Archive for the 'Running Diary' Category

Lakers - Warriors: Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on January 7, 2009
in In-Game, Lamar Odom and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Previous L.A. - Golden State Running Diaries/Postgames
Lakers - Warriors Running Diary 12-28-2008
Lakers 130, Warriors 113: Postgame

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton, Lamar Odom
Hornets: Monta Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Anthony Morrow

Instead of focusing on the game at hand, I spent the pregame talking to Andrew Bynum about his five favorite movies, TV shows, actors and musical artists. I figured that would put him in a better mood than asking him why he hasn’t been particularly effective of late. Talking about Lil’ Wayne, Jay-Z, Denzel Washington, “True Blood” and more, Bynum’s sure to do more damage than he did against New Orleans last night (I set my self up for success with that comment, if you check that box score).

In other news, assistant coach Jim Cleamons and I ranked the top nine in the Western Conference. We’ll get to that soon. Until then…

Your starters:

Lakers Fish, Kobe, Vladi, Pau and Bynum
Warriors Marco Belinelli, Jamal Crawford, Corey Maggette, Brandan Wright and Andris Biedrins

First Quarter
11:00 Bynum scores on a nice move on the baseline, dropping in the deuce with a short hook. I’m now starting to think of top five lists for next pregame.

10:01 The Warriors hit their third straight shot, a jumper from Crawford, to take an early 6-2 lead.

8:52 Bynum 17-foot jumper from the elbow. Swish. However, Golden State stayed hot, making 6-of-9 to start the game in taking a 12-6 lead. The crowd at Oracle was still filing in, but the noise level was rising steadily.

6:18 Radmanovic is unable to corral a relatively easy outlet pass from Bryant in the open court. Maybe he needs to talk about his five favorite bands…

5:04 Gasol’s dunk from Vladi gave him six points, plus four from Bynum in the quarter’s first seven minutes. Remember, the two bigs combined for only 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting last night. They’ve already converted 4-of-9 tonight, plus five total rebounds. Corey Maggette carried the load for Golden State by scoring eight points on 4-of-5 shooting to give the home team a 16-14 edge into the first timeout, but L.A.’s bigs have been the story.

4:29 Kobe’s first triple of the night gives the Lakers their first lead, after he put six threes in against the Hornets on Tuesday.

3:06 Huge block from Bynum on Belinelli. ‘Drew also likes R Kelly and Jeremy Piven. He likes Piven so much that the terrible movie “Smoking Aces” somehow made his top five movies list. That’s like putting Soldier Boy in your top five musical artists. Warriors 20, Lakers 19 at this point. Meanwhile, out of the timeout, Jackson came in with Trevor Ariza, Sasha Vujacic and Josh Powell off the bench.

1:20 A sneaky drive from Bryant, plus the harm, gave him eight points and the Lakers a 24-20 lead. More importantly, Gasol already had eight points and seven boards for the purple and gold, though to be fair, he wasn’t facing the toughest low-post defensive team in the NBA … All the more important to keep feeding the Spaniard.

7.7 STUFF. Kobe went fierce with his left hand all the way to the goal, taking the space afforded by his defender, and continuing to rise over Ronny Turiaf and Co. in the paint. That was dirty, and illegal in some states.

Bryant’s jam completed a 9-0 run to close the quarter in taking a 28-20 lead as the Warriors failed to score in the final 3:46 of play. After starting out hot, the Warriors missed their final seven shots (the first of which Bynum swatted) to go 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) for the quarter.
Continue reading ‘Lakers - Warriors: Running Diary’

Lakers - Hornets Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on January 6, 2009
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Previous L.A. - New Orleans Running Diaries
Game 1: Lakers 93, Hornets 86
Game 2: Lakers 100, Hornets 87

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton
Hornets: Ryan Bowen, Julian Wright

Your National Anthem singers tonight were the “Colgate 13.” My only question is, what are those guys doing in L.A.? Did they come all the way out just to sing the N.A.? They were fine and everything, but doesn’t UCLA or USC have an a cappella group? Or, if you’re going to call on a private school from New York, can you at least get Andy Bernard’s Cornell group, “Here Comes Treble?”

Starters:
Lakers Fish, Kobe, Vladi, Pau and Bynum (like the first 20 games)
Hornets Chris Paul, Rasual Butler, Peja Stojakovic, David West and Tyson Chandler

First Quarter
9:48 The Lakers first point came on a free throw from Andrew Bynum after L.A. missed its first five shots, though Charlotte hit just 1-of-4. I’m still trying to figure out how to get “Here Comes Treble” in here. The potential to equal Whitney Houston’s Super Bowl Anthem is there, I feel.

7:27 Bynum’s first foul came after Chandler grabbed his second offensive board of the early goings, and he managed to make both of his free throws for an 8-6 Hornets lead. Chandler making both free throws is generally as likely as the guys on MTV’s “Bromance” not crying (seriously, did anyone watch last night? Five of the seven dudes trying to be Brody Jenner’s BFF openly wept on the show. It was awesome, just an emotional, entertaining tour de force).

6:30 Fisher’s second three pointer made me think of the extra practice time he put in after Sunday’s shootaround, and today’s shootaround, honing his stroke. Guess that’s paid off…

5:12 After West’s jumper made it 16-9 visitors, it’s not too early to say that the Hornets look much better than they did both times L.A. jumped on ‘em in New Orleans. Clearly that was a focus for head coach Byron Scott, as L.A. jumped all over his squad in November and December, and so far his troops have listened. That L.A. made only 3-of-12 shots, including a few missed layups, didn’t hurt N.O.’s cause.

3:24 Vladi’s third field goal attempt just rimmed out, much like his first two. Also missing layups today: Fisher (2), Gasol and Bynum. It’s hard to tell if it’s a lack of focus that’s plaguing the Lakers, but the Hornets have certainly been the more energetic bunch.

Indeed, Chris Paul has been as aggressive as he generally is in fourth quarters by taking five shots and making four for nine points and a 23-15 Hornets lead. CP3 often uses first halfs to get his teammates going, but that’s not the game plan tonight (oh wait … he also has four assists … scratch that).

2:47 Pau Gasol, who’s fifth in the NBA with his 56.2 shooting percentage, has missed all three of his shots tonight. But he can do THIS, which is fun.

2:32 Sasha Vujacic checks in and immediately nails a three to make it 24-18 N.O. A rhythm shooter, Vujacic often makes his second shot after canning his first. Vujacic will have other things on his mind tonight, however, as he’s guarding CP3.

1:49 Technical on James Posey, who earned a solid round of boos from Lakers fans after checking in. Posey got the T by taking a swing at Kobe’s head after Bryant dribbled around him. Posey is steadily building on his reputation for being the opposite of “clean.”

1:14 Sure enough, Vujacic’s second jumper was also a swish. But at the other end, he earned his second foul of the quarter, and had a tough time with Paul on the previous two possessions. Then, with only 10 seconds left in the quarter, Sasha for some reason got all up in Paul’s face 30 feet from the basket, and not only sent Paul to the foul line (32-24 N.O.) but committed his third foul. Silly.

The Hornets made 11-of-21 shots in the quarter, including 9-of-11 free throws, while L.A. converted 9-of-22 and 5-of-8 free throws. Neither team turned it over (one each), while the Hornets handled the glass 15-9. Paul finished with 15 points, while Odom and Vujacic had five each off the bench to go with Bryant’s nine.
Continue reading ‘Lakers - Hornets Running Diary’

Lakers - Blazers Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on January 4, 2009
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, Luke Walton
Blazers: Brandon Roy, Raef LaFrentz, Martell Webster

Brandon Roy’s absence from tonight’s game was the biggest story coming in, until we learned that Luke Walton’s out with a foot injury, and that Trevor Ariza, not Vladimir Radmanovic or Lamar Odom, is starting in his place.

Ariza was fantastic against the Jazz on Friday night, scoring 12 points with nine rebounds and two assists. Perhaps more important was his work defensively, highlighted by two clutch steals in the final minutes that ultimately buried Utah. And, certainly, it’s on the defensive side of the floor where we should watch Ariza in the early goings against Portland. After all, there isn’t much of an argument that Walton or Radmanovic have the same defensive versatility as Ariza, which at least should add a new dimension to the Lakers starting unit. But will that help as much as, more or less than Walton’s passing or Radmanovic’s shooting? We’ll see.

Your starters:
Lakers: Fish, Kobe, Ariza, Pau and Bynum
Blazers: Steve Blake, Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden

First Quarter
12:00 Perhaps the best National Anthem of the season, courtesy of three white-clad ladies and their violins. Big money says Gasol, a cultural beacon, enjoyed it.

11:42 Ariza didn’t take long to make his presence felt defensively, swatting an Aldridge shot from 19 feet. Even though Oden would gather and dunk the ball, the play was particularly impressive since Aldridge is known to have one of the least blockable shots in the NBA.

9:00 Portland came out Blazing, making 5-of-7 shots, including a Blake three that put the visitors up 11-4 early on. Three words I wouldn’t use to describe L.A.’s play thus far: good; attentive; lively.

6:00 As Fisher traveled for L.A.’s fourth turnover, the Blazers led 16-9 thanks in part to three offensive boards. To be honest, Portland should have been up double-digits, having missed three wide-open triples thanks to good ball movement. The Lakers found themselves a player behind on defensive rotations far too often … While Ariza did block two shots, his presence certainly didn’t help the team defense. And guess who isn’t available to come in off the bench with a spark?

3:10 Weird stat alert: The Blazers had taken 19 shots to only eight for the Lakers, yet still managed only a seven-point lead at 20-13. Nine turnovers (that’s not a misprint) and four offensive boards ceded will do that to you. Out of a timeout, Jackson turned to Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic in hopes of turning the tide.

34.6 Two Gasol free throws cut Portland’s lead to 24-19, before the refs correctly overturned a phantom foul call on Radmanovic before the quarter ended. Oh wait … never mind. They decided that not touching Jerryd Bayless on a layup attempt was, in fact, a foul. The rookie made 1-of-2 to produce a 25-19 score heading into the second quarter that L.A. should happily take after its turnover-laden relative junkfest. Perhaps the Lakers watched Tarvaris Jackson play quarterback for the Vikings prior to the game, then decided to play like him?

Upset Sunday…
You think L.A.’s coaches passed on the message there have already been four NBA upsets on Sunday? All three of the East’s best teams lost: Boston to New York; Cleveland to Washington; and Orlando to Toronto; and Dallas fell to Memphis. That means the Celtics and Cavs now have six losses each and Orlando eight, while the closest to L.A.’s five losses in the West is New Orleans, who has 10 L’s.
Continue reading ‘Lakers - Blazers Running Diary’

Lakers - Jazz Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on January 2, 2009
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, D.J. Mbenga
Jazz: Morris Almond, Carlos Boozer, Kyrylo Fesenko

It’s been a little bit, huh folks? My fingers are going to need a quarter or so to get adjusted after the layoff … And you’ve probably been to the gym at least three times, using your new membership that you’ll cancel after January, since the Lakers last played on Sunday night, scoring 130 points against the Golden State Warriors.

Hitting 130 won’t be as easy tonight, with Jerry Sloan’s bunch in the house (let’s just say the Jazz don’t like to let people run free through the paint like our friends from Oakland). A few areas of focus on the floor for the Lakers:

A) Don’t let Deron Williams be both a scorer and a passer - make him choose one.
B) Don’t let Mehmet Okur expose his mismatch with Bynum/Gasol from three.
C) Overcome a possible sluggish start due to the long layoff.

I’ll keep an eye on those items, and try to overcome my oversight of watching David Beckham’s cameo in the pregame video (never a good thing).

The starters:
Lakers: Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and Bynum
Jazz: Deron Williams, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Miles, Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur

The one thing to note there is Millsap’s presence, as he was questionable going into the game. He’s been a double-double machine (16 straight games) since taking the starting power forward role for Utah in the absence of Carlos Boozer, but missed the last three games with a sprained left PCL.

First Quarter
10:41 Who said sluggish start? Was that me? Two quick buckets from Kobe, the first a post-up on Williams and the second a dunk in transition, and L.A. was up 4-0.

8:23 Bynum hit 1-of-2 free throws to make it 11-4, but more importantly, Jack’s back in his usual seat after a brief two-game hiatus. I think I speak for everyone at STAPLES when I express how much better I feel with him in the building. In related news, I watched the “Bucket List” yesterday. The best part was when Morgan Freeman mentioned “Chomolungma,” which is what the Nepalese call Mt. Everest. I like that word so much that I named two fantasy squads after it. In case you’re wondering, it means: “Goddess, Mother of the Earth.”

6:04 Two solid hustle plays from Pau: first a swat of Millsap on the baseline, then a dive to regain possession seconds later. Gasol would then make the extra pass to a wide-open Fisher, who canned a baseline jumper and gave the Lakers a 17-6 lead. Seriously, whoever mentioned that L.A. might come out of the gate slow is an idiot.

4:38 Utah hit the 8-point margin! Shooting 3-for-14 wasn’t helping their cause, but we should credit a very active Lakers defense. Swarming, if you will.

3:58 Sasha Vujacic checks in for Fish. Backup PG? Officially?

3:00 Cho-mo-lung-ma. Just say it.

1:30 Utah shows its first signs of life with back-to-back hoops from newly-checked-in Andrei Kirilenko and Okur to cut L.A.’s lead to 31-18. The Jazz had been playing at the pace at which Toby from “The Office” talks.

0:00 Just got a report from our PR staff that Williams went to get his ankle re-taped in the locker room. Remember, he’s already missed 13 games this season due to an ankle injury suffered in the preseason, so we’ll keep an eye on this.

Meanwhile, the Lakers boosted their lead to 37-20 at quarter’s end on a Gasol put-back of an Odom miss. For Pau, that’s a game-high 11 points with seven boards and two assists (plus a swat). That’s decent. The Lakers shot 11-of-20, turned the ball over just once and scored 14 points in the paint.

Continue reading ‘Lakers - Jazz Running Diary’

Lakers - Warriors Running Diary

Published
by
Ty Nowell
on December 28, 2008
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, D.J. Mbenga
Warriors: Monta Ellis, Corey Maggette, Marcus Williams

Well Lakers.com BasketBlog followers, you’ve had 29-games (and a preseason) worth of Mike Trudell, but tonight you’ll be subjected to the stylings of Ty Nowell (me). I’m sure my two fans from last year are excited. The rest of you are just going to have to survive until Friday when Mike will be back in action and giving you what you’ve come to expect from these running diaries. If you see chunks of time go by without any posts it probably means the Chargers did something that helped them back into the playoffs and I got distracted. For now they’re up 17-6 and driving so we all might get lucky.

Starters:
Lakers Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and Bynum
Warriors Jamal Crawford, Marco Belinelli, Stephen Jackson, Brandan Wright, Andris Biedrins

First Quarter
12:00 The Ronny welcome back video got a nice ovation and Fish is rocking a head band tonight. Those two events were not related.

7:38 The Lakers carry a 13-8 lead into the first break with Kobe leading the way with five-points. Early offense continues to be a focal point of the MVP’s game. D-Fish also added four points on an easy layup and an open jumper from the free throw line after a Bynum steal. The inside game hasn’t been a huge factor yet, but there was a pretty over the head no look pass from Pau to Bynum after the Spaniard got doubled down low. The transition defense hasn’t been tested.

7:29 Like clockwork, illegal defense on the Lakers.

4:32 Sloppy play and long rebounds stoke the Warriors fire and they were able to take a 20-18 lead as the Lakers decided to take the long jumpers and make ill-advised passes. Every trip down that doesn’t involve either Gasol or Bynum is just annoying. The Warriors make it unbelievably easy to score down low.

3:02 I don’t have any insightful stats for you at this point because Celina on the stat crew put her purse down on a bunch of cables and disconnected all the stat monitors in the building. I assure you she has many fine qualities and the upside of all that is that the Chargers are up 24-6 at the half and I got to watch some of it during the timeout without feeling too guilty.

Continue reading ‘Lakers - Warriors Running Diary’

Lakers - Celtics Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on December 25, 2008
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, D.J. Mbenga
Celtics: J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker

The buzz in the arena began well before the game started, even in the visiting locker room as Ray Allen in particular answered reporter’s questions for a good 12 minutes.

Allen, long known as a well-spoken, interesting interview, talked about the differences between this year’s team and last (consistency of effort and in game preparation), his comments at the ESPY’s last season about winning again in L.A. (no big deal, just natural) and about how incredibly better and offseason is after winning the championship (obviously).

Upon seeing Sam Cassell in the locker room, and after watching the entire 2008 Finals again last night, I asked him if the Celtics’ young players would be able to take on the crucial playoff roles played by P.J. Brown, James Posey and, to a lesser degree, Cassell. Sam predictably said, “Of course they will.” A player generally isn’t going to argue otherwise, but it’s really hard to argue that Boston’s bench (Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Eddie House and Leon Powe) is as good as last season’s bench. So far this season, however, Boston’s starters have been so good that the bench hasn’t needed more than one guy to play decent. We’ll see if that changes tonight.

One thing’s for sure - crowd support won’t be an issue. Even as the Lakers came out for warmups, the STAPLES Center roar was already in general fourth quarter decibels.

Yet and still, after all this build up, not much more needed to be said on either side. Both teams, the fans, the media and ABC’s executives (the ratings can’t be bad, huh?) are primed and ready to go, so here are your expected starters:

Lakers Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and Bynum
Celtics Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins

First Quarter
11:34 Ray Allen’s stroke wasted no time in giving the Celtics a 3-0 lead, after Bynum’s shot over Perkins rimmed out. Allen got a great look since L.A. wasn’t back in its halfcourt defense.

10:23 Fisher triple. Cash (not Warren). Walton had cleverly spun around Rondo for a lay-in on the previous possession, and L.A. led 5-3.

9:21 After Boston’s first turnover, Rondo picked up a cheap foul in the backcourt for his second of the game, but Doc Rivers chose to leave him in. We’ll see if that backfires … Though even if Rondo avoid’s foul No. 3, he will probably have to be less aggressive on defense than he usually is.

7:59 Dunk. Bynum. Fierce, to make it 10-7 thanks to a pretty Walton pass. Bynum did commit his first foul on the next possession, and Rondo got to the hoop for the second straight time for the Celtics to cut the lead to one. Boston’s offense barely ran through Rondo at all last season, particularly in the Finals, but he’s been the man so far this season, and today.

6:15 Perkins and Allen scored back-to-back to put Boston up 13-10 heading into the game’s first timeout, which gives us occasion to look at the special X-Mas Day footwear (pictured).

Lakers Christmas Shoes One shoe is Kobe’s special version of his “Nike Zoom Kobe IV’s” (below) while the rest of the team is wearing Nike Hyperdunks (above). I have one of each on up in press row.

5:30 As Rondo misses another shot in the lane, I’m wondering to myself why Boston hasn’t posted KG up on the block yet? That and Pierce’s isolation plays were probably the most effective in the Finals last season. Meanwhile, Bryant nailed back-to-back jumpers to put L.A. back up one.

Pau? Is 0-for-3, all on missed jumpers. We don’t see that too often.

3:16 Pierce hits his second straight jumper, and it’s Odom’s fault. After LO cleared an Eddie House miss, House picked his pocket and fed an open PP. Gasol then missed again, and KG scored in the lane for his first points to put Boston up 19-16.
Continue reading ‘Lakers - Celtics Running Diary’

Lakers - Hornets Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on December 23, 2008
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, D.J. Mbenga
Hornets: Peja Stojakovic, Antonio Daniels

Hello from New Orleans, folks. Four things you need to know:

A) The Hornets are without Peja Stojakovic and backup point guard Antonio Daniels. You can read more about that in the pregame entry.
B) In the locker room, assistant coach Frank Hamblen explained that in addition to the pick and roll defense, this game will be about dictating tempo. He said the Lakers do want to run particularly when Chris Paul gets stuck below the foul line on offense, but otherwise L.A. needs to feed its bigs and make sure to run the offense.
C) Morris Peterson is the only guard on the Hornets bench with Daniels out, and he’s 6-7 and not particularly mobile. That’s good for the Lakers in some senses, though it also means that Chris Paul will have to play 40+ minutes … Which isn’t good.
D) Josh Powell and his wife Lauren are expecting their second daughter, to be named Hayden, tonight in New Orleans.

Starting Lineups:
Lakers: Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and Bynum
Hornets: Chris Paul, Devin Brown, Rasual Butler, David West and Tyson Chandler

First Quarter
10:44 Gasol opens the scoring for L.A. with an elbow jumper, a shot the Lakers seem able to get out of the triangle.

9:44 After three straight solid defensive possessions for the Lakers (three Hornets misses from the field after Butler hit a jumper to open the scoring) led to a Bryant jumper in transition and a 4-2 early lead.

7:50 Bryant picked up his second foul on a loose ball, with the Hornets up 7-6. This will be the earliest entry point for Sasha Vujacic all season. A minute later, Vujacic would pick up a personal which could have gone on Bynum (that would have been No. 2) to put the Hornets in the bonus pretty early.

5:22 CP3’s steal in his 108th consecutive game resulted in a Butler lay-up at the other end and a 12-12 tie after Vujacic canned a three on a great pass out of the double from Gasol. You have to credit Vujacic for finding the open spot in the defense.

4:40 Bynum’s second foul came on Chandler, who’s not someone you want getting easy baskets since he’s a terrible free throw shooter (56 percent). Time for Lamar Odom. Speaking of Odom … I’m not sure people realize how strong Odom is, but after running into him and his strength trainer at consecutive road hotels, it’s easier to see how he occasionally handles big power forwards and centers. He’s a lot bigger than you think.

Continue reading ‘Lakers - Hornets Running Diary’

Lakers - Grizzlies Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on December 22, 2008
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, D.J. Mbenga
Grizzlies: Hamed Haddadi

A question about Andrew Bynum before we get started tonight: “What’s wrong?”

If you simply took a look at the box scores from L.A.’s losses in Miami and Orlando, here’s what you’d see … combined … from Bynum: 38 minutes; seven points; seven rebounds; four turnovers; nine personal fouls; zero blocks.

There’s no reason to even evaluate that, as the stats speak loudly. What I did want to do is talk to ‘Drew for a few minutes before the game to see what he’s been thinking, and here’s the gist:

“I need to get up and down the court faster, get position down low, and go to work.”

OK. That’s pretty simple. Anything else?

“I actually got out on the floor to do a little more work than usual before the game,” he told me. “Usually I just go out and shoot jump shots before the game, but tonight I really did a lot of low post work. I worked on moves, used my dribble, and things like that.”

OK. Finally, where’s your head at?

“My mindset needs to be aggressive,” he continued. “When I’m passive, I don’t play well, but when I’m aggressive I do. We’ve been focusing on getting me and Pau going offensively, but we have to make sure and get our defense going tonight.”

When prompted, Bynum did pause to joke around a bit about how he had Lil’ Wayne, T.I. and Jay-Z mix tapes and I didn’t. But he seemed generally focused, at least, so we’ll see if he’s able to move his feet defensively, stay out of foul trouble and get that offense going.

One other note: Don’t expect Kobe Bryant to shoot too much in the first quarter. This has “get my teammates involved early” written all over it.

Lakers Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and Bynum
Grizzlies Kyle Lowry, O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, Darko Milicic and Marc Gasol

First Quarter
9:45 Bynum commits a silly foul while jumping out on a screen, brushing Mike Conley Jr. with his body.

7:46 Off a nice Bryant feed, Gasol drove right around Milicic and finished with a flush at the other end.

7:12 Remember that note about Kobe passing the ball? He just passed up an easy jumper in the lane to try and feed Bynum. The ball was deflected and turned over to Memphis. On the next possession, however, Walton found Bynum with a slick pass out of the triangle for an easy dunk.

5:45 Rudy Gay hit his first triple for a 16-14 Grizzlies lead.

4:55 A nice video tribute to Gasol was played on the scoreboard during the first timeout of the game, to which the Memphis crowd responded warmly. There were certainly boos to be had, but the clear majority cheered the franchise’s first All-Star.

Continue reading ‘Lakers - Grizzlies Running Diary’

Lakers - Magic Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on December 20, 2008
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Jordan Farmar, D.J. Mbenga (meaning Sun Yue is active)
Magic: Adonal Foyle, Mike Wilks, Jeremy Richardson

At Orlando is arguably L.A.’s biggest test of the season to this point.

Sure, going to Denver, Dallas and New Orleans early in the season wasn’t easy, but that was before the rest of the league seemed to get wind of L.A.’s trapping defense. As Stu Lantz mentioned in our game preview, the Magic are a team that can take particular advantage of a trapping defense, with Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Keith Bogans and Jameer Nelson all having the ability to knock down the three. If L.A.’s forced to double Dwight Howard and leave shooters open early - or if the Magic are simply knocking down threes regardless of L.A.’s defense - the visitors will clearly be in trouble and battling from behind for much of the night.

On the other hand, perhaps this is a game that Andrew Bynum takes as a personal challenge, and shows more than a few flashes of brilliance in negating Dwight Howard? Perhaps guys like Lamar Odom and Sasha Vujacic pick up their games in Farmar’s absence and give the Lakers a spark? We’ll see in a few minutes…

Your starters:

Lakers: Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and Bynum
Magic: Jameer Nelson, Keith Bogans, Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard

First Quarter
0:00 For those curious, Amway Arena’s media food ranks in the bottom three in the NBA. Nothing personal.

11:32 Bynum was called for a personal foul for about the same amount of contact Howard gave him on the other end (no foul was called).

10:55 There’s No. 2 on Bynum. Pretty much the exact opposite of what we talked about in the pregame, and what L.A. needed from Bynum. Odom had to check in, and the Magic will surely now force-feed Howard down low. The only good news here for the Lakers is that Odom can match up better defensively on Lewis than anyone else.

9:22 While the Lakers had scored six points of their own, Turkoglu’s three was Orlando’s second in the first few minutes. so the two things that L.A. needed to focus on - not giving up threes and keeping Bynum out of foul trouble - went decidedly the other way.

8:14 So, if you take out Orlando’s two threes and Bynum’s two fouls, the Lakers actually looked pretty good. L.A. contested each shot near the lane, forcing four misses, and Bryant scored six of L.A.’s 10 points heading into the first timeout. L.A. made 3-of-7 shots and all four free throws with just a turnover.

7:00 Gasol definitely got hacked by Howard on the block, as the Lakers continued to go at the big center, but again didn’t get the foul (as Bynum hadn’t earlier). Clearly, the refs are letting Howard use his physicality, but don’t seem to be extending the same offer to Bynum/Gasol. At the other end, Lewis nailed a three to cap a 6-0 run out of the timeout. Unlucky break there for the Lakers.

5:58 Howard finally pushed his luck a bit. Fisher attacked the rim, and Howard came over to rake him in committing his second foul. Well, at least he got five fouls out of the two that were called… On came Marcin Gortat, the Polish center who’s averaging about 3.0 points and 3.2 boards this season.

5:23 Mikael Pietrus, who missed 11 games with a torn ulnar collateral ligament (whatever that is) in his right thumb, checked in for Orlando prior to a nice driving layup from Odom to make it 15-13 Lakers. Pietrus came over from the Warriors as a free agent signing, is from France and enjoys pastries. And Rene Descarte.

3:27 After a fierce Ariza put-back slam, Kobe contributed a slick and-1 off the glass to put L.A. up 20-16. From my baseline seat, it’s tough to make out a small section of the right side of the court, meaning I couldn’t see Ariza’s body until he was well above the rim hammering it home. I’m not saying he was like Hiro on “Heroes,” but that though popped in my mind when he appeared from nowhere. By the way, they’d best find a way to unkill Kristen Bell. Seriously, NBC.

1:36 L.A.’s been very active defensively, which is certainly a good sign for Lakers fans, and on the court helped keep Orlando to 35.3 percent shooting and 18 points. Meanwhile, Bryant connected on two free throws to give him 11 points, and Vujacic came into the backcourt with Fisher on the bench. Yet and still, both Ariza and Odom handled the ball after Fisher checked out minutes earlier, and it seems L.A. will go point guard by committee (which they can do with the triangle).

31.9 Fantastic finish at the rim for Kobe, whose 13 points more than double the nearest Magic player (Nelson had six). The Magic did manage to hit consecutive shots in their final two possessions to draw within one at quarter’s end, 24-23.

0:00 The recipe for a good first quarter? A great job of contesting threes and handling Howard after Bynum’s two fouls and Orlando’s 2-of-2 from deep start, plus a very effective, slashing Kobe Bryant, who took nary a deep jumper to get his 13. You think Kobe knew he had to take on more of a load tonight, which meant more attacking?
Continue reading ‘Lakers - Magic Running Diary’

Lakers - Heat Running Diary

Published
by
Mike Trudell
on December 19, 2008
in In-Game and Running Diary
. Closed

Go ahead and refresh that browser once the game starts to view the most recently updated post in the running diary.

Inactives
Lakers: DJ Mbenga, Sun Yue
Heat: James Jones, Shaun Livingston, Dorell Wright

Kobe Shoe Update: In the pregame, I mentioned that Kobe was going to be wearing his new Nike Zoom Kobe IV’s, but he’s actually wearing a special edition: the Venoms. According to Kobe’s people, only 48 pairs of these specific pairs are available: 24 in Miami, 12 in L.A. and 12 on Kobe’s website. Ariza is wearing the normal Nike Zoom Kobe IV’s. Now that we’re settled on that front, here are your starters:

Lakers Fish, Kobe, Luke, Pau and Bynum
Heat Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, Udonis Haslem and Joel Anthony

First Quarter
Let’s go back to our timestamps here, shall we?

8:13 Guess how many points the Lakers had at this point of the game? If you weren’t watching, you’d be wrong, because “three” is the right answer. Five turnovers, 1-for-3 from the field and even a basket interference call made sure of it. The Heat weren’t much better though, going 1-for-8 and missing two free throws for just four points. The game was as slow starting as the crowd was slow arriving (think E-Honda in a 40-yard dash).

6:29 Wade knocked down his second consecutive field goal, this one a three, to give the Heat an early 11-7 lead. At the other end, Kobe answered in the lane, and something tells me that the Olympic work-out buddies are both in “Alpha Dog” mode tonight…

5:14 With Kobe guarding him, Wade pulled up for his sixth shot of the game out of a timeout, and for the fourth time, he hit it (10 points). Shockingly, Bryant ran down to shoot at the other end, but missed for the second time with two makes. Fortunately for the Lakers, Gasol (who’s moving fine and showing no signs of sickness) was there to tip in. 16-13, Miami.

3:19 We’ve been talking about Gasol’s gazelle-like floor-running throughout this season, and it was evident once again in the first quarter after Walton gather a loose ball. Pau, who like everyone else was below the free throw line extended, immediately took off, sprinted past rookie Mario Chalmers and received a nice pass from Walton for an uncontested dunk. Meanwhile, coaches watching KCAL and ESPN nodded their heads, recalling their collective “big men get rewarded when they run” mantra.

1:52 Wade drew his second phantom call of the first quarter when Bryant appeared to cleanly strip him as Dwyane flashed through the lane. Wade’s well known to draw fouls when he doesn’t get touched (certainly more than Kobe these days), and that was no exception to the rule. If you saw it on TV, you may have had a better angle than me, but my opinion comes more from Kobe’s reaction … Which was basically to run all the way down to the other free throw line in protest. If he’s emphasizing his disgust that emphatically, it probably wasn’t a foul.

1:29 You know it, Phil knows it, Jordan knows it: Farmar’s been struggling recently. Which is why his game-tying three was a good early sign.

0:00 Kobe grabbed a loose ball off a Farmar drive near the buzzer and stuck it off glass for two, which tied the game at 26 and gave Bryant eight points.

Quarter Notes

  • The Lakers shot a very solid 61.1 percent, but turned the ball over seven times in the quarter … Which is about four times too many, particularly as they managed only five assists.
  • Wade led all scorers with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, plus a steal and two boards.
  • No. 2 overall pick Michael Beasley, who’s coming off the bench now for the Heat, managed four points in 7:46 of action.
  • Odom, Ariza and Farmar combined for nine points and three boards (all Odom) off L.A.’s pine.
    Continue reading ‘Lakers - Heat Running Diary’