LAKERS -at- WARRIORS – 1-14-16 – Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Western Conference Showdown… The Warriors had won 36 in a row on their home court. The Lakers had won one game in a row. Something had to give.

The Warriors streak or the Lakers? The NBA on TNT…intense drama.

The Lakers actually kept it tight early on, the youngsters pulling out a 3-point lead in the second quarter. In the third, however, the Warriors finally got their separation. They bombed threes, turned Laker turnovers into easy buckets and imposed their will on the team. Just another night for the Warriors this season with the 116-98 win over L.A.

A lot of quality minutes, though, for the Lakers youngsters as Scott let the youth go for some extended run. Combine that with some nice moments on the Kobe Farewell Tour and the Lakers reach the midpoint of the season with a 9-32 record.


Kobe -- -- Grimacing and scowling a bit in this one, pushing through the aches and pain. This was his last road game in NoCal and he got a tribute from Jerry West before the game. “That was a tough one for me to get through. That one got me a little bit,” Kobe said. They interviewed West during the game and he said, “I almost felt like he was my son for a long time.” West held a press conference afterward to talk about the kid he drafted. “For us it was a turning point in this franchise,” West said of the Summer of 96, getting Shaq and Kobe. Standing O’s for Kobe at the end of the game. Fans actually got him off the bench and back into the game with the “Kobe” chants. He got up, pretty much checked himself in, played for a couple more minutes and was subbed out to a great ovation. Nice to see. I loved the effort on D tonight. It’s not easy with all those aches, but he made a heck of an effort. West talking with Kobe: “I said if you were on some farm, you’re like an old horse and someone would probably shoot you.” Ha. No one would shoot that horse. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-15 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He dribbled a ball off his foot, turnover. He faced up and sank a long wing jumper next time down. He missed a wing pull-up from three. He sank a step-back jumper standing on the three line. He missed a pull-up from 17 feet and wanted the foul. He was swatted on a drive. He pushed it out, put on the brakes, drew contact on a step-through with no call and hit the lefty leaner in the lane. He missed a pull-up bank. He missed an elbow pull-up. He missed a turnaround, got it back and lost it again (looked like it was blocked out of bounds). He pumped once, twice and missed the baseline jumper. He threw a pass away, then fouled. Second Half: He poked the ball loose, but the outlet was too far in front of him. He sank a baseline pull-up jumper. I think he blocked Klay twice on that defensive sequence. He missed a pull-up three. He hit Nance for the reverse jam. He missed a three. Perfect sideline inbounds to Russell under the hoop against Curry for a one-handed score. He missed a wing three.

Clarkson -- -- He was aggressive throughout the game offensively. Some turnovers but a strong game on that end, getting in the paint or hitting the midrange. “Our turnovers caught up with us,” Clarkson said of the second half. He led the Lakers in scoring, just 1 assist but no one had more than 3. Defensively, what are you going to do against Curry? I thought he put in a good effort. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 10-17 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a 17-foot pull-up. He took it coast to coast with no resistance and scored the layup. He attacked and took several steps, travel. He worked the two-man game, got a switch and hit the 16-footer on a big. He froze a defender with an inside-out dribble and hit the baseline jumper. He sank a face-up wing jumper. No box out and he gave up an offensive board. He attacked and missed a floater. He slammed back down a Randle miss. He attacked left, hung and couldn’t finish the tough scoop. Second Half: Offensive foul trying to get post position on Curry. He iso’d on Steph, drop-stepped and drew FTs, he made one. He attacked the paint and scooped a layup in around a defender. He missed a short turnaround in the paint next time down. He missed a three behind a screen. He backed it out, attacked, missed a layup around a big but Hibbert cleaned it up. Turnover trying to force a pass in a crowd. He missed a tech FT. He sank a pull-up at the FT line. He hit a pull-up wing jumper off the screen next time down. He swished a three off the pinch post. He missed a wing three. He swiped a ball, pushed it out and tripped but passed it off.

Williams -- -- Somehow it felt like more than 4 misses from three. Shooters shoot and he was clanking again. Of course, a great job getting to the FT line again and again. Nice seeing him tag Klay with a couple of those fouls. At the end of the night, he ended up with 21 points on 12 shots with his FT trickery. Unfortunately, he was on the floor to the tune of a -20. As many bad passes as good ones in this game. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 5-12 shooting (1-5 from three, 10-11 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -20.The Action: He set up Hibbert for the short jumper. He missed a short fading jumper in early offense. He missed a three from the top of the arc and hustled back in transition to get a stop. He missed a step-back three. He missed a short one in the lane. He scored a layup in transition. He drew a perimeter reach and chucked it up to draw FTs, he made both. He missed a wide open sideline three. He threw a bounce pass into Hibbert’s shoes, turnover. He attacked to his right, took contact and finished the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He crossed over, drew the whistle on Klay and more FTs, he made both. Second Half: He pumpfaked at the three line, got a reach, then chucked to earn the FTs, he made all three. He probed and sank the And-1 runner, he missed the FT. Why are you sagging off Curry in transition? He sank a three behind the screen. He missed a three next time down. Quick two-man sequence in early offense and he fed Randle for the slam. He ran the clock, probed right, leaned and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked in early offense and scored a layup on a change of speed.

Hibbert -- -- Those hands kill me sometimes. Maybe a lot of times. Anything on the move and it’s rarely a clean catch. I think he looks stiffer than Kobe getting up and down court. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He swished a 10-footer off the two-man sequence with Williams. He missed a 17-footer in transition. He drew FTs on a reach at the elbow up against the shotclock, he made neither. He missed a short one off the feed from Russell. He somehow missed a point-blank tip-in attempt with no one around him. Second Half: Nice challenge in the paint and then he controlled the rebound. He cleaned up the Clarkson dribble penetration miss with a putback layup.

Nance -- -- So impressive tonight. He had 4 steals and 1 block in just the first half of this game, finishing with 6 steals on the night. That’s 6 steals from your rookie big and not a fluke. That combination of length, athleticism and hoop IQ is so disruptive. “We kept them out of their rhythm,” Nance said of the Lakers first half. He was a key part of that. I know I’ve said this before, but he’s the perfect player to have around superstars. He doesn’t need the ball or plays called, gives you impact on D and does all the little things that you want from a vet, let alone a rookie. Finding that late in the first round, the Lakers definitely got a steal. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 6 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He nearly came up with a steal jumping the passing lane. He swiped a backdoor pass. He tracked down a bad outlet to get the stop. He gathered a quick bounce pass from Russell for the short score. He swatted a drive from behind. He swiped a kickout pass. Weak foul call on a great help D rotation and challenge. Second Half: He scooped up a bad pass and pushed it out, he missed the jumphook shortly later. Great job going to the floor after Kobe knocked a ball loose on D and he recovered it. He reverse jammed when Kobe spotted him in transition. He hit Randle in transition for the easy score. He knocked down and controlled another steal on a pass in an odd-man situation.

Randle -- -- He was a bit of a wrench in the offense as the spacing died at times and the Warriors could pack the paint and help off others. He scratched his way to some decent numbers at the end of the game, but it wasn’t too pretty. The Warriors knew how to defend him and that mucked things up. When he had some space, he went hard to the rack for some throwdowns. When the plugged the paint, it was a lot of tough, challenged shots. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-14 shooting to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He overpowered his man for an offensive board and scored the layup. He was picked on a drive for a layup the other way. He iso’d, spun and hit the short turnaround. Not close on a turnaround on iso. He attacked, missed, kept it alive and Black dunked it in. He zipped a pass to Russell cutting off ball for a score. Offensive foul on the sloppy handoff. He missed a fade. He faced up and was stripped. He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 5 boards, 2 assists and 3 turnovers. Second Half: He slammed off the two-man sequence with Williams in early offense. He missed a turnaround that you could see coming a mile away. Interior feed to Black off a two-man sequence with Williams and it led to Black FTs. He attacked across the lane and missed. He attacked and missed, didn’t make a move to try to get around anyone. Low position and he scored with ease when Nance found him. He took the feed at the top of the lane in transition and dunked. He couldn’t finish in the paint off the Kobe feed. He attacked to his left, hung and banked a tough one. He swished a wing jumper on a kickout. No awareness of the defenders behind him as he pushed it out, turnover.

Russell -- -- He helped lead the Lakers in the first half with 10 points and 2 assists, running the offense finally with Tarik Black on the floor. Very good first half, did not look like rookie with all he was doing out there. The second half he didn’t do much. He clanked some jumpers, the two-man sequences weren’t there and the Lakers floundered a bit. The three shooting includes a half-court heave and a fouled three where the refs swallowed the whistle to just end the game, but he still wasn’t knocking them down like you want to see. Enjoyable first half, showing some nice flashes of playmaking and scoring. He said they played with a lack of energy in the second half. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-16 shooting (2-10 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He threw a pass where Lou was a moment earlier on the perimeter, turnover. He sank a quick-fire pull-up three. He missed a three. He zipped a sweet pass to Black between defenders for the And-1 off the two-man game. He missed a pull-up 18-footer in early offense. He sank a deep three off the swing pass. He cut off ball behind a screen, took the feed from Randle and slithered around a defender for a layup. He missed a wing three on a kickout. Quick one-handed bounce pass to Nance for the score off the sideline PnR. He hit Nance again in transition for a foul (thought there would be FTs). He worked the sideline two-man game with Hibbert and swished the elbow pull-up jumper. He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting and had 2 assists. He was a +4. Second Half: He one-handed in an inbounds pass from the sideline from Kobe. He missed a half-court heave at the buzzer. He missed a three on a kickout. His kickout was swiped. He missed a pull-up three in transition. He swiped a kickout and it led to a Randle score the other way. Way short on a leaner. He missed a floater on a drive. He sank a step-back wing jumper. He missed a wing three, pulling up in transition. He swiped a ball, pushed it out and was fouled on the three attempt, but the refs didn’t want to call it with a couple seconds left.

Black -- -- It only took half a season before we got to see Tarik with D’Angelo on the floor. They quickly started to show some chemistry early on. Black’s a good screen setter and fast to the hoop on the roll. Russell a great passer on these sequences. So some nice moments early on in this game between the two. Tarik will need a few games to get up to speed I think. That’s usually been his M.O., but he had some hustle moments, especially on the offensive glass. He clanked all three of his FTs and a jumper. Hopefully, Scott give him his stretch of 10 games to give us something new to watch. I’m not sure how having both Randle and Black will work on the floor together, but we’ll see. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 6 boards (4 offensive), 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He gave up a putback. He scored an And-1 layup when Russell threaded a sweet pass to him off the two-man game. He pressured Curry into fumbling a dribble away (that was actually a great defensive sequence on the two-man game prior to that with Russell). He couldn’t finish a jam off the two-man game with Russell. He grabbed an offensive board, worked the post and powered in a bank. He missed a 17-footer. He slammed back in a Randle miss. He scored 6 points to go with 5 boards in 9 minutes. He was a +2. Second Half: He drew FTs off the interior feed from Randle, he missed both. He broke up a lob pass.

Brown -- -- He slid to backup PF with Kobe out there. He missed both threes he took and was fairly quiet in this one, unlike draft-mate Nance who was extremely disruptive offensively. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a corner three on a kickout. Second Half: He missed a corner three on a kickout from Russell again.

Kelly -- -- Some garbage time minutes for Kelly. He scrapped for some points, blew a Kobe highlight but stayed aggressive. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-2 shooting (3-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He cut off the sideline and drew a charge. He posted up, drew contact and banked in the short And-1, he made the FT. He missed a fade in the lane. He drew FTs on the nice shovel pass from Kobe in transition. His pass to Clarkson in the paint was picked off. He drew more FTs, he made both.

Scott -- -- They were tied 10-10 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. Kobe scoring 6 of those. Warriors turning the ball over… He sat Clarkson for Russell, Lakers down 3… Randle in for Nance… Black in for Hibbert… Lakers down 5 when Kobe sat for Brown… The Lakers trailed 24-23 after the first quarter… Scott went with Black, Randle, Brown, Clarkson and Russell to start the second quarter… They pulled out to a 3-point lead… Kobe in for Brown, Lakers down 1… Nance and Hibbert in for Randle and Black… Lakers up 1 when Russell sat for Lou with 5 minutes left. Great minutes by Russell... Randle in for Hibbert, score tied… The Lakers trailed 52-49 at the half. The Warriors shot 35% in the first half… The Lakers trailed by 7 after a couple of Warrior threes when the timeout came with 5 minutes left… He brought in Russell for Clarkson and Randle for Nance… Lakers down 7 when Black came in for Hibbert shortly later… The Warriors starting to get a little separation… The Lakers trailed 86-72 heading into the fourth quarter… Black, Randle, Brown, Williams, Russell to start the quarter… Clarkson in for Lou, Lakers down 18 with 10 to go… Black out for Nance. The four rookies and Clarkson now… They cut it to 14 when the timeout came… Grrr, Nance out for Kelly on that timeout. I wanted to see Nance get a couple more steals… With 5 minutes left, the fans went to “Kobe…Kobe…” and I think Kobe just got up and checked himself in… Scott subbed him out a couple minutes later to the standing ovation. Nice moment… Good to see the Lakers compete for a while and then some good run for our all-rookie units…

[kobe209]

First.

Boom.


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IG: wywsabaywb

[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..."

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB! Excellent recap as always! Lots of good moments, particularly in the first half and then as the Lakers started reeling GS in. It's not hard to imagine this young core turning into a very good team in a couple years.

Great game by Nance. Good to see Charles Barkley of all people recognize Nance as a very good player people may not yet be aware of.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[A Mad Chinaman]

Great reading your recaps when I am not able to see the game

Hibbert
If he is not going to punish undersized opponents (small ball combinations) and they are not funneling penetration to him on the defensive end - all he is doing is running FT to FT without making much (if any impact) on the game.

Randle
It will be interesting to see how long it takes for him to adjust how other teams have very effectively limited all his present offensive options. Until he has adjusted to the scouting reports that every team has on him, he will always be coming off the bench because Nance is playing much better than him

AB
He played PF, glad that Byron is experimenting on ways to get him on the court while Bass is a DNP

[Shaber]

I guess we are not the best team in the NBA (yet).



I still just can't grasp that Thompson and McAdoo are not in Lakers colours...
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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

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[Wilkes52]

Thanks DB.

It took a contest with the league's best to make us sit still through a whole Laker game this year.

Not all bad. Nance and Black hinted at what they may be capable of in time. Keep it up fellahs, only forty games more to go. That's plenty of time to step it up on a club searching for answers.

Do these guys ever work on FTs ? 14-24 ? Without Lou, that's 4-13.
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“These GOAT discussions are fun distractions while sitting around waiting for the pizza to be served.”

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[jab]

Hibbert is just plain useless. How is his value so high? He had that sequence where he got the Off Rbd and block his own shot on the rim. Beyond pathetic.
He had a playoff game in Indiana where he scored 0 points and had 0 rbds in over 20 minutes of action! It was a few years back, someone find it please! Clarkson is coming on, Russell too. Randle's shot is just, sorry, BROKEN.And that wide-leg kick thing he does wen he flings it. Comical. Nance just balls. I see some little signs, but none of this comes to fruition with Byron as coach, he's just a horrible coach.

[DancingBarry]

Programming Alert:

I won't be covering the next game.

Hope someone else can step up.

[LakersExclusive]

1st: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3mm8gn

2nd: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3mm8tc

3rd: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3mo6h2

4th: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3mo6i1

[Shaber]