LAKERS -vs- JAZZ - 7-17-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Leaving Las Vegas… While it would have been nice if the Lakers won a few more games, if only to give fans a couple more chances to watch the team, the summer league served its purpose. The rookies tasted a small bite of basketball at the next level, and the second-year players worked on furthering their games and developing chemistry with teammates.

For Julius Randle, the experience was frustrating with limited minutes. For D’Angelo Russell, it left a bad taste in his mouth as he knows he can play much better than he showed.

Both, however, showed glimpses of their potential throughout the handful of games. Randle’s combination of speed, power and ability to move with the ball had defender’s on their heels. His perimeter game started to make an appearance in the last couple of games. He will no doubt have Staples buzzing at times this season.

Russell stumbled out of the gates trying to work his way through the overly complicated, muddy and ineffective schemes we tried to implement early on. As the game simplified, he found more of his comfort zone again. After a 21-point outing Friday, he showed games with strong passing, strong rebounding and strong scoring. It was a painful, bumpy ride, however.

“I think they all know they’ve got a long way to go and a lot of work to do,” Scott said, mentioning he thought it was good they got a rude awakening.

If the Laker coaches wanted the rookies hungry and humbled with just enough taste of success to keep their confidence up, that’s what they got. Hopefully, that translates into hard work over the next few months.


Clarkson -- -- When Clarkson was up for press questions, D’Angelo snuck in, “What happened on that lob pass that I threw to you and you came up short?” Clarkson kind of biffed a highlight-reel play on a long oop from Russell. Clarkson said he’s getting used to Russell, just like Russell is with him. They are just barely scratching on the surface of their chemistry, something the coaches hoped would start to develop in these first few games together. “They got to learn to gel and play together,” Scott said. Russell mentioned he hangs out with Clarkson off the court and said that’s where chemistry begins. Clarkson struggled a little to score early on in this game, but still showed the usual flashes of athleticism and ability to get where he wants on the court. He threw down a huge dunk on the move over the Jazz bigman. Clarkson said he’s going to continue working on his perimeter shot and felt he was a little off with it in the summer league despite work already put in. With Russell and Kobe, he’ll need to play off the ball a good amount. He did a good job crashing the glass off ball in this one for scores. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-15 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 5 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 6 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a jumphook in the post. He missed an open wing three. He missed a pull-up 19-footer. He was blocked on a pull-up elbow jumper. He attacked and missed the layup. He broke down the D and hit Black for the dunk. He kicked out from the post to Jabari for the three. He attacked but couldn’t finish. He crashed the glass and tipped in a missed drive (probably a goaltend). Wild lob pass that went out of bounds. He rejected his man, recovering on the drive. Second Half: He changed directions off the screen and crammed over the Jazz C, wow. He tipped in a missed jumper. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He dunked after cutting under the hoop for Randle to find him in semi-transition. He lost the ball on a drive, swiped it back and hit the jumphook. He had back-to-back offensive fouls (flop on the second one). He fumbled away an oop from Russell, argh. He attacked left off the high screen and swished the floater. He took an inbounds in the corner and was trapped and threw the ball away. He missed a wing three.

Russell -- -- He showed bits and pieces of his overall game throughout the summer league (and this is what you want to look for summer league). Russell never really put it all together like we saw in college. In this game, it was the shooting as he drained a number of perimeter shot, including several in a row in the fourth quarter as the team tried to scratch their way back in the game. I was kind of waiting for the Lakers to draw something up for Russell, like a three, in the last couple minutes, but that never materialized. “I thought it was the same shots I was getting all week,” Russell said. Yep. Asked about his overall play in the summer league: “Not good. For me, not good. I know what I’m capable of.” He said he needs to be more assertive on the floor, particularly on the defensive end. He certainly wasn’t gambling or trying to make plays on that end, more just shut off his man on the screens and switching to get stops. He had some very nice moments in that regard. In college, it’s sometimes hard to tell how a player will defend with the zones and how they usually cannot afford to get into any foul issues (as they are the main man on their squad). Russell showed well defensively in the summer league. I’m very pleased we have two very good, young rebounding guards. Russell’s nose of the ball on that end is excellent. “I try to rebound for my position as best as possible,” Russell said. Combine that rebounding with the passing, scoring and strong potential on D and it’s just a matter of hard work and experience to bring it all together. “I know he’s willing to put the work in, and that’s what I’m going to ask him to do,” BScott said. Scott mentioned Russell’s poise on the floor was “second to none” in the summer league. He said he wants to work on his body quite a bit in the next few months. I’d also like to see continued work on his range as well as ability to change speeds and finish quicker at the rim (guys like Nash and Stockton had great foot/bodywork doing this despite average athleticism). He finished with an average of 12 points, 5 boards and 3 assists. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 10-20 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a wide open three. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He swished a pull-up wing jumper working off the screen. He airballed a fade under the hoop instead of going up strong. He sank a long three off a swing pass. He lost the handle on a drive. He was blocked on a slow developing drive. He ball-faked, stepped in and swished a 20-footer from the wing. He missed a wing jumper. He hit Black on a pocket pass for FTs. He airballed a pull-up jumper on what looked like a half-hearted or tired possession. He drew the D and kicked to Jabari for the three. He worked the high screen and sank the 17-footer. Second Half: He turned the corner on the screen and scored the layup before the D converged. He missed a wing pull-up, a little forced. He missed a good look at a three working off the screen. He lost the ball off his foot for a score the other way. He sank a 17-footer working off the screen. He hit another one next time down court from the other side. He hit his third in a row from about the same distance, trying to dig the Lakers out of their fourth quarter hole. He sank a 20-footer after shedding his man on a pick on his next attempt. Way short on a heat-check wing jumper. Pretty backdoor pass threaded to defenders to Mitchell, who couldn’t finish. Nice hands on a bullet feed from Randle pushing out the break and Russell scored the layup.

Randle -- -- More “frustrated” interview answers after the game, irked with the playing time restrictions. He would have put up some numbers had we unleashed him. It seemed like some of his sub outs in the recent games were right in the middle of Randle imposing his game on opponents. Guys just bounce off him out there. I can’t imagine trying to cover that combination of power and speed, very tough assignment. He’ll need to keep working on the perimeter shot, just because becoming money on that completely opens up everything. “The thing I kept telling him is to just be aggressive,” Scott said. Randle said he did feel like they were starting to build some chemistry together despite his limited minutes. I’m enjoying seeing some of the combos of Randle running the two-man game with one of our other guards on that strong side spacing the floor. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He attacked the paint and missed a short one. He bullied his way in the post, but missed another relatively easy one around the rim. He sank a pull-up wing jumper on iso. He blocked a drive but was called for the foul (looked bogus). He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He pushed it up court and overpowered Lyles for a layup. He blew past Lyles again and missed an easy And-1, he made one FT. He stripped Lyles with a reach on the perimeter and was fouled pushing it up court. Second Half: He scooped up a loose ball, attacked and scored around a defender. He missed a wing face-up jumper. He brought the ball up, probed and hit Clarkson under the hoop for the jam. Great D on a switch on a guard, staying with him on the high speed drive and forcing a turnover. He bullied his way into the middle of the lane, up-faked, went up and under and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a wild drive to his left. He pushed out the break and fired a pass to Russell for the layup. He drew FTs after a series of wild passes from Lakers, he made one FT. He missed a corner three at the buzzer.

Black -- -- Some very nice sealing off ball in this game and guys found him for some easy ones. The chemistry with the guards was much improved. Defensively, while he blocked a couple of shots he had another 5 fouls. The team sent the Jazz to the line again and again. Down the stretch, we couldn’t get enough shutout possessions on D with all the team fouls. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-7 shooting (4-7 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He curled into the lane on the drive and missed the short one. He dunked off the drive and dish from Clarkson, but missed the And-1 FT. He rejected a drive on help D. He grabbed a loose ball and threw it in off the glass. He drew FTs on the pocket pass from Russell, he missed both. He sealed his man, shed him as the pass came and scored the layup. He dunked off the drive and dish from Jabari. Low position and he hit the jumphook in the middle of the paint. Second Half: He set a couple of screens, sealed his man in the post and scored a jumphook. He up-faked, attacked baseline and was fouled on the reverse jam attempt for FTs. He blocked a drive. Nance set him up for FTs with a nice pass from the elbow to Black sealing his man, he made both.

J. Brown -- -- He had some better moments with the passing in this one. He stayed aggressive, which was the problem last year. While he wasn’t terribly efficient, he did knock down three, three’s including a big one to be the shotclock down the stretch (along with another key layup on a drive) that helped the Lakers cut the games to one possession. Defensively, he gave up a rare 4-point play. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-12 shooting (3-7 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a corner three. He sank a long three off a kickout. He attacked from the three line and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a turnaround in the lane. He was blocked on a putback attempt. He lost the ball on a drive. He swished a three on a kickout from Russell. He missed a drive, but Clarkson cleaned it up. He attacked the paint and dumped it to Black for the dunk. He missed a heave at the buzzer. Second Half: He drew FTs and made both. He fouled a three shooter to give up a 4-point play. He missed an open wing three. He missed a three on iso when the offense busted. He attacked a crowd and couldn’t finish. He beat the shotclock with a sideline three to cut it to 3. He bullied his way to the front of the rim and scored a layup.

Nance -- -- “Individually, I’ve got a whole lot to work on. I felt at times I was just invisible on court,” Larry said. That pretty much describes his impact the last couple of games. He said he knows he can hit that 15- to 18-foot jumper, but will continue to work on it as it wasn’t dropping in the summer league. He just needs to impose his strengths on the game more. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 4 boards and 3 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: Nice challenge in transition, but he was called for the foul. He short-armed an easy layup. Second Half: He pulled up at the elbow and then found Black under the hoop for FTs. He attacked from the wing and hit the floater across the lane.

Upshaw -- -- Very limited action again and not of a lot of it when he was in. You might have to compile all his minutes to get a couple games worth of action. He did a good job setting screens and hustling. The defensive presence was there at times but not a major impact on the game. The Stats: He had 1 board in 6 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: Nice challenge on his man’s drive to force a brick. No challenge on the drive to give up a layup.

A. Brown -- -- Really a nothing game out there. He got his only score on a layup off a long outlet pass. He was aggressive with 6 shots in under 11 minutes, just couldn’t knock them down. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards and 1 steal in 11 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a pull-up jumper trying to create off the dribble. He missed a sideline three. He missed another from the other side next time down. Second Half: He pushed the ball up court and missed the wing pull-up jumper. He missed a wing three. He dunked off the bustout an outlet pass.

[SweetP]

Thanks BD!
Missed this one due to work so your writes up is 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

[lakersfreak]

Thx DB

[LakerLanny]

Hi DB,

Hope all is well with you and that you are having a nice summer.

I think Clarkson is obviously a talent, but he seems to not impact actually winning games...even in summer league. That is alarming, he needs to do more at the defensive end and learn to swing the ball and cut hard and make some other types of plays to fit in with Kobe, Bass, Hibbert, Williams in the regular season in my opinion.

I love Randle. I want him to keep charging towards the basket like a bull in a china shop. Put the onus on other players to get in front of you or the refs to call fouls.

He isn't going to keep missing shots one foot from the basket, the rust is coming off and to me it is obvious he is a keeper.

The key to me is what Kobe does. Will he play efficiently or look to chuck as happened at times last season? Can he stay healthy? Will Lou Williams perform at a 6th man of the year level again this season in a tougher Western Conference?

Lots of questions and I am not 100% sure we really want to know the answers at this point.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[K0BEE 2.0]

DB after looking at todays game.....

my sentiments is that Russell seems like a mixture of Jennings/ with a little bit of Nash/Kevin Johnson hybrid.... that is a very nice consolation prize if he reaches his potential.

[TDRock]

Thx DB!

[DancingBarry]

Lanny - I think that's the case with a lot of first and second year players...which is what will make season tough. He's going to have to keep adding all those little things to his game (drawing charges, pass deflections, or like the putback scores tonight) ... That stuff adds up and why guys like DFish or Fox made bigger impacts in the W/L column then their talents my lend to. Once he adds more of that it will help impact the Ws much more.

[ryan_c]

[Andre2K]

12 pts 5reb and 3ast is not bad in the summer league at all. I will be happy with these numbers hopefully on better shooting percentage during his rookie season.

I like the fact that our young guys put it together towards the ending of the summer, which shows that they are improving on a game by game basis. Good stuff DB as always

Note: You said Russell had 21 points to go with 4 points. I think thats a typo, you may want to correct that, but good write up as always.
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My Dream Starting 5 next Season

Pg Lonzo
Sg Kawhi
Sf Ingram
Pf Lebron
C Dedmon

Bench: Caruso, Hart, Bullock, Kuzma, McGee etc

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks DB

Who was playing the 5 when Black (27 minutes) and Upshaw (6 minutes) weren't playing?

Was Mad Dog experiment with "Small Ball?"

[fiendishoc]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[Chronicle]

Could have sworn I saw Upshaw block a shot
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Kobe

[A Mad Chinaman]

[fiendishoc]

[Wilkes52]

Thanks DB.

Some encouraging play and not much early indication of any immediate special synergies among Randle, Russell and Clarkson.

[Laker7]

Thanks DB.

As you stated Randle stuggled with the minute restriction to get in a rhythem. Once he got the rhythem he got going.

Clarkson IMO either wants to be a SG (not a PG) or was told he was going to be a SG and worked on his scoring rather than passing.

Both Clarkson and Randle tended to be black holes at time on offense BUT given the crappy system that Madsen was using I can see why. Hopefully it is not a trend that is going to continue.

IMO Russell was out of NBA shape and not used to so many games in so few days. He struggled to get his feet under him for jumpers and was a little slow in the lane resulting in him getting the ball poked away as he tried to penatrate. Hopefully conditioning will solve those problems.

L7
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[fiendishoc]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[LakerBeastmode]

DB is this your final recap for the summer league or are you doing another for the whole summer league performance? What do you think of coach. Madsen?

I'm smelling a bust potential from Nance Jr and A Brown.

[DancingBarry]

I thought Madsen was horrible. The over complication trying to shove so much of Scott's offense down their throats and trying to run as much as he did showed little feel for the game. The play calling was atrociious. His only saving graces were his willingness to take the blame and his positive attitude. This team under the Spurs would still be playing, I suspect.

[H0B0]

THX DB