LAKERS -vs- KINGS – 10-13-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Got to Get Stops… This one had some flashbacks to last year’s defense getting consistently scorched. The Kings shot 59% for the game on their way to the 116-104 win over the Lakers.

“A lot of defensive assignments, including myself, we just weren’t on the same page,” Russell said. That about summarizes it. They struggled to defend the small ball with a hot shooting Anthony Tolliver, who went 7-7 from three. He was in the zone and spacing the floor for the Kings.

The team did a better job cleaning up the fouls on D…but the D struggled to get stops.

“We need to realize that not fouling doesn’t mean let them shoot,” Luke said. It's a work in progress.

On the bright side, there were good signs in this game from D’Angelo Russell, who dropped 31 points and 11 assists. Those are crazy numbers for someone his age. The team as a whole had 31 assists.


Russell -- -- Russell was back to that smooth shooting stroke and the numbers followed. Same kinds of shots as the previous game, just swishing tonight and making it look easy. He mixed the high scoring in with his first high-assist game of the preseason with 11 (last year, he had a low-scoring 11-assist game in the fourth preseason game, I believe). Nice to see him put them both together tonight. We put him on Afflalo vs. the smaller Lou defensively quite a bit and I thought he did fine in that matchup. However, when he was guarding the PGs he was taking bad angles and making poor decisions. “Offensively, he had a very complete game tonight,” Luke said. “Defensively, there’s still some work to be done, but what I’ve known about D’Angelo so far is that he’ll take that challenge on, just like he has with the offense and he’ll be fine.” The Stats: He scored 31 points on 10-14 shooting (5-6 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 1 board, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He called for the Mozgov screen and hit the 17-footer off it. He swished a sideline three in transition. He hit Deng for the wing three. He missed Mozgov, then skied a pass out of bounds to Randle, just a poor sequence. He drained a wing three next time down. Not close on a long turnaround (should have waited for the screen that was coming). He drew FTs on a post entry, he made both. He stripped the ball off Afflalo to get a stop. Shotclock low, he swished a deep three. He got tapped on a pull-up jumper off the pull-back dribble. He drained a corner three, getting knocked down with no call. He had 16 points on 5-8 shooting. Second Half: He attacked the paint and drew FTs, he made both. He poked the ball loose from behind and it led to a Lakers dunk. He backed his man down and hit the easy turnaround. He drew a push-off foul on Afflalo. He swished a high-arching three off the loop. He slipped a pass to Randle on the two-man sequence at the elbow for a layup. He split the double and hit the floater over the third defender. He ducked an elbow swing-through from Afflalo and drew the offensive foul call (Afflalo had some words for him that Russell ignored). He pushed out the loose ball and scored a layup with speed. He missed a corner jumper. He probed baseline and hit Ingram in the corner for three. He fell asleep on D and gave up a layup when Farmar cut. He attacked off the screen and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a tech FT. He took the bullet feed from Ingram out of the horns set and quickly threw it up and in under the hoop. Bad D, then a sloppy inbounds to Julius to turn it over.

Randle -- -- A lot of small ball by the Lakers tonight to try to match up with the small Kings units. We’ve got to be a lot faster in our rotations and perimeter D to hold the line defensively with those. Randle and Russell combined for 16 of the Lakers 31 assists. I think that’s a sign of how Luke wants them to play. Randle will set the table a lot in early offense. Russell will force the D to make decisions in the half court and orchestrate from there. Randle and Young were developing that chemistry as Julius was finding Nick on kickouts or handoffs to set him up for threes. “Julius has been the Magic Johnson on the break,” Nick said. Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s putting a lot of pressure on the D in transition, and those little handoffs on the wing open up space for his teammates. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting to go with 10 boards, 5 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 steal in 32 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: Way long on an open wing jumper. He pushed out a loose ball and hit Russell for the three. He attacked and missed a turnaround in the paint. He iso’d and missed the jumphook bank. He got tapped on a long wing jumper at the buzzer. He was picked in the backcourt, And-1 score the other way. Second Half: He screened, took the pass from Russell in tight spacing and scored the layup. Nice challenge on D to get a stop, he then pushed out the miss and hit Lou for the three. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Mozgov. He attacked, spun in the lane and scored. He attacked to his left and missed the short one. He was blocked on a drive. He attacked and kicked to Nick for the three. He hit Nick for three again on a pushout a few seconds later. He worked a two-man game with Nick to set him up for another three next time down.

Deng -- -- We got Deng into some stretch 4 minutes tonight. This is probably a sign of more things to come. Neither Randle nor Nance have shown the consistent ability to do this so far this preseason. Luke is starting to look for better floor spacing combos. We need Deng to hit those threes and our guards to get into the paint during these stretches. When he’s at the SF, I’d like to see the Lakers press their advantage better with their length than they have been recently on the D end. Deng had a nice steal getting into the passing lane. More please. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-11 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 6 boards, 1 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a wing three. He hesitated twice, then forced a jumper and airballed. He sank a wing three on a kickout from Russell. He attacked from the wing and missed the layup. He missed a wing three in early offense. He jumped the passing lane and took it the distance for the score. He missed a putback. He missed a half-court heave. Second Half: He missed the open sideline three. He curled into the lane off the dribble and scored a layup. He sank a baseline jumper off the inbounds.

Mozgov -- -- He’s shown some consistent ability to get out in transition as a C…and make things happen. Roy, as slow as he was last year, somehow got up and down the court with surprising speed. It just rarely amounted to much. Mozgov with speed is actually a threat to finish strong. The team played well when he was out there tonight. I was hoping we’d bring him back some more to try to press a size advantage and experiment with that, but Luke’s still in search of a small ball lineup that can be effective. So we went that way tonight. Mozgov’s perimeter game (both passing and shooting) has been spotty at best so far. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a +17. The Action: He missed a short one on the baseline. Way off on the perimeter pass to a cutter in the paint, turnover. He was blocked on a dunk attempt. He one-armed an offensive board and put it back in. Second Half: He dunked trailing the break. Extra feed to Randle in the paint for a layup.

Williams -- -- Twice in the first half, he passed while getting whistles on the foul calls. I wonder if this is/was a sign that he’s looking to be in more of a distributor role to help keep the offense clicking. You just don’t see that from him…ever. I do think he’s fitting in with the system. Luke didn’t let him get worked by Afflalo in the post unlike the first time they met. His effort in general has been much better on this end of the floor so far. I think Luke’s got a deep enough bench at his disposal to sit people down if they aren’t playing D. That might keep guys fighting hard on both ends to earn their minutes. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting (1-6 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: Nice challenge on a three, right in his man’s face. He missed an open three. He missed a short bank in transition. He missed a good look at a wing three. He deflected a pass out of bounds. He missed a floater in the lane. He scored a layup in transition (good job getting the ball up court to him). He missed a baseline fade. He missed a step-back three. Second Half: He dished to Mozgov trailing the break for the dunk. He missed a three in early offense. He sank the sideline three on the kickout from Lou. Stutter step and he drew FTs in transition, he made one. He sank a baseline floater. He was blocked on a three.

Clarkson -- -- Clarkson didn’t like the communication out there defensively. Good to see him focusing on that end of the floor before, during and after games. He and Russell were the only two in double digits in this game. Those guys will be consistent scorers all year. We need consistent defenders out of both. Jordan had a couple of fouls trying to cover Afflalo in the post with some tight challenges. Good effort, nonetheless. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-12 shooting (3-7 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 turnovers, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He missed a corner three. He was stripped on a drive. He drained a pull-up wing three. He scooped up a loose ball, made a bad pass, but he relocated into the corner, got it back and hit the three. He attacked off the three line and muscled in a tough And-1 layup before falling hard to the floor, he made the FT. He pounded the dribble and bricked a forced corner jumper up against the shotclock. He missed a leaning three up against the shotclock. He missed a three in early offense. He had 9 points on 3-7 shooting. Second Half: He cut baseline and Calderon lobbed to him for the score. He was stripped on the perimeter, then gave up the And-1 in transition. He sank a two-for-one baseline pull-up. He missed a corner three. He sank a pull-up in the lane. He sank a sideline three on the catch and shoot.

Ingram -- -- Bit by bit, he’s starting to look a little more comfortable on the floor. There were signs in the last one and more in this one. As he gets more games under his belt, he’ll start looking more like himself. “It’s a process, but I’m still trying to be aggressive,” he said. Some rushed shots, but mostly because he was up against the shotclock. I’m still seeing the offense as a bonus right now. A month from now it will be better. Two months, even more so. The team was killed when he was on the floor tonight (-27). That’s been rare this preseason. We went to some smaller units where he was at the PF. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -27. The Action: He up-faked at the top of the arc, attacked the paint and scored the lefty layup. He sank a long wing jumper off the handoff. Second Half: He drained the corner three on the Russell kickout. Great weakside help to deflect a pass off a man under the hoop. He had to force up a wing three to beat the shotclock and missed. He missed a quick-fire sideline three. He zipped a pass to Russell under the hoop for the layup. Not close on a wing three.

Nance -- -- It’s been a lackluster few games for Larry. He hasn’t been able to impose his athleticism on the game lately. And while I like that he’s looking for teammates, some of his passes (and Mozgov’s) can put together a nice lowlight reel so far this preseason. I might also be equally as bugged by the passes he doesn’t make. It feels like he consistently misses guys in good position sealing their man under the hoop. We’re running some nice sequences with Larry out of the horns that should get more effective as the season goes along. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He found Yi for the baseline jumper. He called for the pass as a decoy in the horns, got the guard screen, cut, took the pass and scored at the rim. Second Half: He swiped the ball, pushed it out and was blocked on the finish from behind. He finished the lob dunk from Calderon. He missed the lefty 3-footer. He fired a pass to Calderon that was too hot to handle, turnover.

Calderon -- -- He didn’t do much for me in this one. While he had a couple of nice lob passes, the team got beat up while he was out there (-17). He was clanking his shots. Huertas had more spark for the team in the last one. Hard to say who is winning this battle with the coach. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. The Action: He drew FTs in early offense and made both. He missed a wing three. He missed another three. He missed a pull-up at the elbow. Second Half: Bad inbounds, turnover. He lobbed to Clarkson backdoor for the score. He lobbed to Nance rolling for the dunk. Nice challenge defensively, right on Farmar to force a miss on the other end. He sank the short pull-up jumper but lost his shoe.

Young -- – He played the microwave role for the team tonight, coming off the bench and catching quick fire with three three’s. He’s been putting in strong two-way efforts. “I’m just going out there and playing hard,” Nick said. “It helps when you got a coach that will talk to you about it and really prepare you to help you.” He was out there with some of the small ball units at SF. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-5 shooting (3-4 from three to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He was forced into a long chuck to just beat the shotclock on the brick. He swished the three on the Randle kickout. He sank another from Randle in transition next time down. He missed a long three off the Randle handoff. And somewhere I missed taking notes on another three.

Yi -- -- Luke was taking a good long look at Yi tonight, resting Black as the backup big. Yi gives us some floor spacing as he’s going to take and make some perimeter shots that Black won’t be. Some of these units can really open up the floor for our guards, but we also need to maintain that defensive intensity. The Yi units didn’t quite have that, but he’s been looking better by the game. It’s going to be a tough balance all year as we look for floor spacing and D. This roster is probably not quite their on having both on the floor at the same time unless it’s with Deng at PF. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 2 assists and 1 turnovers in 13 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He attacked and was stripped. He was swatted trying to get a shot off at the buzzer. He sank a baseline jumper. Nice feed off the horns to Nance, who took a screen and scored the short one. Second Half: He flashed to the ball to clear out the backside, took the pass and swished the elbow jumper. He drew FTs getting out on the break, he missed both, however.

Walton -- -- Ingram and Clarkson in for Deng and Williams after 7 minutes… Yi and Nance in with 4 minutes left, down 3 (8-0 Kings run)… Calderon in for Russell, Lakers down 5 as Luke took a timeout… Russell back in for one possession with a few seconds left. Luke has done a little more situational subbing in the past two games.… A lot of trips to the line for the Kings. The Lakers trailed 30-26 after the first… He went with the Yi, Nance, Ingram, Clarkson, Calderon lineup… A lot of shotclock issues for the Lakers… Randle and Deng in for Nance and Yi, Lakers down 8… The lead ballooned to 16 when Russell, Williams and Mozgov returned (a 15-0 run)… Toliver killing them on threes… Young in for Mozgov, Lakers slide Deng to PF… The Lakers trailed 62-44 at the half… Strong start to the second and the Lakers cut the lead to 3 (a 10-0 run in one stretch)… The Lakers trailed by 6 when Clarkson came in for Lou… Mozgov out for Ingram, Lakers down 2, Deng sliding to PF again… He brought in Yi and Nance again for Randle and Deng. Luke getting a long look at Yi tonight… Calderon in for Russell, down 4… The Lakers reeled them in and trailed 82-80 heading into the fourth… Poor start to the fourth by this unit and they trailed by 8 before Luke called a timeout. Got to win those first 5 minutes of the fourth… Williams and Young in for Yi and Clarkson, going small with Nance at the C to matchup with the Kings small ball… Down 10, Russell in for Calderon… Randle in for Nance with 7 minutes left, down 11… They couldn’t dig out of the hole…

[mhan00]

Horrible D. Russell was great

[10scott10]

Man, I cant believe how much better Russ is looking this year. Its amazing what a real system can do for a player.

That said, this is still a young team with issues, and we need another year or two for the other young guns to catch up to D'Angelo

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB. Rough game. Hope some good comes of it.

Great to see Russell bounce back though, and Ingram start finding his shot.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[tox]

Thanks DB!

[Lowest Merion]

Russell is going to be very, very good (if he isn't already).

[A Mad Chinaman]

Growing pains of a very young team having its ups and downs in its ability to be consistently inconsistent.

[Shaber]

Thanks!

Mozogov's +17 strikes out.
I'm tempted to use it as an argument against small-ball. But I fear Luke might be too "modern". We'll see how much he will experiment.

[LakerEric]

Listening to Luke post game is so refreshing compared to Scott, MDA, and M. Brown. My God! Love this team! I'm really behind this organization now. Thank you Luke!!
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Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[pjiddy]

Haven't been able to watch any preseason (save for highlights) due to work. Thanks for the write-ups, DB!

[Practice]

IIRC Luke said after the last game that they had yet to go over what to do when guarding small ball yet, so I wonder if they started that yet.

[Laker7]

Yi look confused and tenative out there. Not sure where to go or what to do.


And Randle on the defensive end with the small ball lineup was weak on the boards. I do not know how many offensive rebounds we gave up when he was the C but it seemed like a lot.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[AFireInside619]

Thank You DB.

[Gimme_the_rock]

Thank you, DB!!!

Luke's "not fouling doesn't mean let them shoot" line is a gem.
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We back.

[Inspector Gadget]

Thanks DB.

Russell is showing why he was the 2nd pick in his draft class.

I'm not worried about him playing at a high level, the others need to follow suit if we want to win games though.

[SweetP]

Thanks DB.
Nice bounce-back game for Russell.
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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

[22]

Thanks DB! Defense was the weak link in this game along with some clunkiness on O. When they picked it up in the 3rd they caught up from a huge deficit, then they dropped off again to start the 4th.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!