LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 3-6-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Rookie… I don’t know if this was a breakout game for Jordan Clarkson, but it sure felt like it at times.

Clarkson scored 17 points in the first half and finished with 25 points and 6 assists. He scored on jumpers, floaters, layups, dunks and even a hook, showing the ability to finish from long range, mid range and in a variety of ways around the rim. For the Lakers, you want your young guys to use this playing time to improve. Clarkson has been making the most of his minutes.

Unfortunately, the Lakers as a team just had too little fire power down the stretch.

The Lakers were up by 10 points in the fourth. The Grizzlies got serious and tightened their grip – their bigmen imposing their will on the Laker frontline.

The Lakers still had a 1-point lead with 2 minutes left, but had key mental mistakes on both ends of the floor. The offense sputtered, settled for jumpers and played without purpose (Clarkson an afterthought). A healthy Kobe or Nash wasn’t walking in the door to help them close out.

“We don’t have one specific guy that we can go to that can get us an shot or get himself a shot like that. They have three,” Scott said.

The Lakers fell 97-90, keeping their eyes on the consolation prize with a quarter of the season remaining.


Clarkson -- -- In the first quarter, Zach Randolph asked his former team, “Ed, who’s that?” Davis responded, “He nice, right?” Clarkson was lighting up the Grizzlies. The only starter to score for a while in this game. He had 17 of his points in the first half, hitting on jumpers, floaters, hooks, dunks and layups out of the offense. He might have pounded the dribble a little long at times, but this offense seems to make that happen as you watch cutters working off screens. He had some excellent passes in this game, including a nice no-looker to Boozer for a layup. The Grizzlies put Tony Allen on him late in the game to play ball denial D. “They gave a lot of respect for Jordan’s came,” Scott said. Down the stretch, they didn’t run anything for Clarkson. Everyone else was clanking away from the perimeter. By the time he got a chance, we were down 6 with 13 seconds left. We ended up settling for a lot of perimeter jumpers. It felt like Clarkson could have gone for 30 tonight. This was a bit different than other games in that he was starting to impose his will. It’s not fully there yet as you can see him trying to balance that with running the offense. But, this was definitely a grow-up game for him. “There’s a whole lot more left in that young man,” Scott said, mentioning each game he gets better. “He played great. He did an unbelievable job,” Lin said. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 12-18 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He sank a pull-up jumper from the top of the key in semi-transition for the Lakers first score. He dunked cutting off the split play when his man went for a steal on Sacre and Sacre hit Clarkson cutting to the hoop. He probed, hesitated, attacked and scored a layup. He pounded the dribble, worked off the pick and hit the 20-footer. Shotclock low, he crossed over and hit a tough floater from the wing. Good job on rotation to knock a pass loose on a switch. He hit Hill for the long jumper with the shotclock low. He attacked and missed a drive, but Davis cleaned it up. He iso’d and lost a couple of defenders, but missed the step-back jumper. He missed a long three up against the shotclock. He attacked on the same possession and hit a hook across the lane, very nice. He hit Wes on a kickout for the three. He worked off the screen and hit the pull-up 19-footer. He missed a wild step-back jumper unable to get good separation. He sank the wing three on a kickout from Ellington. He had 17 points on 8-12 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: He took an outlet and finished the uncontested dunk. He pushed out the break and no-looked to Boozer (very sweet pass through traffic) for the layup. He sank a wing pull-up jumper when his man was leveled on a screen. He blew past his man to his left as Lee was pressuring him and he hit the floater with his right. He hit Boozer rolling for a layup. He attacked off the three line and scored the short runner in a crowd. He threaded a pass to Davis for a dunk. He was short on a floater in the lane with the shotclock low. He missed a quick-fire three trying to beat the shotclock. He drew two defenders on the two-man game, fed Davis, who hit Hill for the dunk. Down 6, he iso’d, lost a little balance and was stripped with 13 seconds left.

Boozer -- -- Slow start for Boozer, but Clarkson seemed to get him going in the second half. Loved seeing Boozer patting Clarkson on the head as they went to the timeout after the youngster fed him with a nice pass for a score. Clarkson probably would have had a few more assists if Boozer could hit his jumper. The only one that fell was a long wing turnaround off an inbounds to beat the shotclock. Late in the game, the Laker bigs were ineffective. Boozer came in to close, but it didn’t make a difference. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a face-up jumper. He stripped the ball from Randolph. He attacked, took a ton of contact with no call and missed a layup. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed an open wing jumper. Second Half: He hit Clarkson streaking down court for the dunk. He scored a layup when Clarkson no-looked and hit him through traffic in transition. Clarkson hit him rolling for another layup. He sank a tough, long wing three on an inbounds to beat the shotclock. He missed a high-arching elbow jumper. Bad idea trying to thread the needle to Ellington who wasn’t open on the cut, it was nearly stolen, but we got it off after review. He drew a foul on the offensive boards and made one FT.

Ellington -- -- He had a really bad double team, leaving his man to help in the post and giving up a layup in the process late in the game. There were too many mental mistakes by the Lakers to take a close game against a good team. Offensively, he did most of his scoring in the second half, hitting a couple of threes in the process. The Lakers were 5-12 from three, the Grizzlies just 1-11 in this one. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-13 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed an open three on a kickout. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a pull-up from the top of the key in early offense. He missed a wing jumper. He attacked from the wing, hung and scored the layup. He kicked to Clarkson for the three. He swished the long jumper off the Boozer kickout. He hit Wes on the break for a layup. Second Half: He swished a tough wing three, catching and firing all in one motion. He was blocked on a turnaround jumper. He drained a three on a swing pass. He swished a 20-footer. He ran the clock, attacked and hit Davis for the jumphook. He worked the dribble, got some space and hit the 18-footer. He missed a wing jumper next time down. He helped in the post, leaving his man free under the hoop for a score. He missed a baseline jumper.

Kelly -- -- Got to love the Kelly/Sacre combo. They went 0-8 and were scoreless. Beautiful balance to Clarkson’s game to keep the tank intact. This game was bench-worthy from Kelly. The Lakers would be wise to give him some run at PF and sign a D-Leaguer at SF instead. Although, tank-wise this is working well. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a sideline jumper. He tried to draw a whistle on a jumper, didn’t get the call, but got the miss. Second Half: He missed a wide open three. He missed a wing jumper. He attacked baseline, fell and was tied up. He airballed a corner three on a kickout, uggh.

Sacre -- -- Very little notes here and a whole lot of nothing from Sacre. Despite all the minutes as a starter, I’m not seeing much improvement. Wish Madsen would rub off on him a little. Getting more energy in his game would do a lot. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He bricked a post fallaway. He hit Clarkson cutting off the split play for a dunk. Second Half: He missed a hook across the lane.

Lin -- -- Weak offensive game from Lin, scoring just 4 points. “I didn’t think we got the shots we wanted,” Lin said, mentioning the ball wasn’t moving down the stretch. Very little fluidity in crunch time. Lin wanted the ball moving more side to side instead of sticking as much. He also mentioned we didn’t go to our counters well (the offense has been poor at that all season). He had a few moments defensively, leading the team with 3 blocks and 2 steals. Head of the snake! The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He broke down the D off the high pick and hit Davis for the dunk. He missed a sideline pull-up jumper. He blocked a jumper on the perimeter. He attacked, cleared some space with an off-arm and hit the short jumper. Second Half: He put Conley on the floor with a move, but then was stripped from behind by Conley on a great recovery. He got tapped on an up-and-under. He was picked on an inbounds pass not keeping track of where his man was and it led to a quick layup (Worthy would say it was carelessness on Davis, but it seemed clear that Lin was the casual one on that sequence). He swiped a ball under the hoop. He missed a wing three. He tied up Conley to force a jumpball. He iso’d, got Conley to bite on the up-fake and drew FTs, he made both. He missed an open wing jumper next time down.

Hill -- -- A lot of shots put up and not very efficient return. The bigs were sloppy down the stretch. One of those games where you wish he was doing his damage on the offensive glass down the stretch to get the Lakers second chances. You could feel the Memphis bigs step it up and our bigs couldn’t match that. I’m not liking how much Hill looks for his shot. The ball sticks with him and we get into stretches where we have too many players doing that. Next year, Randle is a very unselfish big man, looking to create for others. It should be an interesting difference. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-15 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: Bad post entry pass, turnover and score the other way. He swished a 21-footer. He missed an FT jumper, flashing to the ball. He missed a step-back jumper up against the shotclock. He missed a putback jumphook. He tried to bully his way to the front of the rim off the dribble but missed the short one. Second Half: He was pulled down from behind under the hoop, flagrant-1, he made one FT. He missed a step-back baseline jumper. He rattled down a top-of-the-key jumper. He hit a jumphook attacking across the lane. He swatted a man on the other end. He measured and sank a long wing jumper. He missed a step-back jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He dunked off the interior feed from Davis. Bad pass trying to thread a needle to Wes on a key possession with under 2 minutes left. He missed a long jumper with 26 seconds left. Quick score around Gasol off the inbounds pass to the post. He missed a jumper. He was stripped from behind on a FT rebound.

Davis -- -- “That’s what playoff teams do down the stretch. They close it out,” Davis said. He had some defensive trouble with Randolph in crunch time, giving up a big And-1 score and a putback. “He’s a load on the block. One of the best back-to-the-back players in the game right now,” Davis said. Aside from that, pretty good game from Ed. He finished everything around the rim and had some nice passing sequences, as well. Defensively, great blocks, too. Loved seeing him animated toward the Memphis bench after one dunk over a man. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-5 shooting to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He slammed off the drive and dish from Lin. He cleaned up the Clarkson missed drive (dribble penetration as good as a pass sometimes). He blocked a shot from behind on one end and hit a jumphook in the post on the other. He scored 6 points on 3-3 shooting in the half. Second Half: He hit a jumphook off the drive and dish from Ellington. He rejected Randolph on one end, then dunked over a defender on the other, flexing to the Grizzly bench. Nice interior feed to Hill off the two-man game with Clarkson and it led to a dunk.

Johnson -- -- Brain freeze with 46 seconds left. We missed a shot and he took an intentional foul it appeared. We were only down by 1. That fouled him out and gave the Grizzlies free points at the other end, instead of making them work for a score. Just no excuse for that. That was a black eye on what was a semi-decent game. He had some poor shot selection, but also created some much-needed offense at times. Most of that came in the first half (12 of his 14). The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-2 form the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 6 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He swished a wing three. He was undercut on a jumper for FTs, he made both. He missed a 21-footer. He sank a short turnaround in the post. His bounce pass was stolen. He swished a sideline three off a kickout. He missed a layup on the drive and dish from Clarkson. He scored a layup off the extra pass from Ellington on the break. He had 12 points (2-2 from three) and 4 boards at the half. Second Half: He bricked a rushed three in early offense. He missed a sideline three. He slapped a post entry away from his man, then tipped it over another Grizzly and took it for the uncontested dunk. He missed a long jumper. Dumb backcourt foul down 1 with 46 seconds left, fouling out and giving up FTs.

Black -- -- Scott got him some PT in his hometown and in front of family. “Very respectful. I commend him for that,” Black said. I would have liked to see him a little more. He played well in his minutes out there, blocking shots grabbing some boards. Maybe Scott will get him more time in the final 20 games. He led the Lakers with a +10 in his short time out there. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 blocks and no fouls in 9 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He blocked a shot, but it went right to the Grizzlies for a score. He got undercut on a lob, but no FTs. Same possession, he up-faked at the FT line, attacked down the lane and scored the And-1 layup high off the glass around Gasol, he made the FT. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Scott -- -- Clarkson off to a good start, everybody else missing. Grizzlies 12, Clarkson 8 when the timeout came… He brought in Davis and Lin for Ellington and Sacre… Wes in for Kelly, Hill for Boozer, Lakers down 6… The Lakers trailed 24-16 after the first quarter… He started the Hill, Davis, Johnson, Ellington, Lin lineup… He brought in Tarik for Davis after 3 minutes… Down 32-27, he brought in Clarkson for Lin and Boozer for Hill… The starters not named Clarkson were 0-11 before Ellington made a layup (Clarkson was 6-9)… They tied it up 34-34… Scott called a timeout down 3 with 3 to go… The Lakers were up 46-43 at the half… The Lakers pushed out to an 8-point lead, forcing a timeout… Clarkson out for Lin with 6:34 left, Lakers up 3… Still up by 1 when the timeout came with 3 minutes left. He brought in Davis, Hill and Wes… The Lakers led 71-67 heading into the fourth… Scott started the Hill, Davis, Johnson, Clarkson, Lin lineup this time… They extended the lead to 10. Timeout Grizzlies… Memphis bigs starting to impose their will… With 3 minutes left, he brought in Ellington and Boozer for Davis and Lin, Lakers up by 1… With 2 minutes left, Scott called a timeout still up 1… Wes took a dumb foul with 46 seconds left to give up FTs down 1. Lin in for Wes who fouled out… No plays set up for Clarkson down the stretch… Lakers down 4 with 23 seconds left. Game over for them…

[fafan]

1st, thanks.
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"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[Honeybadger81]

it looks like we have a legit team to compete now, i feel the lakers could have won everyone of the last four... if Byron went full force trying to win, we could have won all four... the rookie and Lin have been playing so well, and the defense has been solid..

[fiendishoc]

[LakerSanity]

I'm not saying he has Westbrook's athleticism, but that game was Westbrook like in a lot of ways. He plays somewhat like Monta Ellis, but more in control... he's more crafty than Ellis. The Jamal Crawford comparisons are falling away too. He's clearly more of a floor leader than Crawford and more unselfish; it just is a learning process for him and you can see some of that basketball IQ coming through.

He's developing into his own player, really. The thing that stands out the most is how in control he is for a rookie. He's really pacing himself out there. His ability to keep his turnovers to such low levels is itself a testament to that fact.
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[JrR31]

[LakerSanity]

^Tony Allen will do that to you.... all part of the process. Great for him. Although, in those last few minutes, Clarkson looked good, even if the stats didn't really show it.
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[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks again DB

[mhan00]

Clarkson makes the Lakers worth watching and gives me hope for the future.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[JLinfanJoe]

Many tanks, DB!




Yet another wonderfully enjoyable game to watch, up till that puzzling substitution of Boozer and Ellington for Ed Davis and Lin late in fourth quarter ( http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20150306&game=LALMEM ).

If Byron Scott truly wanted to win this game, seems like Lin and Davis could have played entire fourth quarter alongside Clarkson.

That substitution pattern is just as puzzling as not putting Ed Davis back into game almost entire fourth quarter of the near miss game @ Portland earlier this year (rest game for Kobe where Ronnie Price broke his nose very late in third quarter trying to stop Thomas Robinson): http://popcornmachine.net/gf?date=20150105&game=LALPOR


Orlando won yesterday, so another near miss was probably the best outcome for Lakers this game.

Hubie Brown, during the Miami Heat game, said Lakers have at that point played 20 games determined by 6 points or less this season.

And, based upon the won loss record of the teams they have faced so far this season, Lakers have had the MOST DIFFICULT SCHEDULE in entire NBA: http://www.playoffstatus.com/nba/westernsospg.html

(they were #3 prior to facing Grizzlies yesterday, and I believe are ranked #6 for entire season; Phoenix Suns ( http://www.si.com/nba/2014/12/26/phoenix-suns-goran-dragic-isaiah-thomas-fundamentals ) had 28th most difficult schedule in league so far, and still can' t get that eigth seed in West in a year when well under 50 wins probably secures that seed for an injury-riddled OKC team, too: http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NBA/Western/Northwest/OklahomaCity.html )



Not bad for a team supposedly completely and utterly lacking in talent; they can at least compete with some of these upper level teams, if not consistently close them out.

The Tank must roll on!

[jlinfan]

[jlinfan]

Thanks DB !

[philnyc]

[fiendishoc]

I like this line a lot:

[Charisma]

[Shaber]

Thanks, DB!

Clarkson, Davis, Black, Lin, Ellington - the only Lakers who are up to it at this period. Very little...
Hill and Kelly could be added to the mix (they could be much better than they are now), but they are misused. Good for a tank, of course.
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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

[philnyc]

An explanation of why Lin's production was down:

"Scott revealed he asked Lin to cut back on calling pick-and-roll plays.

"I just didn't like the fact that you use it right when you come in the game. I wanted to move the ball first — let's see how they play certain things first," Scott said. "Let's see how they guard pick-and-rolls when we get movement."

Lin has adjusted appropriately, earning rare praise from his coach.

"He's doing a much better job of running the offense," Scott said."

[bws94]

[TTNN4]

[DancingBarry]

[bws94]