Teamwork.

It’s a simple word that has a vast meaning.  It’s what creates a dynamic where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.  And in basketball, it results in a beautiful style of play where no one player is king, but all players make an impact.  That’s what we’re seeing from the Lakers and it’s something that I (and I’m sure every other Laker fan) can get used to.

On a night where Kobe missed his second consecutive game and Andrew Bynum was out for his sixth consecutive quarter, the Lakers are playing with less talent but with more togetherness.  Two games is an extremely small sample size, but oh what a two games.  Facing two teams that have traditionally been tough foes, the Lakers have two wins.

Once again, the credit can’t go to just one player and we can’t identify a single play that was the difference in this game.  It was a total team effort and one where the contributions from every player that saw meaningful minutes added up to a double digit victory and tacos for the home fans.  But if we’re going to give out credit, let’s start down low and then work our way out (just like our offense – it just works best).  Pau Gasol was just tremendous.  I don’t care that he missed some easy ones.  The fact that he was even in position to miss those easy ones was an indicator of the work that he was doing to establish position and skill he possesses to get himself a good shot.  Plus, when he’s doing all the other things that he can do to affect a game, I’ll take some missed shots. He didn’t miss ‘em all though.  21 points, 19 rebounds, 8 assists, and 5 blocks for the big Spaniard.  That’s putting in work.  Add to that Tim Duncan needing 17 shots to get his 16 points (no FT’s!) and give me more of that Pau, missed shots and all.

Then there was Odom doing his “I’m in complete control of this game with the ball in my hands” thing.  Another double-double for my favorite lefty (16 and 10) with 3 dimes (could have been more if Pau had made some of those bunnies or didn’t get fouled on a couple of others) and too many to count rebound turned fast breaks for LO.  Tonight, we all saw the Odom that I thought was a can’t lose player when he was a FA this off-season.  I really can’t say enough about the way that Odom pushed the ball against the slow-to-change-ends bigs of the Spurs while also making the right reads with the ball – choosing to either force the action or set up in the half court.  And since we’re talking front court players, Artest continues to play the all around, two way game that Lakers fans (and Phil Jackson, I’m sure) were hoping to see when we acquired ol’ crazy pills.  A nice and tidy line of 16/5/4 for Ron and more of his trademark take no prisoners defense on Richard Jefferson (who by the way started oh fer 7 and ended up with 9 points on as many shots).

But this game wasn’t just about our bigs; the guards chipped in their fair share as well.  Derek Fisher has earned much of the (when it’s fair minded) criticism he’s gotten this season.  But tonight he played a controlled game by taking the shots that were there for him and making them.  You can call it coincidence, but in the last two games – games that Kobe has been out – Fisher has had two of his better games all season and really stepped up to fill the void in leadership by playing steady and even more calm than normal.  There will be fans that will still want more from Fish or will call this game fluky but I think he’s been playing well and I am happy for a player that I respect a great deal.  

But, just as with our bigs the credit doled out to our backcourt must also be spread out.  Shannon Brown got the start in Kobe’s place and he filled in admirably.  WOW may not have shot well, but he made a big 3 when the Spurs were making a run and converted an alley oop dunk to open the 2nd half that really got the crowd and the team going.  But, the really solid game(s) were had by Farmar and Sasha.  Farmar really is putting together some good performances of late.  He’s found his groove on offense (still too many P&R’s for my taste, but those are the plays that allow him to get into the lane and create separation for his jumper) and is playing better defense.  Nothing all world about his D, but just solid position defense that was highlighted by an end of the first half stop against Parker where Tony waived off the Duncan screen and tried to cross over Jordan only to have Farmar stick with him, make him reverse his dribble, and then forcing Parker lose his handle when Jordan pressured him.  Overall, I like what Jordan is doing.  Last, but not least, we had a Machine sighting.  Sasha continues to lobby for more minutes (the Boston game aside) by playing under control, making the shots that are available to him, and playing hard in his limited minutes.  He’s still fouling a bit too much, but he’s aggressive on defense so fouls are going to come.

Overall, this was another very good win from our guys.  When the game started and Tony Parker was going crazy and the Spurs put up a 34 spot in the first 12 minutes, I thought this might be a long night.  But the Lakers defense tightened, we started to push the ball and the game started to turn.  And as the game developed, every Spurs run was answered and the game was in control for the entire second half.  Against a solid opponent – one at full health – I couldn’t have asked for a better performance from our team.  The teamwork shined tonight and that is something that I can get used to.

Records: Lakers 39-13 (1st in the West), Spurs 29-20 (6th in the West, 8.5 games behind the Lakers)
Offensive ratings: Lakers 109.6 (9th in the NBA), Spurs 110.0 (7th in the NBA)
Defensive ratings: Lakers 102.6 (4th in the NBA), Spurs 104.8 (10th in the NBA)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant? (game time decision), Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol
Spurs: Tony Parker, George Hill, Richard Jefferson, Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess

The Lakers Coming in:  That screeching sound you hear are Lakers fans coming to quick halt as we learn that Kobe is undergoing further tests on his bum ankle and Bynum is likely out for tonight’s contest.  Suddenly, the high that we all felt after the Portland game is gone and we’re now feeling a real concern for two of our best players.  I still have Kobe listed as a starter, but I really don’t know if he’ll play.  But since he’s still a game time decision, I think he may test out his bum wheel (if only because we will be even more short handed with Drew out) and give it a go tonight.  He always loves to play the Spurs.  Based off the history of both players, I’d be a bit more concerned about Bynum than Kobe.  Any time the words Bynum, injury, and knee appear in the same sentence I start to think bad thoughts about his long term health and need to be talked down off the proverbial ledge.  With the way that his past two seasons have gone, I don’t think any issue with a knee is minor for him even if it did come about from a routine knee to knee bump that happens pretty frequently.  But with anything injury related to Kobe, I tend to shrug it off just because he consistently comes back early from any prolonged absence and is notorious for getting treatment 24/7 until he’s back into playing form.  Maybe I’m giving Kobe too much credit here, but I think he’ll be back sooner rather than later.

The Spurs Coming in: The Spurs are a mystery that even the experts can’t crack.  Before the season started, they were universally hailed as a team that could contend for a championship.  They went against their past history of conscientious spending and jumped into luxury tax land for the first time in the Duncan era.  So far, the results have not been what many expected.  The problems they face are real and they’re in a dog fight for a top 4 seed and home court in the first round of the playoffs.  And while it may not be time to hit the panic button for fans of the Spurs, the truly concerned button was probably hit a couple of weeks ago.

Not all is bad for the Spurs, but they are underperforming as a group.  Part of that can be directly attributed to the uneven play of Parker and Ginobili.  Parker has been slowed by a variety of injuries all season.  Most recently he’s had to deal with an ankle sprain that kept him out of three games before returning to the last two.  And while I give Tony credit for fighting through the pain and trying to help his team by being in the lineup, his stats are down across the board and it’s affected his team.  As for Ginobili, he’s just had an uneven season and may just be showing his age and the results that come from a career of relentless attack on the basket.  Manu’s points are down to 13.2 per game (the lowest average since his 2nd season) and his impact as a sixth man has diminished in a manner that has really hurt the Spurs as they can no longer rely on a “starter” coming off the bench to change the game the minute he steps on the floor.

The one player that has not seen any real decline is Tim Duncan.  He’s once again having an All-NBA type season on both ends of the floor.  This man still guarantees you stat lines of 20/10/3 with almost two blocks a game while only committing two fouls.  Fantastic stuff from this future hall of famer.  Every year people who follow this league think Duncan is going to stop being effective and every year those people are proven wrong.  I’ll believe he’s falling off when I actually see it.  One other player to really watch is the emerging George Hill.  Hill has been playing quite well this season and is doing everything well (though no one thing excellently).  Hill has shown he’s a capable shooter and his deceptive size makes him a good finisher in the lane.  He’s also a good off-the-ball mover and is a guy that you can’t turn your head on as he’ll sneak into the paint for easy buckets if you end up watching the ball when one of the other Spurs is going to work.

Spurs Blogs:  48 Minutes of Hell is a great place to start.  Also check out Pounding the Rock for anything Spurs related.

Keys to game: The last time these two teams met, Duncan just killed us on the block.  The Big Fundamental used his textbook game to hit a variety of hook shots, wing banks, and runners that reminded everyone why he’s one of the all time great big men.  Tonight, the Lakers bigs (sans Bynum) are going to have to contest every shot and force him to take the shots that he doesn’t want to take.  That’s easier said than done, but I think we might see the occasional double team to force Timmy to pass the ball out when he’s got deep post position and give him his jumpshot (especially from the top of the key) as a preferred result in any set where Duncan is the shooter.  If Duncan beats us with 15-18 footers, so be it.   The Spurs are another team that will test our P&R defense with Parker and Hill handling the ball and Duncan/Blair/Dyess/Bonner doing the screening.  In these sets, Dyess and Bonner are strictly pick and pop players, Blair will almost always roll to the cup, and Duncan will do both.  So, we need to know personnel and tendencies and play each player to their strengths.  As for the guards, Parker and Hill both love to turn the corner and get into the paint so our goals should be to make them jumpshooters.  Make these guys bury low-ish percentage jumpshots and live with the results.  Tonight is another night where we’ll need sharp rotations as the two players that are in the P&R can be decoys as the Spurs look for either a shooter in the (Joel Meyers sponsored) short corner  or the other big man sitting stationary on the baseline for an open 15 footer.  The Spurs are a team that run a bunch of set plays but they are all a part of a larger system that all the players have confidence in.  In order to stop them, you need to play disciplined D and contest shots (or you just need them to go on one of their patented dry spells – I’m hoping for a bit of both tonight).

On offense, the Lakers need more of what they showed in Portland.  The Spurs are a team that excels at making teams play in isolation and if the Lakers start to play a lot of one on one, the Spurs will have one the “style” game even if the shots go in.  The Lakers need to enter the ball into the post, cut, screen, and move the ball.  As individuals, the Spurs are not strong defenders (save Duncan) but as a group they can still get the job done (though not as well as in years past).  So, move the ball, get the defense scrambling, and then attack them in their weakspots.  One place where the Spurs have always been vulnerable is in the inbetween parts of the court – FT line, elbows, shallow wings.  So, I hope to see a lot of our elbow sets and mid-range post ups for our wings where they can turn and face, then attack with either crisp passing to cutters or get up easier shots when they get into the paint.

Where you can watch: 7:30 pm start here on the West on TNT (which means more like 7:45) or on ESPN Radio 710am.

I kid, I kid. My quick 2¢: The win in Portland and the team’s play may have had something to do with the locker room mood after the Denver loss. The Lakers, more than any time this season, seemed clearly stunned by that outcome, it hit them in a way other losses have not. It seemed to make them think about how they are doing things, going about the games. At least that seemed to be the feeling. Whether or not that translates into anything beyond a win against a banged-up Portland team remains to be seen, but the feeling was there. And there is plenty of time to right the ship, if the will is there. As a fan, that remains my hope.

While Kobe has been taking nights off, sitting with his feet up in the back of the bus, I’ve been busy at my new project, which launched today: Pro Basketball Talk. Please click the link, come on by and check out my new digs. There’s a great group of bloggers there working with me, and I’m excited about what we can do with the site.

I again can’t thank everyone who reads and comments at this site for all they have given me the last five years. I have loved talking basketball with all of you, I’m a smarter and better basketball fan for it. I see and think of things differently.  This blog will always be close to my heart, and I’ll still be around commenting this year. And celebrating (I hope).

Now you may resume arguing about Derek Fisher.

—Kurt

It’s an off day for the Lakers and I’m sure like many other sports fans around the country a lot of our guys are watching the big game with their family and friends. And I’m sure they’ll enjoy the game a bit more after last night’s win. So before we move on to the Jazz, wondering about when Kobe will return, if Andrew will miss any additional time, and what this team will play like down the stretch of the season. Let’s talk some pigskin.

Kobe’s already said who he likes when the Colts face the Saints. Personally, I don’t have a horse in this race so my rooting interests are in seeing a good game that isn’t outdone by the commercials. If I had to make a prediction, I’d say the Colts win. Peyton Manning is just one of those guys that impresses me with the way he can control a game. You throw in the experience factor and I think they’re favored for a reason. But, I never count out the Saints as they’ve had a great season and have a pretty good QB themselves. Should be a fun game. In a bit of a tribute to ‘Nawlins, I’ve got the gumbo on the stove and am getting ready for this game. Comment away on anything and everything Super Bowl and we’ll get back to hoops a bit later. I hope everyone enjoys the game (if that’s what you’re doing this afternoon).

-Darius

We knew about an hour before tip off that at least one streak would be broken in this clash between the Lakers and the Blazers when it was announced that Kobe would miss his first game in 235 contests due to his sprained ankle.  But by the time the final buzzer sounded, a second streak would also end up being no more as the Lakers won in the Rose Garden for the first time in its last ten tries.  The final score: Lakers 99,  Blazers 82. Boy was that fun. And it was fun because we saw team effort again.

When this game started, I really didn’t know what to expect.  In the comments, Zephid said:

This’ll be a good character measure. Let’s see how our guys respond without Kobe to bail them out.

I thought that was a good way of looking at this game.  This game was going to be one where we learned something about this team.  I too wanted to see how they were going to respond.  I’d say they did quite well.

What I thought was going to be an interesting game to begin with, started out in a way that even I was surprised by.  When it was announced that Kobe was not going to play, the safe money was on Shannon Brown replacing him the starting group.  Brown *is* the backup SG and is a guy that the coaches have shown confidence in.  However, I did think there was a slight chance that Phil would go with Luke as the fifth starter.  I though that Luke would be a good compliment to the starters as an offensive initiator and player that was going to focus on running our sets and passing and that Ron was the player best suited to fill in for Kobe as a primary offensive threat from the wing.  Turns out I wasn’t too far off base and Phil took this idea to the extreme by starting Odom for Kobe and throwing out a supersized lineup of LO, Artest, Pau, and Bynum to flank Fisher.  Nice choice, Phil.

Odom ended up having a huge impact on this game.  He ended the night with 22 rebounds (19! defensive) and six assists.  You throw in the steal, the block, and only a single turnover (in 37 minutes with how much he handled the ball? I love that low turnover number) and I couldn’t care less if he scored at all, much less get the team 10 points.  The man was everywhere and as his team high +25 on the night implies, he had a tremendous impact.  But Odom wasn’t alone.  In fact, almost everyone came along with him.  Fisher had a vintage night with 14 points and 6 assists and was 2-2 from three point range.  Artest was even more impressive, playing a fantastic two way game and tossing in a team high 21 points to go along with his standard dogged defense.  Shannon turned in a game that we all hoped we’d see more of this season after his teasing us with his playoff success from last year.  And Pau played a very good game.  I know that many have been down on Gasol recently, what with the fumbled passes and the less than stellar shot making.  But, go look at that link again (seriously go – it’s a nice 3 minutes).  Look how many plays he made.  He was the anchor of our half court offense and there is no way the Lakers win that game without him.

What we saw was a return of team ball and some of the best execution we’ve seen in weeks (if not months).  The ball was moving, players were cutting, guys were making the extra pass, and the recipients of those passes were rewarding their mates by finishing shots.   Our guards ran the P&R as a change up to our normal offense.  Players didn’t over dribble and instead they passed and moved.  It really was great to see.  Can this last?  I don’t know, but tonight this team once again showed that they are capable of playing the type of game that helped them earn a championship last season.  They were selfless, smart, and worked hard.

But all news isn’t great.  Bynum is banged up and nursing some nagging injuries.  He left this game in the first half and did not return due to a bruised hip.  And this was after he came into the game with a new sleeve on his left knee.  And Kobe is obviously in more pain than we’ve thought.  We’d all seen him looking not as explosive over the last several games, but the fact that he actually sat out a game is meaningful.  The all-star break couldn’t be upon us at a better time as hopefully this will allow our guys to get rested and healed up for the playoff push.

But those are thoughts for a later day.  For now, I’m happy with a victory.  A true team effort in a back to back in a place where we haven’t won in a long time.

-Darius

Update: Kobe Bryant will not play tonight because of the sprained ankle that he has been nursing.  Obviously this shifts around the starting lineups.  I would assume that either Shannon Brown or Sasha Vujacic will start, but a darkhorse to start the game would be Luke Walton with Ron Artest sliding down to SG to start the game.  This obviously also changes the dynamic for this team on offense as they have lost their main perimeter threat for the first time in well over 200 games.  This puts an even greater emphasis on our big men performing and we’ll see how all of the other players step up without Kobe in the lineup.  As if this game wasn’t interesting enough.  Back to the preview…

Records: Lakers 38-13 (1st in West) Trailblazers 30-22 (7th in West, 8.5 games back of Lakers)
Offensive points per 100 possessions: Lakers 109.4 (9th in league), Trailblazers: 111.0 (5th in league)
Defensive points per 100 possessions: Lakers 102.8. (5th in league) Trailblazers: 107.8 (18th in league)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Trailblazers: Andre Miller, Jerryd Bayless (though Roy is a game time decisions and could play), Martell Webster, LaMarcus Aldridge, Juwan Howard

About Last Night: The Lakers ran into a hot, confident, and inspired-with-something-to-prove team in the Denver Nuggets.  Even without Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets are dangerous and capable and proved that they are a team to be reckoned with.  It’s obvious that the Lakers could have played better defense and been (much) smarter on offense.  Early in the game on defense we saw players help when they should not have and late in the game on offense we saw too much P&R and forced shots outside the flow of our offense.  We gave up and gave away easy points and that contributed to a bitter defeat.

That said, when a team that is as explosive as the Nuggets finds their groove the way that they did in the second half, not much is going to knock them off their trajectory.  So, despite a better effort in the 4th quarter to play defense, it really didn’t matter as Billups and J.R. Smith hit some amazing shots that not only increased their lead but also took the air out of the Lakers.  You throw in our players forcing shots and not making them and you get a ballooning lead that snowballed in the last 5 minutes.  At this point, I could lament on and on about mistakes made on individual plays or break down what went wrong by exploring the X’s and O’s but what we all saw was a determined opponent that found a comfort zone.  It’s as simple as that.  Really, that type of basketball is a beautiful thing to see – except when the team you root for is on the other end of the thrashing.  I tip my cap to the Nuggs and move on to the next game.

Portland coming in: The Blazers can be looked at two different ways right now – they’re either a struggling team (6-6 in their last twelve) that is dealing with some devastating injuries to some of their best players (Oden, Pryzbilla, Roy, Outlaw) or they are a scrappy bunch that is staying in the playoff hunt by maxing out the talent that is available to them.  I lean towards the latter when it comes to this group.  They have won 3 of their last 4 and by beating the Spurs, Charlotte, and Dallas (with the only loss coming to a red hot Jazz team).  And even though Roy is again doubtful for tonight’s game, they’ve gotten Rudy Fernandez and Nic Batum back into the lineup and Andre Miller is stepping up his offensive game to off-set the absence of Roy.  When you throw in a very good player like Aldridge and an uderrated two way player in Martell Webster, you’ve got enough talent to compete every night.  Especially when Nate McMillan, a guy known to get the most out of his players, is pacing the sidelines.

Blazer’s Blogs: Beyond Bowie is new on the scene but they are doing some very good things at that site.  And there is always the very strong Blazer’s Edge, where Dave and crew are always bringing smart analysis and great writing on anything Blazers.

Keys to the Game: Welcome to the ‘Land of the Loss’.  The Lakers have historically struggled to get wins in the Rose Garden and tonight will be no different.  Throw out the records and disregard the injury reports when these two teams meet.  Last night, you saw a visibly frustrated Lakers team depart their home court as fans were quiet and stunned.  Tonight, I’d like to see them channel some of that frustration into positive energy, smart play, and a focus on getting back to the little things that are the difference between winning and losing.

I’m going to sound like a broken record, but on offense the Lakers need to get the ball inside.  The Blazers are down to a big man rotation that prominently features Juwan Howard, Jeff Pendergraph, and Dante Cunningham.  And even though Aldridge is still going strong for Portland, the Lakers have a big advantage inside.  The Lakers need to pass the ball into the post and let Pau and Bynum go to work.  But when the ball does go into the post, the other Lakers just can’t stand around and watch.  The key to the Triangle is ball and player movement and too often we’re getting little of both.  Make the post entry and cut, screen, and be active.  Also, if Roy does not play, look for one of Artest or Kobe to take advantage of a smaller player that is guarding them.  The Blazers have been starting the diminutive Jerryd Bayless in Roy’s place and he’s going to have to guard someone.  If the Blazers use him to defend our PG, then that means Andre Miller will need to guard either Kobe or Ron.  If they keep Miller defending our PG that means Bayless will be on Kobe or Ron – either way this is an advantage that the Lakers can exploit.  But all of this should come within the flow of our sets.  Run the backside screen action that leads to curls into the lane.  Play more of the high low game with Pau at the FT line and Bynum getting deep position under the rim.  I hope to see less high P&R and more of the ball screen actions that are built into the Triangle – i.e. the sideline P&R and the pinch post hand off P&R that we hurt Orlando with in the last years Finals.

On defense, the Blazers will look to exploit our P&R defense.  They have a classic stretch 4 in Aldridge and they’ll run a lot of P&R with LaMarcus popping to open space to shoot his feathery jumper.  The Lakers will need strong rotations tonight and will need to help the helper when the guard comes off the screen and our big man is out helping.  Portland will run this P&R with a variety of guards so the Lakers need to be prepared for all of the different tendencies of their players.  Miller loves to turn the corner and use his physicality to get into the lane.  Bayless will shoot the jumper coming off the screen, but he’s also an explosive player and will look to turn the corner and/or split our defenders when he comes off the screen.  Fernandez is a Ginobili type that has an all around game and will also both shoot or turn the corner in their screen game.  Fernandez is also a crafty passer and will find the open man if you over help on him.  The Blazers will also look to post up Andre Miller whatever PG is guarding him so our bigs are going to need to be cognizant of him on the block while also recovering to rebound.

Where you can watch: 7:00 pm start time out West, on KCAL channel 9.  Also on ESPN Radio 710am.

Records: Lakers 38-12 (1st in West) Nuggets 33-16 (2nd in West, 4.5 games back of Lakers)
Offensive points per 100 possessions: Lakers 109.3 (10th in league), Nuggets: 111.6 (3rd in league)
Defensive points per 100 possessions: Lakers 102.2. (2nd in league) Nuggets 106.3 (12th in league)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Nuggets: Chancey Billups, Aaron Affalo, Joey Graham, Kenyon Martin, Nene

Are any of the superstars playing tonight? Well, Kobe is for sure, he confirmed it at shoot around this morning. Did you really think he wouldn’t play? (If you played it smart, wouldn’t you play a couple more games then say after Monday night against the Spurs that you can’t keep going, miss the Jazz game on Wednesday but also get to sit out All Star Weekend, giving you a week off? He’s not going to do that, just sayin.)

Carmelo Anthony said it would take a “miracle” for him to play tonight. Still, I would not be surprised to see him in warmups and ready to go. Let me put it this way, if I had ‘Melo on my fantasy team, he’s not back in the starting rotation yet, but you keep your eye out because he will be soon.

What is interesting is the contrast between how these two deal with the injury. Kobe will not be kept off the court. Even if he should be. Carmelo wants to be 100% before he returns (ala Gasol and his hamstring). Really, I don’t think one is better or worse than the other, players should choose what is best for them and their bodies. This is how they make a living. But the approaches are an interesting contrast.

Nuggets coming in: I listened to a pretty honest interview George Karl did on Jim Rome’s radio show earlier this week. Karl was up front that he would love to get one more player via trade, but also realized that his franchise is not going to take on more salary, and that a move is very unlikely.

He also seemed to be sending a message to his team that they can beat the Lakers with what they have come the playoffs. (I’m sure he’s pumping that up a lot right now in practices and meetings.) It’s a confidence thing, Karl has to get this team to believe it can beat the Lakers in a series before it can happen — for all the skills and Xs and Os, the difference between the top teams can be more about confidence than skills. He knows they are close, he knows that Denver is a little better than last year. But getting them to believe they are over the hump will be the challenge.

So what are the Nuggets like without Carmelo Anthony? Well, as you would expect, their offense takes a big hit — they score 5.5 fewer points per game. (Their defense is unaffected.) That’s a problem, as they win games with their offense first, so the Nuggets are 7-4 this season without Melo.

They also have been a bad road team 11-12 away from the Pepsi Center.

Nuggets blogs Roundball Mining Company is filled with smart people.

Keys to game: If there is no Carmelo tonight, then there will be more Billups in the Nuggets offense. That is not necessarily good for the Lakers.

First thing — you have to step out on Billups above the three-point line when he brings it up. Billups and Baron Davis love the pull-up three more than any two guards in the league (in an ESPN Chat, Mr. Clipperblog Kevin Anovitz said the difference is that Billups makes his). Billups is shooting 45.6% from three in the Nuggets last 10 games.

They will also post Billups up or run him off multiple screens to get him open. Defending him does not fall to Fisher (or Farmar or Brown) alone, the team has to defend him.

The other guy the Lakers can’t let get hot is JR Smith — just part of the battle of the benches that will be key tonight. Smith loves the spot up three in transition, but he will put it on the floor and drive if you run at him, so again it is a team defense not just one man. They also run him off a lot of screens (which should look familiar to Afflalo from his UCLA days).

On offense, the last meeting the Nuggets doubled Bynum hard in the post, and that took Bynum out of his game and he did not adjust well. Tonight he needs to react better, the ball needs to come out and swing to the weakside fast.

Where you can watch: 7:30 p.m. start here out west, on ESPN and Fox Sports. Plus, ESPN radio 710am.

There is no denying the fact that, so far this season, the Lakers offense has underperformed.  The Lakers only recently cracked the top 10 in offensive efficiency and that only came after strong offensive performances against weak defensive teams like the Knicks, Wizards, and Pacers.  This is in direct contrast to the last two seasons where the Lakers ranked 3rd in the NBA in offensive efficiency and were dominant on that end of the floor.  So, what’s happened?

There are several factors that are contributing to the Lakers’ slippage on the offensive side of the ball – lack of balance in the shot distribution, below average outside shooting, the integration of Artest, and an overall lack of execution. Recently, many have been pointing the finger at Kobe for our poor play on offense. I mean, he’s the leader. He’s taking the highest percentage of shots on this team.  He’s not our most efficient scorer and he’s playing with a busted hand. He should be passing to Bynum more.  He should be making sure we initiate our offense through Gasol.  So, It’s got to be him, right? Kobe is the problem.  Not so fast, says Kurt:

Some are portraying this as a “Kobe vs. Pau” thing, but the stickiness in he offense is bigger than that. Derek Fisher and the other guards are over dribbling and too quick to settle for the jumper. Bynum can be a black hole. Ron Artest feels like he needs to take his shot when he gets the ball because it doesn’t happen that often.

When the ball sticks, Kobe becomes the most likely guy to shoot because of his ability to create his own shot. Even with all the attention he gets, he gets what are a lot of good looks for him — if he gets the ball at the elbow he is almost unstoppable, even with a hand in his face. When the offense becomes stagnant, you see more Kobe. Is he shooting too much? Yes, but because the team is not running the offense so he has to create more shots, but it’s more about team execution than just Kobe.

I see the same thing that Kurt describes.  This goes back to last season too.  Too many times, the cuts are not crisp.  Too many times, screens are not set with any real intent.  When player movement stalls, passing opportunities decrease.  And when passes aren’t there the ball sticks and the guy with the ball ends up shooting.  Of course we could initiate the ball to the post more, but I’m also seeing situations where our post players are being pushed off the block and that in turn ruins our spacing and cuts down passing angles.  So, it’s not as simple as “player X needs to pass more”.  This is a team game and the Lakers run the ultimate team offense.  The Triangle is like a well oiled machine or a grandfather clock – when one part of the machine is out of synch, the results are going to be poor.

This leads to another issue that is happening every single night – the timing of the offense is just…off.  When the Triangle is run correctly, it looks like a choreographed dance.  Players should be spaced properly and moving in synch based off what the defense is doing.  Right now, that is not happening.  Too often, the player with the ball is looking for his pressure release or swing man and that player is not there (or not open) to receive the pass.  I mean, when the ball is coming up the court and the guard handling the ball is setting up on the strong side and creating the Triangle there are several options laid out to him 1). pass into post to the player in the hub of the Triangle 2). pass to the wing in the corner 3). reverse the ball to the top side guard.  If none of those options are available, the backside forward needs to recognize this and flash to the high post for a pressure release.  Too many times, that backside forward is either not flashing with the correct timing or is not getting open when he does flash.  This will lead to breakdowns, especially against teams that like to deny post entries or push our big guys off the block (hello Cleveland).

But, it’s not just the timing or the cuts or the screens.  Something else isn’t right with this offense.  Reed explains what else is ailing the Lakers:

One thing I think we really miss is three point shooting. We are 19th in 3FG at 34.6%. Last year we were also 19th, but at 36.1%. The year before we were 6th at 37.8%. This is a big deal for a few reasons. 

First, making threes is obviously the quickest way to score points. As we all know, it is as effective to shoot 33% from three as it is to shoot 50% from two. It seems like more than ever, the great offensive teams play inside to set up the three. The top 5 in offensive efficiency this year are Phoenix, Toronto, Denver, Atlanta, andCleveland. Phoenix is first in 3FG%, Cleveland second, Denver third, Toronto fourth, and Atlanta tenth. Phoenix and Cleveland both shoot over 40% from three, which, to belabor the obvious, is the same as shooting 60% from two. Many of these teams use penetration and post ups to set up open 3s. And we can understand why — simple math says it’s better to shoot 40% from three than work for higher % twos. We currently score 19.8 points per game from threes. If we shot 40%, we’d score 23.0 points per game (based on the same number of attempts) — an increase in 3.1 points per game. That alone would vault us to second in offensive efficiency.

Reed further explains why he thinks our shooting numbers are down:

I think the answer has to be that we don’t have good shooters. Or at least that our shooters aren’t shooting poorly. Given our inside presence on offense, our perimeter guys get plenty of good looks from three. We get plenty of corner three attempts. The problem is that our perimeter guys aren’t natural shooters, besides Sasha (who doesn’t play enough to count). Fisher used to be a shooter, but he’s not anymore. We don’t have anyone shooting 40% from three that shoots more than one attempt per game. We have lots of guys jacking up several threes a game that are in the low 30s or worse (Kobe, Odom, Brown, Fisher).

And this lack of reliable shooting is impacting our offense.  Since Reed is on fire at this point, I’m going to feed the hot hand:

Having elite shooting obviously opens up the offense for drives and post ups. This is just stating the obvious. We have  balance problem on offense. Too many guys do the same types of things — posting up and deliberate attacks into the paint. We don’t have lighting fast penetration or shooters that defense absolutely have to stick with. Think about what a deadly three point shooter does to a defense’s approach. When Ray Allen is out there, you have to be in his jersey every second of every play. Even when he’s not shooting well, you fear him and this creates extra spacing. Same for other elite spot up shooters. Their presence opens up the floor, lanes, etc., just because the defense has to shade a few steps their way more than they want. Even though Artest shoots well from three this year, he doesn’t create that type of fear/spacing. No one does. Other teams are happy to let him, Kobe, Brown, Fisher, etc. bomb away. Two years ago we didn’t have that problem as the Machine, Fisher, Vlad, etc. were all deadly when open. Think how defenses would react if instead of Farmar or Brown on the strong side corner when Pau has the ball in the post, someone like Daniel Gibson or Mo Williams were there. Pau would have a few extra feet and be all the more deadly.

All that said, I do believe our shooting can improve.  It can improve because the execution can get better.  What I mean is everything in this offense is related.  Better ball and player movement on offesne will create better shots for our bigs.  Better shots for our bigs will result in perimeter defenders helping off of our guards.  This in turn will lead to more open shots for our perimeter players, which should then result in more consistent shooting.  The perfect example of this was Shannon Brown’s stat line from last nights game against Charlotte.  Shannon was only 3-11 from the field, but when you look closer he was 2-4 from 3 point territory.  He also had 6 assists.  Many of his 3 point shots and the openings that allowed him to drive and create for others was based off the Lakers bigs playing more effectively and more crisp ball and player movement.  Several times, Brown ended up with either a wide open shot or a player closing down on him hard to try and run him off the three point line.  Essentially, Brown got open jumpshots because our offensive execution was better.  Then our bigs got better looks that were assisted by Shannon because he was getting into the lane after the ball was swung to him and he had proven that he could make the outside shot. 

I don’t want to paint this dire picture of the Lakers offense.  After all, many teams would like to be a top 10 offensive team. Plus, the evidence for better performances is there. There have been games this season where the Lakers have played supreme offensive basketball and reminded everyone of their capabilities on that end of the floor.  So, we all know it’s possible.  The team just needs to find that stride more often.  I do believe it will happen before the end of the season.  We’ve seen the seeds of this sprouting over the past couple of weeks.  Those aforementioned games against the Wiz, Knicks, and Pacers as well as our earlier romp of the Mavericks show me that this team can play a style of offense that is effective.  It will just take more focus on the little things (better cutting and screening) and resisting the desire to always do the easy thing (over dribble, continually running the P&R).  Like I said, I think the team will do it.  What do you think?

-Darius

On a night where Kobe didn’t even have his ‘B’ game the Lakers still won.  On a night where they rolled around in the mud with the Charlotte Bobcats for four quarters, the Lakers came out on top.  And, on a night where Pau started 3 for 9 and our back up guards combined to shoot 6 for 20, the Lakers came out victorious.  It’s been said many times before – an ugly win counts the same as a pretty one and you don’t get extra points for style.  As history has proven time and time again, the Lakers struggled through a long night against the Bobcats.  Only this time – the first time since 2005 – the Lakers pulled out a home win against the visiting team from Charlotte.

As I mentioned earlier, Kobe was clearly off his game.  Connecting on only one of his first seven shots, Kobe struggled on offense the entire night (ending 2 for 11, for only 5 points) and was not much better on defense.  Sure, he was picking his spots early and not forcing any shots, but when he did shoot they just did not fall.  Throw in another rolled/stepped on ankle and we had a night where our best player was hobbled and ineffective.  But, in the end it didn’t matter.  Why?  Because that vaunted Lakers front line came to play this evening.  Andrew Bynum started out hot and active collecting 8 points and 9 rebounds in the first period.  In the 2nd quarter, it was Gasol’s turn as he scored 7 points and grabbed a couple of boards.  It was also in the 2nd period that Odom joined the party and he continued to be effective into and through the 3rd period, scoring 10 points with a level of activity that we all love to see from my favorite southpaw.  When it came to Odom’s game, I think Joel B. said it best in the comments:

Ladies and Gents, we had a Lamar Odom sighting. For the past week I’ve been saying Lamar has to play inside, today he was aggressive around the rim and not settling for jumpers. He got offensive rebounds and put packs, took the ball to basket, posted up. Lamar has to continue to give himself opportunities, if so, the lakers become difficult to beat, even in a game where kobe goes 2-10 or whatever he was this game.

And so it went for the Lakers this evening.  The advantage that this team has held over almost every team in the league resurfaced against the Bobcats as the Lakers’ front line put up the kind of stats and had the type of impact that this team will need to make a deep playoff run.  The final tally for our 3-headed PF/C combo? – 50 points, 24 rebounds, 9 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks, with only 2 turnovers.  That is getting it done.  You throw in an efficient night from Ron Artest (14 points on 9 shots, 1-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) and you have a team victory with our best player walking around like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz (before the oil can).

It wasn’t always pretty.  Who am I kidding, it was never pretty (save for Shannon’s spinning drive that led to LO’s sweet up and under with the crazy english).  But in the end, I’m happy with a win against a team that has just seemed to have our number since they formed the franchise.

A couple of other notes from this game:

*As I noted, our back up guards did not shoot well.  However, they did play well (for the most part).  Yes, they could play a bit more under control (I’m looking at you Shannon) and they could be a bit more focussed on running the Triangle (do you really need to run the P&R that much Farmar?).  But, they were aggressive all night and Farmar essentially clinched the game with a last second steal and dunk.  Overall, I was happy with their contributions.

*Fisher, for all the heat he takes in the comments, had a pretty good game.  He did not force shots and ones that he took went in.  Fish finished with 9 points on 3-5 shooting including 1-2 from three.  Could he run the break better?  Is the sky blue?

*The Lakers defensive rebounding was a problem in this game.  The ‘Cats grabbed 18 offensive rebounds on just 45 misses.  I counted at least two possessions where they got 3 tries to score on a single trip down the floor.  The Lakers are not the strongest defensive rebounding team, but an effort like that is not acceptable.  Squeeze the orange, fellas.

Enjoy this win for what it was – another ‘W’ in the win column.  And with Denver going down to Phoenix tonight (in Denver) be thankful that we gained some ground on our closest competitor in the West.

Update:  I’d be remiss if I did not mention one other important aspect from this game:  Phil Jackson passed Pat Riley as the all time leader in victories as coach of the Lakers.  This is a great achievement and it speaks to Phil’s fantastic ability as a coach and his longevity with the Lakers franchise.  In typical Phil fashion, he deflected all credit to all of the players that he’s had the pleasure (and pain) of coaching, but as fans I think we know better.  I mean, he took a team that had felt the pain of playoff disappointment for several consecutive seasons and turned them into champions when he came on for his first stint as Lakers coach in the ‘99-’00 season.  In his second stint as coach, he took a team that featured Smush and Kwame in the starting lineup to the playoffs.  And now, he’s back on top of the mountain looking for more.  I can’t imagine another person coaching this team and I hope I don’t even have to consider it for several more seasons.  I really can’t say enough about Phil Jackson, so I’ll let other do it – check out Eric Pincus’ take here and friend of this site Antwonomous’  tribute to Jackson here.

-Darius

Records: Lakers 37-12 (1st in West) Bobcats 24-23 (6th in East)
Offensive points per 100 possessions: Lakers 109.1 (10th in league), Bobcats 102.4 (25th in league)
Defensive points per 100 possessions: Lakers 102 (2nd in league) Bobcats 102.3 (3rd in league)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Bobcats: Raymond Felton, Stephen Jackson, Gerald Wallace, Boris Diaw, Nazir Mohammed

Walton out tonight:His back is bothering him again so he will watch this game from the trainers room.

Bobcats coming in: You’d be making a big mistake thinking “it’s just the Bobcats, the Lakers should blow them out.” First, because the Bobcats always give the Lakers trouble.

And second, because the Bobcats have been a hot team of late. They have won primarily with a very aggressive defense this season — they basically are tied with the Lakers on the season — and have been getting their offense from two sources.

One is Gerald Wallace, who has been playing like an All Star for the last 10 days — averaging 23 points a game on 58.7% (eFG%) shooting and 52% from three. Wallace also is a power on the offensive glass while on the other end he has 15 blocks in the last 10 games.

The other is Stephen Jackson. He has been scoring 22 a game and providing some other scoring punch to the team.

Keys to game: If the Lakers go to their isolation offensive trends of late tonight, they will be in a lot of trouble. Charlotte’s defense will be the problem. Darius adds some details:

Larry Brown has been one of the better coaches at disrupting the Triangle offense over the years. This goes back to the ‘04 Finals and has been a recurring theme in any Lakers/team coached by Brown matchup. Mostly he loves to have his players disrupt passing angles by side fronting the post in the hub of the Triangle, denying pass to the corner on the strong side, and then sagging from the weak side to deny the pressure release when we look to swing the ball. This leads to poor timing in our sets and makes our guards over-dribble (which has been a problem this season even without the defense forcing this action). Our guys are really going to have to be crisp with their movement and work to get open. Not to mention the ‘Cats are the #1 team in defensive efficiency this season.

While Darius has the floor, he has a couple other points:

People always mention LeBron, ‘Melo and Pierce as the guys that Ron Artest was brought in to contain. Well, few would put Gerald Wallace in that class (I don’t) but he’s a dangerous player and a guy that can hurt the Lakers. Wallace has an all around game and Ron is going to have his hands full with a guy that will be very active on both ends of the floor. Wallace is playing at an extremely high level this season — proven by his inclusion on the Eastern All-Star team — and Ron is going to need to especially watch him on the glass has Wallace is getting about two off. rebounds a game. On a side note, look at the guys that Ron has been asked to guard lately — LeBron, Pierce, Caron Butler, Iguodala, Granger, Rudy Gay, and now Wallace. And before the All-Star break he’ll likely see plenty of minutes on Richard Jefferson, Brandon Roy, Melo, and AK-47. Wow. No rest for this guy.

Another guy to look out for is Raymond Felton. The forgotten PG of the Deron/CP3 draft class hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations coming out of college, but he’s having a solid year as he seems to finally found his game as a pro. His assists are down, but all of his shooting numbers (except for FT%) are up even though his scoring is down. That tells me he’s playing more under control and not forcing too much. This is like the influence of Larry Brown on his game as Brown is notoriously hard and demanding on PG’s but it looks like Felton is taking to Brown’s tutelage.

Another note about Felton, he comes off the pick with the quickness and strength of only a few in the league. He just explodes. What is challenging for the Lakers is Wallace often sets the high screen and Diaw also comes out by the arc to pull his defender away from the basket. The Lakers need to defend Felton well without getting into foul trouble and keep him out of the paint.

Another key — taking care of the ball. The Bobcats are second in the league in creating turnovers (per possession), jumping passing lanes and using long arms and athleticism to disrupt plays (see Darius’ note). That can fuel their running game, something they don’t do a lot under the controlling Brown but they have the athletes and can get some easy buckets in transition that way. You can’t give them easy buckets — their defense is not going to give you any. It’s how they can score enough to beat you.

Where you can watch: 7:30 p.m. start here out west, on Fox Sports. Plus, ESPN radio 710am.