LAKERS -at- SUNS - 1-15-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

One on Five… That’s what Nick Young said it felt like as he bounced up off the floor after getting hammered in the head with a cheap-shot flagrant-2 on the break. He took one of those scary fouls and responded as you might expect. He was the only one in the purple and gold on the floor to do so.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t get a guy between Nick and three or four guys that were going at him,” Pau said, who was on the bench at the time. ”…We should have protected Nick there.”

Nick got ejected for a sort of shove punch in the mix of Suns jerseys around him.

The Lakers D was as soft as their response (and Coach D’Antoni’s…see Nick’s section below) to Nick’s flagrant. They gave up another 120 points after yet another poor third quarter. They were still in it until they rolled over down the stretch.


Gasol -- -- Credit to Pau for also calling out his teammates a little after the game for not standing up for Nick. Pau had a good scoring game, but was very ineffective on the other end. Any chance the Lakers had of taking this one seemed to slip away when D’Antoni subbed in Pau in the fourth quarter. He immediately coughed up the ball with a ridiculous turnover and then Pau’s D was just awful. Suns started scoring at will as Pau was caught in no man’s land or when he was there, only gave a token challenge. Out of the gates, he was also a little slow up and down the court compared to the Suns bigs. That led to some easy ones, which we’re good at giving away. Just not pretty watching the D despite the points he gave. Give Pau the Tank Award for both helping secure this “L” in crunch time for the Tank Squad followers out there, but also that true tank for standing with Nick afterward and calling out the guys on the floor. Weren’t sure if we were going to let an opponent get to 120 tonight, but the Laker D found a way to push through. “I don’t know if anyone challenged on layup tonight,” Worthy said, talking about no one getting back on D, challenging shots, etc. He compared it to something you learn in 7th grade. Ouch. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 10-20 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: His high-low pass was picked off, dunk the other way. He missed a short one in the lane. He hit Hill for a layup with an interior pass over the D. He missed a 19-footer next time down. He missed a short jumper. He tipped in a missed a three. He attacked across the lane to draw FTs, he made both. He sank a jumper from the top of the key. Nice challenge on Green’s dunk to get a miss. He was fouled on a layup attempt, he made one FT. He missed a lefty up and under. Second Half: He missed a jumphook, and the Suns scored a transition layup the other way. He missed an easy elbow jumper. He iso’d and hit the turnaround over his man. He was rejected on a layup in transition, layup the other way. He attacked and almost ran into Hill, but hit the jumper in the lane. He cut to the hoop and Marshall found him for the layup with a sweet pass behind the neck of Pau’s man. He practically threw a perimeter pass to the Suns for the easy score, that was tank-worthy. He gave up an open three to Frye out of a timeout, nowhere near him. He bricked an easy layup. He sank a short bank over a closing double team. Nice non-challenge again at the rim to let in an easy layup. He faced up and swished a jumper from the right side. He sank an elbow jumper. He fumbled away a post, layup the other way. He missed a scoop in the post. He scored an And-1 layup off the Marshall drive and dish. Token dunk in the final seconds.

Hill -- -- I mentioned in the last game that Sacre gave the kind of performance that would get him yanked from the starting lineup. He didn’t see daylight as we went with Hill and some Kelly at PF. Jordan had a near double-double, but wasn’t finishing well around the rim, which hurt his impact. A few of those might have been the difference. Hard to outscore an opponent when you give up 120 a game. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-10 shooting to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He scored a layup off the interior feed from Pau. He traveled trying to score off an offensive board. He missed a face-up wing jumper. He missed a jumphook over Frye. He attacked, gathered himself and hit the jumphook. He missed a jumphook on a baseline attack. Second Half: He powered up a layup off the Meeks pass. He sank an elbow jumper. He missed an easy jumphook in front of the rim. He missed a fade in the lane, but got back in transition to block a shot.

Meeks -- -- Good first half, but he was MIA in the second half. A lot of minutes from him, but you didn’t really even notice he was on the floor that long in the second half other than the different sub patters. Meeks got a steal in this game to start a new streak. He and Marshall had that corner backdoor play working for a couple of dunks tonight. Good to see that returning. That has been sidelined with Steve Blake’s injury. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting (1-4 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 43 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a three on a kickout. He swiped a pass, then threw a cross-court outlet to give it back for a score. He slammed off the backdoor cut when Marshall hit him. He made a tech FT. He attacked and missed a prayer. He attacked baseline quickly off the catch and powered in the layup. He made a tech FT. He swished a wing three. He made a tech FT. He was called for a clear-out foul trying to drive. Nice dig down to strip a big on help D. Second Half: He attacked off an inbounds and scored a layup. He was stripped. He missed a three. He missed a three straight away. He dunked, cutting backdoor for the pass from Marshall.

Marshall -- -- Lottery pick from the Suns last year, now starting for the Lakers. Almost like L.A. got one of their picks back for not having a healthy Nash. Poor game from Marshall. He did a lousy job finishing at the rim in this game, missing a number of easy ones. His shot wasn’t effective. Defensively, we put him in a horrible position trying to defend the taller, more athletic Gerald Green. That didn’t work out well as Green went off for a season high. But watching that Pau/Marshall screen roll D is not pretty, either. The Suns attacked that, as well, with their guards. Horry let Marshall have it for not getting in the scrum with Nick Young. “I think Nick kind of saw what he wanted to see at the time,” Marshall said of SwaggyP calling out his teammates. “Obviously, you got to understand we got seven guys, so maybe at that point in time you got to chill out.” They’re both right. Marshall should have been down there (you think Steve Blake wouldn’t have been mixing it up?) and Nick needs to stand up for himself without getting ejected. Use the Kobe finger point. Huge minutes for some guys without Nick available. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-16 shooting (2-6 from three) to go with 2 boards, 13 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 43 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: Out of a timeout, he was called for a moving screen. He hit Meeks off the dribble going backdoor for the dunk. He missed a wing three. He attacked down the lane and missed an easy one. He quickly fired a chest pass from half court, through the D, to a streaking Young for the dunk. He showed the ball way too early on a reverse layup and was blocked. He couldn’t finish an easy one at the front of the rim. He swished a 29-footer on the kickout after reposting to Pau a couple of times. Green sagged off him after probing and Marshall drained the three, then it looked like he said something to the Suns bench. Not close on a three, shooting it too early (score the other way at the end of the half). Second Half: He sank a top-of-the-key jumper working the two-man game with Pau. He missed a three. He fumbled a drive away, looked like he wanted to ball fake and lost the handle. Sweet pass over the shoulder of a defender to Pau for a layup. He gave up a clear-path foul, not paying attention to the situation and trying to take a foul (he got some explanation from the ref afterward…I think he and D’Antoni were arguing that he got a piece of the ball on the grab). He attacked and was blocked out of bounds. He took an inbounds and missed on the baseline. He kicked to Johnson for the open three. He missed a pull-up jumper in early offense, not thrilled with that shot selection. He couldn’t flip in a layup off the give-and-go with Kaman. He iso’d and sank the wing jumper over his man. Sweet bounce pass off the dribble to Meeks cutting backdoor for the dunk. He attacked off the three line and found Pau off the dribble for the And-1 layup. He missed a long three on a low kickout with 19 seconds left. He set up Pau for a dunk.

Johnson -- -- Much better when he got inside-out catch and shoots versus some of the long pull-up jumpers. He’s not Nick Young and needs to reset the offense if it’s not there. Good job getting some points from the line and using his athleticism in transition. When you get 22 from Wes and 114 points from the team, you’ve got enough offense. The defense is just swiss cheese. “We really just got to buckle down,” Wes said of the D. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 7-14 shooting (2-5 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 44 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a wing jumper in transition. He missed a corner three, dunk the other way. He missed an open three (should have swung it to Meeks for the open three). Much better job with an attack in transition instead of settling and he scored an And-1 layup over a defender, he made the FT. He forced up a 16-footer and missed. He slammed off the 35-foot oop from Nick. He sank a wing pull-up jumper. He was selected to take Nick’s FTs on his ejection and he knocked both down. He forced up a brick with the shotclock low. Second Half: Nice bounce on the 18-footer to get it to go, but he gave up an And-1 layup on the other end. He rejected Frye. He gave up a putback score, not tracking his man after a miss. He attacked baseline and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three. He attacked off the three line and was fouled on the layup attempt, he made one FT. Poor shot selection, missing a 21-footer in early offense. He sank an open three on an inside-out sequence. He sank a wing three on the inside-out from Kaman. He threw an outlet away. He attacked baseline and hammered down a dunk.

Young -- – Wow! He took a cheap shot, hard foul to the head on a dunk attempt at full speed that sent him flying to the floor. That was dirty. He quickly bounced up and was ready to throwdown. “When you touch a hot iron, you’re going to respond,” Worthy said. Horry criticized the Laker teammates not having his back. “What I’m mad about it was one on five,” Nick said, mentioning that his teammates didn’t come to his defense. “It is what it is,” he said. Only one even near the scrum was Kelly and he wasn’t doing much. “People pushing me, my back against the wall,” Nick shook his head. He was not happy with his guys after that one. I hope he said something to them or will say something to them right before the next game. This team should be pissed off going into the next one. Worthy gave Nick the game ball for calling out his teammates and showing some anger on the court. Wish Nick could chuck it at Len or his Laker teammates. When asked about if he felt Nick was one on five out there, D’Antoni said: “Not really. You don’t fight in this league. It wouldn’t help us to lose two or three guys.” Want toughness from your team or not? Sheesh. Who wants to be in a fox hole with a coach like that? The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He pulled up and hit an And-1 wing jumper getting a whistle with an awkward looking leg kick, he made the FT. He attacked down the lane, used his body well and scored the layup over the defender. He found Wes open for the 35-foot oop. He missed an off-balance three straight away. His layup was rejected out of bounds. He lost the handle on a drive at the end of the quarter. He slammed off the Marshall chest pass through the D in transition. He missed a layup in transition. He swished a long wing jumper working behind the Kaman screens. He went to throwdown in transition and was smashed in the head by Len on the dunk attempt, he got back up and was ready to throw punches off that cheap foul that resulted in a flagrant-2 and ejection. Nick was then ejected for responding. Len for Young, great swap for the Suns.

Kaman -- -- D’Antoni said Kaman was tired and wanted out in that fourth quarter. Not sure I buy that. So he sat him for Pau and that seemed like the end of the game. He could have brought Kaman back, of course, but that didn’t happen and the fight the Lakers had in them with Kaman out there was gone. Kaman led the Lakers with a +8 and had 18 points on just 7 shots. How can he be tired with 16 minutes? I’m not sure I buy it. Great game from Kaman after the nothing game yesterday. Annoying he didn’t get more run. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-7 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He telegraphed a backdoor pass, layup the other way. He sank a long lefty hook across the lane. Great position and he scored the easy layup. He sank a lefty hook next time down to take a lead. He got back in transition to deny his man from scoring. He swished a face-up baseline jumper, last four hoops for the Lakers by Kaman. He missed a short right-handed jumphook. Low position and he drew FTs on the jumphook, he made both. Second Half: He swished a baseline jumper. He was stripped in the paint, dunk the other way. He drew FTs on the Dirk fade with the clock low, well done, he made both. He backed his man down, faked middle, went back to his left and scored the easy layup. He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made both.

Kelly -- -- I mentioned in preseason that Kelly would be the best on the team at taking charges. He showed that tonight by taking three of them. His D is getting a little better every week. He’s getting to the boards a little better (still gave up a big offensive one late), he’s challenging shots a little better and he’s rotating well. We don’t have too many players making something happen on D, but he had some rare positives on that end. Offensively, he seems much more effective on the midrange jumpers than the threes at this stage of his career. His best stat line of the season and I think MDA gave him the minutes because he was producing versus Kelly getting the stats because of the minutes. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a scoop in the lane off the two-man game. He erased a break by standing in for a charge off the pass off. He missed an open sideline three. He missed an open wing three. He swiped the ball right from his man’s hands on the perimeter. He finally swished a three straight away. He blocked a jumper on the other end. Great help D to block a shot on help D at the front of the rim. He then attacked on the other end was called for a charge. Second Half: He hit a short pull-up at the FT line. He moved in off the three line and hit the 17-footer. He blocked a guard on a switch. He erased a horrible Pau/Marshall screen-roll D by taking a charge under the hoop. He did it again to Dragic next time down to get another stop. He missed a wing three. Good initial D, but no box out on his man to give up the board. He attacked aggressively in the final seconds and drew FTs, he made both.

D’Antoni -- -- A lazy, uninspired start from the Lakers (Pau quite a bit) and D’Antoni called a quick timeout down 6-0… Down 14-9, he brought in Young and Kelly for Hill and Meeks… Down 4, he brought in Meeks and Kaman for Marshall and Pau with 3 minutes left… They took back the lead behind some Kaman scoring late in the quarter… Nice job the last few minutes holding the Suns scoreless… They led 27-26 after the first quarter… He started a Kaman, Kelly, Young, Meeks, Marshall lineup… Young got ejected during the flagrant-2. Now the Lakers are even more short-handed… He brought in Pau for Kaman up by 4… Kelly had to sit with his third foul for Hill up by 4 with 6 minutes left… The Suns going after the Green/Marshall matchup. D’Antoni finally switched it up. Dumb matchup… Up 8, he sat Pau for Kelly with a minute left… Lakers botched the last minute, playing like it was the third quarter already. Suns closed with an 11-2 run… The Lakers led 58-54. The Lakers shot 44%, the Suns 44%. The Suns had 20 points on the break… Now for the third… Up 1, he brought in Kelly for Meeks… Down 5, he sat Marshall and Pau for Kaman and Meeks… D’Antoni called a timeout shortly later, Lakers down by 7. The third quarter suck is well underway. This would be the lone problem quarter again for the Lakers… He sat Hill for Marshall down 5… Down 9 and D’Antoni called an angry timeout with 31 seconds left… The Lakers trailed 88-82 heading into the fourth. The Lakers were outscored by 10 in the third… He started the same unit that ended the quarter… They tied it up shortly later, running offense through Kaman… Down 5 and he went with Pau over Kaman. Yikes. Kaman was bringing his “A” game and Pau doesn’t play second halves… The Lakers cut it to 5, but Pau and Kelly couldn’t secure a defensive board in the final minute on a key stop with 34 seconds left that might have made things interesting… He needs to fire these guys up for the next one, but a cruddy coaching job by D’Antoni in this one with some of the matchups and subs… Worthy was biting his tongue, barely, after the game with how the team is being coached…

[Freddie Buckets]

first.

thanks db

[Omar Little]

Sounds like MDA remembers the series vs SA vividly...
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“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[dirka dirka]

Yeah, we wouldn't want to put ourselves in a position to lose game...err wait.





This is the low point of the season for me. This isn't a team anymore, it's a collection of individuals and at some point, whether you like it or not, that has to reflect on the coach.
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[lakerjoshua]

I staryed crying at "the kobe finger point" and had to stop reading. Ill pick up the rest tomorrow.

Thanks DB.

[pio2u]

MDA has been out-coached by Mike Brown & Jeff Hornacek on back-to-back nights.

PATHETIC

[SweetP]

Thanks.
These games are getting harder and harder to watch.
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[DancingBarry]

This one isn't sitting well with me. Grrrrrrrrr.

[erisian]

it was a #TeamTank gg, but not one I'm very pleased to report.

#1: We lost without it looking like we were trying. check!

#2: We didn't incur any new injuries. check!

#3: Our prospects got some run. check!

To elaborate on point #3 some:

Wes Johnson: We saw a little more of what Wes Johnson is capable of tonight. Problem is, he is still really lost on interior/team D and gets burned off the dribble by people slower than he is. What is up with that?

Grade: B-

Kendall Marshall: Good assist/TO ratio, terrible shooting efficiency. Near-worthless on D. Gets serious demerits for not helping out Nick Young. Throws himself an anvil with his mouth after the game. W T F.

Grade: F

Ryan Kelly: 30min is solid run for this kid. He's starting to show a little more fight when getting position for rebounds. Some good effort on the defensive end, I liked the consecutive charges. Is beginning to look a little bit less like a headless chicken on offense, but only a little bit. Completely worthless sack of crap standing and watching Nick get shoved and doing nothing to help. That lack of heart trumps everything else.

Grade: F

[TDRock]

Well in Eastern Philosophy there's the expression " From Death I Have Become Alive". Hopefully this is this team's breakdown to breakthrough moment. Team meeting time?

I'm still salty but onto the next.

Thanks for the write up DB.

[Omar Little]

[Luca Brasi]

On a night where the lakers fail to backup teammate, the clippers (with 5 minutes remaining) comeback from 17pts down to beat Dallas.

Makes you wanna reach for a pain killer and a shot of bourbon.
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"i was born down in the valley where the sun refused to shine, but i'm climbin' up to the highlands, goin' to make that mountain mine" ~ Lakers, 2011

[TDRock]

[lakerjoshua]

[D-Dogg]

I was at this game. At halftime we got upgraded to 6th row seats (with a Suns fan season ticket holder who is a great guy and great basketball mind). Spent most of the second half watching Kobe throw just about every pissed off, bored, frustrated, wtf, why am I here, etc type of expression possible, and made up some new ones.

Swaggy P was completely hung to dry by his team. Yes, he was stupid with the pushpunchshove to Dragic, but he had four dudes in his face, two of them twin brothers and the other the guy who just pulled him out of the air by his head, and not one Laker jersey in sight. That was just terrible.

During the second half, I was really keying in on Marshall...my conclusion, he's a very good passer with good vision...very crappy handles, afraid to dribble under pressure, makes poor transition decisions and shoots like absolute crap, and when it is key, he is afraid to shoot. Also, not fast...there was a play where he had a line on a layup and if he were fast, he'd have just taken it, or if he were smart, he would push and then dish to the trailer, but instead he hesitated, hitched and shot and missed. My friend and I decided he's a really slow Deron Williams with bad handles and no jumper. Then he opened his mouth post game.

You. Just. Don't. Not as the PG. You don't throw your guy under the bus. No thank you. First off, he was wrong. Second off, he's the guy the entire team has to trust...he has to say something more like "Nick was in a corner, and made a bad decision to throw the punch, but I'm disappointed in our entire team that we didn't have his back." The end. PAU from the bench had the correct response.

I've been watching this team to see which guys are worth throwing bones at to stay in the golden armor as we rebuild....right now the two I see that fit the long-term Laker mold are Hill and Swaggy P. I'd add Caveman, but he's on his last legs, though he's more Laker in year one than many dudes were after multiple seasons.

Oh, and goodbye Dantoni...please, drive us off the cliff all the way to the end of the year but don't ever come back afterwards. Your failure to even minimally stick up for one of the dudes playing with heart out there is a staggeringly bad move for a coach to pull.
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17 on the horizon.

[TheElectronica]

^Exactly. We all know that there's 7 guys, but you probably just lost Jordan Hill on a non-response from the 4 other guys on the court. When you are trying to stick on a team, you might want to try to be a part of it and that means sticking up for your guy. Simple as that.

[LGTownDrunk]

You guys still haven't adjusted to these new Lakers.

Any loss less than 10 points is a victory.

Very good analysis, DB, thanks.
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We want Soon now....we want Soon now....we want Soon now!

[Iversondalivest1]

I was one of those here on LG that was willing to give mda the benefit of a doubt. But after that comment on swaggy, I'm done. Throw his ass out with the rest of the clowns that were on the court and did nothing....

[Shaber]

From the beginning of the season I preferred Kaman over Pau. Kaman playing even slightly more could be enough for us to scratch some W-s.
I hate it when a team/coach is playing to lose. I think I might be done for the season soon.
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.

Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[najim]

"1 on 5" is going to live in infamy as one of, if not, THE low point of the 2013-2014 Lakers season. That was shameful and pathetic, and the "I don't wanna get ejected" excuse is pathetic.

D'Antoni's next practice needs to start with "HOW TO DEFEND YOUR TEAMMATE WITHOUT GETTING EJECTED WHEN HE JUST GOT TOMAHAWKED TO THE HEAD AND IS NOW BEING PUSHED INTO A HOSTILE CROWD BY ALL 5 OF THE OPPONENT TEAM'S PLAYERS."

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

The low light was the fight, which in my mind overshadowed the game. The players acted like a loose confederation of mercenaries rather than what you'd expect out of a team, but perhaps that is to be expected. The team is comprised of young, unestablished players who need to keep their numbers up and noses clean if they are to stay in this league. There's no real vet leadership on the floor, leadership to keep them in line as a team. And of course no Ron Artest, but then having no nukes might have been a blessing.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Chronicle]

someone should tell alex len, he aint bout dis life.
next time he go up on me im going in his mouf
thats a promis. he doin to much
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Kobe

[philipm35]