Forum Blue And Gold

A Lakers Blog. Thoughts, reflections, and the odd rant on the Los Angeles Lakers and the NBA (even the Clippers).

Preview & Chat: The Detroit Pistons

by



Records: Lakers 7-0Pistons 6-2
Offensive ratings: Lakers 110.2 Pistons 110.6
Defensive ratings: Lakers 91.3 Pistons 106.0
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Vladimir Radmanovic, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Pistons: Allen Iverson, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown

Lakers notes: I think anyone who watches a lot of hoops doesn’t think of Pau Gasol as soft. I could get into a breakdown of why, but the guys at SportshubLA do a very good job of dispelling that myth.

The Lakers have seven wins, all by at least a seven point margin. No team in the history of the NBA has started eight games that way. So there’s your first chance to make a big mark this season.

One interesting note over at the Lakers.com blog, something to look for in the future:

As a visiting scout told me last night, one thing the Hornets started doing was running David West along the baseline, which was pretty effective.

Deeeetroit Bas-ket-ball The Pistons are starting to adjust to playing with Iverson in the lineup.

I watched one of the Piston games before he arrived and I thought they could give the Celtics a run this year — until, in the second half of the Raptors game, I was reminded the Boston had another gear. Can Iverson add another gear to a very deep and talented Pistons team? That remains to be seen.

Iverson’s scoring is downt but his shooting percentage and just about everything else has been nearly identical from Denver to Detroit, save for one key area — three point shooting. He shot 25% to start the year in Denver but has hit 50% in Detroit. That starts to make the notoriously inefficient Iverson a more efficient player.

For the first three games with Iverson, it was clear the Pistons were trying to adjust to the faster pace that Iverson prefers. It’s not that they don’t have the athletes to run — Hamilton, Prince, Johnson among others — but it was a dramatic change as a team. For the first three games with Iverson in the lineup, the Pistons were averaging just one more possession per game than they had before AI put on the jersey.

But that changed last night, with a 101-possession game (they had been averaging 90). Now, granted, that was against a Warriors team that likes to get out and go, but if you watched by the end of the game the Pistons seemed to find their flow with the tempo. Certainly the Lakers, particularly the reserves, will be another test of speed for the Pistons.

Also, two roster notes. First, after a few games off, Detroit should have Rodney Stuckey back tonight, which is a huge boost off the bench (the Pistons are a deep team these days with Stuckey, Jason Maxiell, Amir Johnson and Arron Afflalo).

The other is that Detroit started Kwame Brown. The reason, according to the announcers at TNT, is that in a series of games where the Pistons will face Andrew Bynum, Shaq, Perkins, the Pistons needed some size.

Oh, and in case you forgot, Tayshaun Prince is really good.

Finally, for more on the Pistons, you really should check out Detroit Bad Boys and Need 4 Sheed.

Keys To The Game: With Rasheed and Kobe in the same game, what is the under/over on technical fouls tonight?

The pace of the game tonight is going to be interesting. Tonight is the Piston’s first back-to-back of the season. As was noted above, last night in the Bay Area was the first time the Iverson-led Pistons got over 100 possessions for a game. Doing that back-to-back nights on the road with travel in between can be hard (remember the fourth quarter in New Orleans a couple nights ago), so the Lakers need to push it and wear Detroit out. I wouldn’t be shocked if this is one of those games that is close for three quarters but the Lakers pull away late when the Pistons’ legs get heavy. (Also, Kobe is 3-3 in fourth quarter three point shots this year, just so you know.)

Do not leave Rasheed Wallace alone for a three from the top of the key area. That is his shot.

With Kwame Brown starting, we know his strengths and weaknesses. If the Lakers just throw the ball to Bynum on the block and let Kwame man defend him, Kwame will do a pretty good job. However, get Bynum rolling off picks and moving off the ball, running the floor and getting early offense, Kwame will never be able to keep up. Last night the very active Andris Biedrins destroyed Kwame off the ball. Movement will be key.

Iverson, when with the Nuggets, probably had better success than any PG over the course of a game at breaking down the Lakers defense (CP3 was great in the second half, I thought). He got past the shading Derek Fisher so fast he created some one-one-one with the help defender (not traps) and the results were some open back door looks. The Lakers need to not let this happen, because the Pistons are a team that can pass, can finish on the weak side, and will make the Lakers pay for those errors.

One final note, don’t think of this as the 2004 Pistons. This current team is pretty average on defense, but very good on offense. Once again, the Lakers defense will be key to the win.

Where you can watch: 7:30 start here out west, with both Fox Sports and ESPN as options for watching this one. Of course, Spero sounds good on 570 AM as well.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. chris h says

    it’ll be fun to see how Kwame performs tonight.
    i keep thinking when watching this year how much of a dissapointment it must be for our opponents to look up after battling and see kobe coming back in and then realize that they’ve been battling with the second unit.
    we just keep coming with talent and fresh legs, a constant onslaught!

  3. Ryan says

    I think this is the best offense the Lakers have faces so far this year. So it should be a good test for their D. Also the lakers should create some problems for Detroit with their size so I’d like to see Pau (though Wallace is a good defender, at least he used to be didn’t see a lot of the pistons last year and none this year), and Drew go inside.

    They need to keep Maxiel off the glass, they gave up way too many offensive boards to Dallas and Maxiel is a better offensive rebounder than anyone on Dallas.

  4. kwame a. says

    I don’t want to give Sheed any motivation for tonite’s game, but I think dude’s shot is gone. Not that I would want him to go off on us, but him taking several 3pt shots means he is not near the hoop, and Detroit is not getting great looks. Boston left him alone a lot and it worked the other nite. They made a concerted effort to get the ball out of Rip’s hands and this stymied the Piston O.

  5. Simon says

    I agree that we should pull this one out late. Not only did Detroit play at a much faster pace than they’re used to last night, as the lakers.com blog noted, “1) Detroit’s veterans played big minutes last night, including 46 from Tayshaun Prince, 43 from AI, 40 from Hamilton and 39 from Wallace.”

    Tayshaun always lights us up in LA and he’s been on a tear lately and he defends Kobe maybe the best out of anybody, and the Pistons are one of the few teams that can maybe match our depth, but we should be able to pull this one out seeing as their on the back end of a back-to-back.

    Wait, Kwame’s starting? Forget what I said, we’re doomed.

  6. the other stephen says

    i bet one beer on pau blocking sheed once tonight. =) or at least a cheeto on him holding him to a poor percentage.

  7. PistonsNation.com says

    My favorite thing about Pistons/Lakers is the matchup between Rip and Kobe. Those two have that rivalry dating back to their PA high school days and really get after it when we play each other.

  8. This Little Pinky says

    My senses get jarred whenever I see Joe Dumars these days. Once I recognize him on the screen, it shocks me how much weight he’s put on since his playing days.

  9. rubens says

    Reading that piece on Tayshan made me realize we have our own very valuable player, though I think he IS VERY loved by Laker fans: TREVOR ARIZA. Hats off to Trevor!

  10. busterjonez says

    Sheed has been my favorite player in the league for many years now. His passion and skill set are among the best I have ever seen. Remember the All Star game when he kept shooting lefty threes?

    He takes himself out of too many games, but the happiest day was when Portland traded him to Detriot. Watching him kill us during the Finals in 2004 hurt, but other than that, it’s been all gravy.

    I always felt like he got a bum rap about being a bad guy. His teammates always love him and he always plays hard.

  11. 81 Witness says

    Glad to see Stuckey will be back and the Lakers can duke it out with both teams at full strength. Will be interesting to see how our 2nd unit will match up with the Bad Boyz line-up.

    Looking forward to watching the game and cracking open a cold beverage tonight.

  12. Rob L. says

    The Pistons do rank 3rd in the league in offensive efficiency. But I’m not sure they are actually a better offensive team than the Hornets. It looks like the early season stats (as can happen) might be skewed. ( Rankings below are based on defensive efficiency, courtesy of knickerblogger.net.)

    Detroit’s schedule has consisted of some terrible defensive squads which has made their offense look great: Wiz (27), Bobcats (23), Raptors (20), Nets (25), Kings (30) and the Warriors (21). Detroit has only faced 2 teams with a good defense. The Pacers (7), which was the first game of the season. They lit Indy for 100 points to win. More recently, when they faced the Celtics (2), the Pistons only managed 76 for a loss.

    My best guess is that you should bring your hot sauce to Staples tonight. The tacos are jigglin’!

  13. Ryan O. says

    I’ll be at the game tonight, and I’m pretty excited for a number of reasons:

    -I’ve never had seats at Staples as good as the ones I’ll be in tonight (15th row!)

    -Kwame! I went to the Lakers/Grizzlies game right after the Pau trade last year, and the crowd was sporadically starting “We want Kwame!” chants all game, just waiting for the chance to heckle him mercilessly. Sadly, the Grizz never unleashed him. Tonight will be the first chance for Laker fans to really let him have it, so we’ll see if they’ve stored up all that vitriol, or if they’ve forgiven him for his lack of talent.

    -This team. I haven’t seen this year’s Lakers in person yet, and I can’t wait. I think we’re watching a team that has a chance to be historically great. What a time to be a Laker fan…

  15. kwame a. says

    This may be a game where at some point the Lakers go small. If they do, I expect to see Sasha get his first extended minutes of the season. He and Trevor may get their shot at guarding AI.

  16. chibi says

    i’m all for the lakers but i hope kwame goes for 15 and 10 and the hecklers and boobirds get served.

  17. barry g says

    we should applaud kwame; he gave us his best years!! seriously though, don’t boo. he’s a sensitive guy…

  18. Joel says

    Okay, this is an exceedingly random observation but please indulge me:

    I’ve read more than one poster claim that Andrew Bynum bears at least a passing resemblance to 30 Rock star and SNL alum Tracy Morgan.

    But I just now caught a rerun of VH1’s Hip Hop Honors, hosted by Mr. Morgan himself, and you know who Drew REALLY looks like? 2008 honoree and Naughty By Nature member Vin Rock.

    Of course, I think our Andrew is about a foot and a half taller, but still.

  19. j. d. hastings says

    We should applaud Kwame if for no other reason than for landing us Pau.

    In Hollinger’s ratings, is strength of schedule a measure of the record of a team we play at the moment we play them or as of the day the ratings come out?

  20. Darius says

    Kurt just relayed some comments to me that Matt from Detroit Bad Boys relayed to him regarding the Pistons, its adjustment since the Iverson trade, and some good insight on filling McDyess’ shoes. Here it is unfiltered:

    “I watched the game right before Iverson came on board
    and another after, and there seems to be a clear adjustment period going on.
    How is that adjustment coming? Can it work and how good can they be?

    It’s funny: the Pistons played some of their best ball of the season in the two games after the trade was announced but before A.I. actually joined the roster. At the time, fans were like, “whoa, this is awesome, just wait until we add an All-Star to the mix.” In Iverson’s first game with the Pistons, things actually clicked from the start … but that lasted for about a quarter. Plenty of rough patches followed, and even though they’ve won their last two games, it’s still obvious guys are figuring things out.

    To be fair, it’s not all Iverson’s fault — this team misses McDyess just as much as Billups, especially in the second quarter when Rasheed Wallaces sits and the team is without an established scoring big man on the floor. Maybe Jason Maxiell and/or Amir Johnson can grow into that role — they’re known for their work around/above the rim, but they both have surprisingly solid midrange jumpers — but they’re not their yet.

    That said, I’m not terribly worried. It’s going to take a while for everyone to get comfortable again, but being forced out of their comfort zone was part of the rationale behind the trade. Billups killed you with his methodical efficiency; Iverson kills you with his frantic speed. This roster certainly has the athletes to play at a faster pace (even Rasheed has been out in front of a few fast breaks this year) but it’s not reasonable to expect them to switch gears without making a few mistakes along the way.

    When things do click though, it’s damn pretty — witness Detroit’s 22-4 run in the third quarter last night, and the 13-2 run in the fourth. The key is simply avoiding the huge holes that make those impressive runs necessary.

    As for how good they can be, I’m still in wait-and-see mode, but I’m cautiously optimistic they can figure out a way to come out of the East, especially if McDyess comes back. But to be honest, like most fans I’m still trying to get a handle on this team — every night is an adventure. Ask me in 15-20 games and I might give you another answer.”

  21. hansoulfood says

    Celtics about to lose to Denver….barring any luck of the clover leaves that is. Commentators actually praising Denver defense?

  22. Anonymous says

    Celtics lose by 10 at home to the Nugs!

    Good start to the night. Come on Lakeshow make it even better…

  27. wondahbap says

    Would it kill Fish to make the obvious pass once in his life?

    Bynum should score every time down the floor. Kobe should run the PNR every time. Kwame has no IQ.

  29. Joel says

    26

    That team should have been blown up this summer. Of course at the rate they’re going it will probably happen anyway over the next few months.

  33. DTC says

    I’m sure Kwame will always make his layups and dunks tonight. Actually I pray for the man’s sanity that he does, or he is going to have nightmare flashbacks

  36. Darius says

    *Sasha can’t let Stuckey beat him going away from the screener in the P&R. It kills our rotations.

    *Looks like the guys should have read Kurt’s point about Sheed and the top of the key 3 pointer.

    *We’re still too disjointed on offense. The ball and player movement hasn’t been crisp for several games now and we’re playing too much isolation basketball.

  37. j. d. hastings says

    this really isn’t the old pistons team. They are doing everything at breakneck speed. Has the Lakers a little on their heals. They should be able to adjust but they need to hit a few jumpers.

  38. Darius says

    We’re making Stuckey look like Dwayne Wade. I’m tired of the non-effort and non-chalant crap on defense.

  42. Darius says

    Seriously, Fisher is killing me right now. He’s playing way too fast and making up his mind about what he’s going to do at half court. He is the personification of *forcing it* this game.

  43. Anonymous says

    piston’s shooting is definitely HOT. we really need to pick up the D to put some pressure on their shot making.

  49. chibi says

    If the lakers can continue keeping the pistons out of the paint, off the free throw line, and off the offensive glass, they’ll win this game. i don’t expect the pistons to hit jumpshots all night.

  50. BlizzardOfOz says

    Wow… frustrating half. I’ve never seen the Pistons shoot as well as they always seem to at Staples.

  54. Joel says

    Glass half-full: we should be down waaaay more than 9 points with the way that first half played out.

    Pistons have to start missing some of those jumpers at some point, don’t they? Don’t they?!

  55. Craig W. says

    The Lakers (particularly Kobe) are getting into the habit of jumpshooting in this game. We still need to go inside first. With the quick jumpshots the Pistons are making mincemeat of our defense when we miss.

  56. emh101 says

    It seems the law of averages would have the Pistons shooting less in the second half. The Lakers surely couldn’t play much worse

  58. This Little Pinky says

    The shots will stop falling for the Pistons this next half.

    I’m surprised the comments haven’t turned against Kobe yet. He’s missing a boat load of jumpers tonight.

  59. Anonymous says

    i sure do hope that the pistons cool off in the 2nd half cause it doesn’t seem like they’re going to be missing too many of their shots.

  60. Darius says

    Kobe’s only forced a few, and those were mostly with Prince on him. When Kobe is guarded by Prince, I think he needs to play off the ball more and utilize the motion/screens in the offense to catch the ball in better postions to attack.

    Overall, I think we need to go back inside with the first unit and pound the glass. We need to attack the basket both off penetration and off post ups. Even if we don’t score, we’ll slow the Pistons transition game by having better floor balance.

  61. This Little Pinky says

    Agree with 60. I guess FB&G commenters are a little more reasonable than most fans. The Lakers have to make Detroit take tougher shots in the second half, even if they are perimeter shots. Offense will be fine.

  62. Darius says

    Fisher is getting blown by like he’s nailed to the floor. Iverson is just demolishing him and laying waste to our halfcourt defense.

  63. Anonymous says

    Detroit is making some really tough, contested shots. They just seem to be in a great offensive rhythm.

  64. LakerPauer says

    I’m afraid it’s my fault if we lose tonight. My girlfriend of 3 years and I broke up and when it rains it pours.

  65. Darius says

    We’re playing into Detroits hands with how we’re playing on offense. Our misses are fueling their early offense and Iverson is a difference maker right now. He’s disrupting our defense with his dribble penetration and it’s creating openings for himself and for his teammates off our help. Add to that Prince’s patience when he’s handling the ball and we can’t solve the Pistons’ offensive riddle.

  67. chibi says

    Detroit has really impressed me. They’re a pretty efficient team and are intent on exploiting their advantages. If they can get to the line this game belongs to them.

  73. passerby says

    we are having a bad game. kwame brown is making his presence felt. fish ain’t shooting well. sounds like, and i don’t like it ending this way, kobe has to spark something because the bench, starters and all need some breathing room to get their act together or else detroit hands us our first loss.

  74. Anonymous says

    i hope phil benches fish for the whole 4th…seems he’s having a negative impact on this game. does anyone know his per for the game? and i don’t want to see vlad either.

  75. Darius says

    Fisher’s having a horrible game. Radman is having a horrible game. Kobe is playing below his standard. Pau and Bynum aren’t getting involved in any sort of offense except for isolations. We are playing a selfish, tunnel visioned type of ball that leads directly to losses.

  76. JR says

    lol, is everyone sure we got the better of that kwame gasol trade? poor old pau is getting owned atm by brown

  77. passerby says

    this much is clear, by far this season, we are in the best position to lose to a game. and we’re not doing it in class and laker fashion at all.

    15 point, not impossible. D has to step up. another dallas game in the making? man, it’s tough to watch these type of games. just dominate from the get go!

  78. Craig W. says

    No miracles tonight. I think Phil will like this loss. Now he can hound the guys about overconfidence, defensive intensity, and relying on outside shooting to get your points.

  81. j. d. hastings says

    What are these shots we’re taking? Everything is an off the dribble jump shot. Often not letting rebounders get in positionj. Bynum’s on the floor right?

  82. Anonymous says

    You gotta give Detroit some credit, they’re playing some great defense. Lakers are taking some tough shots and missing of course. Lakers defense did not show up tonight.

  83. Lewis says

    We all know the lakers were not going to go undefeated but lets not jump off the bandwagon yet fellas JEEZ

  84. M says

    You gotta give Detroit their props…they’re playing excellent defense. Our defense didn’t show up tonight…

  85. passerby says

    not down to 10 point lead and 9 minutes left. sheesh. detroit bench is good and kwame is no laughing object. i had a feeling he’d get back with some flare tonight. i think he’s doing better than bynum.

    at this page, one last push to go. send kobe and good energy company in. keep farmar. keep ariza. lamar can help with the bigs. this will be a bit bitter loss if ever and good to hammer the issue of overconfidence and the bad habit on shooting so many jumpers!

    9 minutes left. let’s see. hope and pray we pull something off but i agree with craig, no big miracles tonight. phil should be a coach ablaze.

  88. Snoopy2006 says

    Daayymm…..just checked out the box score. Kwame outplaying Bynum? The guy CAN get motivated!

    I really really hate being a [busy] college student and a Lakers fan. Before last year, for the previous 11 years I’d never missed a nationally televised Lakers game. THis year, I’ve been able to watch only 1 game out of this amazing start. To all of those who have 9-5 jobs and can enjoy night games without worrying about tests and papers, please do not take it for granted. I am very jealous.

    Rally cap on!

  93. passerby says

    bynum blocked by afflalo?! prince makes a three. they’re in this game. we are not in this game. period. lesson waiting to be learned.

    attack the rim kobe. too many j’s. we’re in double bonus fouling and they’ll gladly kill us with that.

  95. Anonymous says

    we are not losing tonight! we can still come back and win this. they need to focus and compose themselves and get some stops. i believe!

  97. passerby says

    why is kobe taking jumpers?! is prince in his face? no tv coverage, have to rely on gamecast. poor us.

  99. Derek says

    We knew everything wasn’t going to keep on going as they were. Things have just been too perfect. But we’re much better than this.

  103. christina says

    ok derek fisher… stop shooting. you are just not doing well tonight and need to stop just jacking crap up 5 seconds into the clock.

  109. passerby says

    no inside game established. kudos to detroit defense. game is not over. kobe has 10 more 3s to jack up. sheesh. we’re better than this indeed!

    the lakers now how to crush their next opponent;

  110. gderms says

    Here is the deal this is just a game who cares right? Laker fan should, this team just got beat the exact same way as Boston beat them. Glaring weaknesses remain Phil’s refusal to coach in games still there… Derek Fisher is showing his age (I am a life long Fisher fan, but no way this guy should be starting for this team), Radmonavich and Sasha are a a mess. Signing Sasha was a stupid move, he looks like a girl on defense, has no concept of team offense and has no remaining upside you have seen the peak. Ideally buy out Radman and try to sign McDyess, as always this team is soft and cant bring it night in and night out. Time to fire Phil as well.

  111. passerby says

    oh my, they’re fouling! so it’s foul on the defensive and and kobe 3s and drives on the offensive end. well, it has come to this. let’s see what happens.

  112. gderms says

    Expect a nice losing streak and some disfunction for the next week or two, I think this team reaches the conference finals or further but no chance it can win it all without at least changes to the rotation against top teams. Sasha, Radman and Derek cant play this much for this team and have it win night in and night out. They are crap.

  113. harold says

    If our FT line defense worked, we’d have had a better chance.

    Anyway, first loss, first time letting the other team to 100, etc etc.

  114. gderms says

    could allen iverson be any more ghetto and disrespectful steal Chauncy’s jersey and shoot foul shots with your guard hanging out, god what an embarrasing attention starved liar who will be the reason that Detroit cant win it all.

  115. Anonymous says

    wow…pretty much everyone played like crap tonight, except for maybe ariza mostly due to his defense. vlad has been missing for the last few games, fisher is going to continue to jack up shots, kobe is the kobe of old when we’re down, lamar barely showing up on the radar and i don’t even know where bynum is. it’s bad.

  116. Anonymous says

    I know A.I.’s a lightweight, but this is just ridiculous…he’s acting like he’s being pushed around by shaq.

  119. coolrunnings says

    @ 106-110
    Please dont bring those comments here. Its one loss against a good team that played very well tonight. Besides, Detroit has the best record against LA in the last 5 years.

  120. Darius says

    We are slow in everything we’re doing. This was a bad game by us and a very good game by them and hence we see a double digit lead late in the game.

    And while this is just one game and not the end of the world by any means, there are things that happened in this game that have been occuring in every game that just haven’t hurt us in other games….Well, mainly I just mean one thing that has been bugging me: Our offense has not had a strong flow to it yet this season. I don’t care that we’re leading the league in scoring. We’re not passing well, we’re not moving well off the ball, we’re not setting good screens. We’re scoring well mostly due to our individual talent level (and the effectiveness of our 2nd unit vs. other teams 2nd units) but not because we’re carving up other teams. This concerns me. When I look back to last season and compare it to this season, where is beauty in our game? Where is the teamwork? I love our defensive effort and cohesion (this game not withstanding), but where is that same continuity and focus on offense? Sure, we’re making the extra pass….sometimes. Sure, we’re looking for eachother with some good interior passing….sometimes. But, and I said this before, we are not running an offense. We’re running a bunch of isolations and P&R’s. Our efficiency is down and we’ve been winning more because of our defense and bench than because of our offense. (Now, that’s not such a bad thing…I like a strong defense. But I’d like for our offense to start clicking.)

    Maybe this is just a bad loss talking, but honestly, our wins and the margin of victory has masked some of this stuff.

  124. harold says

    Well, the final score isn’t as bad as it could’ve been, but that just goes on to show how absent we were for the whole game.

    On a brighter note, at least Kwame is doing well.

  125. wondahbap says

    Harold,

    That was the game of his life. I mean, he actually rebounded, converted lay ups, and even dunked a few. Who knew? He does have some heart.

  126. passerby says

    bulls beware… i certainly hope so

    on more recent news, kobe gives team mates a piece of his mind and hits the gym shooting 3s now that it may just come in handy late in games again.

    lesson learned, go lakers!

  127. Anonymous says

    We played our worse game of the year and detroit possibly played they’re best game and we lose by only 11 pts. The way we played tonight, we should’ve lost by more than 25 pts. This game was a good loss, if there is such a thing. It exposed all our weakness and it is something we need to work on…

  128. harold says

    Surprised that it was only an 11 pt loss considering:

    1. FG% 50.7% vs. 42.1%
    2. 3PM 43.8% vs. 21.1%
    3. FTM 85.3% vs. 68.8%

    And this is only because we were really frantic in the 4th. I think we could’ve lost this game by 30 even if the pistons took care of the ball (18 TOs)…

  129. Snoopy2006 says

    Meh. 7-1? I’ll take it. Losses are only setbacks if we don’t learn from them. Hopefully we’ll learn now that the 2 big powers of the East (Detroit and Boston) are not ready to roll over, and the intensity and execution will be there next time.

    119 – I’ve only seen 1 game this season, so I haven’t seen much of the offense, but what Darius says is a bit concerning. It’s strange how teams that focus on D seem to lose their offensive mojo and vice versa. From what I’ve heard in the comments, it seems like Fisher has a lot to do with the stalling in the offense. I’m sure there are others. But last year a huge reason for our leap in play was Fisher’s great veteran savvy, playing within himself, making the right play. He’s chucking up shots like a rook right now.

    That said, the triangle is the best offensive system in the game. I’m sure we’ll get it together soon.

    Do you think Phil might dust off the Son of Bill if it’s smoother passing we need? Don’t see how he could get PT though.

  130. Kurt says

    In the first half the Lakers pressed the Pistons into shooting jumpers, and they hit them. At the same time, Darius is right that our offense has yet to hit it’s stride, but the basics are there. We are seeing great big-to-big passing. The team looks great in the open court. But I think overall we get sloppy at times. Fortunately, 74 games still to work out the kinks.

    Fish really drove me nuts tonight. He really forced it, even after it was clear he was cold as ice.

  131. coolrunnings says

    7-1 record ? Not bad. If we can keep this up we’ll be around 72-10 with this 7:1 ratio. Hopefully the lakers can use this loss to their advantage and see that even they have things to work on. Good team good loss.

  132. M says

    Our starters (Fish, Bynum and Vlad) need to be more consistent. I’d rather have Fish score 12 pts consistently every game than having him score 20 pts one game and a lowly 6 pts the other. Without consistent outside shooting from Fish and Vlad, our opponents will just clog the middle (like Detroit did tonight) and our bigs cannot get in rythym..hense, Bynum getting totally outplayed by our beloved Kwame…shooting drills at practice tomorrow!!!

  133. Darius says

    Kurt,
    I couldn’t agree more on Fisher. He ruined me tonight. I think you’re right too about finding our groove eventually. However, a few posts ago (although he was talking about our defense) Kwame A. made a great point about forming good habbits….I’d like to see the same things on offense.

  134. drrayeye says

    We seem to forget that last season Kwame started and Bynum came off the bench. Kwame always played good defense when he was healthy.

    I’m sorry we lost, but I’m happy for Kwame to remind the Laker fans how unfair they were to him.

  136. nomuskles says

    I just posted a new Live Blog from tonight’s game. Kwame had his revenge game but he wasn’t the difference maker, in my opinion. AI on offense and Rasheed at both ends were the reason for the Smurfs win.