PELICANS -at- LAKERS – 1-12-16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Come From Behind...Finally… “The young guys are starting to get a little resilient,” Scott said.

All the Laker youth delivered something to get this win. Russell helped spark the team in the second half, Clarkson was relentless, Nance made the little plays, Randle did the dirty work coming up big on the glass on both ends and Brown had his best offensive production of his young career.

Wrap that around Lou Williams drawing fouls all game and finally scoring buckets down the stretch, and the Lakers pulled out the 95-91 win. This was a game that they should have won…at home against the lowly Pelicans without their superstar Anthony Davis.

“We kept getting to the line, kept attacking the basket,” Clarkson said. The Lakers outscored the Pelicans by 16 points from the FT line.

This was the Lakers first win of the season when trailing heading into the fourth quarter.



Kobe -- -- He was done after the first half and just 16 minutes. He’s been fighting a few issues, the achille’s strain the latest. He missed all five of the three’s he took (although he did hit a foot on the three line jumper). He looked fairly spry (for Kobe), able to get into the paint a couple of times. He did go down once a little awkwardly. He’s got half a season to go. It’s hard to know for Laker fans which home games he may play on. Hopefully, he can make it to the finish line. “I don’t know if he can play Thursday in San Francisco,” Scott said. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (0-5 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a long sideline heave after letting the defense catch up. He swiped a pass, pushed it up and missed the three in transition. He probed and was fouled on the layup attempt, he made one FT. He missed a wing three on iso. He curled around the high screen and scored the layup. He got his man on his hip next time down, slowly moved in and hit the elbow jumper. Way short on a wing three on a handoff. He hesitated and hit the long wing jumper with a foot on the line. He iso’d and missed a tough turnaround. He forced up a three on the wing hoping for a foul and missed. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Clarkson -- -- He missed his first 8 shots, struggling but Like Lou able to get to the line and manufacture some points. He’s been blocked quite a bit in the last couple games. In the second half, he started to see some daylight in the paint and get in there for scores. “I just kept pushing,” Clarkson said. The trio of Lou, D’Angelo and Jordan carried the team offensively in the second half. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 5-17 shooting (1-6 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He attacked in transition, didn’t know what he wanted to do and got blocked. Nice interior feed to Nance for the dunk. He split a double and then got blocked trying to reverse dunk instead of go for the layup. He missed a pull-up three. He got a hand on a pass and was fouled on D. He missed a floater on a probe. He drew FTs on an inbounds in the middle of the paint, he made both. He crossed over and drew FTs, he made one. Second Half: He missed a corner three up against the shotclock. He couldn’t finish a drive. He drew FTs driving in transition next time down. Horrible lob pass to Nance who was open on the break, turnover. Bad cross-court pass, points the other way. He attacked and kicked to Brown for the early offense three. Not close on a wing three. He finally sank a corner And-1 three on a swing pass, he made the FT. He took the pass in transition and scored the layup. He missed a wide open wing three. He was blocked on a putback attempt. He missed an open three, Randle kept it alive and he scored the layup. He probed off a screen and scored the layup. He attacked, spun to lose his man and hit the leaning floater. He was called for the travel trying to go up and under and dragging the pivot foot. Aggressive attack and spin and he drew FTs, he made one. He missed a drive but Randle followed him up and tipped it in.

Williams -- -- Season high in assists for Lou tonight, but the 9 points in the fourth down the stretch were huge. He couldn’t hit anything before that, but was still effective. I like having Lou starting quarters like we have him now (he didn’t start the fourth, though). There’s a definite advantage in having his ability to draw fouls and get opponents into the penalty. We needed the FTs badly in this game. It kept us in it in the first half when we shot under 30%. He did a great job drawing the whistles (Lakers made 25 FTs). He struggled with the three ball all night, until he finally hit one late in the fourth on his last attempt to go 1-8 from three. After that, he banked a 10-footer and hit on a big drive in the final minute. “I was able to make some big ones down the stretch and these guys believed in me,” Lou said. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 4-14 shooting (1-8 from three, 10-10 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 8 assists, 1 block and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He took his eye off a pass from Kobe and lost it out of bounds. He missed a corner three on a kickout. We passed the ball around the perimeter uselessly so he took it on a drive and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked to his right and missed the layup, wanting the foul. He missed a wing three. He fell asleep on D and let a man drive right by him for a dunk. He drew three FTs on a reach on the sideline, he made all three. He attacked baseline and fired a pass to Bass for the layup. Next time down he drew more FTs, he made both. He missed a corner three. He probed on the right side and lobbed to Nance on the left. He hit Nance on the two-man game for a jumper. He had 7 points on 0-4 shooting (7-7 from the line) to go with 5 assists. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He probed across the top of the key, drew the whistle and sank the And-1 18-footer, he made the FT. He attacked and dumped it to Hibbert for the easy layup. He missed a three. He probed and kicked to Brown in the corner for the three. He missed a rushed wing three. He missed a wing three. He probed, took contact and went to the floor to draw FTs, he made both. He missed the baseline pull-up. He nearly lost the ball, got it back and finally hit a garbage three straight away. He probed from the wing, leaned and banked in the 10-footer from the right side to give the Lakers a 1-point lead with 1:16 left. He missed a wing leaner looking for a foul. His man reached on the perimeter, came up empty and Lou put his foot on the gas, attacked with speed and scored the huge layup over the D before going down.

Hibbert -- -- He had much more of a disruptive defensive presence in this game than we typically see. He was challenging shots and even deterring the thought of them by Pelicans on occasion. The Lakers weren’t scoring at a high clip, so getting the Pelicans stuck in the mud offensively helped keep us in the game. Offensively, he also can get us stuck in the mud quite a bit with his work on the two-man game. Just a huge difference between our other centers and Roy on the screen-roll. We went to the Nance/Randle combo to close this game. We sacrificed some shotblocking for mobility and were able to secure the win. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 blocks and no fouls in 25 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He sank a 17-footer off the pick and pop for the Lakers first score. He bounced in a jumphook on a quick shot off the pass. He missed an open wing jumper. Nice job snuffing out a drive with both hands. He iso’d and missed a jumphook. He drew FTs and made both. Second Half: He couldn’t finish a layup on a high-low. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Lou. He missed a long corner jumper.

Nance -- -- The Pelicans had Anderson out there as their big down the stretch. “I had to match that,” Scott said, going with the Nance/Randle combo instead of Hibbert. Had Bass not turned the ankle, I imagine he would have stayed with them. They were able to hold the line. Good two-way effort by Nance. He was one of the few players worth watching in the first half. Both he and Randle came up with some big offensive tip ins in the fourth. Good experience for our two rookie bigs. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He dunked off the interior feed from Clarkson. He missed a running hook across the lane. Nice challenge to force a layup miss on the other end. He swiped a pass at midcourt. He slammed on the backdoor lob from Lou. He sank a wing jumper off the two-man game. Second Half: He stepped in and took a charge on Tyreke (more please). He attacked right and missed a tough runner. He crashed the glass and put back in the miss by Lou. He missed the open 12-footer he thought he had. XXX

Randle -- -- Say what you want about his often broken offensive game right now, but when he’s on the floor, we get a lot of one-and-out possessions with his defensive rebounding. It makes a big difference when we go small. If only he had a shotblocking presence, too. We went with Randle down the stretch alongside Nance and they kids held down the fort. Randle had a big tip in, a drive around his man for a score and the FT to ice it – all three of those key plays came off big boards. He’s a wild horse out there, but the effort and energy is always there. Asked if he tried to lock in and dominate the boards, he said “I almost feel like I have to.” He does. That’s keeping him in games to close. “He’s a beast inside,” Worthy said. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 11 boards (2 offensive), 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He got tapped on a tough step-through from about 12 feet out. He was blocked out of bounds on a drive off a handoff. He iso’d, attacked to his left across the lane and missed. Quick feet after missing on a power up under the hoop and he swiped the backcourt pass and dunked. He missed an 18-footer. Second Half: He iso’d and charged trying to go left. Good job keeping a missed shot alive and Clarkson scored a layup off it. He drew a couple fouls on the perimeter early in the fourth off the dribble. He secured the defensive board on one end, then tipped in the missed Clarkson drive on the other. He grabbed an offensive board, dribbled it out, then around his man with a crossover for a layup with 43 seconds left. He was intentionally fouled, pulling down the defensive board with 5.7 seconds left, he made one FT to ice it and give them a 4-point lead.

Russell -- -- He played off ball with Clarkson running things quite a bit early on, then took over the floor general work and warmed up as the game went along. He scored all but one of his points in the second half. He and Clarkson were again the guys sparking things offensively in that second half. Russell was key to helping give the team some pulse and life in that second half. He looked pretty mobile out there considering the ankle. If he can move that much, it was probably fine to play him. “I was trying to pace myself,” he said. He’s working mostly off the screens from Bass with the ball as he got more aggressive. The Lakers need to really develop the screen setting for their young bigs to really get the chemistry developing with our youth. “I tell them my job is to deliver them the ball and you guys become Draymond Green,” Russell said. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-8 shooting (2-5 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a three on a kickout. Nice bounce pass to Bass on the slip screen for the layup. He couldn’t connect with Bass on the advance pass up court, turnover. Bad pass off the two-man game and he fouled. He probed baseline and drew a foul, he made one FT. Second Half: He overpassed on a backdoor cut, should have just reversed. He found Clarkson in transition for the score. He drew FTs on a floater, getting pushed from behind, he made both. He missed a wing three on a kickout, we got it back and he sank the three from the same spot. He probed off the high screen and hit the 12-footer on the right side. He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He attacked the lane to his right and scored the layup with the offhand. He sank a sideline three to finally get a Laker lead. He missed a three a step behind the line.

Bass -- -- When Bass came out early in the fourth with the bad wheel (he turned an ankle) the wheels came off. Not sure if it was his screen setting and general activity, but the Lakers nearly lost the game during that stretch. The Randle/Nance unit dug in and they rallied back. Again, good job by Bass working with Russell on the two-man sequences. Good job finishing in the paint. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed an open FT jumper. He missed a short one in traffic. He slipped a screen and scored the layup over the help D. He threw a pass out of bounds in transition. He snagged a baseline pass and powered in a layup in a crowd. Second Half: He attacked middle, up-faked and scored the layup around his man. He missed an off-balance flip-in attempt.

Brown -- -- “I thought he really showed that he was an NBA basketball player,” Scott said. He led the team with a +14, scoring a career-high 9 points. “We got stops when we needed to, we got rebounds when we needed to,” Brown said. He started for Kobe in the second half and sank a couple of threes. Getting that two-way game from him really elevates his impact. He’s always more than capable defensively. The Lakers got strong efforts from all of Russell, Randle, Nance and Brown in this one. Good job by the Future. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards and no fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He sank a one-dribble pull-up on the baseline. He missed a wing three at the buzzer. He missed a step-back three on a two-for-one possession. Second Half: He sank the sideline three off a kickout in transition. He sank an And-1 corner three on a kickout, but couldn’t finish the FT. He drew FTs on an over-the-back foul on the defensive glass, he made one.

Young -- -- With Kobe out in the second half, Brown moved to the starters and Nick slid into the backup SF role. Some token minutes, not much impact. He did have a nice steal. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Way short on a deep three. He poked a ball loose on iso to get a stop. Not close on a top-of-the-key jumper and he wanted the foul.

Scott -- -- Slow scoring out of the gates again… Lakers trailed 12-7 when Russell came in for Lou… Randle in for Nance shortly later… Kobe out for Brown, Hibbert for Bass, Lakers down 5… The Lakers trailed 22-15 after the first quarter… Lou in for Clarkson to start the second quarter… Kobe in for Brown, Lakers down 7… Scott called a timeout, Lakers down 28-19… Nance in for Randle… Hibbert in for Bass, Lakers down 34-29 when the timeout came… JC in for DLO… The Lakers trailed 41-38 at the half. A bit of a yawn fest except for some moments from Nance… Brown starting for Kobe. Brown hit a couple of threes… Timeout down 57-51 midway through the quarter… Russell in for Lou… Randle in for Nance… He brought in Nick for Brown, Lakers down 3… Both DLO and Clarkson showing more of a pulse… Bass in for Hibbert, Lakers own 2 with 2 minutes to go… The Lakers trailed 71-67 heading into the fourth… Clarkson sat for Williams after a minute… He brought in Hibbert for Bass, then switched it to the quicker Nance to match up… A 10-0 run by the Pelicans and the Lakers trailed by 7 when the timeout came with 6:45… He sat Russell and Nick for Lou and Brown… The Lakers took a 1-point lead with 1:16 when the timeout came… Big plays by Lou down the stretch… The Lakers shot just 37% but made 25-32 from the line and had only 8 turnovers…

[pio2u]

THANKS DB!

[Yumyumcha]

Thanks DB!

[lakerjoshua]

I'd like to see Randle play in the post more like in Kentucky to develop his finish at the rim. Once he has that, he can move to the mid range jumper, dribble drive, etc. If he had a couple go to post moves it would keep him from being such a wild horse.

[SweetP]

Thanks DB. Back on a win streak?
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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

[Johnny Cage]

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[tox]

Thanks DB!

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Shaber]

Thanks, DB!

So happy for the young guys. Seems like Brown is getting finally accustomed too.
The future got a tiny bit brighter again.
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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

[twisted]

Thanks DB!
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“God knew they couldn’t be on this Earth without each other. He had to bring them home to have them together.” – Vanessa Bryant

[A Mad Chinaman]

The signs of improvement sought by fans from the young players are beginning to show

With Kobe's understandable focus on away games, anticipate that Kobr will be missing more home games

[Chronicle]

If we do get Derozan just imagine him and Lou drawing all those fouls, and hopefully Randle as well

We'll be a tough cover for teams because of having to deal with foul trouble all game!
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Kobe

[DShotMaker1824]

[DShotMaker1824]

Thanks DB!
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"Through the legs to the left, through the legs to the right, we don't run them Laker plays, we just Kobe fadeaway..."

[jab]

Roy with 5 rbds , he must have been really active. Julius is a good rebounder, reminds me of Lamar a lil in that respect. Lamar was an above average rebounder, just had a nose for the ball. Julius , if he works on it, could be a league leader- thats how good his rebounding can be. His offensive games is broken but not irreparable . Speaking of reboudind, even Rambis and Rodman learned to score, and man were their offensive games broken. As a base, he is eons ahead of those guys. I still have hopes for JR someday being a 20-10 guy! Good to see Brown got some burn, he is NBA caliber from what Ive seen. The young guys keep improving and Clarkson remains one of my favorites despite his struggles. Its great to see light at the end of the tunnel for the Lakers----and its not a train! The Rams are coming back to LA, maybe Chargers? which I would love! Maybe Raiders? doesnt give me the same excitement. But LA will soon return to form, I believe. Thanks DB, as always, you DA MAN on these recaps!

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[All_Star_Laker]

I don't understand how Roy can anticipate so well for a shot block, but anticipate so poorly for a rebound. I know his boxing out skills are terrible, but it also looks like he generally has his arms down instead of in the rebound position.


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[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Good game - great to see rookies, one step at at time, proving we have a core worth building on.

The stats say the Lakers have one of the worst defenses in the league. And we probably were worst the first 20 games or so. Still, it looks to me like this team takes on a different defensive identity when Nance and Brown are both on the floor. Not that other players like DLO aren't also improving, and I don't have any individual or situational stats to back it up, but there are moments where this team actually looks difficult to score on when Nance and Brown play. Hopefully that's not just a biased eyeball test.

I'm curious to see how this team's defense develops as the season progresses.

[fiendishoc]