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Preview and Chat: The San Antonio Spurs

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Records: Lakers 40-23 (3rd in the West), Spurs 43-16 (1st in the West)
Offensive ratings: Lakers 106.1 (11th in the NBA), Spurs 110.1 (1st in the NBA)
Defensive ratings: Lakers 103.9 (13th in the NBA), Spurs 103.3 (11th in the NBA)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Ramon Sessions, Kobe Bryant, Metta World Peace, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Spurs: Tony Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, DeJuan Blair
Injuries: Lakers: none; Spurs: none

In the last week and a half, the Lakers played one of their best games of the season (one the road) and one of their worst (at home) — both coming against the San Antonio Spurs. The weirdest quirk in this year’s NBA schedule was having the Lakers and Spurs not play each other until April and have them match up three times in the last couple weeks of the season. The first two games have been just as quirky as the strange scheduling as we watched a couple of outlier performances turn into a couple of blow out games, which is something Darius touched on in the recap of the Lakers loss at home earlier this week.

In the first game we saw the Lakers dominate on the boards, with Andrew Bynum grabbing 30+ by himself and the Spurs only grabbing a single offensive rebound. Ron shot incredibly well from the field, including five-for-eight from three to the tune of 26 points, his highest to date as a member of the Lakers. The Lakers moved the ball well, had fairly good shot distribution and worked about as hard on the defensive end as we’ve seen all season. We also saw what might have been Tony Parker’s worst game of the season (two-for-12 shooting, four points, eight assists) while Manu Ginobili also struggled to make anything happened. Couple the above with the fact that the Lakers huge rebound advantage controlled the pace, you end with a pretty solid performance from the Lakers on the road.

However, just a week later the tables were turned and Tony. Parker. Went. Off. 29 points and 13 assists are both as wild to expect from the Frenchman as two points on .167 shooting. The Spurs also shifted the rebounding advantage in their favor — both teams recorded 37 rebounds, but this is one of those situations where “even is not even” (anyone who has played DB for a football team has heard that phrase). One of the Lakers biggest advantages over the Spurs is their ability to create second opportunities for themselves and prevent the same from happening for San Antonio, when those numbers are even, advantage Spurs. San Antonio shot 60 percent as a team from the field and were able to play at a pace they were more comfortable with. They got out and ran the Lakers off the floor, including an 18-0 run in the second quarter which saw the Lakers turn the ball over on five straight possessions. What made this game even weirder was the fact that the Lakers weren’t exactly horrible on the offensive end of the floor. The starters shot exactly .500 from the floor, the shot distribution was balanced almost exactly how you’d like a Kobe-less team to be and assisted on 28 of 39 made field goals. The Lakers just couldn’t get a stop.

Tonight, an element foreign to the first two games will finally show his face: Kobe Bryant. In his absence, the Lakers played fairly well — most notably the Bynum-Gasol-Artest troika. Artest scored 16+ points per game and shot 50 percent from the field. Bynum averaged 23 and 14 (18 and 12 on the season) and got to the line seven times per game. While Artest and Bynum have gotten much of the attention in Kobe’s absence, Pau has been just as good. He’s played more minutes than anyone in the last seven game (267), and while he’s been on the court, the Lakers offensive and defensive efficiency were 111.8 and 104.1, respectively. That +7.7 differential was the best on the team. While he was off the court, the OEff and DEff were 87.3 and 119.4 — a -32.1 differential. Suffice to say, Pau was pretty important during that seven game stretch without Kobe.

Tonight, those guys are going to lose some touches, but it’s going to be key for them to stay within the flow of the game and stay active with or without the ball in their hand. We can only hope that Mike Brown gets Kobe back into the flow of the game giving him his touches through a series of cross screens, curls toward the basket and spot up opportunities. For tonight, having Kobe handle the ball as little as possible would make for the most seamless integration of the team’s good play in his absence and the addition of the individual talent that Bean brings to the table.

Also, controlling the rebounds will control the pace. And controlling the pace seems to be the best way to beat this Spurs team. They’re not as good defensively as they used to be, and having them defend in the half court as much as possible keeps them from lighting up the box score. Andrew Bynum doesn’t have to grab 30 rebound, but the Lakers have to crash the boards as a collective unit. The same efforts need to be applied on the defensive end as well. In the last game, perimeter defenders failed to fight through screens and guards made them pay for going under screens by knocking down a barrage of jump shots. When bigs lazily hedged in P&R situations, Parker and Ginobili took it to the basket and consistently finished around the rim. Guys have to rotate to shooters, secondary help has to be on time and Bynum has to play with the intensity he had in their first meeting.

We shouldn’t expect a blowout win from either side. However, if the Lakers are disciplined on both sides of the ball, they keep Tony Parker out of the paint and crash the boards hard, they have the personnel and the game style to beat this Spurs team.

Where you can watch: 6:30 p.m. start on KCAL and nationally on ESPN. You can listen to the game on ESPN Radio 710 AM.


Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Robert says

    Phillip: Nice write up, however you did not really spend anytime on the bench. Are you accepting the fact that we are likely to lose this match up by a standard 15-20 points (last time we lost this to SA by 21), or is there hope for a closer battle? Perhaps the MB strategy will be simply be to play the starters even more minutes, rather than spotting the other team such a margin.

    PS: He already does this to some extent, as our bench plays 20+ minutes less than the other bench routinely. That accounts for 4-5 points of the per game margin we suffer here. However mostly our 2nd unit just gets outscored by the other team’s guys. We as fans have gotten so used to it, it is not worthy of inclusion in the preview : )

  2. Kevin says

    I look at this game as the 3rd game in a series. Bynum dominated the first game. Popovich made a adjustment on the bigs and Parker PnR ran wild game 2. Now let’s see what adjustments Brown makes.

  3. Robert says

    Kobe Alert: At tip off, KB will pass Johnny Newman for 36th place on the all time games list. Next up, in 35th place is Horace Grant (you know – the guy who played way more minutes than Robert Horry in 2001).
    He still needs 3 steals to catch Magic for 15th and the all time Laker lead.
    He is now within 2k points of Wilt for #4.

  4. Dave says

    Robert – It seems like your assessment of bench productivity is a straight points comparison as between teams.

    My view is that since the bench rarely plays without at least one starter on the floor and usually more, that’s not a reasonable reflection.

    The primary purpose of the bench IMO is to keep the score more or less equal whilst the starters rest so that upon their return, the game remains in-line with what existed when the starters departed.

    Since the all-star break, the bench has done a reasonable job during their first shift (notwithstanding the San Antonio game) , but have continued to be exposed during their second shift which begins late third and carries over to mid fourth quarter.

    My take is that the team suffers when the offense relies primarily on Gasol as the scoring threat whilst Bynum rests, but that interpretation is purely anecdotal, I have no actual proof beyond my gut that this is so.

    But if the second shift could be made to mirror the result of the first shift off the bench, the team would be just fine overall.

  5. Travis says

    Doesn’t KB playing in game 3 kind of ruin a lot of the game plan adjustments made with respect to the last 2 games?

  6. Robert says

    Dave: Your points are valid. No single stat can be taken as the end all, to indicate anything. I tried to adjust the scoring stat fairly by taking into account the # of minutes. However the # of minutes alone shows our weak bench (we overplay our starters). I believe your analysis of the Q2 (first wave) bench, vs the Q3-Q4 bench is also correct. Our basic problem is that we do not have a scorer who comes off the bench. It is nice to have a Bob McAdoo or a Vinny Microwave Johnson. We certainly do not have a microwave, but I am just hoping that we have a little electricity. I am looking for KB, AB, and PG to play close to 40 or more in all close playoff games (which will be most of them – cause we never blow anyone out).

  7. Aaron says

    I don’t want to call fans and the media stupid… But we know how Kobe plays with this team. We saw it. We saw how he plays with a starting lineup of Sessions, Artest, Gasol, and Bynum. He has played with them ten times or so. Each of those games he has played team basketball in the teams concept. This is a non issue… I just wished everyone knew that.

  8. Aaron says

    Oh… And as I said in the previous thread… Bynum has said in the passed when he declined team USA invitations that he is more interested in taking care of his body, and improving his skills in the summer than concerned with playing in the olimpics. It doesn’t look like anything has changed.

    “I haven’t heard specifically from he or his people,” Colangelo said Friday at Annenberg Community Beach in Santa Monica at a USA Basketball event hosted by Jeep. “We haven’t reached out to anyone. Nor will we until we have this meeting. I can tell you this morning I’ve had calls from players and agents that they want to participate and would be more than happy to join in at this point. We’ll look at all those possibilities and we’ll find out if there’s interest before we extend any invitation.”

  9. Aaron says

    … Bynum, who’s posted career highs in points (18.9), shooting percentage (56.2%), rebounds (12.1) and playing time (35.4 minutes) told The Times’ Mike Bresnahan in January that he remained hesitant in showing interest in the Olympics out of concern for resting his surgically repaired right knee. His injury issues in past seasons, Colangelo said, prompted Bynum to decline invitations to practice with USA Basketball select teams.

    “Before we extend an invitation to anyone, we’ll know [the interest level] in advance,” Colangelo said. “You’re either in or you’re not.”

  10. KenOak says

    Aaron @6
    Spot on, man. Since Sessions has come aboard, he has really allowed him to control the offense and distribute.

    Robert- Man, I can’t believe that Kobe is going to pass Wilt next year! It really is unfathomable…

  11. Kevin says

    Travis: Pop made a defensive adjustment on Bynum. It’s Brown’s turn to stop Parker.

  12. Aaron says

    I don’t know if Kevin knows the defensive adjustment Pop made on Bynum but I will say it again because it is worth watching… Pop decided to let Bynum get more points last game by only doubling on Drews first dribble. Now… That might be only something he will do at Staples Center and we might see more hard doubles again here in San Amtonio. But since the Spurs had succsess last game “containing” Bynum to fifty percent shooting with soft doubles instead of doubling hard and holding him to a substandard percent by allowing his teammates to go off like in San Antonio… We will probably see more soft doubles on Drew’s first dribble. We will see what Pop decides to do in less than an hour 🙂

  13. Travis says

    True, Parker tore us up last game. But don’t Pops adjustments wrt Bynum kind of go out the window now that Kobe’s back?

    I guess what I’m saying is I feel good about tonight.

  16. chibi says

    let’s go, lakers! woooo!

    looks like messina is sitting next to brown, with kuester out due to a death in the family.

  17. KenOak says

    Keep a running count of how many hand grenades that Kobe has to shoot. That’s one so far.

  18. chibi says

    sorry. with gasol matching up with duncan, parker can’t draw bynum out of the paint. good adjustment.

  20. Kevin says

    PnR defense still sucks.

    How about when Drew is in the pnr. he sticks to parker wait til sessions get to him. gasol slides over to duncan who is WIDE OPEN and drew takes splitter. how hard is that

  22. mindcrime says

    Worst possible start

    (1) Zero adjustment to the pick and roll on the defensive end, leading to endless supply of wide-open mid-range j’s for SAS;

    (2) Bynum off–again

    (3) Pau settling for 18-footers;

    (4) Per KenOak–already a “kobewatching” hand grenade from a stagnant-looking offense

  25. Snoopy2006 says

    Duncan playing Bynum very, very well. Better than I thought he could at this stage in his career.

    But Duncan’s playing him straight him. Drew’s playing into his hands by not using his series of shakes and fakes.

  27. chibi says

    lakers are getting carved up, but they aren’t turning the ball over. once they start making baskets consistently they’ll keep the spurs out of transition. i’m optimistic about our chances.

  31. mindcrime says

    Zero defense. Zero. Bynum looks fairly disinterested in holding down the fort in the paint

  32. LosFelizLaker says

    I just went back to see if “Lakers: Emerging Contender” was posted at 4:20 on 4/20.

  35. Shaun says

    68% shooting for the spurs is insane – maybe Ron should stick to parker – whatever was up with Bynum at the end of the quarter i like it

  36. Glove says

    Spurs 68.2% from the field and the Lakers have two 24 second violations in the first quarter.

  38. mindcrime says

    @Tim–

    Equal blame–yes the perimeter D has been abhorrent, but Drew’s help D has been pretty much nonexistent

  40. Kevin says

    lakers bench is hanging with the spurs bench. good to see

    snoopy2006: my guess would be sessions or blake

  42. Kareem says

    Will the low FGA by Kobe quiet his “stat-filler” critics who insist he’s only interested in the scoring title et al.

  44. chibi says

    nice to see blake apply ball pressure on neal. neal isn’t a pg, and his handle isn’t that great. good scouting.

  45. Kevin says

    kobe always wanted his teammates to be aggressive. great to see them keep it up when he’s back

  55. Jayz says

    I like that Kobe’s trying to fit in. But in order for us to be a championship team, we need Kobe to be Kobe.

  56. Anonymous says

    Lakers need to stop the uncontested jump shots. Hoping they’ll miss their wide open shots ain’t going to cut it. We need a hand in their face!

  57. Kevin says

    Great conserted effort by Lakers to play team game.

    if sessions continues to struggle i’d play kobe at the point put barnes at the 2

  58. Tra says

    Definitely playoff atmosphere. They’re faster to the ball and playing with more effort so far .. RS7 isn’t bringing anything to the table thus far and I’m expecting a much more aggressive Kobe n the 2nd half. Good to see Metta and Barnes not being passive and Blake’s defensive pressure .. Drew will need to slow down his Idol and we’ll have to keep TP in front of us and out of the paint .. Tempo Lakers, tempo.

  60. Aaron says

    CDog,
    This site is for fans that watch games and bit box scores. One one of Duncan’s basket came with Andrew being the prime defender. The other was when Duncan pump faked Gasol and went to the basket with a lay up over Bynum. Again… It’s great to be critical but at least make a relatively basketball sound point.

  61. Aaron says

    Chibi,
    Points like that are why we Are on this site. The spurs have played 4 games in five nights. They don’t play their regulars these kinds of minutes often. Do they have the stamina? Probably not. And Kobe has been playin pussum this half.

  62. mindcrime says

    @ Aaron

    Drew would have been the “Primary defender” on three more of those baskets, except he was parked in the lane, ten feet away from Duncan…

  64. Kevin says

    Ramon “still a backup pg” sessions is a liability right now.

    Lakers miss kuester alot not much diversity to the offense.

  69. Paul L says

    Lakers actually decent on offense. Their defense is unorganized and confused at best. I wish they could tap into the suffocating defense played early in the season.

  70. Kevin says

    Mike Brown is such a crappy coach.

    You know why the offense is stagnant because John Kuester isn’t there.

    You know why the defense sucks Brown can’t make adjustments.

    Such a great guy but a pathetic coach.

  73. chibi says

    the spurs offensive execution/teamwork is just amazing. the lakers look so disorganized compared to them.

  78. Shaun says

    We are going to give up close to 100pts
    In 3qtrs – brown being a defensive coach is a joke

  81. Cdog says

    Embarrassing performance – Spurs are toying with the Lakers on both ends.

    None of their shots are difficult or contested – and all of the Laker shots are.

    They aren’t consistently sending a double to Bynum – because Duncan can single cover him – and the rest of the Lakers are acting appropriately.

    Spurs play a similar offense to Dallas last season – man they are good.

  82. Kevin says

    Lakers PnR defense is still a problem. PG’s are wide open off screens.

    Ken was right Fisher should’ve been coach. Brown is as big liability on the sidelines as Blake is on the court.

  84. R.J. says

    Extremely disappointed in the effort so far. Spurs outhustling the Lakers all over the floor, and when you can’t handle Tim Duncan or Boris Diaw OFF THE BOUNCE, you are severely lacking. Looking at you tonight, Pau.

    When the playoff death knell sounds on the Lakers’ season, whenever that is, it’s gonna be depth (lack thereof) and defense that kills them.

    I like the addition of Sessions, but he is painful to watch on defense. Just no real idea, no real effort, and with much, much work to do if he’s going to be a PG on a championship team.

    Spurs depth wearing the Lakers out, and when the SAS have the ball, they aren’t even having to explore options 2-4 of their sets. The first look works every time for San Antonio. They are good, but not this good. I can’t recall a team reversing identity so dramatically in a single (shortened one at that) season. Lakers started as a top 5 defense, and they are embarrassing to watch on that end of the floor. This can’t all be about losing Fisher. I am at a loss for an explanation, other than physical and mental fatigue. Not looking forward to seeing OKC on Sunday.

  85. Anonymous says

    brown must be sending another one of his “messages” by bencing sessions for the pathetic blake. What a retarded move, i hope he gets fired after the lakers tank!

  87. Snoopy2006 says

    The pick and roll will be the death of us. I remember Mike Brown’s press conference where he said he watched our defense last year and promised he’d improve our PnR defense first thing. I was so naive and hopeful.

    SA is putting on a clinic. It’s so ugly but I can’t tear my eyes away.

  89. ko says

    Like I said all year. A great coach is worth 10 points.

    2 reboinds for AB. Yea greatest ever Weak!

  90. Kevin says

    lebron is so great to make brown look so good in cleveland. brown has no clue what he’s doing.

  92. Joe says

    I love how everyone just blames Brown. Brown’s bad coaching or not, we can’t beat the Spurs people. They are just to deep, to powerful for us. Can’t beat these great teams with our lack of depth.

  97. sald0gg says

    For a while there, i was really excited about our chances of getting to the WCF if we drew dallad and san anton in rounds 1 and 2. Not so much now. The issues are numerous. Besides barnes, we have no bench to speak of. Sessions, although an upgrade is NOT a top 15 PG in this point guard dominated league. Memphis would kill us. So will OkC and we obviously can’t run with the spurs. No heart or mental toughness outside of Kobe (which even if his talent was depleted, was something fish provided). I don’t like out chances fellas…

  99. rr says

    I think it is time for people to consider the possibility that the Lakers are too slow to be a consistently good defensive team.

    Also, I would like to respectfully suggest that people gear down on stuff like comps to the 2008 Celtics and the 2001 team, and that Aaron gear down on the Bynum love for awhile. The team has played 64 games and over 20 with Sessions. Let’s focus on evidence, not hopes.

    Finally, Brown needs to get Goudelock, Hill, and Ebanks in there and let them play the 4th.

  101. Spartacus says

    Mike Brown should call a time out and pull his starters out. Down 25pts with 8 mins left.

  103. Archon says

    Popovich is one step ahead of Brown and its obvious. I always felt that Phil Jackson made the right adjustments against Popovich in the past Lakers-Spurs playoff series. The chances of Mike Brown out coaching Popovich is zero so the Laker players are gonna have to play really, really well to beat the Spurs in a 7 game series.

  105. Kevin says

    SO a hurt Sessions and a guy Pau who’s avg. 39 minutes this month are still in the game.

  106. Mace says

    Bynum’s mouth is writing checks the Lakers can’t cash. First round exit for Lakers this year. Grizz or Mavs don’t matter who they draw.

  110. Anonymous says

    Didn’t someone here say this spurs team is old and won’t do anything in the playoffs? What’s his name again?……I remember now…Aaron.

  111. rr says

    I have defended Brown a bit, but I think he is just being stubborn about the minutes thing at this point.

  112. Jayz says

    I hope this game doesn’t kill Kobe’s scoring title chances. Durant is playing out of mind right now against the Kings.

  113. Darius Soriano says

    There won’t be a recap tonight, everyone. Just wanted to mention that.

    As for the game, the Lakers defense continues to be the issue and until they refine their approach on that end of the floor, a disciplined offense will get good looks against them. That, right now, is the bigger concern. Bigger than integrating Kobe, bigger than whatever funk Sessions is in, etc, etc.

  115. Tim says

    Our defense killed us tonight. We dared them to shoot outside And we paid for it. Not once did we put pressure on their shooters.

  116. Kevin says

    How the heck did Mike Brown get Lakers job? Oh that’s right one of the greatest ever Lebron.

    You can’t hate lebron after seeing what he did for that poor roster in cleveland and what brown is doing for this team.

  117. Spartacus says

    What brown is doing is beyond comprehension. Down big on the road and he is still riding his injured starting PG.

  118. Cdog says

    Aaron – Don’t accuse me of not watching the game.

    I wasn’t even looking at the Stats. But I’m sure they are bad as well.

    Bynum was loafing on defense – or something weird was going on with the Laker D – and Duncan was denying him any and everything on offense.

    He was manhandled – not just in this game – but in both of the last 2 Spurs games after Popovich made an adjustment.

    Now the question becomes: What can the Lakers do to learn how to defend the high pick and roll?

  119. rr says

    Conceding that it is garbage time, looking at career numbers as well as the “eye test”, still not seeing any reason Hill has not been getting 10-15 MPG with this roster.

  121. Anonymous says

    Brown has already rubbed mwp, fischer, Kobe wrong… then bynum, now sessions… there is just something about him that irritates everybody, something about his coaching style that causes dissension.

  122. Kevin says

    Anon: there realizing he can’t coach. If someone can make you better you listen if they can’t you ignore them.

    Brown is approaching vinny territory as a coach.

  123. Glove says

    Last two games Spurs against the Lakers, Spurs from the field 97-161 60.2% and from 3 point range 17-33 51.5%

  124. Kevin says

    Time for a Simers column. He has to be the one to call out Brown in a public forum.

    After Bynum 30 rebound game he was a hofer. still OVERRATED

  125. Kevin says

    A lot of problems would be solved if PnR defense is fixed, but Brown hasn’t shown an ability to make any adjustment all year.

  126. Aaron says

    Well… The Spurs didn’t run out of gas 😉 Great game by them. But Mike Brown needs to keep Bynum close to the basket… He should not be guarding Duncan who is now just a seven foot spot up shooter. Let Bynum guard the other PF who can’t space the floor to Bynum can get more than 2 boards and can be an inside presence on defense. I mean the two boards probably had more to do with San Antonio only missing 9 shots on the night… But still. We need to find a away to keep Bynum near the rim and not at the three point line. We can’t play D with no big Center under the basket.

  127. Ko says

    Andrew had 2 rebounds and zero defense?

    He is just a big lazy guy who only wants to score.

    With Brown the car salesman as coach this team has zero chance of getting out of the West.

  129. batman says

    this game reminded me of game 4 between the lakers and the mavs…kobe looked good at least…spacing was horrible though and a lot of that was on kobe in my opinion…mike brown has to go the last play before the 1st half ended is the kind of stuff that costs you your job

  130. Ko says

    I changed my mind. This team is way better then the 2001 Lakers.

    And I have some land in pacific ocean to sell you.

    Poor Spurs. They will never be able to beat the Suns in the first round.

    Oh well. Look at the bright side. We gave Brown for 3 more years and Blake for two more!

  131. Sald0gg says

    Just looked back on my pre-season predictions and saw what i predicted for my beloved lakers…

    3. LA Lakers 42-24. Wow that off-season sucked. I’m making this projection based on the team NOT being able to acquire Dwight Howard in-season and having to make due with what they got. They lost part of their 3 headed 7-foot monster and replaced him with Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts. Perhaps brighter days are ahead, but for the first time in 5 years, I’m really worried. All that being said, I have a crazy feeling Kobe kills himself for the team this year. He knows how many jumps he has left in those knees, and he may use them all up this season because without Dwight, this is the last stand for the Kobe Lakers. I’m gonna roughly predict 28/6/6 for Kobe in a Renaissance season. This team will continue to live and die by him.

  134. Chearn says

    The Lakers could either give a team 3 pt shots and take away all other shots from 16 ft to the basket. Or, they can allow a team to score from 16 ft and below and take away the 3 pt shot. The Lakers allow teams to do both.

    The consistent inability to play competitively for the months of March and April is unfathomable.

    Playing in a Lakers uniform is stressful and it takes new players a year or more to become adjusted to the expectations.

    McHops might not have a high skill set, however, he doesn’t appear to be bothered by the opponent. That could possibly be due to playing for a high leveled college team. Additionally, he could become a very good bench player if he joins his buddy Andrew Bynum for workouts this summer.

    No defense, no rings. No rebounds, no rings.

    Are you listening Lakers?