Jazz vs. Lakers (Game 3) - Sharing The Wealth, Showing The Focus

This is the same team that for 3 years has played not only absent-minded, but at times completely absent defense, right? This is the same team that only came to play every once in a while, right? This is the same team that very few thought was even capable of playing defense the way they have for 9 whole quarters in row now, right?
Turns out it is the same Laker team. Better yet, it’s the same uniform but with a squad that (for at least these first 2 ½ games) seems to be hell bent on giving 100% on both ends of the court.
I mean, it’s obviously way too early to be counting on the consistency everyone has been longing for from this team, but this start has got to get you thinking that maybe they will show the desire to give it their full effort, no matter who the opponent. I guess I’ll be a believer when I see this Laker team give this kind of defensive and overall team effort when they play the Philadelphias and Minnesotas of the NBA. Until then, though, I’ll take this – I’ll take this without an ounce of hesitation.
Starting off with Kobe, this team’s defense has improved tenfold over the last couple of insufferably aggravating seasons. When the leader of the team is setting such a tenacious example on the defensive end as Kobe has, you can’t help but to at least try to follow suit. That’s just what has happened. We haven’t seen Kobe play this kind of all out, lock-down, downright stunning defense for a long time. Playing the summer out with the national team has seemed to re-spark the passion for defense that Kobe staked his reputation on.
Take that defensive play by Kobe and couple it with the incredible hustle driven D Luke has been playing and suddenly the rest of the team starts believing that maybe defense does need to be played. Just as with the Phoenix route, Luke’s recovery speed on defense has been a marked improvement over last year.
Sticking with the defensive end of the ball, the middle is looking like its getting some early shoring up. Kwame’s forte’ always has been defense instead of his fumbling offense, but its showing brighter now than it has in the past. Starting Kwame is a dicey proposition sometimes, but for the time being it’s serving its purpose. The other sides of the paint defense, Bynum was looking much more solid and above all, assured tonight. Andrew was an imposing force out there. There was no waltzing into the lane for easy lay-ups with either of the Lakers premiere big men on the floor. With that and the perimeter defense waking up a bit, oddly enough with much thanks to a once worse Derek Fisher, the defensive profile of the Lakers is astounding right now.
It’s that perimeter defense, predominantly by Kobe that is throwing teams into confusion a touch. Gone is the scouting report of simply getting around the outer shell of the Lakers (which wasn’t too tough). Now it’s not such an easy thing to move freely from high or low post to the outside. There is an impedance of movement the Lakers are causing that is a joy to watch.
Offensively there were some seriously great things to see in this one. From the two man games of Luke and Kwame or Kobe and Bynum, to the brilliant court vision of Luke, to Kobe’s within context (and utterly smooth) 30+ point performance, to Fisher taking the ball strong to the hoop every time, to the biggest spark of the game Jordan Farmar.
So far from camp to these first 3 games, this may be on e of the biggest jump in confidence and improvement from a Laker player in a long, long time. Drafting Crittenton wasn’t only the right thing to do personnel wise, but it certainly lit a fire under Farmar that I hope never gets doused. That one little run there in the 4th when Farmar decided to take the game over was simply unexpected to say the least. The bench (if you didn’t get to see it at home) was more excited than the fans to see Farmar simply explode the way he did. The bets part of Jordan’s game tonight was his end to end work. There was a lot of hustle along the outside from Farmar that typically was pushing the Jazz to low percentage distant shots or getting Williams to take tougher than normal shots. Soon after, it was a quick push to the offensive end that caught the Jazz flat-footed on all fronts.
Also on the offensive end of the ball that was the way I want to see Kobe get his – rhythmically and within the context of the team concept. Sure it’s easier when the rest of the team giving forth the effort that Kobe comes with every night, but if he can continue to trust his teammates (even through occasional droughts) this year, Kobe will find the load will lighten, and better yet, the game will become easier for everyone.
By the way, that block on Kirilenko – man oh man was that sweet or what!?
While we’re on the subject of Kirilenko there was big key in this victory. The Lakers finally accounted for the defense of Andrei. Last year especially, the Laker s seemed to forget about the great weak side shot blocking of Kirilenko. Tonight, when screen sets were there or a play was developing on the strong side of the ball, there was an obvious push for the Lakers to shut him out of side to side movement. That was a giant key to keeping the Lakers offense flowing freely the way it did.
As for everyone else on the offensive end of the court…
Andrew was a presence tonight. It wasn’t simply because he’s a big body in the paint. He was getting position early, and holding through the strength he got this summer. The Jazz had real trouble finding a way to push Andrew out of position. It was something I was hoping Kwame would have adopted in the early going, but it was even sweeter to see Andrew embrace his size and use it the way he did.
Ronny is running the wings on breaks with incredible fluidity. To that end, spacing on breaks was on the money. Crowding the lane or making flat passing angles through bad spacing was gone. A lot was due to the assertive ball handling of Fisher and Farmar, but more importantly it looked to be something nobody had to concentrate on – it was coming naturally. Ronny was also doing a fantastic job of rolling out the paint when the ball came in the middle. It was pulling at least one guy out of the paint (often two) and opening up a lot of room for Andrew, Fish or Kobe to operate.
A couple things to improve on…
One big thing I’d like to see Andrew do is re-post quicker. When he did get pushed out of the post he was hesitant to bully his way back to where he needed to be. Instead, he was backing down and often getting lost on the weak side mid-post. Moving with more assertion from weak to strong will establish Andrew’s presence even more s.
The second unit has got to learn to rotate out to the top of sets to give a passing option to the ball handler. They were standing still creating an unintended isolation for whoever had the ball. When they allowed the Jazz to settle into position like that it was killing the ball movement that got the Lakers the lead or kept them in the game.
Once a shot does go up, the Lakers did a good job of at least getting a hand in the face, but there was one too many times of a player or two putting their arms out rather than up.
All in all, wow - an amazing team game. That box score was a thing of beauty. Even better, the hustle and focus the Lakers showed was inspiring.
Again, yeah it’s far too early to get all hopped up, but pulling off this kind of hustle after the drubbing of the Suns was both unexpected and more than welcome. As is the key to most things, consistency will tell the tale. It’s been a couple games now, but win or lose, good team or bad, this kind of dedication to defense will make everyone on and off the court more than happy to be involved with the Lakers.

by Crucifido's Corner
ClubLakers.com