Open thread: Regular season game 73

by Jake Whitacre on Mar 30, 2008 1:51 PM EDT in Game Threads

The Essentials:
Wizards (38-34) at Lakers (49-24)
9:30 p.m.
Staples Center
CSN

This Year:
February 3: Lakers 103, Wizards 91

Notable Lakers numbers this season:
6th in expected winning percentage (.671)
6th in pace factor (94.6 possessions per game)
4th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating
5th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating

Key Links (drop any others in the comments)
Forum Blue and Gold
Lakers Blog
Lakers Library
TruthAboutIt Preview for Wiz/Lakers and Nats/Braves
FB&G Game Thread
A Nice Little Feature on Songaila
We signed Chris Whitney?

Starting Lineups:
Lakers
PG: Derek Fisher
SG: Kobe Bryant
SF: Lamar Odom
PF: Vladimir Radmanovic
C: Ronny Turiaf

Wizards
PG: Antonio Daniels
SG: DeShawn Stevenson
SF: Caron Butler
PF: Antawn Jamison
C: Brendan Haywood

Tonight's Lines
Wizards at Lakers: Lakers by 8.5
Over/Under on Total Scoring: 209.5

Root for the Sixers: It might sound weird, but if the Sixers win against Cleveland plus a Wizards win tonight would put the Wizards only half a game out of 4th place.

Something to check on during commercials: Tonight is opening night at the shiny, new Nationals Park where the home team takes on the Braves. Federal Baseball and Capitol Punishment can fill you in on what to look for tonight (during breaks between the Wizards-Lakers game of course).

One Year Ago Today: 3-30-07 - Never Forget (Tip of the hat to Asian Zero)

Who's going to step up tonight? All you have to do is replace 60 points:

Walking Wounded: While we can lament all that we want about losing a player capable of putting up 60 points, the Lakers don't want to hear any of it. Andrew Bynum is getting closer to returning, but he's still a ways off. Pau Gasol is getting better, but he's doubtful for tonight's game. Then there's Derek Fisher, who's still playing despite the partially torn tendon in his foot. The injuries have really piled up for the Lakers who have lost back to back home games to the Bobcats and the Grizzlies. Essentially the injuries the Lakers have dealt with recently have returned them to what they were last year: Kobe, and not much else.

Keys to the Game:

Stop Kobe. DeShawn said he's the hardest player in the NBA to guard, but you probably already knew that.
The Wizards absolutely have to dominate inside. With Gasol and Bynum out, there's no excuse for why they shouldn't.
Even with those two out, the Lakers are still a formidable team. As you might remember, they didn't have either in the first time we played and that didn't seem to stop them at all, so effort is going to have to be a lot better than what it's been the last few games.
AD needs to take it to the hole early and see how Fisher holds up against him. I'm no medical expert, but I'm guessing it's not as easy to keep up that defensive stance with a ligament tear in your foot. If Derek can do it, more power to him, but don't wait until you're down by 10 to start exploiting match-ups.

This is an open thread, so if you're planning on going to Cancun after the game, don't tell us about your plans during practice.

GO WIZARDS!

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Comments

Picks

Wiz
Over

For the record, this preview ended up waaay longer than I thought it would. If tomorrow's thread is short in comparison, my bad.

Bullets Forever: Where discussion on personnel decisions turn into arguments about Lindsay Lohan.

by Jake Whitacre on Mar 30, 2008 2:01 PM EDT reply actions

Lakers

(But we'll get 'em back in the Finals)

(Next year)

Over

by crucifictorious on Mar 30, 2008 3:30 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah

First we need to beat the Spurs in the Finals this year, then we'll take care of the Lakers next season.

Bullets Forever: Where discussion on personnel decisions turn into arguments about Lindsay Lohan.

by Jake Whitacre on Mar 30, 2008 5:03 PM EDT up reply actions

Wiz

Under

I just want to win. That's it. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Is that asking too much???

by kdp922 on Mar 30, 2008 3:43 PM EDT reply actions

picks

Lakers, over.

I'm worried Kobe et al are angry about losing to two bad teams and they're going to take it out on us.

by Aldo on Mar 30, 2008 4:37 PM EDT reply actions

Picks

Lakers, under

by ooba on Mar 30, 2008 5:30 PM EDT reply actions

pay cut?

Comcast Sports just reported that Gilbert said the Wizards should try to resign Antawn first, and then, if necessary, Gil would take a "pay cut" to retain the nucleus of the team. I assume "pay cut" means less than a maximum contract and not less than he's making now, but this is the first I've heard him say anything like this. Gil speaks his mind and changes his mind frequently, but this seems like kind of a big deal.

by Aldo on Mar 30, 2008 9:07 PM EDT reply actions

Whoa

That's pretty big, actually.

Hopefully one of our city's intrepid newspaper reporters will pick up on that.

Predicting how this squad is going to perform is like trying to solve trig problems with pen and paper. -sierradave.

by Mike Prada on Mar 30, 2008 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Also

That's a serious negotiating error. Don't think Ernie Grufeld isn't listening.

Predicting how this squad is going to perform is like trying to solve trig problems with pen and paper. -sierradave.

by Mike Prada on Mar 30, 2008 9:12 PM EDT up reply actions

If anyone really needs an agent -

right now, it's Gilbert.

by ooba on Mar 31, 2008 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions

AD's hurt

Left the game early with a wrist problem, not sure he'll be back.

I'm on Lakers LP, so they aren't updating us.

Predicting how this squad is going to perform is like trying to solve trig problems with pen and paper. -sierradave.

by Mike Prada on Mar 30, 2008 9:51 PM EDT reply actions

WOW

how do you not get that rebound...

I just want to win. That's it. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Win. Is that asking too much???

by kdp922 on Mar 31, 2008 12:15 AM EDT reply actions

Twas an admirable effort

And there's a lot to be happy about, but the inability to establish the inside game doomed us tonight, especially against a team missing Pau and Bynum.

Predicting how this squad is going to perform is like trying to solve trig problems with pen and paper. -sierradave.

by Mike Prada on Mar 31, 2008 12:19 AM EDT reply actions

Just got back from the game

Glad that the Wizards came out my way now that I'm rarely if ever in D.C. anymore.

Random musings:
-Defense as a whole was really disappointing tonight. WAY too many uncontested shots and wide-open stuff, especially in the first half. Lakers were able to penetrate and dish to the open man way too often, as evidenced by the statline of Sasha/Radmonovic/Walton. Thoughts on the defensive approach, anyone? I just don't get what we were going for other than being really aggressive with Kobe, which makes sense but resulted in a lot of discouraging open shots and 13 assists from Kobe.
-Offense looked good at times but at stretches it looked like it didn't have a point. I think it mostly came down to certain players just deciding to take over and willing themselves to score, as DeShawn did in the first half, Nick did in the first half and Caron did on the last possession. It was frustrating not to see Jamison and Haywood more involved against a team that I thought the Wiz could have some success against inside.
-Speaking of Young, loved what he did other than those last two overtime possessions. As a USC/Wizard fan, it was a real treat to watch him put up a career high. It was just especially nice to see him assert himself and display some confidence on offense, something that will be big if he can build on it.
-Wanted to reiterate how disappointing interior play was in general. Seemed like whenever the Lakers got into the paint they were going to score or get a second chance. Conversely, when the Wizards got anywhere close to the basket, it seemed almost inevitable that they were going to be sent packing. There may not be a whole lot of statistical basis for that after looking at each team's shot chart, but that's how it felt watching it.
-Are we home yet?

by MikeMid on Mar 31, 2008 1:27 AM EDT reply actions

On the first point

It's the sagging thing, methinks. In our past schemes, it was all about preventing penetration into the lane, but teams picked up on our overemphasis on that and started driving for the sole purpose of kicking it to open shooters.

We've gotten better this year at limiting the distance between our help defense and open shooters, but it's a bad habit Ayers hasn't fully been able to fix.

Caron's the biggest culprit. Focus your eyes only on him for a game, and you'll notice it as well. Dude just loses concentration on weakside defense.

As for your other thoughts, totally agree. The offense down the stretch was effective, but you're right, it didn't seem like there was a point to a lot of the things there.

Predicting how this squad is going to perform is like trying to solve trig problems with pen and paper. -sierradave.

by Mike Prada on Mar 31, 2008 1:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Disappointed towards the end of the game.

I was really disappointed with our lack of creativity in getting the ball in good places towards the end of the game with our set pieces. It just seems we have one play we run every single time.

Nick Young was incredible tonight, but towards the end of the overtime period the ball should be in Caron's hands every time. He has the strength to make something happen.

by Craig @ Bullets Forever on Mar 31, 2008 8:55 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah...

Props to nick young for his amazing game. Was encouraged by his effort at least on defense and a much better shot selection and just generally fitting into the offense better.

He's a rookie though, and that shot he took at the end of OT was just not what we needed, Caron or Jamison definitely needs to have a play run for them at that point.

by five by five on Mar 31, 2008 10:15 AM EDT reply actions