LAKERS -vs- SUNS – 10-21-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Ready Or Not… The Lakers stumbled out of the preseason with 23 turnovers in a 98-94 loss to the Suns.

A choppy game from start to finish with moments of up-tempo ball and good D in between stretches of miscues and mistakes on both ends.

“Sometimes I’m thrilled with our defense. Other times, the way we’re pushing the ball and moving, our defense is awful,” Luke said. “It constantly changes as the games go. They’re doing a really good job in practice and giving effort. So that leads me to believe at some point that will carry over into the games with more and more reps and time.”

Neither of these teams is really poised to do much this season. It’s a growth year with new coaches and some young players in key positions. It showed as they combined for 43 turnovers and 23 missed freethrows. Ugly. Luke still wasn’t thrilled with the starters.

“We got to figure out something with the starting group still,” he said. He’s happy with the second unit, which had moments again tonight of turning the game around.

Luke told the team he was very pleased with how the training camp and preseason went. Larry Nance backed that up.

“I know for a fact there’s something really exciting going on here,” Nance said of this young Laker team.


Russell -- -- I thought he played some excellent D tonight. He was disruptive and did a very good job on the glass. He was a little under a triple-double pace, but the Lakers hurt a little tonight with him and Nick combining for 3-14 from three. Two or three more of those go down and that’s the difference in the game. Loved seeing him and Randle out on the break. He had a key turnover late in the game as well as a missed FT. Those were costly. We’re going to have a full year of ups and downs. He’s just too young with too little experience not to. Still, at his age giving you 17-7-6…take that all year long with a big smile. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-14 shooting (1-6 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He was called for an offensive foul on a jumper. He drew a shove foul from Bledsoe to get a stop. He rattled in an elbow jumper off a good screen from Zubac. He drew more FTs working off the Zubac screen, he made both. He stayed tight on Bledsoe again and forced a travel call. He missed a rushed sideline three on a kickout. He missed a short runner in transition. He attacked a big in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a three a second after entering the game. He dribbled into the post and drew FTs on his man, he made one. He lost the ball off an excellent screen from Randle. He sank a pull-up from the wing. He missed a long wing pull-up jumper. He had 9 points on 2-6 shooting. Second Half: He missed an open 14-footer after losing his man. He got tapped on a three. He swiped a bounce pass, pushed out the break and fed Randle for the dunk. He found Nick on the break for the open three. He tied up Booker on the break. He missed a baseline fade. He threw a pass away. He curled into the paint and hit the floater over a big. He sank a wing three next time down after getting his man turned around. He scooped up a loose ball and hit Randle on the break for the dunk. He missed a three behind a screen. He probed the lane, drew the D and fed Randle for the score. He got a switch and swished the baseline floater over the defender. He pushed out the rebound, looked off the D one way, then threw it back to Randle in the other lane for a layup. He didn’t protect the ball and had it poked loose from behind by help D with 1:23 left down 1 and then took the foul, ouch. He attacked off the Yi screen and was fouled for FTs on the other end, he made just one, ouch again. He missed chuck from three at the buzzer.

Randle -- -- Some Good, Bad and Ugly from Randle. The Good: He had a couple of excellent moments pushing out the break and getting the Suns on their heels with the ball and then also finishing a couple of dunks and layup getting out on the break with Russell. He also hit an open elbow jumper when the D dared him. The Bad: He missed two FTs to tie the game up with 5 seconds left. “I’m just glad it’s preseason,” he said, shaking his head. The Ugly: Being left alone, dared to shoot from three, and twice missing at the end of the first half. His screen setting was lazy/sloppy early in the game, but then in the second quarter he started getting a lot more animated on those than we’ve seen. Then I thought he missed a key screen out of a timeout late. Really good job with the fastbreak in this game. You can actually run fast and fill lanes without the ball to make things happen (maybe he learned that in this one). Karl Malone did that his entire career. A lot of small ball action with him out there. He pushed the speed advantage more than we’ve seen, which is what he has to do in those situations. If he learns to do that, then that makes those lineups more viable. When the team struggled tonight, it seemed like it was their D that picked them up and turned things around. “We have an identity and that’s the most important thing,” Randle said of how the preseason went. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-13 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He didn’t tag a big on help D and gave up a dunk. He missed a 17-footer. Not close trying to power up in the paint. He pushed it coast to coast and scored a layup between defenders. He grabbed another board, pushed it out with speed a few seconds later and hit Lou for the open three. He was picked from behind when Russell brought his man to Randle for some reason. His man sagged back into the paint so he pulled up and hit the easy elbow jumper. Offensive foul on a moving screen. A rare great screen by Randle but Russell turned it over on the drive. He gave up more FTs holding Chandler on a missed FT. He missed an open wing three. Left alone, he missed another wing three. Second Half: He slammed off the Russell steal and pass on the break. He missed a right hand jumphook, got it back and powered through Dudley to score the And-1 with his right, he made the FT. Illegal D to give up a tech. He poked a ball loose and Russell fed him for the dunk. He couldn’t finish over Chandler on iso, then fouled him. He took the drive and dish from Russell and finished over Chandler. He filled the lane and Russell found him for the layup. He got screened and his man hit a three out of a timeout. Down 2, he was fouled on a jumphook attempt over Chandler with 5 seconds left, he missed both clutch ones.

Zubac -- -- “Summer League and this is a whole different world,” Zubac said. With Mozgov sidelined after trying to break the floor in the last game, young Zubac slid into the starting spot. Just a single, short stint in the first half before Luke went to an ineffective small ball lineup to close the half. Then he started Zubac for 5 minutes in the second half before sitting him again. Not a lot of time to do much. Afterward, however, Zubac said he felt more confident that he can play at this level. He hit a jumphook and an elbow jumper. Hopefully, Luke can fit him in from time to time this season so he can continue to grow and we can look toward the future when maybe he’s starting consistently. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a 17-footer, but got his miss. He faked right, swung left and swished the jumphook in the middle of the lane. He airballed an off-balance jumphook. Second Half: He flashed to the elbow and hit the jumper. He missed a runner off the screen roll. He was tied up by Chandler. He swiped a pass to ignite a break.

Young -- -- The shooting was off as he struggled from three. I thought his D helped turn the game around for him. He had a couple of strong plays on that end (he drew a charge and had a steal), then finally started to look like himself offensively. He’s not going to be killing it offensively every night like he did this preseason, so it was good to see him lock in on D when things weren’t going his way. Nick had an excellent preseason, going from “what do you do with him?” to “how can you not get him minutes with how well he’s playing on both ends?” He’s worked his way into being a key rotation player, if not a starter. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-11 shooting (2-8 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He got tapped on an And-1 three to start the game, he made two of the FTs. He missed a wing three. He missed a three coming off a screen. He missed a wing jumper coming off the Russell loop. He missed a wild chuck from three. He missed a layup in transition. Second Half: He missed a good look at a wing three. He beat his man to a spot on the perimeter and drew the charge to get a stop. He hit a three on the break. He swiped the ball from a man on the break. He worked behind the rescreen from Robinson and hit the three. He missed a baseline jumper. He swiped an inbounds pass at midcourt. He got caught in the air and threw it away. Not close on a three out of a timeout. He got tapped on a wing three in transition. Good effort on the defensive glass and he was fouled.

Williams -- -- I’m not thrilled with him in the starting lineup. Defensively, he and Randle are a little weak. We need at least one more defender on that starting unit, whether that’s a Nance at PF or moving in Young to the SG or Clarkson. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He came up short on a runner. Horrible post entry pass, dunk the other way. He drew a reach and chucked it up for three FTs, he made two. He sank the open corner three on the kickout from Randle in transition. He attacked in transition and hit the runner. He swiped a pass and outlet to Nick for the breakaway. He got tapped on a wing three. Second Half: He deflected a pass on a switch, then recovered it. He was fouled on a reach with no call and missed. He didn’t box out and gave up a putback jam. He missed a three in transition. He sank a tech FT.

Clarkson -- -- Some very good moments defensively again. That’s been one of the more promising things we’ve seen this preseason. “We still got a lot of stuff to put in before opening night,” Clarkson said, wanting better communication and everyone to buy in. Does the good D put in him in the starting lineup? I’m not sure. Nick is balling on both ends. I’d certainly rather have Clarkson there than Lou, but when Deng comes back, how will Luke fit in Young, Deng and Ingram? Not a great offensive game from JC tonight, missing all three of his attempts from behind the arc. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-10 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He came off a screen and hit the catch-and-shoot jumper at the FT line. He crossed over his man badly but then took the tough 12-foot floater and missed. He reversed directions off the weave and came up short on the 17-footer. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. He drew an offensive foul to get a stop defending the post handoff. He missed a wing three off a handoff. He iso’d, drew a double team and pushed off for a foul. Second Half: That added strength showed as he stayed on his feet after taking some upper body contact on a drive for a foul, he made both FTs. He swiped an outlet and it led to a Huertas breakaway score. He missed an open corner three. He lost his man on an inbounds pass and hit the wing jumper. He missed a pull-up jumper in the lane. Short again on a pull-up jumper. Tight D on Booker forcing a miss.

Ingram -- -- After a good game, he faded in this one. That’s going to happen quite a bit. What I love to see… Luke making a defensive sub at the end of the game and he brings Ingram in. A rookie. A young one at that. That says a lot about his future. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-2 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: Not close on a jumphook after probing across the lane. He forced a turnover at midcourt on a guard to regain possession with 5 seconds left in the quarter, then gave it right back with a 5-second violation on the inbounds pass. He pushed the ball up court, tucked it in going to his left and was fouled for FTs, he made both. He crossed over and missed the wing pull-up jumper. He kicked out to Brown for the three. Second Half: He swiped an outlet, attacked and dumped it to Robinson for FTs. Wild kickout that forced a turnover. He was called for a travel on the drive.

Nance -- -- I just love seeing him out on the floor. Jamison said after the game that defensively, Nance is reliable. I think that’s very true, which is why he might be better suited with those starters. He’s one of those glue guys on that end of the floor, Randle isn’t yet. Plus, Nance is showing that he can stretch the floor better. Luke is very happy with his second unit, however. I’m not sure he wants to mess with it. Nance said the second unit tries to be the aggressor. They certainly get teams on their heels with his mobility and length defensively, so I get why you don’t break that up. The team is young and just getting more experience will iron out some of these issues. He’s not hesitating on the jumper and hit a three again tonight. Nearly a double-double in 19 minutes. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-8 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He deflected a pass and then smothered his man later in the possession to force a shotclock violation. He scooped up some garbage and dunked. He swished a wing three on a swing pass, wide open. He missed a flip in attempt, taking contact that sent him to the floor with no call. He missed a jumphook in the post. Second Half: He smothered his man forcing a brick. He swiped a save attempt to ignite a break. Nice seal, he took the post entry and was fouled on the reverse, he made one FT. He couldn’t finish the massive throwdown. He sank the open 20-footer when Clarkson kicked to him. He scored a layup filling a line on the break with Huertas. He missed an open jumper. He smothered a man on help D and controlled the board.

Black -- -- He and Huertas had some nice chemistry in this one, but Black fouled out after just 13 minutes. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 6 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He was blocked badly trying to post his man up. He muscled in an And-1 through a lot of contact, he made the FT. Second Half: He hammered down a lob dunk from Huertas on the break. Moving screen and he fouled out.

Huertas -- -- Excellent game from Huertas offensively. He got the crowd going, including back-to-back scores on the break in one stretch (one off a ballfake that cleared a lane after fooling a defender badly). He found Black for a couple of scores at the rim and definitely made the most of his minutes. That might have eaten into Ingram’s ball handling minutes a little. He and Russell combined for 44 minutes and they generally ran the show. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He moved in off the three line and hit the shorter baseline jumper. He missed a three on a kickout. He attacked off the screen, wrapped a pass around the big and Black finished the And-1. He missed a running jumper, should have tried a regular pull-up with the time he had. Second Half: He missed Robinson after a scramble in the backcourt (that would have been a dunk). He motored through the D in transition and scooped in a layup. A few seconds later he brought the house to its feet after a Clarkson steal, ballfaking like Magic to move the defender out of his way and hitting the runner. A little too far on an outlet and he turned it over. He pushed out the break and hit Nance to his right for the layup. He was hit from behind on a bank for FTs, he made one. He lobbed to Black on the break for the throwdown. He was blocked out of bounds on a runner. He missed a wing jumper.

Brown -- -- Just a brief stint as we went kind of big in the backcourt briefly. He knocked down a three while out there, so I’ll take that. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 6 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He sank a wing three on the kickout from Ingram. He missed a wing jumper on iso. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Yi -- -- He came out a bit flat, giving the Lakers plenty of pause on whether he should take the last roster spot. He did, however, sink a big three with under 2 minutes left. And there is the dilemma for Luke to determine what he thinks he needs more – some shooting from Yi or extra possessions and no shooting from Robinson. For Mitch, Robinson would certainly be the cheaper option over the course of the season. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He stepped in for a long two instead of taking the three and missed. He was knocked over on a drive and lost the ball, should have been a foul. Second Half: He missed an open three off the pick and pop. He scored a big three to cut it to 1 with 1:55 left.

Robinson -- -- “I’m just trying to do what I do best. I have a knack for the ball. I wanted to be a superstar so I’m going to be a superstar at what I do,” he said. He said he wants to be the hardest playing plyer on the floor. He needs to channel his inner Rodman. If it wasn’t for how this roster was shaped, I think he’d have the job. The importance for floor spacing these days -- that makes it tough. He played just 7 minutes but had 5 boards and got the team several extra possessions. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He bobbled an interior feed and reversed. Active feet to get around the defender, snag an offensive board and reset the offense. He got another but missed the putback. He grabbed a Clarkson brick and hit the jumphook. He lost the handle on the defensive glass but blocked the shot a second later and saved it inbounds. He was fouled on the throwdown attempt and he missed both (those are killers).

Walton -- -- The Suns were playing aggressive but put the Lakers in the bonus with 7 minutes left in the quarter. The Lakers trailed 16-8 midway through the quarter. Not thrilled with the defensive combo of Randle and Lou… He sat Zubac for Black, down 6 out of that timeout… He sat Williams and Randle for Clarkson and Nance down 6… Huertas and Ingram in for Young and Russell… The Lakers trailed 22-18 when the next timeout came… The Lakers trailed 25-24 at the end of the first… Brown in for Huertas, Lakers down 1… The Lakers rolling out a few more weave sets in this game than previously… He sat Black for Yi up 1 with 10 minutes left… Down 5, he sat Clarkson, Nance and Ingram for Russell, Randle and Lou… Randle sparking the team in transition to force a timeout down 2… Young in for Brown, Lakers down 3 with 4:44 left… Ingram in for Yi, Lakers going with the Randle/Ingram (or Young) front court… Small ball not very effective at controlling the boards or pressing any advantage… The Lakers trailed 51-43, shooting just 33 percent (3-13 from three). Only 7 assists in the half… Some sloppy ball to start the half, but the Lakers turned steals into a couple breakaway baskets and forced a timeout down 3… Robinson in for Zubac with over 7 minutes left… Clarkson and Nance in for Lou and Randle… Huertas in for Russell down 5… Ingram in for Young… Huertas and Robinson getting the crowd and Lakers going and they took the 1-point lead with 2:35 left, forcing a timeout… Some choppy ball and the Lakers trailed 77-72 heading into the fourth. The two teams combined for 18 turnovers in the quarter… Black, Nance, Ingram, Clarkson, Huertas to start the quarter… Down 5, Young in for Ingram… The Lakers fell back by 10… Russell and Yi in for Nance and Huertas… Randle in when Black fouled out… A Russell/Randle 7-0 run to cut it to 3 and force a timeout… A couple Suns scores and then another Laker run and they cut it to 1 with 2:28… Ingram in for Yi with 1:14 left on a defensive sub down 2. They got a stop… Down 2, Luke called a timeout with 26.9 left. Yi back in for Ingram. The play busted but Randle drew FTs, then choked them… “We’re playing at a faster place for longer periods of time which we need to do,” Luke said…

[Inspector Gadget]

First.

[Inspector Gadget]

Good to see Luke and Nance in high spirits, Im looking forward to a very exciting year for the Lakers, as they try to become a winning team once again.

[tox]

Thanks DB! Missed the game (yet again). Happy to hear good things about JC and Russell's defense!

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Laker's Fan]

I was a little happier with what I saw from Brown than what I feel like you described. Iirc he was out there with Ingram at one point and the perimeter defense was pretty solid.
_________________
Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[smoothazsilk]

Thank you for the insightful write up..gonna be a long year but looking forward to it

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB. That was a very winnable game up until the missed FT's at the end. I'm just glad it didn't count.

Turnovers - I figured at this stage there would be lots of them.

Too bad we can't just turn on the 21/7/4 Brandon Ingram - at least not yet.

It feels like Randle and Williams are weak links out there. It's really surprising to see the best compensation we have for that is Nick Young, and that even on an off night offensively he's making up for it with his defense. If he stays this way all season we'd be a much stronger team. One month ago I'd have laughed at that idea.

Yi versus TRob. Ouch. I like players who give us extra possessions and make the other team work hard under the basket. I think that's more valuable than 1 for 3 from 3.

Robinson > Sacre. Can't say the same about Yi.

[Mation]

Thanks DB!

[MJST]

Sounds like Luke wants to get their conditioning to the point of playing that pace more often.

If he's able to while keeping the team healthy it can only mean good things.

[Tanlentueux]

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[MagicSchool'dBuss]

Thanks for the in-depth perspective and insight.