Saturday, November 1, 2008

Lakers Post Game: Lakers 104, Dennver 97

Thoughts on the Nuggets:
  • Being that it was his first game of the season I expected a big time performance from Carmelo Anthony. I thought he would come in wanting to make a statement for himself but instead he was a no show.
  • This may be the season that Allen Iverson starts showing his age. He didn't seem to have the same motor that he did in the past tonight, plus he got blocked by Fisher and had trouble getting by Farmar off the dribble all in the first quarter. He's still a terrific player, but perhaps his days of averaging 30 ppg are over.
  • Anthony Carter was guarding Kobe Bryant for the majority of the game. Is there a team that has a worse defender to guard the opponents star perimeter player?
  • George Karl before the season started stated he wanted Melo and AI shoot less, yet I didn't see much offensive scheming to get his players good shots. Don't let the first half assissts fool you: this is still an offense that relys on too much one on one play, expect it's less potent now given that they've taken the ball away from the guys who can actually work a defense.
Thoughts on the Lakers:
  • The offense struggled tonight. Guys missed some shots they could have made and their ball and player movement were not in sync. That being said, it is important for the Lakers to keep up their defensive energy at all times regardless of their offense. Granted, they had a lot of people in foul trouble but in the first half they lacked energy getting back in transition and in their rotations which lead to a lot of easy baskets. It was good to see the Lakers make adjustments in the second half though, to control the tempo and avoid the fouls.
  • Lamar came into the game ready to play. His first play of the game he got a rebound and dribbled it all the way down the court for a layup and he was aggressively posting up his man on the block throughout the game. He was probably too amped as he picked up 3 fouls in less than half a quarter. Nonetheless, hopefully he continues to bring the same type of high energy play off the bench for the rest of the season.
  • In the first half of the game you really could see everything that Gasol brings to the Lakers on offense. He's has such terrific skills for a big man that he really makes the offense run smoothly: He can play midrange and close to the basket, he can play one on one and finish plays from others, he's a very good offensive rebounder, and his IQ and passing abilities leads to easy buckets for his teammates. He's just a fantastic player.
  • It will be interesting to see how the Lakers bench plays on the road this season. They struggled last season so hopefully they can maintain a more consistent level of play this time around. A lot of this will depend on Jordan Farmar who is the motor that runs the bench mob.
  • It was interesting to see Lamar Odom sub in for Andrew Bynum during crunch time. I believed Lamar would play during the final minutes, but I assumed he would come in for Radmanovic rather than Bynum. Radmanovic must be really winning over Jackson with his defense to be playing over both Bynum and Vujacic. Lets see how this plays out as the season goes along. Update: Phil Jackson stated in his post game interview that he took Bynum out late in the fourth because he had five fouls and wanted save him in case he was needed later on. Assuming that in the next close game Phil does use Bynum in the final minutes, lets look to see who is used to fill out the fifth position on the floor.
  • I don't think I've ever seen Phil Jackson pump his first before, let alone for the 3rd game of the season. Goes to show how much he wants home court advantage this year.
Ironically, this poor showing against the Nuggets shows how good the Lakers really are. The team struggled to get a rhythem throughout the game and nothing seemed to go their way ie the officiating. Yet, a win really was never in doubt and in the end they won quite handily. There are not going to be many teams that challenge the Lakers this season and I do believe that they will end up with the best record in the NBA.

Please feel free to leave your impressions on the game in the comments section

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