SB Nation - Sasha Vujacic

Win Streak Hits 11, Kobe's Finger Banged

DexterFishmore — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 07:04:07 -0000

Lakerdom's lingua franca added a new medical term tonight: "avulsion fracture." That's what befell the precious right index finger of Kobe Bryant in the second quarter of a 104-92 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves. It happened while he was defending Ryan Gomes near the sideline, and it sent him to the halftime locker room early. He returned, with a splint courtesy of trainer Gary Vitti, to play about 18 minutes in the second half, looking more or less OK, but he admitted after the game that it felt "pretty painful." Please commence your candlelight vigils.

The Lakers' effort level was up and down tonight. After opening up an 11-point lead early in the quarter, they let point guard Ramon Sessions engineer a comeback that made it a two-point game at half. L.A. allowed Minnesota to score 1.10 points per possession over the first two quarters, which is just absurd. The Wolves average 0.97 PPP on the season. On the road against a team with the Lakers' length, they shouldn't even sniff the 1.00 mark.

In the third quarter, the Lake Show locked everything down. They forced the Timberwolves to do what they do best - turn the rock over to the other team - and built up an 18-point margin. A key contribution was made by ~~Laker double agent~~ Minnesota head coach Kurt Rambis, who sat Sessions for the first 10 minutes of the third. Sessions was 6-for-6 in the first half, so it was nice of Rambis to cool him off.

There wasn't a lot of flow in the Laker offense tonight. It was one of their worst shooting performances in a while. Pau Gasol, though, put in an evening of solid work: 17 points, seven assists and a career-high 20 boards. Ron Artest was quietly productive (16 points, five assists and three steals), and backcourt reserves Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown and Sasha Vujacic chipped in 22. Onward to Utah.

Before we go, however, a heartfelt plea to Stu Lantz, wherever he may be: come back soon. I AM BEGGING. Hot Rod Hundley filled in tonight, and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say his performance was the most tragic event in American history. About 80% of the game he spent mumbling impenetrably. Dude, seriously... you need to speak up and enunciate. You sound like an 80-year-old Boomhauer up past his bedtime. The remaining 20% of the game, we realized how nice things were when we couldn't understand what Hot Rod was saying.

I need my Stu back. I swear, I'm never writing a bad word about him again.

	Poss.	TO%	FTA/ FGA	FT%	EFG%	TS%	Off Reb%	Def Reb%	PPP
Minny	96	18	0.18	75	45	48	32	71	0.96
L.A.	96	15	0.14	77	49	52	29	68	1.08

Lakers-Suns Preview

DexterFishmore — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:00:16 -0000

All right, rockers, it's time to get serious. We've been in high spirits the past two days toasting the Great Bank Bailout of 2009, but tonight we've got new guests arriving. They're not as fun and easygoing as the Miami Heat, and if the Lakers don't tighten their act up from what we saw on Friday night, the game won't end quite so festively.

On Friday, the Heat high-pick-and-rolled the Lakers nearly to death. It's been lost amid the Kobe glee, but the Laker defense was inept for most of the game. Repeatedly Dwyane Wade broke free off a high screen, drove the lane unharassed and either finished at the rim, went to the line or found one of his big men for an open look. The Lakers appeared baffled by this 100-year-old tactic, and if the Heat hadn't missed 15 free throws or Kobe's heave had been two inches off to either side, the D-grade D would have been the story of the game.

Now arrive the Phoenix Suns, deadly masters of the pick-and-pop, drive-and-dish and numerous variations thereon. Last time they darkened the Lakers' door, on November 12th, they got hammered for their troubles, losing by a cool 19 points. They were playing part deux of a back-to-back, as they will be tonight. Then again, Miami had the same difficulty on Friday, and that and three bucks bought us a cup of coffee.

The Suns don't have the same buzz around them these days as they did in November, when they were the hot team du jour, but their resumé is still very solid. They're only a game behind the Lakers in the standings, and they held the league's best record until an out-of-nowhere loss to the Knicks last week. Following that up by getting rocked in Cleveland didn't help their Q rating, but they handled a game Sacramento team last night to get back in whack. Their Offensive Rating of 112.5 is first in the league, and their death-dealing three point attack gives them a puncher's chance against anyone.

Of the basic activities that take place on a basketball court - turnovers, shooting, rebounding, fouling and getting fouled - shooting is the most important. Shooting accuracy, as measured by Effective Field-Goal Percentage, predicts game outcome better than any other metric. Those other things are important too, but none as much as shooting well, and Phoenix does that one thing better than anyone else in the NBA.

About 28% of the Suns' field-goal attempts are from three-point range, which is the third highest rate in the league, and they make an insane 44% of those tries, first in the league. They boast a team Effective FG% of 56%, also first. They don't take care of the ball well, and they're below average in getting to the line and rebounding their misses, but their ridiculous shooting means their offense is great anyway. Basically, they bomb away from outside and see if you keep up.

What makes tonight's matchup so interesting, schematically, is that the Laker D excels like no other at forcing missed shots. The Lakemen have allowed opponents an Effective FG% of only 46% and a three-point accuracy of only 30%, both tops in the NBA. They were strong in these metrics last year and are even better now, thanks in no small part to Ron Artest and the (nearly) full-time service of Andrew Bynum. When the Suns have the ball, it'll be a bellwether, strength-on-strength contest of elite units.

When these two teams played in November, Phoenix had a ghastly shooting night, managing an EFG of only 40%. Amare Stoudamire, who bricked 13 of 15 field goal attempts, was especially brutal. The Suns won't shoot that badly again, but remember that last time around, Pau Gasol was out. His length on the inside will make clean looks for La Soudamire and any other Sun who visits the paint even harder to come by.

The other roster difference this time around is the absence of Leandro Barbosa, who's out with a sprained ankle. I wouldn't call this a crippling blow or anything, but it's more important than you might think. Barbosa was playing 21 minutes a night and showing superlative plus-minus numbers. Per 100 possessions, Phoenix was 4.4 points better with him on the court than without. His shelving has meant more minutes for second-year lefty Goran Dragic, about whom the numbers are conflicted. His assist rate is strong and his shot is improving, but his plus-minus stats are ugly. At least he and Sasha Vujacic can chat together about Slovenia during shootaround.

The Lakers will need to keep close track of both Jason Richardson, who's hitting 44% of his threes, and Channing Frye. I've remained highly skeptical of Frye and his newly developed three-ball range, but damned if he isn't proving me wrong. He's hit an absurd 47% of his money shots on the year.

Also, I'm not sure this "Stephen Nash" guy they've been touting is for real.

(One other trend line to note before we move on from the Phoenix O: the Suns have been awfully loose with the rock lately. Over their past five games, they've turned it over on 17% of their possessions. Not good, gentlemen.)

So Phoenix knows how to accrue pointage. Fair enough. It's not clear, though, that they're at all equipped to slow the Laker attack. The November game served mostly as a chance for Bynum to build up his All-Star credentials, as he destroyed Amare to the tune of 26 points and 15 boards. Even physical, well-regarded post defenders like Emeka Okafor and Nene have struggled to control the Laker big man this year, and as a defender Amare is - how to put this nicely - neither physical nor well regarded.

Furthermore, at the risk of repeating myself: Pau Gasol. He didn't play in November; he will tonight. Pau gives Phoenix yet another post player they probably can't really really deal with.

The Suns are just a poor defensive team, ranking 23rd in the league in points allowed per possession, and it's this shortcoming that keeps them a level below the Lakers in the NBA food pyramid. They don't force turnovers, they allow opponents to shoot pretty well, and they're the worst defensive rebounding team in the league. Over their past five games, they've allowed foes to rebound 34% of their misses, which is bad but only a few ticks higher than their full-season rate of 31%.

You know when the Lakers miss a shot, and Pau, Drew and Lamar Odom just keep volleyballing it around until it goes in? We could see a lot of that tonight.

Over this five-game stretch, the Suns have surrendered 1.13 PPP to their opponents. That group includes strong offenses like Toronto and Cleveland, but also total crap offenses like New York and Minnesota. The Lakers have adjustments to make from their recent outings, smarter and more disciplined pick-and-roll defense foremost among them, but so do the Suns.

Kobe scored 29 against Phoenix last time around, and he knows the Lakers played poorly on Friday. He's irked about it. He should be attacking from the start. The Suns don't have an answer for them either, so they'll need their threes to rain down like a desert squall.

	Lakers	Suns
*RECORD*	15-3	15-5
*NET POINTS PER GAME*	+7.7 (3rd)	+4.6 (8th)
*PACE*	98.1 (6th)	98.5 (4th)
*OFFENSIVE RATING*	105.0 (14th)	112.5 (1st)
Turnover Rate (Off.)	13.0% (6th)	14.5% (21st)
FTA/FGA (Off.)	0.26 (25th)	0.30 (18th)
Free-Throw %	74.9 (15th)	73.3 (22nd)
Effective FG% (Off.)	50.2 (14th)	56.1 (1st)
True Shooting% (Off.)	53.8 (17th)	59.2 (1st)
Off Rebounding Rate	27.6% (11th)	26.9% (14th)
*DEFENSIVE RATING*	97.6 (3rd)	106.9 (23rd)
Turnover Rate (Def.)	14.5% (12th)	11.9% (28th)
FTA/FGA (Def.)	0.28 (8th)	0.25 (1st)
Effective FG% (Def.)	46.0 (1st)	50.1 (20th)
True Shooting% (Def.)	50.5 (1st)	53.3 (13th)
Def Rebounding Rate	72.2% (20th)	69.4% (30th)

All statistical terms defined here. Parentheses indicate league rankings. Numbers are courtesy of Basketball Reference and HoopData and, except for record and net points per game, are through Friday night's action.

Pardon Our Bench

DexterFishmore — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:30:11 -0000

About a month into the season, we're starting to know some things about the Los Angeles Lakers. It's still only November, sure. We don't know how strong they'll ultimately be compared to other league powers. But we can start to see the contours of a typical night at the office.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum are a manly inside pair and too much for most teams to handle. Kobe Bryant is still a lethal scorer and playmaking force. Ron Artest is still a splendid defender, and on any given night either he or Lamar Odom will be good for 15 or more points. All of the above was on display against a pathetically overmatched New York Knicks team last night.

And then there's the bench. I'm really sorry to do this, but it's time we talked about the bench. We've put this off long enough.

First, let's be clear who we're talking about. Although Lamar doesn't start when the team's fully healthy, he does play starter's minutes, and his talent and production are not subject to any serious debate. He hasn't always been great so far this year, but we know he's not the problem. When Lakers fans grumble about "the bench," Lamar isn't meant to be included.

What we're really talking about is the play of Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Josh Powell, Luke Walton, DJ Mbenga, Adam Morrison and Sasha Vujacic. Of this group, Walton didn't play last night because of his back injury, and Mbenga and Powell got DNP-CDs. The performances of the other four are cast into unflattering relief by their plus-minus numbers. Farmar, Brown, Morrison and Vujacic averaged a -9 in about 10 minutes of action last night. All but Farmar were on the court when the Knicks ripped off an 11-0 run, which dragged Kobe and Ron back into the game with five minutes left.

If you were surprised that the second unit failed to maintain the Lakers' lead, welcome to the wonderful sport of basketball. I hope you enjoyed your first-ever game.

With about two minutes remaining against the Knicks, Lakers play-by-play announcer Joel Meyers asked rhetorically at what point in the season the Laker reserves would "step up." After the game, sideline man Michael Eaves asked Pau how long he thought it would take for the bench to find its "rhythm." These questions contained an unstated assumption that the Laker bench right now is anomalously underperforming, playing worse than what we should reasonably expect. Is that really the case, though? What precisely are we expecting from these guys?

I'm not implying that the second unit is playing well, mind you. Certainly their job description should include being able to hold a lead against the Knicks, at home. But why do people keep expecting them to transform into game-changing shock troops? Isn't it possible that they're not "inconsistent" or "out of sync," but just not that good?

In the table below I've listed, for each of the Laker reserves in question, their PERs for the last two seasons as well as the season so far. And before you start screaming: no, I'm not suggesting that PER be accepted as an end-all, final-word metric. It's just a useful shorthand for a player's overall production and works fine for the present discussion.

Player	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10
Brown	6.6	13.0	12.8
Farmar	15.3	9.9	10.7
Mbenga	9.4	13.9	10.2
Morrison	DNP	5.7	11.2
Powell	10.4	9.9	10.8
Vujacic	14.9	12.7	6.4
Walton	12.2	11.3	15.0

If there's to be improved play from the bench this year, where's it supposed to come from? Luke was the best reserve before his injury; if he's in decent shape when he returns, the situation won't look quite so grim. But who else?

Shannon, DJ and Powell are all basically performing in line with their respective track records. At age 24, Brown likely has some improvement ahead of him, but he's not going to become a Sixth Man of the Year candidate overnight. Farmar, I'd argue as well, is also more or less where we should expect him to be. With each passing game, his performance in 2007-08 looks increasingly flukish, and his performance last season looks like his real baseline.

Adam Morrison has actually been better than we would've guessed, but no one thinks he's a candidate to be even a league-average player. The dude is simply no es bueno. If he's in the NBA next year, it'll be solely due to residual caché from having been a high lottery pick once upon a time.

The real mystery in all this is Sasha Vujacic, who in three years has gone from good to frustrating to radioactively bad. On the one hand, it seems improbable that he'll remain this terrible; someone his age shouldn't completely fall apart absent an injury. On the other hand, he shows no sign of bouncing back any time soon. He's averaging less than 10 minutes a night and has made only two shots in the last five games. It must be getting hard for Phil Jackson to justify even putting him on the court.

What about help from outside? As Ben R pointed out in the comments last night, two available names are Jerry Stackhouse and Wally Sczcerbiak. If those guys had anything at all left in the tank, they wouldn't be available. There's also Allen Iverson, though it's hard to imagine the Lakers voluntarily stepping on that particular land mine.

A deadline trade will be a possibility, the most likely situation involving cutting bait on Farmar and shipping out Morrison's expiring deal. It's not possible at this point to foretell who might be obtainable in return.

The Lakers, we should probably just admit, are stuck with a subpar bench. The reserves aren't about to "step up" or find "consistency." How the Lakers have won games so far, by overwhelming opponents with top-line talent, is how they'll have to get it done in the foreseeable future. Which might, in fact, be plenty good enough.

Lakers Visit Dust Bowl, Take Part in Athletic Contest of Some Kind

DexterFishmore — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:00:34 -0000

It was basketball, you say? Ehh, that's a bit of a stretch, dude. Whatever it was the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder got up to last night bore little resemblance to the sport of hoops as customarily played by professionals. It was more like cheaply made snuff porn for turnover fetishists.

Aesthetics aside, the Lakers won 101-98 in overtime to extend their winning streak to a season-long two games. How they did so while turning the pill over 26 times I honestly have no idea. Sorcery of some kind?

In way more important news, leggy tennis star Maria Sharapova is now romantically linked with backcourt albatross Sasha Vujacic. I'm just gonna say what I know we're all thinking: clearly Maria's using Sasha as a way to meet sexy Laker bloggers. There's just no other explanation for this story. Admittedly, it's a cunning gambit on her part, worthy of Russia's greatest chess masters! But she should know that we here at SS&R don't play hard to get. In fact, we try to make ourselves as easy to get as humanly possible.

If you're wondering what this has to do with last night's game, the answer is who the hell cares. It was an excuse for me to image-search her and that's what counts. Besides, look at that cute little goggie!

Let's fetch some tennis balls after the jump.

The Lakers took the floor in Oklahoma City last night without Pau Gasol (still) and with a virally diminished Kobe Bryant. La Kobe spent the day battling the flu or something like it and was able to play only when his fever relented shortly before game time. Thus were we spared the sight of Sasha in the starting lineup. Let's hear it for antibiotics!

The Thunder weren't a good defensive team last year, ranking 21st in the NBA in defensive efficiency, and although they've looked somewhat less awful on D so far this season, it's still the same collection of guys. This was obvious in the early going last night, as the Lakers ripped off 13 points in their first six possessions to open an 11-point lead. OKC defenders couldn't stay in front of anyone, and Nenad Krstic became the latest opposing center to get worked by Andrew Bynum.

Not that the Lakers were setting the world on fire with their own D. Too much perimeter gambling, which is developing into a nettlesome habit for them, and some slow rotations left open a lot of Thunder jump-shooters. That's not a huge problem when it's Krstic being left open - he airmailed a couple shots to the delight of one and all - but Jeff Green and Kevin Durant can actually play a little. Those two buried enough shots to keep the game from getting totally out of hand.

At the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second, the Laker reserves did their thing. By which I mean, they performed ineptly and crapped away the lead. This will be a recurring problem all year.

The second, third and fourth quarters were an epic shitfest. Both teams committed turnovers in bunches, often of the unforced variety. The Lakers went long stretches ignoring Bynum, their best offensive option on the night, and the Thunder were just a top-to-bottom mess. The Lakemen ultimately won because their offense collapsed a bit more slowly than did OKC's. Check out the two teams' points per possession by quarter:

	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	OT	Game
Lakers	1.39	0.87	0.73	0.86	1.00	0.96
Thunder	1.14	1.13	0.85	0.77	0.73	0.94

For all their young talent, the Thunder are still not a potent offensive squad. They have no post threat, Russell Westbrook commits too many turnovers (22 in four games this season), and they actually give minutes to Kevin Ollie, who's 200 years old.

For the second straight game, Ron Artest's defense was a huge factor in the outcome. He hounded Durant and was determined to test the kid physically, with elbows on occasion. Durant got his 28 points but burned 34 possessions in the process. In the second half and overtime, he shot 7 for 18 and had zero free throw attempts. Ron had a tasty offensive game as well, scoring 20 points on 12 shots and dishing six assists.

The Kobester wasn't in vintage form, understandable given his illness. He committed seven turnovers and took some unnecessarily challenging shots early in the shot clock. Still, it was an effective performance: 31 points on 29 shots, with four assists, six rebounds and three swipes. To my eye, he's roaming a bit much on D these days, but that's a minor quibble. He's delivering the goods, as he always does.

So it's off to Houston now to face the Rockets, last seen annoying the hell out of us in seven games last May. As Ryan pointed out in the postgame thread, the Lakers' starters were forced to play huge minutes on Tuesday, so it's fair to expect some tired legs tonight.

Odds of Artest guarding Trevor Ariza? 100%, baby girl.

	Poss.	TO%	FTA/ FGA	FT%	EFG%	TS%	Off Reb%	Def Reb%	PPP
Lakers	105	25	0.38	71	55	59	26	70	0.96
Thunder	104	20	0.22	84	47	51	30	74	0.94

(H/T Gils Keloids on the Sharapova story.)

Coupled Up...Maria and Sasha?

PSTIM1 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:47:58 -0000

"Who Anna Kournikova?... my last girlfriend was way hotter."

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It has been reported that Maria Sharapova and Sasha Vujacic were seen getting thisclose at a recent U2 Concert in Los Angeles. Now, I wouldn't kick Sharapova out of bed for eating crackers, but I don't think she is the hottest chick in the tennis game and she definitely wouldn't make my top 5 list of good looking athlete ladies A wise man once said

"There are two kinds of guys in this world, dudes who like Kournikova, and dudes who like Serena."

Who do you think reigns supreme when it comes to babelisciousness on the court?

Poll

Who would you choose to be your mixed doubles partner - if you know what I mean?

Kournikova

11 votes

Serena

0 votes

Sharapova

22 votes

I cant pronounce it, but her last name ends in ova (not Kournikova)

3 votes

36 votes | Poll has closed

Postgame thoughts for the 1st preseason game

C.A. Clark — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:37:11 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Lewis - AP

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The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors in resounding fashion, 118-101, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the already one-sided final tally would indicate. Of course, a huge win in the preseason and season tickets for the Cavs will get you a ticket to the NBA Finals. So, like the end of a commercial for a product you shouldn't buy, here comes all of the obligatory qualifiers necessary for this type of performance. Just read it in a really quick and slightly high pitched voice to make it less boring.

This was a preseason game. Preseason games do not provide any real indicators about team or individual performances. Since the games don't count and the pressure isn't high, a strong performance is not at all an indication that a player is back, that a player will fit in well, or that a player is ridiculously athletic. Um, forget that last one.

With the legalese out of the way, here are my thoughts on the 1st preseason game.

How does Ron Artest fit into the triangle? Acutely. If tonight is any indication of how he intends to play basketball this season, the "Is Artest better or worse than Ariza for the Lakers?" argument can be permanently put to bed. For all the talk about this being a preseason game that doesn't mean anything, Artest's is the one performance that I think we can take real meaning from. For one, he was clearly making the effort to defer to teammates and play within the system. We can't know for sure that he will continue to do it all the time, but we do know he's capable of it. Second, and I could be wrong about this, but he seemed to be very comfortable with the triangle offense in general. I don't remember thinking that he wasn't in the right place or he wasn't making the right read. If anybody who is more of a triangle aficionado than I am wants to correct me on this, please feel free, but to these eyes, Artest was doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing pretty much the whole night. His reward was a team leading 7 assists, team lead sharing 9 boards, 12 points on 7 shots, 50% from 3 pt range, and damn near a triple double in less than half a game.

It's clear to me, having watched just the one preseason game, that Artest brings two things to the table that Ariza simply didn't have in his bag. The first is rebounding. Artest is a big, big boy, and he used that bulk to really box out and get his fair share of boards tonight. The second is play-making ability on offense. In a way, this is something that a lot of Lakers fans are a little afraid of, as Artest's reputation for play-making is of the "dribble for 20 seconds and then take a bad shot" variety. But the simple fact remains. Ariza could make you pay if you left him alone. Artest can make you pay even if you don't leave him alone. The Warriors didn't leave him alone, and he consistently moved the ball to the next guy, including a couple of highlight quality dimes. (Update: Statistically, the rebounding thing doesn't seem to pan out, as Ariza has better rebound/min numbers than Artest. I'm still not backing off the statement, because I think Artest's bulk has to be an advantage there, but I wanted you to know that I know that I'm flying in the face of the evidence at hand, just a little bit)

Some lesser thoughts about other players.

-Andrew Bynum took home high scoring honors with 24 points, and he did it on 13 shots. He looked 100% comfortable, displaying none of the rust or tentativeness that plagued him in his return from either knee injury. He had typically soft hands, and showed some really good explosion on a couple plays, including an alley oop that was pretty thunderous. Like Artest's performance, we can actually take something out of this, because the capability for it to happen is just as important as the consistency of it happening regularly.

-Sasha Vujacic looked good in short PT. 3-4 shooting, 6 points in 7 minutes, and he looked in control the whole time. This one really doesn't mean anything though, he's got to show it when it counts.

-Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown both had good games. Same minutes, same points, same shooting line. Farmar had more assists, because that's what he does. Shannon had more highlights because that's what he does (OK, just the one, but oh what a one). I doubt that either one gained or lost ground in the proverbial battle tonight.

-AMMO, one shot in 8 minutes, 0 points, and pretty routinely beaten on defense. This doesn't mean much either, but if you can't show it when it doesn't count, it's hard to believe you can show it when it does.

-Pau Gasol, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom all played pretty much exactly like they should and like we expect. Nothing else needs to be said about them.

-I love watching Stephen Curry shoot. I don't care if he will get abused by anybody and everybody in the league on defense. I don't care if 90% of the adult male population of the world could kick his ass. He has one of the sweetest shooting strokes I've ever seen. I'm rooting for him to be a star.

I think, in the end, the one thing we can all be sure of is that it is awesome to have the Lakers and basketball back in our lives.

[Update: Since my link to Shannon Brown's dunk above was a little to subtle, here it is again. And a hat tip to Lakers Blog for providing this hilarious interaction between the fans and Mikki Moore, the victim of Shannon Brown's highlight.

Fan: "You just got dunked on." Moore: "It happens."]

Reading Between the (Head) Lines - The Lakers coaching staff are still high on Sasha

C.A. Clark — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:27:52 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Is Phil Jackson ready to give this tenacious defender more playing time?

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My apologies for not writing anything of note lately. I thought my job would be easier once training camp started, but that has not turned out to be the case. The problem is not that there isn't any news to write about. The problem is that, since we here at SS&R don't merit a media credential just yet, we don't have a first hand account of what's going on at training camp. Therefore, any analysis that we could provide is going to sound almost exactly like that of the actual journalists who are paid to follow the team, and that is just boring (not to mention slightly plagiaristic). But I don't want to rest on my laurels while everybody else keeps you informed, so I'm going to do my best to go beyond all the stories coming out of camp. I'm going to try to tell you what it all means. All the easy analysis is taken care of, so this will be a little bit deeper and, by neccesity, some of it might be reaching.

Our first entry in what will hopefully become a series is regarding Sasha Vujacic. Everyone agrees that Sasha had a baaaad year during the 08-09 season. Many fans on this very site have been ready and willing to throw in the towell on Sasha, basically coming to the conclusion that the "Year of the Machine" was a fluke, and Sasha will never be able to return to the form that saw him sign a pretty lucrative $5 million/year deal. Well, I'm here to let you know that the Lakers' coaching staff disagrees with your assessment. They still think that Sasha has a lot to give this team, moreso than any of you probably think.

First off, it seems that Vujacic had a pretty humbling offseason. The Lakers' staff criticized Vujacic on everything from his attitude to his performance to his personal appearance over the last season. He got cut from his own national team. The coaches suggested that he take a break, get his mind right, and come back prepared to regain his form. Oh, and they told him to get a hair cut. If this article is to be believed, Sasha did everything the Lakers asked of him, and he did it in good spirits. I think Sasha's attitude in the face of such criticism has impressed the coaching staff. They see that he has acknowledged his mistakes, and is doing everything he can to correct them. If he truly does listen to the coaching staff as he seems to be doing, I think the Lakers staff thinks he can return to being the Machine, so much so that they are grooming him to be the first guard off the bench. In my mind, that is the only logical explanation for this.

Yes, friends, Sasha Vujacic is getting some time as the lead guard in training camp. Were any of you as shocked by that headline as I was? First of all, it's clear that Phil Jackson clearly doesn't think much of my analysis. (Seriously? I come up with a decent argument for playing with a two small guard lineup, and Phil comes back with "I'm experimenting with a lineup where Kobe and Artest are our guards" and follows with Sasha getting time as the point?) Second of all, on the surface, Sasha getting time at the point doesn't seem to make any sense at all. The Lakers already have a point guard. They already have a backup point guard. And they already have a bench warmer who is intended to play point guard, but just can't find any time. We may not be sure which one is which between Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown on the depth chart, but we know they are both there. So why in the hell would PJ want Sasha to spend any time at a position that is the deepest (not the best depth, but the most number of players capable of playing) on the team?

Because he thinks Sasha might be the player he wants as the first guard off the bench, that's why. If that is the role he wants Sasha to play, Sasha has to play it at the point. The guard starters are Derek Fisher (the point guard) and Kobe Bryant (the shooting guard). I don't think any of us are unclear as to which of those two players will get subbed first, and which of those two players will play less. Which means that there will be about twice as many point guard minutes played off the bench as there will be shooting guard minutes. If PJ wants Sasha to play anywhere near 20 minutes/game, he'll probably have to get nearly half of those minutes at point guard. I can't think of another explanation for why this would be happening, unless it really is as simple as needing a 4th point guard for the team's 4 v 4 scrimmages (there are four teams).

Now, if my analysis is correct, most fans would probably be thinking to themselves: Why? Actually, for many fans, it's much more like: Whhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? (while staring at the sky from their knees, with their arms raised). But this could end up as a good thing, and I'm not just saying so under the "Coaches know better than we do" logic. First off, Fisher is likely to play the least number of minutes of any of the starters. Which means that the first guard off the bench will need to be able to play just as well with the 1st team as he does with the 2nd. Since Fisher's only jobs on the court consist of spreading the floor, starting the offense, and getting burned by opposing guards (sorry, I couldn't resist), I can see why PJ might think that Sasha would be the best replacement. Sasha knows how to run the offense, this analysis presumes he will get his shot back, and he has shown at times that he is a decent defender (when not playing ridiculously over-aggresive defense that results in a ton of fouls). Then, when the rest of the 2nd unit comes into the game, Sasha can transition back to the 2 with Kobe on the bench, and either Farmar or Brown can pick up the 2nd guard off the bench minutes at the point. The second reason this could be a positive? It's no coincidence that Vujacic's best season came when he was allowed significant playing time, and that he struggled mightily last season in part because he was trying to do too much because he knew his playing time was going to be short. An increase in playing time could help Sasha return to the form that saw him play crunch time minutes in the NBA Finals two seasons ago.

Continuing down this path, it would seem clear that the coaching staff isn't particularly enamored with either of the backup point guards. Why would the coaches want Sasha to play minutes at a position slightly outside his comfort zone if they felt confident in players they already had at that position. For each player, it's likely a different reason. Brown could simply not quite be there yet, as it does take some time to really let the Triangle sink into your system. Brown provided some real quality, especially on defense, last season, but he might be considered too much of a liability at this point in running the offense to be considered for regular playing time, and he does not handle the ball particularly well. For Farmar, it could be as I mentioned above, that the coaches simply see Sasha as a better fit as the "bench player who plays a lot with the starters". Farmar has never been known as a guy that fits well into the triangle. But it seems more likely that if Farmar has fallen out of favor with the coaches, it is because of his attitude. Farmar has been quoted as saying he wants to be the starter. I didn't think at the time that it was a bad attitude thing, as it seemed to me that he understood his performance needed to match his desire. But if I've read it wrong, and Farmar really does have the bad attitude that some think he does, the coaches might be doing what they feel is neccesary to make sure that his bad attitude doesn't make it out onto the court. Regardless, I think its clear that this developement clearly means more PT for Sasha, unless it doesn't mean anything at all.

What do you think? Is PJ sending a message to Farmar or Brown? Does he really want Sasha to play 20 min/game? Will he respond to this analysis by having Vujacic released? Discuss.

Poll

Why do the coaches have Sasha Vujcac spending time at point guard in training camp?

They are sending a message to Farmar and/or Brown.

233 votes

They like the possibility of Vujacic being the 1st guard off the bench.

291 votes

The 4th scrimmage team needed a point guard.

95 votes

Phil Jackson is willing to do anything to make me look stupid.

58 votes

Kobe Bryant intends to be the first player in NBA history to play every minute of every game.

45 votes

The coaches were drinking heavily when they planned out training camp drills.

76 votes

798 votes | Poll has closed

Off Season Alternative Training Techniques

C.A. Clark — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:20:27 -0000

More photos » by Vincent Yu - AP

Kobe's one of the greatest of all time, and he learned post moves from Hakeem, one of the greatest of all time, so this kid is definitely receiving the GREATEST BASKETBALL LESSON OF ALL TIME.

Browse more photos »

The Los Angeles Lakers opened training camp on Wednesday, and finally, finally we got some basketball related news. Somewhat lost in the shuffle of the throngs of "reporters" from TMZ and E! News, two members of the team talked about the steps they took to improve their game over the offseason.

Kobe Bryant spent some time with the Master of the post, Hakeem "the Dream" Olajuwon, trying to learn the Dream Shake, and all of Hakeem's other devastating post moves. This seems further proof to me that Kobe is intent on developing the same kind of high post game that made Michael Jordan so unstoppable in his later years.

Lamar Odom took up boxing as a way to improve his footwork, and strengthen his core joints (ankles, hips, knees). It might also improve his ambidexterity, since, in his own words, "If I can knock a guy out with a right hand jab, I should be able to hit a layup with that hand too."

So, with that in mind, I'll take a look at which sport or training session with other NBA player would be most beneficial to each member of the Lakers. (Apologies to all the players brought in to fill the training camp roster, but you are not included. If any of you makes the opening day roster, I swear I'll write you in later).

Andrew Bynum - Kareem's Sky Hook

Alright, so this one is cheating because it's basically already in the works. But how awesome would it be if Bynum finally felt comfortable enough to break out the sky hook in games. What is Bynum's ceiling with a dependable sky hook? I think that it would make him the best offensive center in the game right now, since Howard is limited in that department at the moment, Shaq is too old, and Yao's entire future is still somewhat up in the air. As they say, the sky (hook) is the limit.

Pau Gasol - Crew

Aside from the hilarity involved with Pau fitting his 7 foot frame into a tiny crew boat, there is no better sport for training upper body strength. Every crew team member I've ever seen (coxswains aside) has had huge shoulders and forearms, women included. Since Pau isn't a huge fan of straight weight lifting, this could be the perfect summer activity to turn his chicken wings into turkey legs.

Ron Artest - Golf

For the man who needs mental strengthening much more than physical, I prescribe golf. I can't think of a game that is more capable of inducing someone to lose control, and anybody who does lose control even a little bit on the golf course is immediately punished for it. The focus which is required on the links wouldn't be a bad thing for Ron Ron either.

Luke Walton - Shooting Lessons with Reggie Miller

Walton has had (extremely) brief periods where he has been a very competent shooter. During those periods, people understand why the Lakers might have been willing to pay him so much money to be on the team. Despite never being the most athletic of guys, Luke's all around game has always been strong. He's can handle the rock, can be a tremendous passer, and has enough size to do what he needs to in the post. If he could consistently knock down the outside shot, his stock would jump from fringe role player to legitimate starter in the NBA.

Adam Morrison - MMA

The most well known moment of Adam Morrison's life is when he began to cry with a few seconds remaining in an NCAA tournament game where his precious Zags absolutely choked the game away to the UCLA Bruins. Also, if you haven't noticed, his body looks like bread dough. A couple months of training in the Octogon should do well to get rid of both attributes.

Sasha Vujacic - Posting up with Charles Barkley

Wait a second, WHAT?!?!? Hear me out. Obviously I don't want Sasha to start going to the post and attempting to back down his man for hours on end (although the comedy of such an activity would be off the charts.) Instead, I figure if Sasha spends a day training in the post with a man for whom they actually created a rule against taking too much time with the ball, Sasha might just learn that he doesn't have to shoot the rock within 2 nanoseconds of receiving it. If Sasha had the Chuck Wagon's patience, he might still be called the Machine.

Derek Fisher - Soccer

Fisher is already the consummate professional, and his body is probably in as good a shape as you can expect. It also seems ridiculous to ask a 13 year veteran to go pick up a new trick to use in the league (unless that player is gunning for participation in the GOAT debate, that is). So, for Fisher, I prescribe a sport intended to help him improve his quickness, which is the attribute that seems to be deteriorating the fastest as he ages. No sport in the world will teach you to have quick feet better than soccer.

Jordan Farmar - Tennis

You think that a bad attitude and not listening to coaches will hurt you in basketball? Tennis is littered with players who could have been all time greats, but failed to realize their potential because they didn't listen to coaches, and had a poor attitude about what they do. Plus, the individual nature of the game is such that you literally have no one to blame but yourself for your failures.

Shannon Brown - Dunking Techniques from Vince Carter

This is pretty much self-explanatory. If you've got all-world athleticism, and can jump as if you are on the moon, why not dial up the style while you're up there? You're telling me Shannon couldn't put his forearm in the basket? Or pull off a 360 through-the-legs windmill? Shannon's already got the game, as evidenced by the high school dunk contest he apparently got screwed out of winning ... against LeBron James. He just needs some tips from VC about how to turn that athleticism into something more artistic.

DJ Mbenga - Blocking from Dikembe Mutombo

Mbenga already has the mentality for this. The man attempts to block practically every shot that comes within a 10 foot radius, but he ends up with more fouls than blocked shots. He just needs some technique to go along with the desire, and who better to provide it than one of the best shot blockers of all time, Deke. Besides, more than anything in the world, I want Mbenga to adopt the finger wag after each block. With Mutumbo's career finally and tragically over, we need to keep the finger wag alive, and Mbenga is definitely the man for the job.

Josh Powell - Dancing moves from Ronny Turiaf

Josh Powell is already considered Turiaf-lite. Why not commit and go for the whole package? He's already got the same type of game as Turiaf. He's already got the capability for awesome hair-dos as Turiaf. All we need is for Powell to start shaking and grooving every time a Laker makes a big play on the court, and it'll be like the fan-favorite Ronny never left.

Pushing for Small Ball: Analysis of the Lakers backcourt rotation

C.A. Clark — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 19:27:25 -0000

The original goal of this piece was to analyze the Lakers rotations across the board, and to figure out how the team’s minutes should be allocated. However, barring injury or a miraculous turnaround in Adam Morrison’s shooting stroke and NBA career, the frontcourt is pretty much set in stone. Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum will split the 96 minutes at the 4 and 5 (probably right around 36:30:30 respectively, as long as Bynum can control his fouls). Ron Artest and Luke Walton seem likely to split the small forward minutes, and that split could be anywhere from 30:20 to 36:12. So, as I said, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of questions regarding where the minutes will go in the front court. Ammo could steal some of Walton’s time, but anything more than a couple minutes a game seems unlikely unless he breaks out. Josh Powell and Mbenga should be relegated to spot duty and garbage time unless an injury requires more. Which brings us to the back court.

The back court is a trickier situation. The Lakers currently have 5 guards who have all proven, at one time or another, to be worthy of playing time. The starters are set in stone. Kobe Bryant will play between 36-38 minutes, as he always does. Derek Fisher will start, but it’s unclear how many minutes he plays. Honestly, with the Lakers guard depth, it wouldn’t surprise me if PJ limited Fish’s minutes to about 20 a game, but it will more likely fall in the 24-28 minute category. For nice round numbers, we’ll say that there are 36 guard minutes available. The three candidates for those minutes are Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, and Shannon Brown.

In terms of positions, Farmar is a pure point guard, Sasha is a pure shooting guard, and Brown is a ‘tweener combo guard, but leans towards playing the point, and he was used almost predominantly at that position last season. So, on the surface, it seems we have two backup point guards and one backup shooting guard. The logical conclusion to that statement is that Sasha will pick up whatever minutes Kobe doesn’t play, and Farmar and Brown are left to duke it out for the rest. I already posted about this last week, and Lakers fans seem pretty clearly to be in Brown’s corner, by a factor of 2:1. Here’s my question: Why should we have to choose?

If Farmar and Brown are the Lakers’ two best reserve guards, why not play them together? Brown’s got enough size to be OK guarding the other team’s off guard, especially since we’ll be talking about 2^nd unit two guards. There aren’t a whole lot of off guards who can use their size as a real advantage anyway, and I can’t think of a single one who isn’t starting. And the potential of a Farmar/Brown backcourt goes far beyond just simply playing your best players. To elaborate, we must think back to last year.

Through the first 15-20 games of the season last year, the Lakers bench was considered one of the best, if not the best, in the league. At the time, the 2^nd unit consisted of Farmar, Sasha, Trevor Ariza, Lamar, and either Gasol or Bynum. This unit had considerable success because of their dynamite transition game. With Odom and the other big pulling down rebounds, Lamar could either lead the break himself, or get it to Farmar. Farmar would fly down the court and have Ariza filling the wing, or Sasha ready to nail a transition 3. Compared to the slow, efficient, pace of the starters, the 2^nd unit provided a great spark that quite often turned 5 point leads into 15 point leads. So what happened? First, Farmar got hurt, causing Derek Fisher to play big minutes with the 2^nd unit. Fisher has many wonderful qualities as a player, but pushing the pace has never been one of them, even when he was young enough to do it. When Fisher wasn't in, Sasha was handling lead guard responsibilities. So things slowed down. By the time Farmar returned, Bynum had gone down and Odom was no longer with the 2^nd unit. Farmar also lacked the explosiveness that he used to push the pace with such reckless abandon. At some point along the way, Ariza was deservedly moved to the starting role. From then on, the bench struggled mightily. Instead of pushing the pace, they were forced to run a lot of half court sets, and their execution of the triangle was not good. Possessions more often than not ended in turnovers or rushed jump-shots. Their defense also suffered, although that probably had more to do with the personnel changes brought on by injury and the need for Ariza to play starter’s minutes. In short, the 2^nd unit lost their identity.

Back to the upcoming season, if we assume that Brown and Farmar can’t play together, the 2^nd unit looks like this: Farmar/Brown, Vujacic, Walton, Odom, big man. Certainly better than the end of last year due to Odom’s return, but it still seems like a bunch of pieces that don’t really fit. Farmar can’t really run unless he develops the one man fast break mentality (and success) of Tony Parker or Devin Harris. The team is still left to run the triangle in the half court, and while Walton and Odom know what they are doing in that regard, the unit still lacks focus on the offensive end. The offense for that unit seems most likely to be dump it in to the big man almost every time, and if the big can’t deliver, or if the rest of the team can’t get the proper entry pass, things will be stagnant.

But if Brown and Farmar play together? Now, the 2^nd unit looks like this: Farmar, Brown, Walton, Odom, big man. Suddenly, the 2^nd unit has that fast break magic once again. If Brown can do one thing (and yes, I know he can do more than one thing) in this league, it’s finish at the rim. You can’t tell me that the idea of Farmar to Brown on the fast break doesn’t make you salivate at the possibilities. Walton’s not a great finisher, but he’s a pretty good passer, especially on the break. Odom can go coast to coast whenever he wants to. Gasol runs the floor better than any big man in the NBA, and Bynum isn’t at all shabby as a secondary trailer if he’s the pivot at the time, as he also runs the floor pretty well. It’s just my opinion, but I think that unit has much of the same mojo and success that the Bench Mob became so known for from 2007 to the first part of last season.

The odd man out in this scenario is clearly Sasha Vujacic. This may or may not be a good thing. If Sasha continues his struggles of last year, I don’t think anybody would have a problem with his playing time decreasing to spot minutes. However, if Sasha can return to the way of the Machine, he’s definitely a player that you want out on the court. He’s the best shooter on the team. Even last year, when everyone knew he was struggling badly with his shot, he still shot better than all but Fisher and Radmonivic (yes, his percentage was better than Kobe and Ariza). If he can re-discover the game that got him his contract, he should be played, and that pretty much destroys this whole scenario, right? Again, I ask why?

What if the Lakers throw out a three guard lineup as their 2^nd unit? Now, it looks like this: Farmar, Brown, Vujacic, Odom, big man. Now, not only is the fast break mojo back, but you’ve got Sasha ready to punish any team that focuses on defending the paint in transition. Remember how devastating an offensive force Sasha can be? He almost single handedly kept the Lakers in game 3 of the NBA Finals against Boston two seasons ago. Defensively, Sasha is much more of a liability at the 3 than Brown is at the 2. He’s got the height to be able to deal with that position, but his classic Euro physique would allow him to be out-muscled by 90% of the leagues small forwards. In the event that the other team has the ability to take advantage of that matchup, this lineup wouldn’t necessarily be the best idea, and Walton can easily fix that problem. But if the other team is trotting out an offensive liability at that position on the floor? There are more than a few teams who have athletic, but offensively challenged, wing men, and as long as Odom and the big man do their job and clean the glass, it is conceivable for Sasha to provide more of an advantage on offense than he does a disadvantage on defense, thus making the whole situation worthwhile.

Obviously, that whole scenario requires that Sasha re-discover his game, which is a pretty big if. It could also theoretically work if Adam Morrison re-discovers his game, but that is one of the biggest if’s in the NBA (besides, even those he’s got much more size, Morrison could be an even bigger liability at the 3 than Sasha would be). But regardless, it seems to me that the Lakers’ best option for a 2^nd unit involves both Brown and Farmar together, flying down the court and filling up the scoreboard. What do you think?

Poll

What 5 man unit do you think would be the most effective for the Lakers off the bench?

Farmar, Vujacic, Walton, Odom, Gasol/Bynum

230 votes

Farmar, Brown, Walton, Odom, Gasol/Bynum

1425 votes

Farmar, Brown, Vujacic, Odom, Gasol/Bynum

680 votes

Brown, Vujacic, Walton, Odom, Gasol/Bynum

405 votes

2740 votes | Poll has closed

Create A Caption #30: Round 2

erivera7 — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 18:47:17 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Browse more photos »

Round 1, completed.

Round 2, started.

After two days of submissions, these are the captions that made the cut. The submissions will be listed by number of "recs/votes" in descending order, starting with the leader.

Please vote in the poll for the caption you like the most.

Thanks.

Okay, let me get this straight, Jameer. You want me to put my hand in his face, right?

by Mr. Hoss, 9 recs

Dwight: He says his name is Derek Fisher. Yeah, it sounds familiar but can you just Google him for me?

by McDee, 5 recs

Jameer Nelson: Dwight, can you hear me now?

Dwight Howard: Of course, I'm at a WNBA game.

by UNFNOLE, 5 recs

Dwight: Seriously J.J., I’m telling you, wear a wig, keep going with your skin care regime and you’ve got a shot at playing for the Sparks. Look at this way, minutes is minutes man. You don’t have the skills to be proud right

now.

Derek: Man, I reckon the Lakers can do the same for Sasha Vujacic. He’s at least got a girl’s name!

by big aaron, 4 recs

*Dwight and Derek check out this year's refs*

Otis, you got to get a 4th center. They're calling everything here!

by JayPar16, 4 recs

I'll always be your baby boy, mom, but you have to stop being me t-shirts from Baby Gap.

by pjlawrence81, 4 recs

Rules:

I'm sure everyone here is familiar with a "create a caption" competition, but in case someone here doesn't know what this type of contest is .. basically a picture is provided and you, the reader, attempt to come up with a quick sentence describing what's occurring in the photo. The line can be funny, stupid, witty, etc.

I'll be a judge but I like to have another collective voice determining the winner, that way there's a bit of a consensus among the community. What I prefer for everyone here to do is this .. if you like the caption a fellow member has come up with, "recommend" it. That will be 'your vote', in essence. If you don't know how to "recommend" a comment, go to the comment you like, click on 'actions', then click on 'rec'. You can "recommend" multiple captions/comments, if you want.

So for a quick recap ..

- Write a quick sentence describing what's occurring in the photo.

- If you like a caption/comment that's been written, "recommend" it.

- After you "recommend" a caption/comment, write something (like +1, for example) to indicate you like the sentence a 3QC member has written.

- The contest will last four days, so whichever caption/comment gets the most recommendations, wins. In case of a tie, I'll determine the winner. [NEW]

- There will be two rounds in the competition. In the first round (Friday/Saturday), submissions are made and votes are tallied. At the end of the second day, the submissions that garnered four or more "recs/votes" will advance. In the final round (Sunday/Monday), votes are tallied for the eligible submissions. [NEW]

- Winner will be announced Monday afternoon or evening. [NEW]

- The contest is subject to change.

Let the contest begin!

Poll

Choose the author which made the best caption.

big aaron

11 votes

Mr. Hoss

50 votes

JayPar16

3 votes

pjlawrence81

3 votes

UNFNOLE

15 votes

McDee

12 votes

94 votes | Poll has closed