King me
For the first twelve minutes or so, it looked like the Lakers were in for a long night, and might even squander the golden opportunity to stretch their lead in the Pacific after Phoenix folded in the fourth like a hold 'em player dealt an off suited two-seven. But after knocking out the kinks, LA dominated the rest of the way, cranking up the D, shoring up some sloppiness offensively, and outscoring Sacramento by 10 in the second quarter, 12 in the third, and four in the fourth on their way to a 114-92 win. As I've mentioned before in situations like this, when the Lakers beat another NBA team by 22 points, there's generally not much to complain about, so you'll see a lot of "Good" in the breakdown below. Big games from the starters, especially Vlad Radmanovic, who poured in 21 points and a career high 14 boards. Kobe had 29, LO a strong 16, Pau Gasol 20/9.
Read more about it below.
The Good:
- Vlad Radmanovic: Likely the line of his professional career- 21 points, including 5-8 from downtown. A career high 14 rebounds, three dimes, two steals, and not a single turnover. Vladdy, gently prodded (in the safe for work version) by PJ before the game to play with effort and consistency throughout. Guess something clicked, because Radmanovic was on from the get go. He had six points in the first, including a catch-and-shoot triple at the buzzer to pull the Lakers within four, closer than they deserved to be after the first 12 minutes. In the second quarter, Radmanovic continued to be productive, pouring in seven more points and finding his way to five boards. Eight more in the decisive third quarter, including another shot to beat the buzzer off another inbound play.
After the game, Vlad wasn't particularly quotable, though he did toss out a great line comparing his pregame talk to the film Anger Management, with PJ playing the Jack Nicholson role. Generally speaking, Vlad is only a good quote for things you can't possibly print (he's actually excellent for that). When I asked Radmanovic if he was happier about the shooting performance or the rebounds, he caught some flak from LO. "Shooting," Odom declared over his shoulder and answering the question for him. It's also worth checking out PJ's postgame, where despite the good game he takes the opportunity to tweak his forward. "We have a guy that's the team psychologist who comes in, and Vladdy turns him down all the time. I tell him, you really need someone to get in there and work with your head," he said. And so on. "Brian Shaw says you have to slap him upside the face to get him to play hard," Jackson said, "but I think he was serious about the game tonight."
But while the consistency might not be there for Radmanovic over the course of his Lakers career, for tonight at least he was excellent, and showed what kind of contribution he can make when he brings his best effort. When he's shooting well, Vlad gives the Lakers offense a great deal of space, keeping teams from packing the middle and giving guys like Odom, Kobe, and Pau lanes in which to operate. Hopefully tonight was the start of a trend.
- Kobe Bryant: Another very solid night. 29/5/5, with a pair of steals. Quiet early (two points in the first quarter, six in the second), Kobe came alive in the third, with 14 points on 5-6 from the floor, including 3-4 from beyond the arc. More importantly, just like he did in Friday's game against the Mavs and for most of the season, Kobe didn't force anything into the game. He picked his spots well, passed up available jumpers to feed players with better position closer to the basket, and was able to put a stamp on the game without having to dominate it in every way. That's the sort of performance he's been hanging on the opposition all year, and when it happens the Lakers are very tough to beat.
- Pau Gasol: 20/9/3, and yet another example of how his mere presence opens up the game for everyone else. The Lakers did a great job of establishing him early on, feeding him in the post for a lot of looks. The further away he got from the basket, the less effective Gasol was, and it was pretty clear from watching him operate near the rim that he doesn't have his normal lift back, but he's so smooth and is such a good passer around the basket and in the post, he can still hurt teams without being at 100%. And he's efficient. 7-11 from the floor, and 6-8 from the line.
- Lamar Odom: By making 7-8 tonight, LO is now 19-22 over the last two games. That's a great free throw percentage, let alone a mark from the field. Part of the reason why? Once again, everything he did tonight was close to the basket. When there was a lane, Odom took it, getting to the basket off the dribble, posting up, or crashing the boards for putbacks. The worry when Gasol arrived was that it might turn Odom into a jumpshooter from the three spot. Instead, he's used the freedom and space Pau creates to move his game closer to the rim. Good stuff.
- The Third Quarter: You will not see this happen often. The Lakers made their first ten shots and dropped 15 overall. Each bucket had an assist. For the quarter, the Lakers shot 83% from the field (15-18), and 83% from downtown (5-6). I mean, seriously. 83%? It was hard to do that in a quarter of Double Dribble, and I was AWESOME at that game. The Lakers started things off with an 14-4 run to turn a six point halftime lead into a more cushy 16 point margin at the 9:03 mark, and a couple minutes later had pushed the margin out to 20. The Kings made a mini run in the second six minutes of the frame, but the Lakers steadied the ship and left the quarter with a 17 point lead. That was basically the ballgame.
- Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar: Farmar didn't light things up, but managed to keep the aggressive, attack the basket mentality he showed on Friday against the Mavs. Sasha put in 14 points on 5-11 from the floor, had a couple dimes, and most importantly, only turned the ball over once in 20+ minutes of PT.
The Bad:
- The First Quarter: The Lakers scored five points in the final five seconds of the quarter to turn a nine point deficit into a much more manageable four point margin. But they clearly didn't deserve to be that close, not after turning the ball over six times, overpassing, and generally looking sloppier than my freshman dorm room (I can show you the pictures, if you don't get the comparison), or at least my half of it. The Lakers have fallen into a very bad habit of falling behind early in games (so bad, I used two forms of "fall," just to drive home the point). That's fine against teams like Sacramento, but won't fly vs. the big guns in the W.C., both in wrapping up the season and heading into the playoffs.
- Ronny Turiaf: It's been a tough adjustment for Ronny to once again get used to shorter minutes, but while he had some big blocks, including two on Ron Artest in the first half, Ronny needs to do a better job playing without picking up fouls. Five in only 13:04 of run, including a couple bad ones when the Lakers were trying to tend to the lead they had built up. Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and there were a couple times Ronny put teams on the line when he didn't need to.
- The Second Unit, Fourth Quarter Version: The goal for the Lakers as they entered the fourth with a 17 point lead, was to let Kobe and Gasol sit for the entire period, and likely to get Odom out ASAP. Didn't happen. After pushing the lead to 23 at the 9:29 mark, Sacramento went on a 7-0 run that brought Kobe back into the game with 8:15 left. A 5-2 mini-run then brought Pau back in. Things stabilized from there, but it was unfortunate that the starters had to get that much burn.
AUDIO:
- Phil Jackson: Download phil_jackson_4.6 postSAC.mp3
- Lamar Odom: Download lamar_odom_4.6 postSAC.mp3
- Vlad Radmanovic: Download vlad_radmanovic_4.6 postSAC.mp3
- Kobe Bryant: Download kobe_bryant_4.6 postSAC.mp3
BK
MACHIAVELLY SAID""We win not because of Phil Jackson.......we win inspite of him"
but we do win right? good.. now sit down and pay attention"
I'd never go against The Prince.
FAIRWEATHER FATTY SAID:ts all about x,y, and z
(and no, its not a Dr. Suess book I'm talking about)
x - Clinched playoff berth.
y - Clinched division title.
z - Clinched conference title.
No more of that FairWeather Fatty stuff sir. I'ts Dr. Fatty
from now on. LOL!
Posted by: MAMBA24 | April 07, 2008 at 09:26 AM
Machiavelly,
ZEN: mindful acceptance of the present moment, spontaneous action, and letting go of self-conscious and judgmental thinking.
I looked it up. Suggest you do, too.
Posted by: Rick Friedman | April 07, 2008 at 09:26 AM
Good morning Mamba24, good morning Charles & the rest of this great Laker Nation!!
Thanks Mamba24 for the update on the currently rolling bandwagons. Good to see - plus - we are definitely on our way to WINNING OUT!! I say we start THAT bandwagon rolling.
Nothing like being a Laker fan!! It's the best!
GO LAKERS!
The BEAN for MVP or NO PEACE!
Posted by: justanothermambafan | April 07, 2008 at 09:28 AM
Wow - Its about time we had an EASY win, no???
And Mamba - why a 55 win bandwagon?? Put me on the fifty-EIGHT win bandwagon - we sweep em ALL from here on out!
I sure hope we do, cause if we don't we'll be headed to a Western finals match with New Orleans having to fight our way through Phoenix and San Antonio first, while they have a much easier path with Golden State/Denver and either can't-win-on-the-road Utah or Yao-less Houston. Then again, I do LOVE the sweet retribution of knocking out the Suns in the first round!
Oh, and to comment on the Luke vs Kwame comparisons - there is NO comparison. Luke is a player of very limited skills with a high basketball IQ who always gives 100% for the team no matter what. Kwame was a player with enormous physical skills who had no ability to keep his head in the game and pouted rather then hanging tough when things didn't go his way. I don't really want either of them on the floor for us, but I'd much rather have Luke in the locker room!
Posted by: Jay Jay | April 07, 2008 at 09:29 AM
Thank you Mamba, when I get sleepy, you can drive the bandwagon for a little bit. It's a long season.
Posted by: Amazing_Happens | April 07, 2008 at 09:32 AM
Machiavelly, Rick Friedman, just remember the
two Zen koens: What is the sound of 1 hand clapping
and If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one
around to hear it does it make a sound.
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING
hell if I know but that's Zen for you.
Posted by: MAMBA24 | April 07, 2008 at 09:33 AM
Just my own two cents on all the Luke stuff. PSlakersfan says it's his right to bag on the guy and of course that's true. If sports talk was nothing but a lovefest it would be pretty boring. Personally, I think that all 15 members of our team have value but that's just me. I also think PJ does a pretty good job of knowing when to let a player work through his slump and when to bench him. Luke Walton's been a useful role player for us since he came in as a second round pick. If he continues with his poor play however, I'm sure he'll fall further out of the rotation. We're plenty deep at the postion so it's not a huge deal.
As for all the "puke" business by some of the other boogers, it's fine, whatever. I'm just glad that Vlad had a good game last night and stopped throwing up doo-doo shots.
Posted by: dave m | April 07, 2008 at 09:40 AM
"mindful acceptance of the present moment, spontaneous action, and letting go of self-conscious and judgmental thinking."
Mr. Friedman, that IS engagement in the moment. spontaneous action MIGHT include yelling if that is the proper action. there's nothing necessarily hippy-dippy in that description, that's just the popular interpretation. Zen is a warrior's religion. a warrior needs to be able to kill effectively, yet remain at peace without fear of death. in reality, the idea is slightly psychopathic, which is perfect for beating one's opponent, but is not for family life really. that said, i'm not calling you out, i respect your posts.
things are looking up, the team seems to be coming together at the right time, it's getting exciting.....
once again, kudos to the Buss family that i had maligned for not allowing the basketball minds to run the basketball end of the business. i believe that's exactly what has happened this year, the basketball decisions were made by the basketball guys, not the "businessmen". hooray! it's likley a good team for years to come.
now let's beat up on everyone we see. [laughter]
Posted by: man | April 07, 2008 at 09:56 AM
mamba24,
Please sign me up for the
"Sound is determined by the creation of sound waves, not by whether or not a human is aware of it, and besides, wouldn't zen be concerned about more than just humans being aware of something anyway" bandwagon.
Thanks.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | April 07, 2008 at 09:58 AM
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORNIIIIIIIIIIING LAKER NATION!!!!!!
Well usually I would have something funny to say, but I seem to be at a loss. I will be trying to cure that by stopping and smoking while typing. If anyone thinks this is counter-productive.
What a game last night!!!! I compare it to Spam...the meat, not the email people. Yes Spam! You know it's somewhere in the cupboard, and eventually it had to come out. They looked great after the first...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwy2MPT5RE
The Vladinator looked great last night especially. If he plays anywhere close to that for the rest of the season and the playoffs, I might have to send him a new shaver!
I have 2 words for Sasha...HAIR NET! I know they might look a little...short order cook-ish, but in the end it keeps the hair out o' the eyes. While your at it, oil up that machine(wow that sounds bad), you looked a little rusty early on again.
Anybody know what happened to Ronny? He has been kinda a non-factor offensively. His D has been great though. Maybe he needs his hair undone again! It might get that constantly surprised look off his face at least. And besides I love the Bozo the clown look!
http://i.cnn.net/si/2004/writers/seth_davis/03/17/hoop.thoughts/p1_turiaf_all.jpg
Farmar and Mbenga...uuh...well you see the thing is...scoring was...shooting kinda...looked like..2 animals ****ing while falling down a hill! They made some great plays though especially Farmar. I can see Farmar really picking it up here soon.
Did you see the +/- ? OK for the starting 5. VR +35, LO +20, PG +22, KB +18, DF +20. WOW!...'nuff said. And just wait 'till Bynum returns...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9efsJwJxYEk
WE WERE WATCHIN' SOME LAKERS AND DRINKIN' SOME BEERS, TOKEN THEM BOWL WHILE WE SCREAMED AND WE CHEERED!!!! LAKERS FOR LIFE BABY!!!!
LakerMan 420
Posted by: LakerMan 420 | April 07, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Hey Fire1: You are right, our benchmob needs to play better. On the other hand, they are bench players. Perhaps that is why. Again, by comparison, when I think of the Suns, it is the STARTERS who have the problems. They get rolled up by Dallas at home in the fourth quarter and the Suns HAVE NO BENCH. Have fun finding a team to root for after the first round.
Mark
Posted by: markythearky | April 07, 2008 at 10:08 AM
pslakerfan,
>>>I don't know you or what your stance is on most Laker
>>>issues, but I just want to give you a little advice. Your
>>>posts are just too damn long.
No they're not.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | April 07, 2008 at 10:27 AM
pslakerfan,
Making a pithy claim takes one sentence. Proving or disproving
a claim takes longer. If someone posts "Rad is good, I hope
Puke never plays again", then I could just post, "uhn-uhh.
Luke is good and Rad sucks". Instead, I usually choose to
back my words up with facts.
Sorry if they get too long some times. I'll try to stick to emotional
arguments from now on and skip the facts. :-)
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | April 07, 2008 at 10:30 AM
pslakerfan,
>>>Fact: Luke is not very good. Period. Get over it already.
>>>I agree don't call him Puke, but really people everyone
>>>down deep knows that he is mediocre to bad.
And now we see why you don't like my long posts. Because
I had the nerve to actually defend Luke's play.
That's okay.
Keep up your short posts stating your opinion that's based
on emotion. If you choose to ignore the facts, that's okay.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | April 07, 2008 at 10:34 AM
mamba24 - how about a new bandwagon - "support our team 1-15".
the puke-brigade can have their own fart-joke bandwagon. actually, it might be pretty good, haha.
Posted by: dave m | April 07, 2008 at 10:47 AM
mamba24,
"What is the sound of 1 hand clapping"
That'll make you go blind!!
Posted by: exhelodrvr | April 07, 2008 at 11:12 AM
*___________________________*
SUPPORT OUR TEAM 1 - 15
BANDAWAGON
*___________________________*
(01) DAVE M. Owner and Driver
(02) MAMBA - RIDING SHOTGUN
(03) TSPHERE – SuperDelegate – Have no fear Tsphere is here
(04) MARKYTHEARKY – Director of Mirrors and reflections
(05) MILO RAMBALDI- --Team Prophet. – Predicts Bynum greatness
Posted by: MAMBA24 | April 07, 2008 at 11:21 AM
LTLF,
If you think posting three times seperately in a row, instead of combining all three for one long post, will make people think your posts really aren't that long, than I'm here to tell you that I don't think it's working buddy.
peace
Posted by: LAKER TRUTH | April 07, 2008 at 01:04 PM
Long Time Lakers Fan,
Do not alter the way you post. I actually scroll *towards* your posts, because even if I disagree, I appreciate the opportunity to see how you think.
You are one of our best posters on this blog.
--FearlessWhackJob
Posted by: FearlessWhackJob | April 07, 2008 at 01:10 PM
pfunk36,
While I still think Phil is a HOF coach and the best in the business, I can very easily understand why he drives you and a lot of fans crazy, even me at times, especially when we’re talking end-of-game strategies and substitutions. While biased, your post was hilarious with a genuine trace of validity in every argument you made. And Phil’s former wife’s description of him sure had elements that rang true. Thanks for post.
By the way, it’s “cognitive dissonance.” And I didn’t have to look it up.
And remember, Phil does have 9 rings.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | April 07, 2008 at 01:18 PM
Rick,
Excellent points on the great job that Phil did motivating Vlade and in-game coaching. While we all respect Phil’s motivational and team building skills, his in-game moves have never been a good rallying point for his supporters. But taking that early timeout and quickly re-inserting the starters when the lead dropped to 12 in the fourth showed that Phil is now in full playoff mode. I don’t think Luke would have played last night even if he wasn’t injured. Phil knows that now it’s the time to reap the benefits of his season long lessons to his players on how to play and win at the game of basketball. Time to play Lakers Basketball.
Tom
Posted by: LakerTom | April 07, 2008 at 01:40 PM
Wassup Lakerville!
What a great day to be a Laker fan! We surely needed that blow out. I'm encouraged to hear that Bynum took the floor on shootaround. Pretty soon, The Beast will be unleashed. The WC is worried. If the standings hold true, I wouldn't mind getting the 2nd seed and going up against the Mavs. They will soon learn the folly of sending away Diop. Dampier is no match for The Beast!
Posted by: SamII | April 07, 2008 at 01:53 PM
No need to be this agressive.
BK said likely.
It is his opinion. You might not agree but it does not mean that you are right (i, for one, couldn't disagree more with you)
It is easy to defend Vlad after ONE good game. How about those SEVERAL awful games he had all season?
Vlad is our worst cost/benefit player in the roster.
I'd gladly get Luke (who I don´t like) at 4million/yr or Ariza at 3 million/yr over Vladdy at 6/million/yr.
Posted by: Allan - Brazil | April 07, 2008 at 07:08 AM
Sorry but Vlade has not that many bad games. He didn't even get chance. He was playing good in many past games and was pulled by PJ for Luke. Games went down hill. If he made a passing mistake or missed a shot he was yanked fopr Luke.
No one can get consistent if you are hot and get yanked and one mistake you get pulled. Luke made many mistakes and misses but was not pulled.
So don't blame Vlade for lack of consistency when substitution pattern sucked and was/is biased towards Luke.
Vlade did what I have said he could do given the minutes. Leading scorer in 1st half in a previous game , and no pt in 2nd. He can shoot the 3, Drive to basket taking man off dribble, dunk with authority (except 1 time last night he didn't) pass and rebound and steal. I have posted this before. He is a role player too but is better than Luke with his roles.
Luke is injured and probably playing that way and lost confidence. The best thing for him as I said before sit him and let him heal as we will be better with a rested healthy Luke than a crippled lUKE.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | April 07, 2008 at 03:39 PM
Good game by the Lakers last night, but they have to fix that bench. What is happening to your bench mobs? giving away big leads like that. instead of giving the starters their rests, they had to bail them out when they 20 something pt lead went down to 10.
with a NO win last night, i'm beginning to root for chris paul as the MVP (he is the front runner) I sure do hope Amare was posting these numbers from the start of the season, that way, we have yet another MVP on our team.
don't forget guys, Lebron or Wade 2010 as a sun. hahaha
Posted by: FIRE1 | April 07, 2008 at 08:03 AM
Troll sighting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Smells too.
I wonder what happened to the Funs against Dallas. OOOPPPpps lost big lead, choked and LOST
Bronze going to NY too greedy for Lakers, and Wade in Miami will stay with Marion. HA HA
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | April 07, 2008 at 03:45 PM
pfunk36:
"We win not because of Phil Jackson.......we win inspite of him"
but we do win right? good.. now sit down and pay attention
Posted by: machiavelly | April 07, 2008 at 08:37 AM
No I agree stand and criticise until he coaches like he should so we can say win becuse of our players coached by a great coch in the present not in the past.
So win with him too on board.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | April 07, 2008 at 03:49 PM
Mamba24,
Please add me to the "SUPPORT OUR TEAM 1 - 15"
bandwagon.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | April 07, 2008 at 04:03 PM
JustaLakerFan,
Vlade did what I have said he could do given the minutes.
You mean like when he played 24 minutes against New Jersey
and shot 0-for-10? Or maybe when he had 31 minutes against
Orlando and shot 3-for-9? Or was it when he had 40 minutes
against Toronto and shot 3-for-9?
Radmanovic's success or failure has nothing to do with
whether or not Luke plays. In fact, of the 6 games that
Luke didn't play at all, last night was the first one where
Rad played really well.
Rad is a streaky shooter who can look devastatingly good
or devastatingly bad on any given night. It ain't Luke's
fault. It ain't Phil's fault. It's Vlad's fault.
Fortunately, Rad has played well more often than not in
March & the start of April. In that time, he's only had 6
sucky games to 10 pretty good to very good games in that
time. Coincidentally, the Lakers lost 5 of the 6 games
where he shot poorly.
If Rad can play well in 2 out of 3 games in the playoffs,
that will be excellent.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | April 07, 2008 at 04:20 PM
JustaLakerFan,
Vlade did what I have said he could do given the minutes.
You mean like when he played 24 minutes against New Jersey
and shot 0-for-10? Or maybe when he had 31 minutes against
Orlando and shot 3-for-9? Or was it when he had 40 minutes
against Toronto and shot 3-for-9?
Radmanovic's success or failure has nothing to do with
whether or not Luke plays. In fact, of the 6 games that
Luke didn't play at all, last night was the first one where
Rad played really well.
Rad is a streaky shooter who can look devastatingly good
or devastatingly bad on any given night. It ain't Luke's
fault. It ain't Phil's fault. It's Vlad's fault.
Fortunately, Rad has played well more often than not in
March & the start of April. In that time, he's only had 6
sucky games to 10 pretty good to very good games in that
time. Coincidentally, the Lakers lost 5 of the 6 games
where he shot poorly.
If Rad can play well in 2 out of 3 games in the playoffs,
that will be excellent.
Posted by: Long Time Laker Fan | April 07, 2008 at 04:20 PM
No I mean the everybody has bad games. You named 3 games but I don't have to mention any by Luke as most all bloggers agree Luke is sucking and giving leads away with bonehead passes, bricked shots, bad inbounds decision, missed dunks etc, well over just 3 games.
Rad has had better games than Luke by far but gets pulled when he is hot or makes a mistake. It is an 82 game season and no body including Kobe goes 82 perfect games. With Vlade you can't get consistency getting yanked for both getting hot or making a mistake.
Posted by: JustaLakerFan | April 07, 2008 at 11:04 PM