The Lakers’ performance in their 120-96 loss to Utah was downright embarrassing.The Jazz dominated Los Angeles in every aspect of the game—and that was without Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur, who were both out with injuries.
Instead of taking advantage of their hosts' health woes, the Lakers played lethargic, passive basketball. The contrast with Utah's aggressive, unselfish, and creative style was as wide as the Pacific Ocean.
In fairness, every NBA team has a few nights a year where nothing clicks. I understand that—and I won't overreact to this particular defeat.
Still, the drubbing does raise a number of troubling issues for Kobe Bryant and Co.
Offense
The Laker offense tallied 82 points over the first three quarters, but most of these were the result of fast-break opportunities and Kobe Bryant mini-spurts.
In reality, the O routinely sputtered in a half-court set.
Kobe had nice numbers (10-19 FG, 3-5 3FG, 28 PTS), but most of his points came in inconsistent bunches. A two-minute hypernova in the second quarter, for example, saw Bryant score 12 points on the strength of his one-on-one playmaking abilities—not because of anything having to do with the Los Angeles offense.
Rarely did Bryant look to be a creator. Rarely did he catch the ball in motion, and rarely was he put in a position to make plays for his teammates.
Instead, he'd typically receive a pass on, or dribble to the right wing, where he'd look to take Ronnie Brewer one-on-one.
Brewer hung close to Bryant for the most part—and every KB drive was met by a swift double team, which usually resulted in forced shots or out-passes.
And when Kobe wasn’t going off, the Laker offense stalled.
Deron Williams' pressure prevented Derek Fisher (1-8 FG, 1-5 3FG 2 AST, 0 TO, 3 PTS) from running efficient half-court sets. Instead of properly triangulating the Laker offense, Fisher was often forced to try to create something on his own.
His failings may have been the biggest factor in LA’s demise.
Lamar Odom (3-5 FG, 7 PTS) was a complete non-factor. At his best, Odom is a very talented baseline scorer with good range. But he's not the kind of player who fits into the triangle because he doesn’t excel at moving without the ball—and he’s notoriously soft to boot.
The physical Jazz bullied Odom into oblivion.
Jordan Farmar (8-13 FG, 3-7 3FG, 3 REB, 3 AST, 4 TO, 21 PTS) gave Los Angeles a spark off the bench. Despite his youth, Farmar made several veteran moves, including using the rim to shield Andrei Kirilenko on a block attempt and making a smooth backdoor cut and layup early in the fourth.
That said, Farmar also made a number of poor decisions with the ball—specifically picking up his dribble in congested areas of the court. That’s the main reason for his four turnovers.
Though he's not quite a pure point guard yet, Farmar is at least a player Phil Jackson can trust to provide key minutes at the 1.
In the end, Utah's ability to sag on penetration, neutralize half-court sets, and push LA around kept the Lakers from scoring enough to offset the utter failure of their defense.
Defense
The Lakers interior D was completely shredded by Utah’s offensive sets.
The Lakers defenders were unprepared both physically and mentally, as witnessed by Utah's 70 points in the paint and the number of wide-open Jazz players running amok throughout the contest.
Utah mostly put Andrei Kirilenko at the high elbow and ran a number of weak-side Paul Milsap elbow screens to allow Ronnie Brewer and Matt Harpring to curl to the basket.
All the curling and cutting completely confused Andrew Bynum, who was repeatedly dunked on.
Lamar Odom was useless—he either was befuddled by Utah's off-ball movement or he failed to put pressure on Kirilenko’s elbow passes. Whether defending on-ball, or off-ball, Odom was a complete defensive liability.
Luke Walton, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Chris Mihm were likewise dizzied by Utah’s zigging and zagging.
Kobe Bryant was repeatedly punished by well-set screens, limiting his stamina and his desire to take over on the offensive end.
Derek Fisher, Sasha Vujacic, and Jordan Farmar were all dominated by Deron Williams’ powerful drives and post ups, and by his ridiculously beautiful crossovers.
As a team, the Lakers were guilty of turning their heads way too often. Bynum, Odom, and, surprisingly, Fisher were the main culprits.
Also, the Lakers had little desire to challenge Utah at the basket, choosing to swipe at shots from the side instead of meeting the Jazz at the rim.
And that was only the tip of the iceberg:
The Lakers were deplorable in stopping dribble penetrations and post-ups.
The Lakers were slow to react on any screen/roll.
The Lakers were bullied around inside, allowing 19 offensive rebounds.
The most damning fact of all is that whenever a Utah player pushed into a Laker defender, that defender had no problems yielding his position.
The Lakers yielded the game in much the same fashion.
The Lakers will likely still be a marginal Western Conference playoff team, but it's almost inconceivable that their current roster will advance past the first round.
With Kwame Brown out, the Lakers don’t have any muscle in the frontcourt. Worse, Brown and Bynum still have the defensive awareness of teenagers.
Lamar Odom will be a reliable scorer half the time—when matched up against the lesser half of the league.
The Laker offense is too isolated for Phil Jackson’s triangle to run smoothly. And the Lakers don’t have a defensive stopper to neutralize an opponent’s best player—though it's interesting to note that not once was Kobe matched up on Deron Williams.
Maybe Jackson decided to save that pairing for a potential playoff encounter—but only if Kobe plays to his full defensive potential does he qualify as a defensive stopper.
As it stands, the Lakers have the talent to make the playoffs—but lack the defensive muscle and awareness to sniff the second round.
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