Lakers Split in Midwest

Bucks 100, Lakers 91

With their two most productive players (Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson) out of action, and significantly undersized, the Milwaukee Bucks ran the Lakers ragged and beat them with consistency, a balanced attack, a better bench and very few mistakes. They turned the ball over a mere eight times and stole it seven times. (The Lakers were 14 and 5.) Just as Indiana beat the Lakers a few days ago with superior balance, the Bucks had six guys in double figures with the kind of shot distribution that coaches love.

The Lakers won the third quarter by a single point and lost the other three quarters. During the first half I saw one thing that turned me on and made me think that Kobe was on the kind of mission I had recommended. Kobe, who finished with nine assists, dished throughout the first half, passing up shots that he could have easily taken without any criticism.  I thought they were on to something but that changed in the second half, probably because Kobe doesn’t have enough faith in that approach and partly because Mike Brown hasn’t supported that approach.

Kobe took 21 shots and Gasol took 18 shots. That’s more like it. But Pau hit only six of those 18 shots and never went to the foul line. Funny, he had seven offensive rebounds, more than the entire Bucks team. But only six baskets in 38 minutes?

Another problem is that Bynum took only ten shots. The Lakers have to be the Big Three, not the Big Two-and-a-half. That won’t work.

Andrew Goudelock hit three 3s and was the only bright spot off the bench.

Lakers 106, T-Wolves 101

The Lakers shot better than the T-Wolves—from the field, from the stripe and from the 3-point line—but the Wolves outplayed the Lakers. While the Lakers had 11 turnovers, which isn’t bad, they also had no steals, giving them a -11 in turnovers, which is bad. The Wolves committed four turnovers. Four! And none of them by any backcourt player. They also had five steals for a +1 in turnovers.

Shall we linger a moment on the offensive rebounds comparison? The big bad Lakers had seven of them—one by Bynum and one by Gasol.  Two rebounds total from the Lakers big men in a combined 76 minutes! The Wolves had 24 offensive rebounds (more than three times as many) and their two big men—Love and Pekovic—had 14 offensive rebounds, seven each—Pekovic playing all of 19 minutes. As a result, the Wolves took 104 shots to the Lakers’ 79 shots—25 more shots!

Kobe took exactly twice as many shots as Pau and Bynum, which I have ripped as a losing formula, but it worked last night because Kobe scored 35 points (14-29 from the field), Pau scored 28 (11-15) and Bynum scored 21 (8-14). That’s a combined 78 points, which is what a Big Three is supposed to score.

They need more help from the bench. Since Matt Barnes has started, the Lakers bench has suffered.  Last night World Peace started but they can’t hide the obvious fact that they need a starting small forward.

And while they’re at it, they need a point guard and a backup center.

What NBA contender does not have a dynamic point guard, a small forward who can score and a backup center? Actually, I can’t think of one playoff-caliber team that doesn’t have all three. The Lakers don’t have even one of the three! And yet they expect to win. That’s chutzpah, baby.

If any Lakers fan is thrilled about last night’s win, they’re just not paying attention. Bottom line: They haven’t played well, win or lose. That 12-9 record of theirs might seem semi-gaudy in the East, but in the West the Lakers are hanging by a thread, currently tied for the eighth and ninth spot with the Spurs.