316 Report: Lakers vs. Suns

By Craig Kwasniewski

Just a few thoughts on the Lakers 113-100 loss to Phoenix from Section 316:

-The Lakers lost the game in the last two minutes of the second half. Don't get me wrong, Phoenix controlled most of the game, but until then the Lakers were able to counter every Suns run to keep it close, even leading by 3 points in the 2nd quarter. But in the final two minutes the Suns went on one of their typical spurts, exacerbated by some poor shot selection from the Lakers. Kobe tried to draw a foul with a terrible over-the-shoulder flip and complained about the call rather than rushing back to defend. As everyone knows, the Suns feast off bad perimeter shooting and break for easy hoops. So instead of a 3 point deficit and some momentum like game 3, the Lakers trailed by 7 with a very quiet Staples Center at half.

-Kobe needs to take advice from LeBron on how to draw a foul. There were at least 3 moments were Kobe drove into the Suns defense desperately trying to an And-1. Kobe ended up throwing up a WILD shot while being triple-teamed, killing the possession and leaving at least two Lakers wide open. Brett noted that LeBron simply tries to draw a foul (when he drives at a defender, lowering his shoulder and drawing a whistle) while Kobe's looking for the crowd-pleasing And-1.

-The Lakers bigs are too slow for the Suns. In game 3, the Lakers used one of their bigs to quickly double Nash up top and flash down to cover the post. The problem was that they are just too damn slow in getting down low that the Lakers had to rotate help defense from the corner to pick up Suns bigs. This is why Bell and Barbosa are so wide open for those corner threes. This is also where Bruce Bowen, Michael Finley and Jerry Stackhouse kill the Lakers. In game 4, the Suns were too quick for the double team and were able to pick and roll the Lakers to death with Stoudemire and Marion dunking off the roll.

-The key number for the Lakers is 26. For the Lakers to have any chance, they need at least 26 free throw attempts. Why 26? No real statistical reason, it just shows that the Lakers are attacking the hoop and getting the Suns into foul trouble. As bad as the Lakers opened game 3 (down 31-17 at the end of the 1st quarter), they attacked the basket from the opening tip and got 12 freethrow attempts in the 1st period, getting Stoudemire in foul trouble along the way. In game 4, they didn't attack the lane, they didn't post up, and most importantly, they didn't get the Suns' bigs in foul trouble. The Lakers finished with 17 freethrow attempts... just not enough patience on offense.

-Steve Nash had a career-high 23 assists in the game. He was able to pick the right spots, but as I mentioned, the key was the quickness with which the Suns attacked using the pick and roll. The Laker bigs were too slow and Nash was able to find the bigs for endless amount of inside shots.

-This series will be over on Wednesday night. Forget all the talk about the Lakers "exacting revenge" from last season's blown 3-1 lead. The Lakers aren't athletic enough to hang with the Suns and the team chemistry isn't there to compensate for lack of talent. I see game 5 as a 10-15 point Suns win.

That's a-booot two times we eliminated you... eh?

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Check out the URL I posted...I think you will enjoy the video, it includes a section on Kobe Bryant

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