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Winning Doesn’t Suck

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It’s just two games in November, but it is still two games in a row where the Lakers looked like a team that was playing up to its potential. This level of play will not last 79+ more games — there will be bumps in the road — but right now the team is showing what is possible. And that gives Lakers fans hope.

Kobe led the way, with 33 points, a +13 and he shot an incredible 71% (eFG%). But it was Andrew Bynum — against one of the best front lines in the league — who shot 85% and was a +14, while Jordan Farmar was +11 and shot 68.8%.

Those three stood out in the key stretch in the fourth when the Lakers pulled away, so let’s break down those five minutes or so. We pick the game up with 8:46 left, the Jazz pulled within three on a sick Carlos Boozer 12-foot turnaround fade away off the glass (followed by an empty possession for both teams).

Lakers 90-87: Kobe brings the ball up after the outlet pass from Bynum (who had a team high 9 boards), realizes that Harpring is trying to cover him in transition and takes that as an invitation to drive the lane (good recognition and taking advantage of a mismatch). Kobe goes around Harpring, so both Boozer and Millsap jump in to help and the later fouls Kobe in the act. Kobe sinks both free throws.

Lakers 92-87: After a failed play where Millsap wisely passes on the 16-footer, the Jazz kick it back out top to Williams plays pick and roll with AK-47, gets Kobe on the switch then burns #24 with a sweet crossover, drives the lane and hits a little floater over Radman who rotated. Pretty move, pretty shot.

Lakers 92-89: Kobe brings the ball up, nobody comes out on him, so he pulls up and hits the 22-footer. Not the defense Jerry Sloan had planned, I’m guessing.

Lakers 94-89: After a foul by Bynum the Jazz get the ball out on the side and work it around inside to Okur in great position in the middle of the paint. But this is what Bynum has done so well this year with his stronger body — he held his ground defensively, and when Okur was forced to the fade-away Bynum’s length bothered the shot. Turiaf rebounds.

The Lakers worked it around, and with just 11 left on the shot clock Kobe tries to drive on AK-47, Williams sags off Farmar to double Kobe, so Kobe kicks it to Farmar, who gives a head fake and Williams whizzes by on the fly-by, but rather than shoot he gets the ball to a cutting Turiaf, who tried a tight-quarters pass to Bynum that he didn’t expect. The result was the ball rolling on the floor, but as he had been all night Farmar was hustling, picked it up and hit the 15-footer.

Lakers 96-89: The Lakers play good defense for the first 18 seconds of the Jazz possession, including rotating well on Williams when he drives to his right, so he kicks it out toe Kiralenko, who gives Kobe a head fake, and the charging Kobe flies by, and he hits a 21-footer. Yes the Jazz scored, but it was a possession that showed what the Lakers had done all night, taking away much of the paint and the lay-ups off back-door cuts— if AK-47 hits 21-footers to beat you, so be it.

Lakers 96-91: The Lakers run the offense and eventually Farmar gets the ball to Turiaf in the low post (about 7 feet out) and he turns and faces up Boozer, who does nothing much, so Turiaf hits the jumper over him. Turiaf is very confident right now.

Lakers 98-91: After a questionable Kobe reaching foul on Giricek, Williams runs off a Boozer screen then rewards the screener with a nice pass at the top of the key. Boozer thinks he has an open path to the basket but Turiaf recovered from his showing out on Williams, got back and took the charge on Boozer in the paint.

At the other end, Kobe mimics Williams by going around a Walton screen then sliding the ball back to Luke, who looks like he is setting up his fade away in the paint, then instead kicks it out to Farmar for a three. The onrushing Williams gets a piece of Farmar’s shot, but like he did all night Farmar didn’t give up on the play and got the loose ball. He kicked it out to Walton, but AK-47 strips him from behind.

AK-47 tries to take the steal coast-to-coast, but Kobe blocks his two-handed dunk in spectacular fashion. (If you haven’t seen this you have to watch it.) The ball caromed to an open Williams, who missed the three and Bynum grabs the board. He outlets to Kobe, who gets the frustration reaching foul from Kiralenko.

The crowd is still buzzing from the block, the Lakers work it around and Bynum gets the ball on the low block. Kobe rubs off Bynum on the baseline and gets the ball, abuses Brewer, goes up for the 12-footer but when Okur rotates Kobe makes a great pass inside to Bynum, who is hacked going up. He hits both free throws.

Lakers 100-91 (5:26 left): The Jazz need a basket so they go to a bread and butter play — get it to Boozer on the low block. Bynum is on him and plays it well, but Boozer faces up then hits the high-arcing 8-foot jumper over him.

Lakers 100-93: After working it around for a bit the Lakers go to the Kobe/Walton two-man game on the left wing, again both defenders go to Kobe (with reason) and he hits Walton with a pass and a wide-open look. But Bynum never stops moving, cuts to the basket and Walton hits him with a perfect pass — bucket and one.

Lakers 103-93: Williams takes things into his own hands, blows past Farmar down the right side, Bynum is late arriving and fouls him. Williams hits one of two, and for half a second I thought Turiaf and Bynum were going to come to blows over who was going to get that rebound.

Lakers 103-94: Fisher dribbles to the wing then passes to Kobe at the three-point line straight away, and Kobe goes right at Brewer. He gets to the free throw elbow and pulls up for the jumper. He hit it, of course.

Lakers 105-94: The Lakers are aggressive and gambling on defense, clearly smelling blood now, but Okur slides out to the three point line and Bynum doesn’t follow, so he gets a clean look — and misses. But AK-47 got position inside and has the put back.

Lakers 105-96: The Lakers work it around but like last possession the ball ends up with Kobe at the top of the key. Again he goes at Brewer and gets past him, but this time he tries to go to the hoop, the Jazz rotate… and it doesn’t matter. Pretty finger roll bucket.

Lakers 107-96: After a few other passes Williams gets the ball on the wing and makes the low-block entry to Boozer. He faces up but sees Okur cutting to the basket — but again (as he is so often) Turiaf hustles and disrupts what should have been a lay-up. The shot rolls out and Turiaf grabs the board.

Kobe pushes it up and when nothing is there gives it to Turiaf at the top of the key, but Ronny suddenly decides this is in his range and just goes up with it. It misses, but Bynum and his length outwork Boozer and Okur, Andrew grabs the offensive board and goes back up for two.

After that the Jazz were down 13 and called a time out. There was a late Jazz mini-run, but the game was never really in doubt.

UPDATE: The latest from Roland Lazenby, comparing Phil’s handling of the Kobe trade request and that of Pippen in 1998.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. the other Stephen says

    hooray andrewwwww. you entered the nba as i entered college, and how you have outgrown me. baby bynum has become some sort of paul bunyan.

  2. BMcBurney says

    As Kurt wisely notes, there are still 79+ games left in the season. Nevertheless, the “stand pat” side has an early lead in the “I told you so” sweepstakes.

  4. LakerFan says

    This level of play will not last 79+ more games — there will be bumps in the road

    –

    But it will last almost all season which is good enough right?

  5. Kurt says

    4. There are always ebbs and flows in a season — even the Spurs will lose three in a row at some point — but if healthy this team shouldn’t spiral down the toilet like last year’s. (knocking on wood)

  6. Craig W. says

    We fans are super cafinated – either way up or way down. Expect to be down again soon.

    What has been shown so far this year is that there is a lot of talent spread all over this club. Most are role players, but role players make up the majority of successful teams. We have lots of pieces that fit our puzzle and it is Phil’s job to make sure these pieces fit each, situation night-in and night-out.

    We are six deep in bigs and six deep in guards + 2 versatile SF. We can adapt to almost any team and have effective play. The key this year will be consistent effort. No, neither Bynum, nor Fisher will continue at their level of PERs, but we also have others to plug in. If Bynum does continue near his PER level he is going to play in the all-star game this year and I really, really don’t expect that — so don’t get down on him when he has a bad game and Chris plays more minutes.

  7. weston says

    Don’t know if it’s been said yet, or if anyone cares, but Bynum is currently the most efficient player in the league. According to ESPN, he’s got a 29.76.

    (Insider link: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/
    hollinger/statistics?sort=per&qual=true&pos=c&seasonType=2)

  9. burningjoe says

    a little bit of confidence can go a long way. We know that there is a ton of talent on this Lakers squad…that is a given other wise they wouldnt be there in the NBA period. What we have seen I think is determination and heart.

    We know that the Triangle if effective and when played correctly can beat any defense. I think that the more comfortable they become, as we have seen these past 2 games (and even glimpses of in the Houston game), the offense will just come to them.

    What is getting me fired up is the defense that they are all playing!!!!!! Everyone is hustling…switching…they are talking to each other…being aggressive…even sliding in and taking charges (though some were late…but at least they are trying).

    Hills and Valleys for sure…but…the outlook is much better than what was projected.

  10. ACe says

    It’s all about DEFENSE baby ! I just haven’t seen that kind of effort in the last couple of years. THE BLOCK by Kobe was jaw dropping. Now I can see the MJ comparisons.

    I still don’t think they can win it all with Detroit & Boston in their way, but I think they have a slight chance of winning the West.

    Hey by the way, how are my two favorite ex-Lakers doing: Smush & Shaq ??? 0-3 0-3 0-3 It’s nice when your $20 million dollar player can score double digits.

  11. Xavier says

    Gr8dunk and Kwame a. asked for some Marc Gasol info.
    so here it goes:

    For the moment, he’s played 6 games (one per week in europe) being named best player of 2 of these 6 weeks.
    has scored more than 10pts in all the games, twice 19, once 21 and once 27.
    is leading the league in efficiency (26 eff points per game)

    analysing ACB statistics might be dificult for you considering the diference to the NBA pace and game.
    let me do a comparison

    Pau entred the NBA at the age of 21, Marc will be 23 if he jumps to the Lakers next season.

    This is a comparison of Pau’s last year with this year Marc season:

    Pau: 11.42pts, shooting 59% inside the arc, 35% 3s, 59% FT. 5.2Rebs, 0.76ass, 1.1blocks, EFF rat. 14.53

    Marc: 17.83pts, shooting 63% inside the arc, 38% 3s, 71% FT. 5.8Rebs, 1.83ass, 0.5 blocks, EFF rat. 26

    Marc is as tall as Pau but with a thicker body, a true center.

    I’ll be coming with more reports every week

  12. Carter says

    I have to say, that Utah team looks good. The combo of Boozer and Williams is a worthy replacement for Malone and Stockton. They are a couple of talented basketball players.

    I think Utah’s weakness is the Center position. Memo is too soft to play there. He is essentially the same type of player Radmanovic is, and has no post game or defensive presence. Kwame and Bynum is too much of a force for this team when they play well. Boozer and Kirilenko help alleviate the defensive inability of Memo, but they aren’t quite tall enough to defend 7 footers.

    Either way, we beat a good team yesterday. BUT, it is very early. As we saw last year, the season truly begins after the first few weeks when everyone is playing in their element.

    We’ve got lots of weapons though, and it’s good to see them playing TOGETHER. That was text book basketball last night.

  13. Exick says

    The defense is where it’s at for me. Yes, Fisher won’t be shooting 70%+ for the season, and Bynum won’t be able to sustain a PER of 30, but there’s no reason that the defensive intensity and effort can’t be there for the entire season. The points will come one way or another.

  18. James Hastings says

    I agree that we won’t be able to keep this up for the whole season and the specter of last season looms large to remind us of that. But if the effort and intent to play right is sustained, whatever else we may go through I can live with it. Of course, effort may be the hardest thing to maintain in a season this long. Let’s just hope Bynum’s offseason conditioning holds true and Turiaf doesn’t get any nagging injuries like last years. I can root for a team with any record so long as they bring effort and proper intent every night.

  19. Chise says

    I was in NY this past weekend and caught the Knicks home opener yesterday. I have been really impressed with their effort as well, for the most part anyhow. It was just the T-Wolves they beat, but that’s the point: beat teams you should beat. Like LA, they have guys who have done some growth in the off-season. I have been really impressed with their effort thus far, as I have been with the Lakers.

    That said, there will be ups and downs. Bynum started amazing last year and hit that wall a couple months into the season. Hopefully he avoids that this year and the Lakers can be a pleasant surprise. This first stretch is gonna be tough and they need to show the effort from game to game but I am cautiously optimistic.

  20. Warren Wee Lim says

    If a team wins, everyone looks good. However, looking good in spite of a loss is what I am looking at. We will lose folks, and not just heartbreakers like the opener with Houston. What I want to see from this team is composure even in a loss, coming back strong on the next outing (much like what they did with Phoenix). Use relevant games to make a statement and show maturity. Be decisive with weaker teams and do not allow lackluster plays even in 15-20 point leads.

    Next up is New Orleans. It will be nice to play some “weaker” team for a change but this team is no pushover. They are the best team in the NBA as of now sporting a 3-0 record with a winning margin of +13. They have an excellent PG in CP3, an good defensive center in Ty Chandler and a reliable PF in West. Do not discount Peja and Mo Pete’s range too.

    I think one key to this game will be turnovers. If we could limit our turnovers to 12-14 we should win this game with relative ease. Rebounding will also be key. Winning the boards is a Phil jackson trademark team so with the bigs of NOH, Turiaf, Kwame and Bynum should play extra hard.

    At home vs. Sacto and Portland should be easy wins and they were. Denver is the only seeded team in this mix and they barely beat them. Since this game was on the road, I give them credit for it. Still, I’m predicting a 12-pt win for our Lakers.
    These are the numbers for NOH so far:
    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/teams/stats?team=nor

    Forward thoughts:
    The Clippers will be facing the 0-3 Bulls at their home on this day as well. I’m predicting a washout since the Bulls will not go 0-4 let alone against the Clips. Therefore, if we win, we take the Pacific 1st.

    Phoenix will also play in the earlier schedule at the Charlotte. With the new-look Bobcats, you can never tell. Phoenix will win this barring an unforeseen event. Yes, Amare could sit and yet they’ll win it. Still, we’ll own the tiebreak so we will definitely be Pacific 1st IF we win on Tuesday.

  22. pgblooded says

    Saw several two-man game between Kobe and Drew in the telling moments of the fourth quarter. (One pass from Kobe that resulted to freebies for Drew and one pass and pick from Drew that resulted to a jumper by Kobe). Is it just DEJAVU or am I in the right sense in saying that it worked like the two-man game that Kobe and Shaq used to do. I hope Drew will be consistent enough to make the two-man game a bread and butter play for the Lakers.

    I hope Phil will be more vocal in appreciating the way the youngsters have played the last two games. I think it will boost their confidence if he does.

    Still early but I guess us fans will have an exciting season ahead of us.

    GO LAKERS!!!

  23. Craig W. says

    We are using the cautionary tale of how Bynum hit the wall last year in evaluating what he is doing this year. It is two entirely different situations – at least up to this point.

    Last year we had all those injuries and Andrew had to play far, far more minutes than Phil has planned for him. He was 19yrs old and a young 19 at that. It would have been very unusual if he hadn’t hit that wall. However, it resulted in his beginning a summer conditioning program and working out extra hard – as well as turning 20. Now he is tougher and his minutes this year should decrease from last year. I do not expect him to hit any wall this year.

  24. Lamar Odom says

    tomorrow is the first test this young laker team will face this season. it’s the hornets, and though they are 3-0 their reputation will rule the lakers minds; that is, “easy win”. Last season the lakers slacked off against teams they should have beaten. Let’s see what happens this time around.

    I actually think of this as Bynum’s 2nd year in the league. He hardly played as a rookie, so I consider last season his first true season. ya’ll may disagree, and I don’t care. that’s how i see it.

  25. Warren Wee Lim says

    Bynum’s averages so far are at 11ppg, 8.7rpg, 2.3apg. These are decent numbers which, if you excluded the opener vs. Houston, his averages are 14.5ppg, 11rpg, 2.5apg.

    I’d like to see him maintain the scoring aspect and up the rebounding and block shots. It means he is “working hard” as Kobe likes it, it means he is playing D. As for that wall, there will be no wall this year as long as he is not stretched to play more than 25mpg.

    The most pleasant surprise for me is Jordan Farmar. The young kid has shown maturity like no other player -a PG at that. Just as I said, if Farmar can keep the second unit together for long stretches of time, we can give Kobe plenty of rest for the playoffs. If Farmar could be a Tony Parker-like player this year, we will justify Marc Stein for ranking us #10 in the power rankings. From a meager #20 to a credible #10.

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2008&week=1

  26. Craig W. says

    As JONESONTHENBA has said on several occasions; Jordan Farmar is a true gym rat and has the makings of Kobe Bryant focus. Therefore, some of us who have watched him at UCLA and earlier are not suprised by his dedication and improvement this year over last year. I wouldn’t have predicted he would be a vet by this time, but I did believe it was possible.

    I too think he is perfect for running the 2nd team – he will get more minutes and he will really ‘earn his bones’. That doesn’t earn all-star votes, but if our 2nd team can create or extend leads it will practically force the 1st unit to work harder. How would you feel if you were a starter and lost leads that the 2nd unit continually got for you. I would not only be pis*ed off, but a little uncomfortable about my starting status.

  27. Craig W. says

    Sorry for the quick addition but…
    Another advantage for a superior 2nd unit is that other teams have to play their starters longer when playing us, if they expect to win. This forces them into botched rotations and makes their best players more tired over the course of the season. This is both physically and psychologically good at the time playoffs arrive.

  28. 81 Witness says

    PGB- There are a lot of Lakers playing two man games, which is really nice. You can tell these guys are having fun on the court and are finally getting some “soul” and adhesiveness into this Laker team. Walton and Turiaf. Walton starts a drive and dishes to Turiaf or another open Laker.

    This is how team basketball is supposed to be played.

  29. A-Hole Carolla says

    I’ve read a couple Lazenby books and enjoyed them a lot, and his analysis of the Scottie Pippen situation seems dead on. But his theories on recent Laker history , how just about EVERYTHING is a Phil Jackson mindgame, his conclusions that now Phil is possessing all the power… seem kinda retarded.

  30. Mike in the Mountain West says

    The key to tonights game is really going to be the bench. Our starters are outclassed by NO’s starters but if they can keep it close hopefully our second unit can run away with it against their very weak bench. Or, as someone else pointed out, make their starters play more minutes, tire them out, and try to take it in the fourth quarter.

  32. A-Hole Carolla says

    31. Sheesh, even I wouldn’t put them that high yet.

    I think the Rockets should probably be at that spot right now.