PELICANS -at- LAKERS - 4-1-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Rise of the Rookies (And Another Laker Loss)… With the Pelicans fighting for the last playoff spot and the Lakers for a lottery pick, the game went as predicted.

After playing just about even in the first quarter, with both teams scoring at a high clip, the Lakers faded by 11 at the half. Then they picked right up where they left off to open the third quarter. A 9-0 run from the Pelicans and just like that they were down 20+ for the rest of the game.

Just no defense from the Lakers as a whole in the 113-92 loss. Pick any part of their defensive game and there were problems.

Jordan Clarkson started the game off with triple-double aspirations after a strong first quarter. He’d finish just 3 boards shy after 31 minutes (BScott finding another way to tick off fans when they have little to cheer about this season). Still, a highly efficient 18 points, 10 assists and 7 boards from Jordan.

Fellow Rookie Tarik Black added a career high 16 points on 8-10 shooting, including several dunks. He and Clarkson had some excellent chemistry on that end of the floor tonight.


Clarkson -- -- Super-efficient, precision work offensively from the rook. He scored his 18 on just 9 shots and had 11 assists with just 1 turnover. He orchestrated the D to get an advantage and took what they gave him. That was a nice piece of work from the youngin. Huge first quarter with 11 points, 5 boards and 5 assists. At that point, we were on triple-double watch for the rest of the game. Scott would play him just 2 minutes in the second quarter, however, so that was a wash. Weird sub pattern from Scott in that regard. He’d then let Clarkson go 17 minutes straight in the second half before pulling him for the rest of the fourth quarter. “The kid is just getting better and better,” Scott said, mentioning he was unaware Clarkson was close to a triple-double. Maybe someone should inform him. We’ve got nothing else to cheer for that’s positive. Hopefully, with Clarkson getting close to the triple-double, he’ll be hungry for it and get after it. Clarkson said he didn’t care about missing the triple-double, he just wanted the win. Scott was about as positive as he could be, but not wanting Clarkson to get a big head. “He sees everything a lot better and a lot clearer because the game has slowed down for him.” Scott mentioned Clarkson does a pretty good job of fixing problems, bringing up a defensive sequence where he played it wrong, they discussed it and he corrected it the next time they ran it. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-9 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards (2 offensive), 10 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He lobbed to Black for the slam. He pulled up at the elbow off the screen next time down and sank the jumper. He changed pace in an early offense probe and banked in the one-hander. He missed a tricky lefty drive up against the shotclock, got it back, reset the offense and swished the sideline three shortly later. He turned the corner and whipped a pass to Black in the lane for the dunk. Nice crash of the glass on the D end to take it away from a Pelican, he then pushed it up and threaded a pass to Black for the layup. He was stripped on the sideline. He attacked the backcourt pressure and took it for a soaring layup. He attacked at the end of the quarter and earned FTs with 1.1 left, he made both. He nailed Anderson to the floor with a hesitation move and reversed (Tyreke lost Clarkson with a wicked crossover on the other end for a score). He had 13 points on 5-6 shooting. Second Half: He worked the two-man game to Kelly for the jumper. Quick feed to Kelly early in the set for a three next time down. He got tapped on a wing jumper. He hit Brown in early offense for the jumper. He attacked, took contact, hung long enough to get a whistle and drew FTs, he made one. He worked the two-man game to Boozer for the layup. They worked it again and this time Clarkson knocked down the short floater off of it. He sank a 20-footer working off the Boozer screen. He shoveled a pass to Hill running the floor in early offense for the And-1 layup.

Lin -- -- Back in the action after sitting out for the recent sickness. Slow first half, getting blocked a number of times. In the second half, he started slamming on the brakes around the rim and letting guys fly by. Effective adjustment. He said his illness is still lingering. Lin said they were just too sloppy on D. “Little things like boxing out, being at the nail weakside one step late all night and just not active hands. We didn’t really get very many deflections. We didn’t make them uncomfortable with ball pressure. It’s just like all the little things you add them up.” And without anyone around the rim erasing those mistakes that’s why you have the 56% shooting and blowout loss. Just no D. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-10 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He attacked down the lane and reversed around defenders. He attacked and missed a step-back jumper. He hit a wing pull-up jumper. He airballed a forced jumper in the paint. His layup was gobbled up and rejected by Davis. He attacked and had the ball strip-blocked off himself in transition. He was blocked on another drive. Second Half: He pulled up in the lane and airballed badly. He hustled back in D, recovered the ball, attacked the offensive zone and earned FTs, he made one. He came up with an offensive board and barely hit rim in the lane on the jumper. He attacked the paint, put on the brakes as he faked a layup, let a man fly by and scored the easy one. He attacked, pump-faked and drew contact for FTs, he made both. He attacked the paint, slowed up and drew contact, he made one FT.

Black -- -- A new career scoring high. Clarkson was looking for him early and often in this one. Tarik had 10 points in the first quarter (that also included a jumper not set up by anyone). But the two rooks were taking it to the Pelicans early on. Horry mentioned it in this one, good hands by Black to catch everything thrown his way, no Kwame-itis from him. “My teammates were finding me,” Black said. Our starting bigs had just 4 boards. Clarkson outrebounded both combined. He and Clarkson, however, combined for 34 points on 15-19 shooting. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 8-10 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He crammed down an oop from Clarkson with one hand. He scored an And-1 off the two-man game with Wes, he missed the FT. He faced up and hit a 16-footer from the left sideline. He dunked off the nice setup from Clarkson in the paint. Clarkson slipped another sweet pass to him under the hoop for a layup. He dunked when Wes spotted him cutting down the lane. He airballed a rushed jumper trying to beat the shotclock. He had 12 points in the first half. Second Half: He missed a hook across the lane, way hard. He posted up and hit a jumphook. He ball-faked, attacked from the FT line, up-faked and scored the layup.

Kelly -- -- He started the game with a massive dunk off attacking off the three line. Pretty decent scoring game from him as he hit a variety of shots and stayed aggressive against Davis. Good use of the pumpfake to get Davis to bite and fly by. Defensively, Kelly had just 1 board and no blocks. We really lacked an interior presence in this one. He can’t just have 1 board in 30 minutes at the PF spot. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He attacked off the three line and hammered down a huge dunk for the Lakers first points (that’s how you start a game). He hit Clarkson for a three. He attacked hard in early offense and took a foul before running into the cameras, he made one FT. He missed a three in early offense. He banked in a one-handed leaner from the FT line. Second Half: He let Davis fly by and swished the open wing jumper for the first score of the second half. He sank a 21-footer off the two-man game with Clarkson. He sank a corner three in early offense next time down. He missed a wing three. He missed a line-drive three. He missed a 16-footer. Soft And-1 challenge with 20 seconds left to not prevent a score.

Johnson -- -- After a couple very active games, he settled back into a typical type of performance. He did have some moments on the offensive glass, including a nice follow slam off a missed shot. A coupel decent passes to Tarik, as well. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He wrapped a risky return pass back to Tarik in the paint for the And-1. He drew FTs and made one. He one-handed a bullet feed to Black for the dunk. He missed a baseline jumper (that bounced off the rim, over the backboard, off the cameras, back over the backboard and then back in). Second Half: He bricked a pull-up jumper. He missed a pull-up at the FT line. He missed a chuck from three at the wing. He took the outlet from Boozer and took it for a dunk. He follow slammed a missed Hill jumper.

Hill -- -- He was aggressive on the offensive glass early on in this one. That was when he was at his most effective. Everything else was pretty much non-impact ball. He had a rare block for the Lakers (one of just 2…while the Pelicans had 7). That was about it. Excellent work for the tank. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He crashed the glass and scored an And-1 off the hustle, he made the FT. He sank a baseline jumper off the inbounds pass. He missed a step-back baseline jumper. He iso’d and was blocked, then gave a hard foul in transition. He grabbed an airball and dunked. He grabbed an offensive board and threw it in the backcourt. Second Half: He missed an open wing jumper. He missed a drive to his right. He scored an And-1 layup off the shovel pass from Clarkson in early offense, he made the FT. He blocked a layup on help D to get a stop. He missed a chuck from three at the wing.

Boozer -- -- Sacre out, Boozer in. About the same production (4 points and 3 boards) as Boozer looked a bit rusty. The Laker interior D really missed Davis’s shotblocking. Boozer seemed to warm up a little as the game went along, although he missed a point-blank layup on the break. Clarkson was trying to orchestrate some offense with him in the second half as the two ran some pick and pop/roll ball. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-9 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: His man blew past him for a dunk. He missed a wing jumper. He posted up and missed a turnaround. He missed a post-up attempt. Second Half: He knocked a ball free on a reach and outlet to Wes for the dunk. Quick attack but Davis blocked and controlled it. He scored a layup working the two-man game with Clarkson. He missed a 16-footer off the pick and pop. He bounced in an elbow jumper. He jumped a passing lane, stole the ball, pushed it all the way up court and missed the layup.

Ellington -- -- When Wes sat, Ellington was his relief at the SF spot. He was firing away at a steady pace, pretty close to Chuckington mode. He took some hard contact in the final minute on a loose ball and was holding his shoulder as the game ended. Vitti might pounce on that. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a rushed chuck from three. He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He swished a wing three off the handoff. He swished a rainbow three with the clock about to expire. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He missed a pull-back three straight away. He up-faked and threw a pass away when Hill thought he was chucking a shot. He attacked past his man and scored a layup. He probed and scored a layup with his left up against the shotclock. He missed a 20-footer. He drew some garbage time FTs and made one. He missed a wing three in chuck mode.

Brown -- -- The Lakers signed him to a contract for the rest of the season, with options for next year. “I want to definitely be a Laker long term because to me this is the best franchise in the NBA with so much history,” Jabari said. Slow start in this one and he never really got on track. His audition for next year will be ongoing: the few remaining games we have, summer league and preseason before the Lakers likely make a decision on him. “I feel like when you play hungry, that’s when you play your best,” he said. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He attacked off the three line and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He swished a long wing jumper in early offense. He missed a drive trying to shield off defenders while scoring with his left. He sank a three. He missed a layup attempt in transition. He stepped out of bounds on a push off on the sidelines. He was blocked on a drive. He attacked, missed the drive and a follow tip.

Scott -- -- First sub, Brown in for Lin midway through the quarter. Both teams scoring at a high clip… Ellington in for Wes, Lakers up 2 with 4 minutes left… Hill in for Black…. Boozer dusted off and in for Kelly. Lakers up 1… The Lakers led 31-29 after the first quarter… He started a Hill, Boozer, Ellington, Brown, Lin lineup… The lax D continued from L.A., but without the consistent scoring, and the Lakers trailed by 4 when Scott called the early timeout… Lakers down 6 when Kelly, Back and Wes returned for Boozer, Hill and Brown… He didn’t bring back in Clarkson for Ellington or Lin when the timeout came midway through the quarter (should have even brought him back a couple minutes sooner that). Instead, he brought Clarkson back in with 2 minutes left in the half. If you aren’t trying to tank like he says, this was a ridiculous rotation… The Lakers trailed 60-49 as the Pelicans shot 57% and the Lakers 50%. Lots of layups and no turnovers for the Pelicans. Pelicans also made 6-7 from three... The Lakers D picked up where it left off and they quickly trailed by 21 when the timeout came. A 9-0 run by the Pelicans… Brown in for Lin… With 4 minutes left down 20, he brought in Boozer and Hill for Black and Kelly… The Lakers trailed 90-70 to start the fourth quarter. He went with a Hill, Boozer, Ellington, Brown, Clarkson lineup… Scott sat Clarkson for Lin with 7:12 left, Jordan just 3 boards off the triple-double… Boozer and Hill out for Kelly and Black with 4:33 left…

[SweetP]

Thanks!
Clarkson and Black were great to watch.
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[Megaton]

Thanks DB!

Clarkson is the man. And Black is a great energy guy. Both of them are fun to watch together.

Really hope to see Clarkson become a star in this league. Cant wait to see what Clarkson can really do with a real team next season.

[DancingBarry]

Programming alert. I will be missing the next two games and probably away from a TV.

You guys will need to step up and let me know how it goes.

[Megaton]

[LakerEric]

We lost???? OMG

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[bws94]

DB thanks.

Unhappy. Byron could have let the kid try to get the triple-double. He played so well and deserved to try to get a few more rebounds. Lin was obviously under the weather but he tried. Boozer too, he looked rusty. And come on Byron, you made your point. So now play Ed Davis.

[Reflexx]

[jenopogi]

[Megaton]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[Reflexx]

[xiaozhugong]

Lin was a -11 in this game.