LAKERS -at- BULLS - 12-25-14 - Quick Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Christmas Loss… The Lakers aren’t exactly a marquee matchup for a Christmas Day game right now. No Kobe in uniform isn’t going to help the viewership, either. They faded badly to close the game and lost 113-93 to the Bulls and Pau Gasol.

The second unit, which has been so strong for the Lakers, fizzled out tonight. Nick Young was invisible, Jeremy Lin a non factor, and Carlos Boozer, a soft spot on D that the Bulls easily exploited.

They got killed on the offensive glass and couldn’t hold the line on D like they did in the last one. Seems like you can usually chalk a loss up for the Lakers on Christmas Day the past several years.

Short, quick version tonight…Merry Christmas to those who celebrate today!

Hill -- -- In the post attacking Pau, he had some strong moments. When they switched Noah onto him, there was a lot more resistance…and that’s when we should have attacked Pau with others. His jumper was pretty suspect tonight. Some wild ones there. “If he wants to continue being a Laker, he’s going to have to knock down that shot,” CWebb said. He had a great touch on his midrange game. Hill has slowly improved his. Good job by the team dumping the ball into the post tonight instead of always settling for jumpers. Defensively, we didn’t control the boards well. Hill just had 6. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-16 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -5.

Davis -- -- Nice job on the offensive glass. Some strong putbacks in the first half. The Lakers got killed on the defensive glass, giving up 20 offensive boards. While Ed had 3 blocks and the team had decent block numbers for the game, it was controlling our defensive glass where we needed more help. Noah and Gasol combined for 11 offensive boards. Not enough one and out possessions like the last game. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-6 form the line) to go with 14 boards (7 offensive), 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -11.

Johnson -- -- Some wild jumpers and those are never going to go for him. Fading, leaning, airballing off those. Anytime he’s doing that on a shot, it’s not going to be a good night for him. He had 18 shots to get 19 points. Basically, some of the off-balance long chucks from the perimeter that Kobe had been missing, Wes took over that role tonight. Last game, everything was going right for the Lakers offensively. This game started to resemble more of what we have been seeing…with Kobe. I expect this will be the case more often than not with how we play. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-18 shooting (2-6 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -4.

Ellington -- -- Good start, but he was invisible a little too much considering he played a team-high 35 minutes. Half of his points came in the first quarter. He had a token layup at the end of the game to pad his numbers. For him to have a big game, we’d have to execute our offense flawlessly. I would have liked to see him attack Pau a little more off the two-man game. He would have had room for his shot with some frequency. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-12 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -8.

Price -- -- We had 26 points on 25 shots from Wes and Ronnie. Good job finding teammates and leading the team with 8 assists. The Lakers started the game very, very perimeter oriented and were slow to score. We need better execution out of the gates to try to get some shots that come from defensive penetration. They were a little better at that as the game went along, but the wheels fell off the offense in the fourth quarter to bury us for good. Good scoring first half, but not a threat in the second half. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 8 assists, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -4.

Young -- -- This was one of the areas that the Lakers really got hurt in this one. They got nothing from Nick, just 3 points. He went to the bench and put his hands on his head in the fourth after this one. Just one of those nights. No Kobe. No Nick. The Lakers had just 16 points in the fourth quarter. This is when we need him, Boozer and Lin to throttle opponents. Win those first few minutes of the quarter and get the moment. No fireworks from Nick, just a fizzle. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -14.

Lin -- -- A little more impact that Nick, but a very quiet night over all. He’s looked a little more aggressive in attacking the paint in the last couple of games. He rarely had the D on its heels with any consistency in this game. The Lakers were desperately needing someone to just “go off” in this game and spark them. Nick fizzled out. Lin had a couple spark moments but was never able to ignite anything. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -16. The Action:

Boozer -- -- Our two PFs were our most efficient scorers tonight. Boozer leading the bench with 14. You could see the Bulls purposefully attack him on D, however. Just like we should have done more with Pau. Defensively, Carlos was exposed and it was a tricky cover for him when Mirotic could spot up at the three line and shoot (he made 3). Boozer just doesn’t have the foot speed to rotate out there. The Lakers second unit just got killed (-16 when Boozer was out there). After the game, you could see Pau and Kobe with a long embrace and some words. Boozer went to his guys, too, but you could see the years in the trenches together battling for rings with Kobe and Pau has built a much more meaningful relationship. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-11 shooting to go with 5 boards and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -16.

Clarkson -- -- He choked an uncontested breakaway layup in the first half and you could see that really getting into his head. He just wanted to find a place to hide. He later missed another layup on a drive, he probably should have had but that was in traffic. He should have just dunked that first one. He has really reeled in his game to the point that he disappears too much well on the floor. I do like his continued defensive effort and foot speed. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-2 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 11 minutes. He was a -14.

Sacre -- -- The D from our bigs was no where near the last game. Sacre had a couple of moments on that end with 2 blocks but the Lakers could not duplicate the performance of the previous game. No defensive boards for Sacre. Boozer was the soft spot of that second unit, but I hate getting outrebounded by 18. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -8.

Scott -- -- A lot went right for the Lakers the last game offensively, so I wouldn’t take too much from that game. Wait to see what trends develop… Tonight, we started out very perimeter oriented again. Just a lot of long jumpers… Wish we would have attacked Pau with a little more consistency tonight. There were times when we went after that with success, but went away from it… You could see when the team would try to pick up its energy and intensity. The defense got better. They started getting after it. They couldn’t sustain it like the last game… The Lakers offense had just 16 points in the fourth quarter… It would be good for the team to have a close game that came down to the wire without Kobe in the lineup. Just to see them do something differently and rely on other people. They need more creativity to close games. Just got killed in this fourth…

[TDRock]

Ooh first? LOL!

I was hanging around waiting to read this. Thx DB. Merry Christmas!

[Charisma]

Thanks DB for taking the time to write this. Enjoy the rest of your Christmas day!

Good thing there's another game tomorrow and we can quickly forget this one .

Cheers!

[LakerLanny]

Thanks DB, Merry Christmas!
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Love, Laker Lanny

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS. HAPPY FESTIVUS

[mhan00]

I don't get why Lin and Davis don't play more two man game. I really, really don't get why we didn't keep attacking Pau in the third. When Thibs switched Noah onto Hill, we should have attacked Pau with Davis. Way too many long twos, again, and not enough attacking in the paint. We of all teams should know Pau can be vulnerable to attacking guards in the paint.

[fafan]

Thanks DB for doing this on Christmas!
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"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.

[SweetP]

Thanks for taking time away from your family to do this on Christmas! Much appreciated.
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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

[Shaqtin]

[catman2u]

[swoosh-it]

[Shaqtin]

Without Kobe, there is too much offense on the bench with Lin, Swaggy P, and Boozer. Need to switch Swaggy and Sacre up or Lin up.

Swaggy needs 25 mins as a 6th man. Clarkson should not be a PG in important games as he lacks a lot in timing and decision making. He acts like a SG.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB. Merry Christmas!

[Shaqtin]

Kobe will not be back until a week. So lets see how the team will do compared to the last blow out. I think this game Lakers will beat the Mavs as Rondo has not adjusted to the team. Lin and Swaggy P need to be in the starting line up. I do not want to see Wesley Johnson throwing up 18 shots a game. Ronnie does not deviate from 7 FGA and does not play make. Also limit Clarkson as PG, he is a rookie still adjusting that act as SG.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB and Merry Christmas! This is the 3rd game in a row (2nd without Kobe) that we've faded down the stretch. Don't know if it's tired legs or what but I hope they can figure it out...

[jlinfan]

Thanks DB. Great recap for those of us who missed the game.

Shocking that Kobe sat out. Even more shocking that he will be out for at least a week. Whatever, I've checked out when it comes to figuring out what the FO is doing.

Happy holidays!

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Shaqtin]

[K0BEE 2.0]

[Shaqtin]

[bws94]

[Unstable]

Thanks db, I thought we were competitive we had about the same number of shots at the basket just our shooting was worse compared to the butts....

The 2nd unit was terrible this game. It's getting very weird with bs insisting on keeping Davis and Lin on separate "units" as if that is a valid strategy. Why can't even some of his assistants point out to him the obvious? My suspicion is that he had only surrounded himself with "yes-men", he is not only showing signs of being dumb but also stubbornness to a fault....
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Calling another person idiotic does not necessarily mean you are less idiotic than that person. The best way to improve oneself is to focus on the positive things in life and build on them.