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

Preview and Chat: LAL vs GSW

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Lakers: 11-3, W4
Offense: 101.8
Defense: 96.5

Golden State Warriors: 5-9, L1
Offense: 109.3
Defense: 111.5
Pace Factor: 101.3 (1st of 30)

Starters:
LAL: Bryant, Fisher, Artest, Gasol, Bynum
GSW: Curry, Ellis, Morrow, Moore, Radmanovic

Lakers Coming In: The biggest worry for fans these days has been the shaky bench play. There may be more developments along that line tonight. The quickness of the Warriors should see Phil giving Farmar and Brown extended minutes against their speedy back court. Gasol and Bynum should have their way often and early in the paint against the diminutive Warriors’ front line. Look to see a bevvy of players posting up their smaller defender.

The primary worry for the Lakers is getting into a track meet with the gritty young Dubs. The secondary worry is defending the pick and roll/pop. Phil has some choices for what kind of lineups he wants throw out. He can stay big, but if the pace is not to his liking he can go small. I predict the mad scientist will show up tonight, throwing out some head scratching lineups.

The Lakers need to control the tempo, stay out of foul trouble, and use their superior inside size.

Warriors Coming In: The Warriors front office continues to be its biggest weakness. The Captain Jack debacle (gaudy unnecessary contract extension followed by a trade demand) now behind them, Monta Ellis and Steph Curry are the future.

“Jack is a scorer and he feels like he can take his man 1-on-1 at any time in the game,” Stephen Curry said, referring to departed teammate Jackson. “That’s his style and the kind of play that he’s good at. Things slow down naturally through that, but everyone else on this team plays differently.”

Of late, the Warriors have been looking to move the ball. When they make the extra pass, they have the shooters. Morrow is 3rd in the NBA shooting 54% from beyond the arc. Newly acquired and infamous space cadet, VladRad hasn’t quite settled in, but that won’t last. He has also been a more physical player fighting for rebounds and guarding opposing bigs.

The offense looks to get up shots before the defense is set, but if forced into a half court game, they rely on the speed on of Ellis and Curry or the strength of Corey Magette to drive and dish or get shots close to the basket. Magette’s shot selection is historically suspect, but his ability to get to the free throw line keeps him on the floor. Ellis and Curry will be involved in a lot of pick and pops with Morrow, Randolph, and Radmanovic.

Whoa Nellie: Coach Nelson will miss 3 more games with pneumonia, but Warrior fans feel like his real sickness is apathy. Nelson has been criticized for waning interest and connection to his young team. His big paycheck means he won’t be going anywhere unless asked to do so by the management. Keith Smart, who is coaching in his stead, waits in the wings. Reports are that he already runs practices. Nelson has been giving more and more responsibility to assistants, asking them to actively coach during games. His recent spats with Ellis have been widley reported. Jackson’s trade seems to have galvanized the team, but has it also galvanized them against their coach?

The Walking Wounded: The Warrior have been decimated by injury. They have played with 7 or 8 players over the past few weeks. Astonishingly, they pulled put wins against Portland and Dallas, the Mavs win coming with only 6 players suited up. Monta Ellis went the distance in both of those games and has been scoring points in bunches.

Turiaf will add some needed depth in his return and come off the bench in this one.

Hello Old Friend: Turiaf, Radmanovic, and even Devean George will be wearing the orange and blue tonight.

Blogs and Links: Warrior’s World and Golden State of Mind

I’ll be in attendance, so if anything noteworthy pops up, I’ll look to update.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. chris h says

    Wow! this preview got up early today, you can tell it’s been a few extra days between games eh?
    this one’s for warren, (although that didn’t work so well for me last time).
    is Ronnie playing tonight?
    it’s too bad that summer we let him go, we were saving for “the fax machine”, who knew?

  3. lil' pau says

    Perhaps GS can pick up some more dreadful ex-Lakers to fill in the gaps in their lineup by this evening. (Not referring to you, Ronny…)

    What’s that I see? Can it be?! The Smushcalade racing north on I5?! And is that Elden begging for a lift…? With Jalani McCoy holding his bag?

    Reunion, baby!

  4. J.D. Hastings says

    I feel that there are several traps in this game. As yesterday’s post showed, the Lakers aren’t as efficient offensively as they are used to. If they try to run with the Warriors, they could hurt themselves. PJ said Kobe will guard Monta. That will test Kobe’s foot speed and the Laker team D. Meanwhile Artest can’t get bored and help off Morrow. While our frontline has a definite advantage, it is worth noting that Ronny and Vlade do have experience playing against Bynum, Pau and Odom in practice. They shouldn’t be intimidated.

    The Lakers should win this game handily, but they’ll have to be disciplined.

  5. themonkey says

    Oh excitement! Kobe defending Monta, maybe he will show his deadly defense from Team USA, or whenever he get serious(…..).

  6. P. Ami says

    When Jax was traded I pretty much leaned towards the WTF consensus but watching both teams play since, I think it actually makes sense for each. When healthy, the Dubs go with Biedrins, V-Rad, Morrow, Monta and Curry to start which is probably perfect for Nellie seeing that his version of D is simply keeping the opposition more confused then your team. Familiarity with the hectic style could lean the Dubs way. Then on O, you have an efficient post player who rebounds and defends, then 3 dead eye shooters in Curry, Rad and Morrow. Then Monta is a damn good shooter with the ability to score pretty much from anywhere. Obviously size and D are an issue. Then you get Ronny and Randolph coming off the bench, both of whom alter shots and are active. Corey is what Corey is but he’s not a bad guy to have off the bench. I’m not saying playoffs but entertaining for sure.

    As for the Bobcats, I think Jax has been the primary reason that Wallace has started hitting his shots. Wallace has been rebounding at a crazy rate all season and has been spending lots of time near the basket on O rather then creating momentum on moves to the basket. He’ll cause the other team problems with his D but the guy is being asked to be the focal point of an offense where no one else could ease the burden of creating shots for him so his offensive efficiency was way down. Now Jax is there with his play making ability and this has freed Wallace to do what he is suited for.

    I’ll be interested to see if the Lakers can control the tempo and what they’ll do when the inevitable dribble penetration happens. Keep an eye on Curry as he is really smart in creating for others on offense and his D is also very cerebral. He has some serious court awareness on both ends. Last season I was really into OKC and I hadn’t found my second team for this season until the Jax trade. I am digging these Dubs and I know everybody is excited about Jennings for good reason. Curry is going to steadily get better. I’m guessing it’s been said before but he reminds me of Isiah Thomas. I’m not saying hall of fame career but the kid is really good and super smart with quickness and a great shot. I’m not sure he finishes around the rim as well as Thomas but I haven’t seen a reason for him not to. Should be a fun game to watch.

  7. eyeGore says

    Why would Kobe get serious in game 15 of the season? Monta has been burning everyone, this should be interesting how much KB24 will allow him to play.

  8. Samy says

    Speaking of the change up from a speed line-up to a slow one – Shaq pretty much handed the Bobcats a win last night b/c he was as ESPN put it “…lumbering up the court..”

    Yeah, when Shaq can out hustle Bynum downcourt for the alley by Farmar/Kobe/Pau/Ron/Shannon/Fish/and Co….. Then we’ll worry about the Cavs.

  9. Darius says

    Kobe vs Monta should be interesting in that I’m anxious to see how much primary ballhandling Ellis does. If Monta plays off the ball a lot and Curry is the one initiating offense, I think that plays into Kobe’s hands on defense. If Kobe has proven anything on defense it’s that he can consistently deny passes to his man, especially when that player isn’t in the Rip Hamilton mold of running off 3 screens to make the catch (and Monta isn’t really in that mold). So if Monta is just floating in the half court and expecting to shake free of Kobe without the aid of multiple screens to make the catch, he’s going to struggle to get open as Kobe is masterful at cutting down passing angles and then engaging offensive players via face guarding to deny passes.

    In the end, I see us killing the W’s with post ups from Pau, Drew, Kobe, and Ron (who will likely be checked by Morrow) and then us slowing the pace down by getting to the offensive glass with our size advantages all over the court. Yes, Curry and Monta will create open looks for their shooters with their dribble penetration, but they’ll need to make 50% of their 3’s to really keep this game close. And I don’t see that happening. Hopefully our backup guards can stay disciplined when they get in the game and not fall in love with the outside shot because, as Bill Bridges mentioned in his fantastic post yesterday, these are the shots that can fuel the W’s transition game and also give them some easier baskets and a way to keep the game closer than it should be.

  11. Mimsy says

    Game starts 10:30 Eastern. I don’t know the channel, since I usually just shuffle through the league pass until I find the game .

  13. Aaron says

    Kurt,
    I know this is off topic but… Farmar and the 2nd unit thrived in the beginning part of last year (before Jordan got injured and Ariza moved into the starting lineup) playing up tempo and abandoning the triangle. Of course the 2nd unit no longer trots out Trevor, but do you think Phil will take the chains off of Jordan if the bench continues to struggle?

  14. sT says

    Tonight would be a good game to just let Farmar and Co. run, if possible with Shannon dunking all night long. Phil Jackson may not let that happen though, but I would like to see it happen.

  15. chris h says

    I really hate that “I love LA” song at the head of KCAL pre-game show, with the players singing along, really hate it.
    now the Randy Newman song “I love LA”, that one is fine, but this new thing sucks, in my humble opinion.

  16. Craig W says

    I watched a bit of Charlotte’s beat down of the Wizards. The play was basically unwatchable and I came away glad that I am a Laker fan and that we play a disciplined, system game much of the time. We seem to be much more organized and get more open shots.

  18. Mimsy says

    That almost looked like a dunk from Pau. Yay! 🙂

    Kobe might not have scored yet, but he’s easily the best Laker on the floor right now.

  23. Mimsy says

    I notice Shannon Brown has been promoted to “the guy who comes in when Kobe has to sit from foul trouble”. Good for him, and well earned. Good defence from him so far as well.

    Also, major props to the Warrior announcers. They pronounced “Vujacic” correctly, and they are not nearly as insufferable as the Portland announcers are.

  24. Joel says

    Pau is dominating in every conceivable way against this Warriors front line. In other news, the defense has been immaculate.

    23

    I don’t watch that many Warriors games, but in the ones I’ve seen I’ve generally found their commentators (especially Hastings) to be pretty darn good.

  25. themonkey says

    Seeing how Vlad is starting is sad. I wonder why GS didn’t start their developing athlete instead of someone like Vlad who pretty much won’t develop anymore.

  28. Ghetro says

    I’m guessing this is one of those games where Kobe will just start to wake up when the second half comes around. Nothing going right for him so far.

    And as I’m typing this, the ShanWOW show is starting early tonight. W00t.

  29. TheSTD says

    WOW off the bench before Sasha = rejoice!

    Kinda laughed when they went to a WOW post up but hey did get two FTs out of it

    And I love Warriors fans.

    “You’ve got teammates, you know!” -fans to Curry who jacked up a shot

  34. Simonoid says

    33 – Mamula:

    Dude’s hilarious, Joel & Stu can’t stop laughing at him. He just pleaded Smart for a timeout, and I think Phil gave him one instead.

  36. Jman says

    #33, he just happens to be a vocal Warriors fan sitting directly behind Joel and Stu. I’m not sure what he wants, but he’s shouting out suggestions that the Warriors’ coaching staff and players should take notes on.

    And what is up with Bynum’s unwillingness to give up the ball now? I know he has said that he wants to be a starting center at the All-Star game, but damn. Personally, the only issue I have and have always had with Bynum is his maturity level (or lack thereof). He isn’t that young anymore, it can’t be used as an excuse. Well, at least he has sorta kinda stopped pouting after every foul call.

    Bad call. Gasol didn’t hang. Some players like to swing off the rim, Pau didn’t want to and he’s punished for that. And that guy in the background is providing some comic relief.

    “Pass the ball! What are you doing man?!”

    Ha.

  37. ladlal says

    Thank goodness for Stu and Joel. I can’t stand the Warriors’ broadcast. If I wasn’t looking at the score, I would have thought the Warriors were blowing the Lakers out.

  39. Mimsy says

    37,
    I am no longer watching (the new video game became too much to resist), but they weren’t bad at all during the first half… they must have changed style completely.

  41. Jman says

    Let’s see if the pattern of having the bench let our 20-point lead going into the fourth cut down to eight, continues tonight.

    Randolf is another big baby. Looks like Pau wanted to help him up and the frustrated Randolf slapped Pau’s hand away.

  44. Jman says

    Bench is actually extending the lead. Nice.

    Shannon Brown, second most solid bench player behind Odom as always.

    Bynum, must you take a shot everytime you have the ball?

  46. The Dude Abides says

    45. Bynum has been looking to pass more. However, if he’s five or six feet from the basket and he’s not being double-teamed, he should be looking to shoot every time.

  50. sT says

    Sasha, quick catch and shoot, off balance without a chance to go in, and it did not of course. As I say this he has an off balance bank in shot with a good chance to go in and it does.

  51. Rudy says

    Not sure if you guys heard this, but I have the League Pass and they had the Golden State Warriors announcers for this game and one of the analyst said in the preseason game after Stephen Jackson and Kobe got into it, Kobe told him that he was going to drop 50 points the first time they played. I’m looking forward to seeing that.

  53. Rudy says

    This was easily our best and most complete game of the season both offensively and defensively. I thought Kobe was terrific on defense especially tonight. For everyone always harping on us Lakers fans who get bent out of shape when the Lakers play poorly it’s because we know what they are capable of as tonight should us.

  54. Mimsy says

    @The Dude,
    Agreed. If Bynum is not double-teamed that close to the basket he is practically open, and he should look to shoot. That’s what centers are supposed to do. If he is doubled however, he should kick it out to a perimeter shooter.

    @Everyone,
    What? The bench mob is back?

  56. jeremyLA24 says

    49 simonoid, this would have been an increadible game for Jordan BUT… he had to blow the oop from kobe. tisk… tisk. Great all around game though, very impressed. It’s always good to see the lakers have a commanding win when kobe is having issues with his shot.

  60. gxs says

    I like how the announcers were barely able to contain their laughter at the guy sitting behind him heckling the warriors.

    “This looks like an AAU team against the Lakers!”

    “This is a massacre!”

    Anyone else catch any gems?

  61. The Dude Abides says

    61. My favorite gem was in the first half, when the Lakers pushed it to a 20-pt lead for the first time. The fan was hollering “Come on coach, call a time out,” but Keith Smart wouldn’t call one. Finally, he yelled “At least call a twenty!”

  62. chibi says

    Only 8 turnovers by the team, and just 1 by the the 2nd unit, in a high possession game. That will most definitely get the job done.

  63. Simonoid says

    Dude (50), I know, but still – seeing his FG% & 3PT% steadily decrease over the last 3 seasons (including this one) is still a little unnerving – just good to see a couple of his hoists go in.

    He’s my favourite player on the team. I have his jersey, so I’ve been crossing my fingers ever since the trade talk started in the middle of last season after we got Ammo.

    Jeremy (57), haha, yeah, I was surprised too. He usually converts those though. Didn’t think he got enough elevation on that one, and his hands going Kwame on him there didn’t help either.

    gxs (61) – seeing #35. That was the best one, IMHO.

  64. nomuskles says

    Granted some of the stats are from garbage time but a few stick out…

    Turnovers: LAL 8, GSW 14. Not bad for both teams but that’s still 6 lost possessions for the Warriors compared to the Lakers.

    Blocks: Lakers blocked 8 shots tonight. Ego-ectomy?

    Points in the paint: LAL 62, GSW 38.

    Three pointers: LAL 11-22, GSW 4-17.

    I think those stats encompass the domination we saw tonight. Lakers defended the paint well, the warriors didn’t hit the three-ball very well (we did kind of unusually) and the lakers bigs were too big and too good for theirs when the lakers had the ball.

  65. lker4life says

    hello to all laker fans god welling we will get another ring this year kobe and the boys killed this evening tmorw they better come out to play so nice to post my coment on this web site

  66. Aaron says

    I don’t think its a coincidence that after Ron-Ron gets naked on the tonight show he has had back to back great games. I think he needed to feel comfortable being himself before he could play like himself. It is a joke how good the Lakers are.

  67. Bill Bridges says

    10:35 in the 3rd, 67-52
    Maggette layup, 67-54
    Kobe’s gets tapped on a baseline hook
    Radmanovic hits a 3, 67-57
    Gasol hits a lefty baby hook, 69 -57
    Monta Ellis’s mid range jumper rims out
    Kobe’s turn around J, in and out.
    Turiaf hits 1 of 2 FR, 69 -58
    9:05 in the third
    Kobe called for charge
    Bynum blocks Vladi’s runner
    Fisher can’t finish on the break
    Lob to Ellis. He comes down dribbles behind his back for the lay up.
    8:29 in the third, 69 – 60

    The Warrior had come back from 17 down to single digits and momentum was starting to swing. The crowd is getting louder. Next came, what I think the play of the game.

    Artest caught the ball on the right wing, gave Maggette a quick pump to freeze and dribbled down the lane for a left and-one. He converts the and-one and the Lakers are back up by 12. They on a 6-2 tun to extend the lead to 16. Smart calls time. Game over.
    6:35 in the third, 78-62

    Love Artest’s game in the Month of November. He is making the right decisions. Most of the time, he moves the ball and has turned out to be an excellent post-entry passer. But as in the play described, has made some timely aggressive moves. Shooting well now, good handles, excellent passer, aggressive when needed. All-world defense. Need to work on his free throws.

    Factoid: Ron Artest is 3rd in the NBA in +- at +160 (4th is Kobe at +155). #1 Nowitzky (+179) has played 2 more game. #2, Horford (+164) has played 1 more game.

  68. Kareem says

    It really kills me that every mainstream writer, including Adande, keeps repteating the trope, “the Ariza and Artest trade was a wash.” It is absolutely, undeniably no contest so far. Ariza couldn’t play the minutes Artest is and fill up the stat sheet in the way Artest does. Artest is grabbing rebounds that Ariza didn’t and is passing when Ariza couldn’t. His play is such a perfect fit for the team right now, and his ascent this year really highlights the skills that he possesses. I know we say that of every player that Phil coaches, but of anyone whose benefited by moving to a Phil Jackson coached team, Artest might be the greatest success story, granted he keeps this up for the rest of the season.

    Bill, do you think the difference between Kobe and Artest is artificial or real? I know that Kobe is used as a panacea for failings of our bench unit. When leads are blowing, he’s inserted into the game (when Artest might not be) and that might reflect on his +/-.

    Also, do you think that Artest’s stats are coming at the expense of Lamar? Lamar’s numbers seem a little down, and he was a monster on the +/- last year. Thoughts?

    • Kurt says

      New post up.

      Kareem, I think we all agree that so far Artest has been all that we could have wanted, but remember Ariza played his best in the playoffs and Finals, so I think it is too early to judge the trade in total. Also, Ariza has become Artest in Houston: a secondary player asked to be the primary acorer and create the offense who becomes inconsistent and inefficient.