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Records: Lakers 48-18 (1st in West), Warriors 18-47 (14th in West, 29.5 behind the Lakers)
Offensive ratings: Lakers 108.8 (11th in NBA), Warriors 107.2 (13th in NBA)
Defensive ratings: Lakers 102.4 (2nd in NBA), Warriors 110.9 (29th in NBA)
Projected Starting Lineups: Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum
Warriors: Stephen Curry, Monta Ellis, Anthony Morrow, Corey Maggette, Anthony Tolliver
The Lakers Coming in: The Lakers are looking to establish some momentum going into these last few weeks of the regular season. They’ve got two straight wins and are looking for more tonight with a visit to Oakland. Where the Lakers have shown some improvement in the last two games is on offense. Yes, it helps to play poor defensive teams, but I’ll take improvement on that side of the ball against any opponent right now. In the game against the Suns, the Lakers effectively dealt with the double teaming schemes that they faced by moving the ball with swing and skip passes and attacking both the middle of the paint and from the three point line with good accuracy. Facing another poor defensive team tonight, the Lakers should be able to build on their recent performances and hopefully find that their outside shooting is coming around.
On the injury front, I don’t have any updated news on Jordan Farmar and I think he’ll play this evening. Against the Suns his sprained left pinkie seemed to be bothering him and he saw limited minutes with Sasha stepping in as the extra ball handler in our back court rotation. Whether this trend continues tonight remains to be seen, but if Jordan is unable to play his normal minutes we’re likely to see more Sasha, which considering his recent return from injury, could be a good thing as he is forced to find his rhythm and game legs sooner than not.
The Warriors Coming in: The Warriors are more like the Walking Wounded these days. On most nights they’ve got an entire eight man rotation sitting out and in their current rotation they feature more guys that went undrafted (5) than guys that were picked even picked in the draft at all (3 – including Ellis who was a 2nd rounder). This includes D-League call ups Anthony Tolliver (starting at Center), Reggie Williams (back up G/F), and Chris Hunter (back up F/C). Umm, that’s not a rotation I’d wish on any coach, not even the ones I question (like Don Nelson). So, as could be expected, fielding a talent starved line up like the Warriors have lately has not led to many wins lately. The Warriors are 2-8 in their last ten and are literally limping to the season’s finish line. However, despite the injuries this team is playing hard. So, they deserve credit on that front. They don’t quit in games and due to having this many players out injured and replacing them with hungry players that are looking for a future in this league has made them battle as hard as possible and created a bunker mentality with the guys that are out on the floor.
One of those guys that is out there every night is rookie, Steph Curry. I’ve sung this kid’s praises all year and he continues to play well coming down the stretch of the season. He’s scoring the ball with ease and efficiency and is playing a brand of point guard that a lot of scouts questioned was possible when he came out of Davidson. Not to heap too much praise on the kid, but his game is eerily similar to Steve Nash’s as he’s a fantastic shooter that is very good in P&R situations. He’s finding ways to get off his jumpshot and finish in the lane (though he’s not that athletic) and is showing a feel for passing that is beyond his years as a developing point guard. He may not win rookie of the year (Tyreke Evans is a lock), but he’s shown that he’s probably the second best player out of this draft (or third if you count the injured Blake Griffin) and will make the teams that passed on him in last year’s draft have some buyers remorse on the kids they did pick up.
Warriors Blogs: Warriors World is a great stop for information on the team from the Bay and also check out Golden State of Mind for fresh and inspired opinions, including why Nellie is the right coach for the Warriors.
Keys to game: If you watched any of the videos from yesterday’s review of the games the Lakers have played against the Warriors, you noticed a bit of a theme. That would be that the W’s don’t have any big men that can contain the inside play of Bynum, Gasol, and Odom. So tonight, the Lakers should look to exploit those same advantages by deliberately going inside and pounding the undersized Warriors. This advantage should be even more pronounced tonight as the Warriors will start the smallest frontline in the NBA in Morrow/Magette/Tolliver, with none of those players being bigger than 6’9″. So, go inside to our bigs on post ups and we’ll likely see a result of two points or a trip to the foul line. And that goes for our guards and wings too. Kobe and Artest will have major size advantages over the players that match up with them, so posting up Kobe on the weakside pinch post (or on the secondary break where he brings the ball up and just starts his backdown from 17 feet out) and posting up Artest both in post iso’s or on his baseline cuts after making post entries will be ways to get our wings involved and hamper an already shallow team with foul troubles. Also, considering their depth issues, don’t be surprised to see the Warriors throw some zone at the Lakers. In order to attack any zone the Lakers need to move the ball from one side of the court to the other to get the zone scrambling. The can then attack the gaps in the zone via penetration off the dribble or with the pass. Look for Pau and LO to get receive the ball at the FT line area and then play some two man game with the posting up big that should be crashing towards the rim once the flash man receives the ball (more on using the Triangle to attack a zone later this week).
On defense, the Lakers need to control the Warriors leak outs and their sprints to the three point line. In the last game, Morrow and CJ Watson got hot and made a lot of shots from the outside off the secondary break by running to the arc in transition. The Lakers allowed those two to walk into three point shots and shoot the ball in rhythm. This will need to change tonight as the Warriors speed is the only advantage that they have and they’ll look to exploit that every chance they get. Also, I mentioned Steph Curry earlier and he’ll be looking to redeem himself after the 5-21 effort he put up in the last game against us. He’ll run a ton of P&R and whoever is on him will need to chase over the top of the screen while the hedging big man closes the lane down and denies penetration. Curry has shown great skill in splitting the double team from the chasing guard and the hedging big and the Lakers will need to be extra aware of that tonight and make the young rookie go wide on his dribble.
The other key player to stop is Corey Magette. In the last match up Maggette only shot 4-13 from the field but converted on nine of his twelve FT attempts. Getting to the line is his forte and expect that tonight he’ll continue to try and bull his way to the basket as often as possible. So, understand that when guarding Maggette the best strategy is back off him and invite the jumpshot. He will happily take the jumper but it’s when you don’t give him enough space to shoot the deep two that he’ll put his head down and attack the rim. He prefers to go to his right hand but he will also go left so just be aware of where he is on the court and how much space he’s given because that will impact how he uses that offensive possession.
Overall, this is a game where the Warriors are so short handed that they do not have anywhere near the talent to compete for a full 48 minutes. So, the Lakers need to shut their guards down early, slow the game down and limit their running chances by going inside to the to post, and just hammer this team until there’s a large margin going into the 4th quarter. Of course, I say all this and the Warrriors will probably start out hot and keep the game close by bombing three pointers. Either way, a match up with Golden State is one of the more entertaining games of the year so I think we’ll all be in for a treat.
Where you can watch: 7:30pm start time out West on ESPN nationally and KCAL locally, also on ESPN Radio 710am.
Simple Answer says
This one’s for Warren!
Darius says
On a side note, I’ll be at this game tonight (not in any media capacity, strictly as a fan) so there may be some delays in comment approval and with the post game wrap up. I’ll have on my Dynasty Tee and repping the Lakers.
thisisweaksauce says
Aaron,
Any thoughts on Sasha at point guard (other than that he would be better than Derek)? Do you think he is capable if he plays within his role (no jacking up contested 3s, or too many long 2s off the dribble)? Just wondering.
Don says
A little off topic but interesting – John Wall’s not even in the top 100 according to Hollinger’s PER rankings of college players. He has a PER of ~22.
Best on the list? Demarcus Cousins at 35.45
http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/hollinger/statistics
Craig W. says
Don,
I don’t really follow college ball, but rating players by exclusively using Hollinger’s statistics seems to be a self defeating exercise.
While he is able to shed light on some players, it is like selling your team to Donald Sterling and expecting it to compete every year.
Aaron says
Mr. thisisweaksauce, (3)
I actually do have some thoughts on Sasha as a PG (only for the triangle though of course). I think it is his best position actually (remember he was drafted by the Lakers as a PG).
He seems to do a better job guarding PG’s than he does SG’s because of his lack of strength. Sasha does an excellent job moving laterally against opposing PG’s while using his length to bother them. I have always felt it is almost impossible to be a good defensive PG if you are any shorter than 6-4. Is he an all defensive PG? Of course not… but I feel that is his best defensive position and I think he is just as affective (although not as aesthetically pleasing) as Shannon Brown at guarding PG’s.
On offense I like him at lead guard because I have seen him initiate the offense with pace. He has a nice speed dribble that gets the offense into their proper sets quickly and early in the shot clock. He also doesn’t play around with the ball… he dribbles with purpose to points he wants to go on the floor with the idea of organizing the offense and not scoring the ball. On a side note having him help bring the ball up and initiate the offense keeps him confident with the ball and with his shot, which helps him avoid jacking up bad shots while also keeping him in the flow of the game so he is more likely to convert the outside shots he does get.
Up until the Lakers acquired Shannon Brown last season I felt Sasha should be the Lakers starting PG with Farmar being the nice change of pace guy off the bench. Sorry I left you out of my rotation Derek 🙁 Since then I have been torn on who the Lakers should start. Both bring the energy and speed the Lakers need infused into the starting lineup after Ariza was let go. Brown might very well be the better defender and athlete but of course Sasha has better handles and has the better shot. The advantage to starting Brown would be to keep the Lakers 9 deep and having someone to back up Kobe. I have never been a fan of Brown at SG. He isn’t big enough to guard 2’s although there aren’t many quality 2’s in the league anymore to take advantage. I know I didn’t give you an definitive answer… I would have loved to see Phil the first half of the season experiment with Sasha and Brown in the starting lineup like he did last year with Vlad, Walton, and Ariza. Then I think we all would have our answer.
Burgundy says
The fact that Demarcus Cousins is the top of Hollinger’s list doesn’t exactly give the notion of PER as an adequate player measurement tool a ringing endorsement, does it?
Look, I personally think Cousins will be a solid NBA center. He’s a beast on the boards, and good defender (when he’s trying). But I don’t know about his offense…
Evan Turner is the star of this year’s upcoming draft class. He’s going to be the lead guard on a contender some day.
pb says
The point about D-Leaguers playing to impress is a noteworthy one. The teams that give the Lakers trouble are the ones that hustle and give extra efforts more than than the teams with individual talents. While we should dominate with our talent, the Woundeds could definitely trouble the Lakers with speed and hustle. As long as we don’t jack up long shots and turn the ball over, we will be fine. Even if the Woundeds get out to a quick lead with hot outside shooting, we need to methodically execute our post up game and pound them with offensive rebounding. Big games from our bigs (Pau, BynUm, and LO) would make this game a blow out. If our guards get into a shooting contest with theirs, we’ll either lose or need another Kobe bailout. Hopefully, it won’t come down to that.
Win by double digits, please!
pb says
I also like Sasha starting at PG, only because his outside shooting is better than our other guards. However, Sasha might have trouble staying on court due to foul troubles. Then, Phil has to bring Farmar earlier than he wants to, and our rotation gets screwed. Still, Sasha has improved in his decision making as he looks for that extra passes to the open shooters, which is something he does much regularly now than before. If he can learn to harness his agressiveness and not pick up cheap fouls early in the game, I think he can move into the role fairly well.
I don’t know if this is allowed, but along with Warren’s suggestion of Foye as a possible replacement for Fisher, how about Anthony Morrow or even Reggie Williams? Both are tall and shoot from outside well. I’m not sure about ball handling and passing. I’ll be watching closely tonight.
j.d. Hastings says
Darius- I’ll be there with you. Do they let you take SLR cameras or am I stuck with my camera phone? Other than taking photos I don’t think I’ll be much use in person since my scouting is terrible. Whenever I go to a game I walk away with one impression, then check the box score to realize I was wrong.
Felipe Yanez says
I know this is off topic, but anyone want to create a Forum Blue and Gold NCAA Tournament pool? Maybe winner gets a FB&G t-shirt?
Darius says
JD, I think may tell you no on the SLR, but I could be off base on that. I haven’t been to a W’s game since last season and I normally only bring my point and shoot camera.
Darius says
#11. I’m already on it. I’ll put up some news on that tomorrow before the Sacramento preview.
j.d. Hastings says
Warriors website FAQ:
What is the camera policy for Warriors games?
Cameras with lenses less than 3 inches in length are permitted, but the use of a flash is not allowed. All types of video and audio equipment are not permitted in ORACLE Arena.
I still don’t know if that applies to my camera. Guess I’ll measure.
ken says
If we do create a pool I own a cigar company and could supply cigars for winners.
j.d. Hastings says
I can’t be part of an NCAA pool because Cal would play Duke in the second round and I’d have to have Cal beat them out of spite, and that would just be bad policy.
R says
JD – Thanks for pointing out the rule with respect to cameras. I’ve seen folks in Oracle arena with SLRs but was never sure if they snuck them in.
On the other hand, some of the access control folks seem as clueless as Warriors management in general (how surprising!) so I try to bring as little as possible to games to make it easy for them and me. Case in point: I was able to bring a day pack in one game this year , then the next game the same pack was disallowed. Their suggestion: put it in your car. Not helpful since I took BART that day.
My point is, it might be OK to openly try to bring a correctly sized camera if your car is in the parking lot, so you can leave it there if they don’t let you in with it.
j.d. Hastings says
R- Yeah I’m not going to risk it since the camera cost more than 10 games. I’ll stick with my phone I guess. If I was a girl with a purse I might stick it in there, or if I had a smaller point and click, that’d be low risk, but as it is, it’s not worth it.
Don says
I realize Hollinger’s PER has its imperfections, but rating Wall below at least 100 players even though he’s the consensus number one pick? Nobody finds this interesting, other than Hollinger’s wrong? I’ve only watched Wall play a couple games and I can say that he does some things like initiate the offense and make the defensive plays that don’t show up in the box score. He may not shoot great from 3. However, I was very shocked to see that he wasn’t even among the top 100. It’s not like he’s going to go undrafted.
Hollinger’s PER does reflect trends in the impact of players in the NBA – that however imperfect – still gives some overall sense of a player’s skill level. To say that it would rate Kobe or LeBron outside the top 50 players in the NBA would be ludicrous. Furthermore, he predicted pretty accurately that Lawson and Blair would be impact players despite their low draft positions. So, I think that instead of this oddity with Wall simply being a testament to the inaccuracy of his system, I was hoping someone would have some deeper insight as to why.
MannyP13 says
I think the NBA policy allows DSLRs. However, i know for a fact they do not allow large telphoto lenses without a pass. I was at a Laker game last month and they had no issue with my standard 55-90 mm lens. The moment I put on my 240mm lens, then the usher walked over and told me to put the big lens away but allowed me to keep shooting with my 55-90 mm. Of course, I snuck in some 240mm shots whenever I could. 🙂
Anyway, worst case they ask you to put the camera away. I don’t think they confiscate it.
Good luck!
Burgundy says
RE: 19
Wall isn’t a particularly good shooter – his pedestrian Field Goal percentage probably affects his rating.
Also, he has a high amount of turnovers (4 a game) and only around 6 asst a game (so his A/TO ratio isn’t all that great).
Per is more about measuring a players “efficiency” on offense rather than their actual production (which is why you have bench guys with bizarrely high PER ratings: they come in for 15 minutes, and score 8 pts on on 4 for 5 shooting and snag 4 boards with 0 turnovers – doesn’t mean they’re an incredible player – just means they’re effective in short bursts).
So if you look at Wall on paper – from an efficiency standpoint:
45% shooter, 31% from 3pt range, 1.5 A/TO ratio.
Not especially impressive numbers for a
point guard, right? It would seem he doesn’t shoot that well, and he doesn’t take care of the ball all that well, either.
That’s where PER fails…and also why it’s so hard to measure basketball players with STATS. You have to believe what you see with your eyes.
(As a side note, that’s why Kobe will never lead the league in PER, he misses too many shots).
Maybe Wall’s shooting percentage isn’t all the great, but the ease at which he compromises the defense creates opportunities for his teammates. His turnovers are also high because his usage rate is high (as the point guard)
There’s no real way to measure “effect on the opposing defense.” A guy like Wall (with his speed and athleticism) has to be accounted for by 1 or 2 defenders at all times – just being out on the court he compromises the defense, and that’s extremely valuable.
Aaron says
I just don’t think PER works in the college game. In the NBA the less amount of talent a star player has around him the higher his PER will be. In college the less talent a star player has around him the worse his PER will be. And in school star players are always playing with garbage around them… its just the nature of college basketball… there are few quality players. Great college players get zoned up and triple teamed and when they make a pass to an open man that player usually misses. It is hard to attempt many shots and attempt many good shots as a college superstar. So many great talents (especially penetrators with average outside shots) have greater success in terms of production in the NBA playing with teammates that can support them.
Bobji says
I enjoy the games with Golden State. High scoring affairs that the Lakers tend to win (crossing my fingers for tonight). The Warriors are an interesting team, they seem to have a new rotation every time I watch because of injuries and Nelson… and now they have a little community of ex-Lakers: Devean George, Vladrad, and my personal favorite, Turiaf. I like a few of their players (CJ Watson and Morrow) and wonder if any of them would fit on the Lakers or another elite team.
Good luck to all the cameramen from FB&G!
Craig W. says
Don & Burgundy,
My issues with statistics in general and Hollinger’s PER in particular is that the users frequently tout their formulas as a substitute to watching the players play.
So much of basketball – particularly for PGs in a traditional NBA offense – revolves around what the PG creates around them, not on specific statistics they directly create. For big men the stats aren’t able to measure block outs, for example, and this is a key element of some players games. Coaches notice, but not a lot of other people do. Actually, Fish is pretty good at blocking out rebounders.
Jay says
A lot of people are confused by PER and what exactly it measures. while Hollinger designed the ratios in order for his metric to support “efficiency” what PER really measures is just stat accumulation per minute. If you get large numbers of stats, you will rank highly. If you get high numbers of multiple stats say…points and rebounds, you will rank even higher. This is why when Lebron has a “prime” year, he’s going to essentially shatter PER. He piles up stats in all kinds of categories, even blocks and steals and doesn’t commit fouls.
John Wall isn’t really a stats guy. In fact, if you watch their games, he’ll go long periods of time without getting much. He mostly just monitors the game and when they need him, he’ll run off 4-5 straight possessions where he either scores or creates points for someone else (and due to their offense, he doesn’t get the assist stat in those cases).
PER is a lot like Win Shares in that it’s somewhat useful for taking a quick glance at. If you know nothing about the team studied, you can usually assume that the top few in either of those stat are the best players and the bottom few are the worst players. Any “analysis” beyond that is mostly useless. For more proof on this, head on over to the Wages of Wins blog, where you can read Berri try hard to convince the world that Odom and Gasol are the reasons that the Lakers win and that Kobe’s teammates in 05-06 were not that bad.
http://dberri.wordpress.com/2010/03/14/kobe-makes-pau-gasol-unhappy/
Zephid says
16, jd, just bring a man-purse. Solves all your problems.
6, I think I see a ringing endorsement for Start Sasha!
lil' pau says
26, i read your comments while scrolling and briefly thought you had anointed sasha with a new nickname, ‘man-purse’, which kind of works for him…
Anonymous says
anyone have a link?
james says
maybe pass it drew..
lakergirl says
http://www.ilemi.com/707/1/Watch-Los-Angeles-Lakers-vs-Golden-State-Warriors/
Zephid says
I wouldn’t mind the Anthony Tolliver threes so much if we would stop giving up Chris Hunter dunks.
ken says
lOVE TO SEE THAT THAT KIND OF HARD EFFORT.
Slump over for Ron.
james says
i think pick n roll defense lessons needed
kenslc says
Wow Gasol…I feel like we have Shaq coaching him on the foul line or something!
ken says
I think Pau needs to see Dr. Ruth. Who is teaching him to shoot FT? KBrown.
Great energy by Lakers and denver lost.
AusPhil says
Is Hunter our designated “make this guy look like an All-Star” for today’s game?
I am loving our offense though!
ken says
Man! we know Fish and Farmer don;t stay in front of people but Kobe is getting blizzed ever time down court.
Is he wearing Ron’t cement chineese shoes?
Zephid says
15 turnovers. That’s all I have to say.
zirk says
And no D.
ken says
You really have to wonder about the basketball IQ of this team. They play GS game. Its like watching a collage team playing aganist old timers. Lakers slow, slow, slow and GS fast.
Nice coaching Phil or who ever scouted this game for the Lakers.
Pound the middle dahhhhhhhhhh
gene says
Man- these Lakers are pathetic. Where is the defense? What happened to all that talk about turning the corner and picking up the intensity – they’re getting their butts run off the court. So many plays where GS just runs down the court and makes a layup.
I won’t watch any more games until the playoffs.
Bobji says
Subplot: Bynum has 6 turnovers at the half (!), will he go for a career high tonight?
Sasha was in for about 30 seconds to start the second before he got yanked after making a TO/foul. Will he appear again tonight?
Give the warriors credit for making this a scrappy affair, but Lakers should know this and not be so impatient with the ball.
Aaron says
Yeah… come playoff time the perimeter players will stop the selfish play and post up Gasol and Bynum… I am not very worried.
Tra says
Once again, playin’ down to the competition … Too many missed free throws (Pau) … Too many 2nd quarter turnovers … Having issues matching up so far … Phil X provin’ my point ’bout having no faith in Sasha (quick hook after 1 turnover & 1 foolish foul right after said t.o.)
With all that being said, we should win this game going away. Trust me.
kenslc says
Ummm it looked like they were pounding the middle guys…Did you see the 3 straight turnovers by Bynum? Not to mention Gasol missing free throw after free throw. Turnovers and bad defense are the Lakers pitfalls this game.
ray says
kobe has 6 TO already? did i hear that right?
VoR says
I just got in and looked at the score and came here expecting to see a series of the ‘sky is fallling’ posts. Glad to see people still have their senses of humor.
So what is up with the Lakers D? I thought that was the side of the ball that was ok.
james says
very simple way to win this game, get it inside, slow it down and take care of the ball
sparky says
How awesome is it that Luke’s working the bench next to the coaching staff with pen and paper in hand? Sure, I’d rather have him on the floor, but how many players make such positive use of their bench time?
Jay says
Lakers D breaks down somewhat predictably. None of our guards (including Kobe) can stay in front of anyone. So if a team has a ballhandler who can penetrate, the team gets embarrassed in one of two ways. Either the bigs don’t rotate and a layp occurs. Or a big DOES rotate, one pass is made and either a violent dunk or open jump shot occurs. The Warriors happen to be a team with good penetrating ballhandlers so the results are what they are.
Lakers would be fine if not for turnovers. Both Kobe and Bynum are reaching for the stars there tonight. We’re killing them about 2-to-1 on rebounds, the whole team is shooting well, we just have to stop turning it over.
james says
kobes finger must be bothering him, he’s been stripped so many times
zirk says
Ellis reaches and gets away with it more than any player I’ve seen! The dude’s a hack!
Zephid says
Um, Ron Artest just got beat off the dribble by Devean George…
Zephid says
lol that wasn’t even close to a foul. Watson got a face full of ball.
Jay says
That’s 8 turns for Kobe, he’s going for double digits for sure.
ken says
boy am I seeing this right. Kobe 9 turnovers, looking very slow on defense the slowest I can ever remember him on offense.
Aaron says
Re: Actually having Kobe guard a PG
Its amazing the difference between having a bad defender and a good defender guard a PG. Ellis is 3 for 17 heading into the 4th quarter with kobe guarding him. Wouldn’t it be nice if thats the kind of defense we can have on opposing PG’s every game if we played the lineup of Kobe, Artest, Odom, Gasol, and Bynum more often matching Kobe against a PG every game.
Ummmmm says
Lakers are a slow, big team.
Ummmmm says
Aaron, so is Ellis’ defense responsible for Kobe’s 9 turnovers?
Both players are just sucking tonight.
james says
57. to be fair ellis has some of the worse shot selection ive ever seen and just happened to miss more then usual tonight
Zephid says
Oh man, the Black Hole is back!
Zephid says
Our best play of the night has been Lamar Odom in the post.
3ThreeIII says
In many ways, I cannot wait until this Laker team is back to the dust and dirt days, when we have players like Smush and Kwame as our main options…
Bynum is 5-9 FG, 6-7 FT, 16 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 blocks, and people are whining about “the Black Hole” and 6 turnovers again. I missed the first half, so how many of those turnovers were 3 second violations?
james says
geez i wish we had a shooter half as good as curry
Zephid says
63, whoa little sensitive about Bynum. To clarify, I was referring specifically to one play where Bynum was doubled hard and instead of passing, he chose to turn baseline, and decided that it was a better decision to try and run through Devean George than to pass to Artest wide open in the corner.
And none of his TO’s are 3 seconds; they’ve all been bad passes by Andrew.
james says
ok phil, why is shannon out there and gasol aint
Q says
shannon brown is the black hole. he seems to have way too much confidence in his shot. dribbles away and then pops a jumper early in the shot clock.
Adrian says
Lamar having one of those games…we’re playing well enough to get the job done.
zirk says
63, just because Bynum is playing a good overall game and stuffing the stat sheet, that doesn’t mean that we should just continue to laugh off the same stupid mistakes that he’s been making all season. And mainly, those are the “black hole” type of mistakes where as soon as he gets the ball, he seems to think that there’s no other option but to bully his way to the basket to get up a shot.
I don’t think anyone was saying Bynum wasn’t playing well tonight, because he is, they were just pointing out that the mistakes he’s making are the same ones that frustrate us time and time again.
I mean, kobe’s having a pretty good game with the exception of the turnovers, but people keep complaining about that. How’s that any different?
james says
lol weve had 22 turnovers and were probably gonna score 130 points, crazy
AusPhil says
This is looking like a solid win. Definitely a lot of offensive spark (as usual against the Warriors).
I’d have to second the thoughts outlined above about Shannon. He seems to have a lot more confidence in his shooting than he should! A lot of possessions where he’s jacking up a shot without there being rebounders…feels out of synch with the offense.
And as I say “solid win”, we give up a bunch of points!
ken says
My god Kobe. How many turnover can one guy have????/
Brandon says
way to turn a game ugly at the end
Ummmmm says
Nice job Kobe to get up slowly, look at the ref, and allow Ellis to drain a 3.
karl says
This is total crap!! Lakers are just stinking it up. I can’t stand it already!!!! this is pure garbage that they are playing like this.
Zephid says
Ellis’ layup is completely Kobe’s fault. Kobe did his routine where he gets beat off a cut, then points Artest off his own man to cover up for his slowness. Then Ellis proceeds to blow by a recovering Artest for an easy layup.
Adrian says
Good game I guess, wish they wouldn’t try to give me a heart attack though….
ken says
Man are we lucky. That was the worst defensive and turnover offensive game Kobe has ever played
glove32 says
Sometimes the Lakers make enjoying the journey difficult with a game like this. They won and gained a game on Denver.
karl says
They can barely beat GS – road trip not looking so good unless they really turn things around.
BOOBOO says
Wait, it’s only halfway through March, so no big deal!
Bobji says
A frantic final 2 minutes. I am bewildered how they can be up by 11 with exactly 2 minutes to go, and only secure the win after Ellis’s final attempt bounces multiple times and finally out as the clock expires. Can’t script that… a win is a win though.
Fish was solid tonight, he was the one point guard he really played with his head and slowed it down. He took a PUJIT 3 that went out, but really he was one of the few guys to make a consistent effort to not play into the Warriors gameplan. Gasol looked great on offense, he started off badly at the line but finished making his last 4 or 5 free throws. Even saw a return of his faceup game, good work!
Don says
Wow missed wide open Morrow to throw up a turnaround 3. nice.
Interesting point Kobe makes about how they learn nothing from this game since nobody plays like the Warriors in the playoffs. I’d initially think about guarding against penetrating guards and the PnR, but come to think of it – Billups, Jason Kidd, Mo Williams aren’t exactly quick penetrating guards (not that we are great at defending them).. maybe Jameer?
How about Gasol tonight? Beautiful repertoire of shots that for so long has been missing. I forgot how pretty his offensive game is.
@Bobji I disagree about Fisher tonight. He’s had a recent string of good games, but today he took at least 4 contested long 2’s / 3’s early in the shot clock, and drove into 3 defenders to turn the ball over. He got beat on the last play by a mile. Not saying we had better options since Farmar and SB didn’t play very well either, but Fish did not have a good game tonight imo. The two shots he made were bad shots too. I don’t think he took more than 1 good shot.
David R. says
I can only imagine how the forum would be if we would have lost this game.. Kobe said it best “no one they are gonna face in the playoffs plays that style, it was only a game they had to win. . I never felt we were gonna loose this game. To put things in perspective, this was definitely a better win then the game again toronto @ home, You guys forget these are professional teams that on any given day can beat each other. Lakers are the defending Champs, Teams will come at us with their best and more. Bynum had a sick game, Gasol was making his baskets, Kobe was killing it from the Perimeter, Fisher coming through when we need him, oh almost forgot Lamar!! he was playing awake Most important we had a little taste of that much desired offensive flow. Keep it up Lakers!! Number 16 so close i can taste it.
james says
no reason to be too harsh tonight, no one played badly apart from shannon brown again made some sloppy passes and werent quite up for it on defence but that happens when the team is (openly) not fully focussed on regular season
Rudy says
Talk about not being satisfied with a win. Here are the things that stood out to me:
1. Pau Gasol played a brilliant game. Hopefully he can sustain this type of play into the playoffs. (Except for the free throws).
2. Kobe Bryant had a terrible game. He was unnecessarily too agressive. This was definitely a game we should have been force feeding the ball in the post. It’s too late in the season to be baited into a 1 on 1 duel with Monta Ellis. People will point to his 29 points but 17 turnovers in the last 2 games is unacceptable.
3. Farmar seems to be officially out of the rotation. I’m not for this at all. I want Farmar on the floor much more than Sasha Vujacic.
Jay says
Farmar isn’t out of the rotation as much as he’s recovering from injury. His shot has been off so Phil is scaling him back until he recovers a bit.
james says
86. farmar is injured
Tra says
At this point of the season, a win is a win. Get it any way u can. The Warriors r one of those teams that’s gonna make the opposing team look bad because they play unconventional basketball. A match up nightmare. Should have won going away, but we took our foot off the pedal in the last 2 mins.
Excellent 2nd half by Pau (missed too many free throws in the1st half). Scoring on an assortment of post moves. Solid game from Big Drew, even though @ some points he was forcing the issue. L.O. was flawless. As a matter of fact, our top 6 players all shot over 50%. Only real issues were the to’s by Kobe and Drew & Shannon’s defense (always goes under the screens, which allows wide open jumpers for the opposing teams guards).
All n all, good night for us. Considering the fact that we gained a game on Denver. Solid victory against a bad team. On to the next 1 (another bad team: Sac Kings). No let up & no excuses about it being a back 2 back game. It’s not like we have to travel to another state. Same section of Cali (Northern).
Go Hard Or Go Home. Laker 4 Life.
tsuwm says
anyone notice what happened to LO when a small quick guard pressed him when he brought the ball up? the Ls went to 3 smalls almost exclusively from then on.
j. d. hastings says
I want to hear Darius’s take from the game, but here’s my less analytic take from having been there.
The excitement of the crowd made me not care about the near choke job. I wasn’t getting in peoples’ faces, so got along with the people around me and was happy we got a good game out of it. The excitement on the last 2 shots was huge and I was laughing even as the ball was threatening to go in. Just a great atmosphere. Warriors fans really do deserve better.
Otherwise, Kobe looked hurt to me, but in a general way. In the second quarter in particular I thought he looked stiff and he’d walk to the other side of the court when he could. Made me wonder about his back. In the second half that wasn’t as noticeable, but the turnovers were. I didn’t think he was forcing a lot. Maybe on a few possessions, but he seemed willing to pass the ball- again I wasn’t sure if he felt 100% but don’t know which injury might account for it.
Bynum was awful early. During shootaround he just ate oranges and didn’t do much to warm up. Once the game started he looked like he knew he’d get the ball forced to him and turned the ball over often and poorly. And he wasn’t really making his shots. Second half he was much better.
Pau had a better first half but for the TOs, but his most important stretch was the third quarter. When he scored on a couple possessions straight the Lakers fans suddenly came out and the momentum carried the team for the quarter I thought.
Odom was aggressive and made fewer mistakes than Pau or Bynum. From my seat I couldn’t see which of those 2 was letting Hunter get wide open dunks, but that happened repeatedly.
Derek Fisher’s defense is truly otherwordly awful. Curry didn’t exploit him too bad in the first half before getting his 3rd foul, but CJ Watson torched him and the rest of the defense, leading the second half Warriors charge.
In the second half Curry took his lead. If he didn’t get past fisher, another Laker would help on the perimeter leading to a wide open shot for someone else. It was awful. The Lakers were lucky more of those shots didn’t go down. Farmar didn’t do better. And Sasha? Hahaha. Shannon laps them all by being merely sub-par.
However, Fisher did score above his average and made some big plays when it mattered in ways he COULD. That may be the key difference between him and Farmar- when Farmar struggles it gets in his head and he makes things worse.
The warriors weren’t even trying to offensively rebound at times, choosing to get back and go for the steal instead. Tolliver played Center for some stretches.
Devean George may have had the best game of his career.
Anyways, that’s my take. Hope it doesn’t vary wildly from what Darius saw (he was on the other end of the court though)
R says
I was there and can tell you “both teams played hard, my man, both teams played hard” (to borrow a phrase from ‘Sheed).
It seemed like the Lakers played the Warriors style – very dangerous for L.A. , but fun to watch.
Felt like a playoff game, the crowd was roaring -LOUDLY – for the Lakers and Warriors in turn.
Darius says
Game recap is up. Boy, was that fun.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2010/03/16/lakerswarriors-what-i-saw-from-the-stands/
Ledzep says
Just what was Fisher doing on the final play on D? I mean, I love the guy, but you’re guarding a dead-eye shooter inbounding the ball: don’t leave him, don’t pull some soft double on the guy who receives the inbounds pass – just stay glued to your man as much as possible.
That said, any win is a W. Sloppy finishing, though – not so good.