teammates’ good looks.

He may get a training camp invite, but I’m not betting on him making the final team.

Eric Sandrin
Although he had 12 points on the night, they were mostly garbage points.

He’s just had a horrible performance thus far. I hope he snaps out of it for his sake.

The highlight of the night was a facial from Dahntay Jones delievered on top of Sandrin. He still seems very nervous, or at least uncomfortable, out there.

In another instance, he let Hakim Warrick back him down in the post and Sandrin basically gave him a one-way ticket to the basket.

The bottom line is that Sandrin has not shown any tenacity on either end of the floor whatsoever.

The rest of the Lakers either did not receive enough playing time or did not make a considerable impact on the game.
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Interview with Sasha Vujacic

I had the opportunity to ask Sasha Vujacic some quick questions about the upcoming season.

BryantDunkGiant: Sasha, what do you think of the possibility of playing with Kwame Brown?

Sasha Vujacic: I don’t know him that well, but as far as I was told, they told me that he was a [number one draft pick with] very big potential. I think that our General Manager and office are doing a great job to [bring] a championship team in future years.

BDG: The point guard situation isn’t exactly secure for the Lakers right now. Do you think this is your time to show that you can make an impact?

Vujacic: Exactly. That’s why I’ve waited so long. I think that for sure we will bring somebody [to fill the void], but even if I have to be a starting point guard, I’m [ready] to do that. That’s why I want to come to training camp [prepared]. That’s why I don’t want to stop with my preparation program during the Summer League, because the Summer League is just [to get your legs ready]. So I want to come to training camp and show that I can do it.

BDG: Sasha, you’re really close with Vlade Divac. An internet report surfaced in the past few days saying he would retire– that’s false. Have you been talking with him about his decision on whether he’ll come back or not?

Vujacic: We talked, but we didn’t talk about that. That’s top secret for me right now, so I can’t say because he will smash me down if he sees me! Hopefully he will come back. He’s a great person and a great guy for the locker room. We all know he was drafted by the Lakers [and] he wants to probably finish his career with the Lakers. I wish him the best and I [hope he makes] the right decision.

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