doitmitch.com

Sasha happily learning how to hug, and expose himself

Memphis 114, Lakers 111

How could the Lakers lose against one of the league’s worst teams, especially when Kobe goes off for 53 points and 10 rebounds?

Shooting 15-45 from three-point territory (a new high for 3-points attempted) could do it, especially when those long misses fuel fastbreaks led by their quick guards and finished by their long forwards.

Kobe was a sizzling 9-17, the rest of the team stunk, most spectacularly by Sasha Vujacic, who shot 14 threes and made 4. Probably cost us the game.

But.

He was 5-17 overall. No other Laker shot more than 10 (Turiaf). Loss aside, I kinda dig it.

In my mind, that’s what separates great shooters from decent shooters. A decent shooter will end up 1-6 in a bad game. A great shooter will end up 5-17 in a game, like Sasha, because he has that kind of confidence in himself, as do his teammates in him. Miss or make, Sasha is on the receiving end of many passes from a penetrating Kobe, and Sasha is not hesitating in letting it fly. Is Phil stupid for keeping Sasha in the game? Is Kobe stupid for passing to Sasha? Is Sasha stupid for shooting the ball every damn time? Three stupids make a genius.

Sasha’s poor shooting was reminiscent those airballs Kobe had against the Jazz as we were eliminated in the playoffs. He had the confidence to keep shooting it, it was horrifying and amazing to watch, kind of like Nate Robinson’s 300 failed attempts in the dunk contest. People are groaning, shifting in their seats, and the guy keeps going at it as one would keep one’s head under a blanket to see how long he could tolerate his own fart.

Also, Sasha’s poor shooting didn’t prevent him from trying hard on defense, as he was one of the few Lakers who exerted themselves defensively. Maybe he felt bad for missing all those shots and tried to make up for it. Nah, didn’t see any of the other Lakers trying to make up for their missed shots.

His poor shooting failed us and was a major factor in our loss, but considering the context, zero post presence, foul-plagued big men, and a sick Odom, our team was searching for somebody to step up. While Sasha failed, I love his confidence, which Sasha demonstrated throughout his career, even when he could hit shots only in practice.

That kind of confidence is really based on hard work and an intrinsic belief in one’s ability to perform under pressure, a willingness to seize the moment as an opportunity rather than a burden.

It was an exciting game, it’s too bad we couldn’t finish the incredible comeback. Not sure how we left Jax open, which ruined a couple of tough clutch threes by Kobe, one of them off-balance.

However, this game was a major setback in focus. It was lost by the mental breakdown in the first half. A 2-3 minute stretch when we lost all sight of executing our offense, jacking up jumpshots without any penetration or ball movement, throwing passes away to the Warriors who played the passing lanes all night. Kind of disappointing how unprepared the players were, or the lack of discipline. Everybody on the Lakers should take responsibility for the loss, including Kobe, who should have corralled his teammates and set them on course, not gunning for the comeback himself. He did a much better job in the 2nd half, including his heroics at the end. But his teammates showed some brainlessness by following Kobe’s example and jacking up jump shots. They also turned the ball over way too much, which led to easy points off turnovers for the lightning quick Warriors, who beat us on speed from point guard to center. Just one or two possessions without doing something incredibly stupid might have given us the victory. Alas.

In a game with the Warriors, like the Suns, without Bynum we’re going to have to play an uptempo game. It’s inevitable due to their advantage in personnel for the small ball. Controlling the tempo won’t happen without Bynum. But what we can do is keep our heads in the game. That one play by Vujacic, one-on-four in a desperation attempt to win back the crowd, just capped off five or six idiotic possessions.

The Warriors play a game full of runs. But the Lakers can’t find themselves down by 23 points because players begin to quit and not play together.

That we turned it around at halftime, by playing aggressive and hustling, should be an important lesson for tomorrow’s rematch.

Fight hard and fight together, and we’ll prevail.

P.S. On offense, take our time. Even if the shotclock expires a few times, having the Warriors take the ball out of bounds is much better than a long rebound kickstarting Monta Ellis to the basket. The Warriors overplay the passing lanes to steal the ball and generate their fastbreaks, so Phil needs to draw up some counterplays, fake passes and fake screens, backdoor cuts, etc. to make the Warriors pay. The best way to play good defense against the Warriors is to take good shots in our offense, limit turnovers, and knock Monta Ellis on his ass a few times.

In reference to the previous post, on the keys to winning without Gasol:

1. Focus: Failed. Second quarter breakdown: Leading by 1 at the end of the 1st quarter, the Rockets’ reserves led a charge that extended the lead to 15 by halftime. Fourth quarter collapse: Down by only 2 with 6 minutes to play, the Lakers folded down the stretch. The deficit grew to 10 points in 3 minutes. Individually, Lamar Odom and Vladimir Radmanovic’s failed to control their emotions, drawing technical fouls. Odom’s kicking the ball into the stands and Radmanovic’s arguing a call show a lack of composure.

2. Defense - solid post defense, poor point guard defense. Ronny Turiaf did an admirable job protecting the basket (3 blocks, including one on Dikembe Mutumbo). The Lakers effectively took away any interior game from the Rockets, outscoring them 48-32 in the paint. Didn’t matter because Rafer Alston had a career night, hitting 8-11 threes. The Lakers didn’t close out on shooters, namely Rafer Alston, and it cost them the game. Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar overplayed Alston’s drive - a costly mistake. They consistently went under the pick, allowing Alston to shoot behind screens. The adjustment came too late, and when it did happen later in the fourth, Alston found the open lane for the layup, as the big man didn’t pick him up, the miscommunication adding insult to injury.

3. Turiaf stepped up. Mutumbo’s presence was effectively marginalized. We won the center position tonight, and Turiaf deserves credit for acclimating himself to his role after his surprising stinker in the last game.

4. Farmar still didn’t get enough minutes. Not quite sure why Fish got so much burn, considering he wasn’t having a good game. Farmar was marginally better in fewer minutes, but probably had a better chance of being a more viable option in our stagnant offense. Farmar’s main mistake is falling in love with the 3-pointer, instead of using his athleticism to attack the basket.

5. Walton was quite productive, 9 points in 14 minutes, and I’m not quite sure why he didn’t get more playing time over Radmanovic, who had 5 points in 25 minutes, and generally looked like he didn’t care about the game.

6. Fish and Vujacic - mixed reviews. Fish didn’t take many shots this game; he wasn’t taking bad shots so much as being generally ineffective. Vujacic had 7 points in less than 20 minutes, on a fairly efficient 2-5.

7. Lamar Odom had a Lamar Odom game. 17 points, 11 rebounds. What was different about this game is that against his smaller opponents, he scored on post-ups and also had 2 blocks. The Lakers should have exploited Odom in the post more often, although Odom could have been more assertive in getting position and asking for the ball. He had a solid game, but he needs to be more aggressive in order to be a decisive factor in the game.

8. Kobe ran out of gas. Hounded by Battier on offense, shutting down T-Mac on defense, playing 48 minutes robbed him of his energy down the stretch, leading to jumpers that fell short and layups that weren’t converted. His legs were gone. His confidence and sense of the moment still gave him the will to take over the game, but his body betrayed him at the end. The mind is willing, but the body is weak.

=============

How would the Lakers have beaten the Rockets? Focus better, keep their composure. On defense, close out on Rafer Alston’s three-point shooting, and point guards need to go over the screen. Farmar needed more minutes to take some of the scoring pressure off Kobe, and Odom needed to get more touches in the post. Kobe was searching for somebody to help him on offense, even feeding Mbenga on slip screens. He simply needs more help, since he was also shutting McGrady down. He needs something left in the tank to close out the game in the 4th, but he won’t if the Lakers keep placing such heavy responsibilities on him.

Keys to stealing victories:

1. Focus. Seems obvious, but it’s absolutely essential considering the situation. Focus throughout the game keeps the game close. Don’t get down on ourselves, don’t let a few baskets become a major run. Suffering blowouts can kill a team’s confidence, especially a squad that has lost major players to injury. Coaches need to call timeouts and run a tight ship. Players need to be mentally tough and disciplined in their execution, and those with fragile minds must keep their stuff together, particularly Lamar Odom. Lamar is the type of player who plays well when everything is going well, but has trouble turning the tide. Lamar once dribbled the ball inbounds instead of passing it, so focus should be a priority for him. We should never be overconfident in a game, nor lose our composure.

2. Defense. Without Bynum, the Lakers will have limitations to their level of defense. Turiaf can try protecting the basket, and the one advantage with Pau out is probably defense. Mbenga and Turiaf are better defensive presences than Gasol, who might block a couple shots a game, but isn’t an intimidating force; he easily gets pushed and bullied out of the kill zone. But Fisher and Farmar must be able to pressure the perimeter better to prevent Turiaf from getting into foul trouble. That’s part of team defense; the perimeter and the paint need to work together. They need to defend the pick and roll better, which depends on preparation and communication. Players need to close out on open shooters - this is just a matter of effort. In general, players must hustle instead of playing passively, force turnovers rather than gamble, crash the boards rather than watch. Considering all this, benching Radmanovic is probably the appropriate move to immediately improve the team’s defense. Turiaf: protect the basket and rebound. Odom: rebound and play good man defense. Kobe: shut your man down and don’t cheat. Fish/Famar: pressure the ball without getting into foul trouble. Sasha: hound your opponents, get into their heads. Walton: Rotate, rebound, and draw charges. In order to play better defense, we need to make sure the players capable of playing defense are on the floor, and are on the same page.

3. Ronny Turiaf needs to become a weapon, he needs to play his game. He needs to play loose and fun and wild. Don’t try to force him into any particular roles, such as a rebounder or hacker. Turiaf is a talented forward with a full range of skills. Give it to him in the post when he has position. Let him take the jumper when his defender sags on him. He can change the game when he’s confident, so we need to involve him in the offense as much as possible. If we can establish Turiaf in the post, we can run our offense that much more effectively (instead of relying on Kobe or broken plays).

4. Jordan Farmar must be given more minutes. Without Pau and Bynum, he’s our best scorer after Kobe. We need his production to prevent a stagnant offense relying too much on Kobe. We need him playing confidently and in rhythm.

5. Walton needs a larger role. This season, our chemistry relied heavily upon the scoring, passing, and space-creating from Bynum and Pau. However, we also had decent chemistry last year, when Walton had a major role in the offense. Phil Jackson called him the “yeast” due to his ability to involve his teammates effectively. Injuries, lack of confidence in his shot, the return of Radmanovic and the rise of Vujacic, along with the shift in the offense towards Bynum, then Pau, all contributed to Walton’s decreased role. But if there’s a player who can shoulder playmaking duties, that’s one fewer responsibility for Kobe.

6. Derek Fisher and Sasha Vujacic need to take better shots. During the loss against the Hornets last night, Fisher and Sasha took too many jumpers, too quickly. Their roles should be shooting when they’re open, in rhythm, receiving passes as they spot up on the three-point line. Sasha has a quick release, and doesn’t need much lift on his legs, and that type of overconfidence is becoming a bad habit.

7. Lamar Odom needs to play smarter. He’s not a 20 ppg scorer. One of the misconceptions about Odom is that he is a talented scorer. He’s not, he never has been. So fans who want Odom to be more aggressive are perplexed when Phil Jackson expresses satisfaction with his play. We don’t want Odom taking heat-check shots, nor should he drive mindlessly, since the result is usually an offensive foul, because opponents know he drives left every time. He just needs to take what the defenses give him, and he needs to maintain focus and confidence so that he capitalizes on those opportunities. When he has mismatches, he should exploit them; when he doesn’t, he needs to move the ball. Unfortunately, trying to revive his natural talent, his instinctual skills, will most likely expose some of his major flaws as well, such as his difficulties in playing in a halfcourt set (he doesn’t move well without the ball). However, as long as Odom rebounds, pushes the ball, play free and smart, he can be a consistent player for us.

8. Kobe needs to revert to Black Mamba aggressive mode. Basketball is a natural game; when teammates are reliable, stars trust them, when they’re not, stars don’t. But no one player can consistently win ballgames without help (although there have been 3-4 game stretches during which Kobe has done it). Kobe can’t sit back and try to get his teammates involved, because the reality is that most teams will be more talented the Lakers current lineup. They’ll get outplayed. So we need to milk Kobe as much as we can. He needs to score a lot, he needs to make perfect decisions in the midst of his berserker rage, he needs to pass when a teammate has a better shot, he needs to rebound, he needs to play defense, he needs to try filling as many deficiencies as possible. He needs to extend himself, and knowing Kobe, he relishes these challenges (just not for years and years with no help in sight).

8 Keys to Winning, and from Phil to Kobe to Mbenga, everybody needs to perform at his highest level.