LAKERS -at- PELICANS – 11-12-16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Extra Pass… The Lakers are doing a lot of things right to start this season. They’re rotating better on D, forcing turnovers and pushing the pace for easy hoops. They’re killing teams with their bench, playing with energy and making the extra pass. It’s that last one that was especially on display tonight.

“We’re moving the ball,” Clarkson said. “We’re playing well with each other. We’re getting in the paint. We’re looking for the extra man. We’re looking for the extra pass. And when that happens, we get really easy shots and that’s why the shots are going in because we’re wide open.”

The Lakers had a season-high 36 assists in their 126-99 road victory over the Pelicans. They’ve got a number of unselfish guys on the team, a coach that preaches ball movement and game plans for it, and all that becomes contagious.

“Guys are understanding we need to play that way in order for us to be successful,” Williams said.

They got their 36 assists with just 10 turnovers. The Lakers closed this game with a 42-point fourth quarter as the ball movement was at its best during the final 12 minutes.

Russell – -- Very controlled game from Russell. He was raining shots from the perimeter, mostly with good balance and follow through. Hopefully, he can string some shooting games together like this. Passing wise, he was making the easy pass, taking what the D was giving. He still had a moment or two of trying to force something, but that was rare. The guards were bombing tonight. Between Russell, Young, Clarkson and Williams, they had 15 threes on 25 attempts. Superb numbers. He said the second unit helped set the tone and the starters picked it up from them. He and Randle had some very nice chemistry, especially with Randle on ball and Russell off of it. That set up a number of scores for Russell. Asked about tomorrow’s game, “It’s going to come down to energy,” he said. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-16 shooting (4-7 from three) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 block and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He found Nick in the corner for three. He swished a long turnaround in the post. He hit Mozgov for an elbow jumper. He posted up, moved to the middle and kicked to Young for three. He missed a wing pull-up three. He was called for a charge off ball running into a player who went down too easily. He attacked from the wing and couldn’t finish the wild drive. Second Half: He missed an off-balance jumper to start the half. Feet set well, good follow through on a kickout and he swished the wing three. He swished another three on the dribble handoff from Randle. He missed a three next time down. Good D to swarm his man and force a turnover. He spun from the post and missed the short runner. Nice job dumping it to Randle in the post, slipping a screen on a cut and Randle found him for the layup. He threw a pass away trying to thread one to a cutter. He missed a wing three. He was stripped in the post. He backdoored his man and Randle found him for the layup. He probed and hit the short baseline one-hander. He missed a turnaround jumper. He drained a three off the dribble handoff from Randle. He attacked and scored the layup. He stepped back and swished a wing three.

Randle -- -- “It’s a big reason for some of the early success we’ve had is his ability to playmake for others,” Luke said. Nearly a triple-double for Randle. Certainly triple-double pace if he had typical starter minutes. He’s gotten a lot of easy assists this season off the dribble handoffs. The reason these work so well is they happen fast. He’s moving with speed into the play, setting a screen and Randle’s defender isn’t there to help. If you aren’t respecting him on the perimeter, this is how you can get burned. He can take out a defender quickly and get a teammate an open shot. Excellent handles in this game as he probed without coughing it up. I’ll take just one turnover with all the ball handling he does (and certainly with the team-high 8 assists). “He can be a special playmaker from his position,” Luke said. Some excellent chemistry with Russell who cuts off ball or gets the ball off those DHOs. “When the ball is moving, it’s contagious. It makes good shots into great shots,” Randle said. Defensively, he’s using that mobility so much better this season, rotating and not standing around like last year. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-12 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 11 boards, 8 assists, 1 turnover, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 27:33. He was a +17. The Action: He faked a three, took a step in and hit the 18-footer. He threw up a high arching floater that went in. Way short on a wing jumper. Not close on a bank. He up-faked and missed a floater. He couldn’t finish over Davis on the break, probably should have gotten more contact with him. Second Half: He kicked to Russell for a three. He handed off to him for a three next time down. He was blocked on a jumper up against the shotclock. Great bounce pass to Russell who faked the screen and cut down the lane (just enough daylight and Randle hit him perfectly) for the layup. He scored a layup filling the lane with Nick. Nice rotation on D, anticipating a drive before it happened and he forced the turnover. He pushed the ball up court, surveyed the floor, spun, attacked to his left and fumbled it to Mozgov in the paint for a layup. He attacked the paint, spun and banked. He was rejected on a drive. Another dribble handoff to free up Clarkson for the three. He hit Russell cutting backdoor for the layup. He crossed over and missed the runner, but got his own board and reset the offense. Another dribble handoff to Russell for three.

Deng -- -- One of these things is not like the others. That would be Luol Deng. The struggles continue. There are so many things wrong with his game right now, it’s almost hard to believe. The Pelicans threw a smaller defender on him early on and he never battled for low position, instead setting for longer jumpers. Luke sat him after a brief stint in the second quarter and out of a timeout went to Ingram who hit the turnaround after rocking his smaller defender back in the post. That’s what they wanted Deng to be doing and they had the rookie do it instead. He’s certainly not confident in the jumper and maybe that gets him in trouble on forced drives or isos. I’m not sure what’s going on with the jumper, but it seems to more often than not come up short. So maybe he doesn’t have his legs or something. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: Sloppy kickout, turnover. He missed a face-up jumper against a smaller defender. Way short on an open three on a kickout. He missed an elbow turnaround. Second Half: Short again on a three. He bricked a wide open three. Nice help D and it looked like he got a piece of a shot. He attacked from the corner and forced a miss.

Mozgov -- -- He didn’t miss a shot in this one, including three different takes from the midrange. It looked like one of those jumpers was set up for him specifically. Good to see the confidence in him for those plays. The passing was still a bit sloppy. It seems like he’s always good for one turnover a game, recognizing something later than he should have. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-4 shooting to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 1 block and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He rattled in an elbow jumper off the two-man game. Second Half: He sank a baseline jumper. He popped out for the 17-footer and knocked it down out of a timeout. He took the Randle fumble and scored a layup. Late to recognize the pass before throwing it and it was deflected off a Laker.

Young -- -- He was killing it from three (like the rest of the guards). That makes Russell’s job so much easier when he’s got a weapon like that on the perimeter. Just deadly. Even Nick had a couple of assists tonight with how well the Lakers were passing. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-8 shooting (5-7 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a step-back three to start. He swished an open corner three. Short on a wing jumper. He sank a sideline three off the Russell post kickout. He sank a wing catch and shoot three off the drive and dish from Lou. He had 9 points on 3-4 shooting, making all of this threes. Second Half: He missed a three. He hit Randle for the layup on the break. He drained the wing three. He bombed a huge three from the other side on the kickout from Russell. He missed a three straight away.

Clarkson -- -- “We’re playing fun and sharing the ball,” Clarkson said. This coming from the guy who had to sacrifice his starting role. Just great words to hear. Lou said he told Clarkson he can still do the same thing coming off the bench. “He’s grown to love it and it’s been a role he’s been able to have some big guys,” Williams said. He wasn’t as successful in the sharing department (again seemingly making up his mind before some plays happen and coughing up the ball). But he was deadly from three making four and also drawing FTs on another. So his 23 points came on just 12 shots (most of his points came in the second half as the team poured it on). Got to love that. Defensively, the team is hustling and helping each other. I loved seeing JC pumped about a near steal on a rotation late in the game. Great positive energy from him on that end of the floor. Last year, the guys were continually angry with themselves and each other for breakdowns. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-12 shooting (4-6 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers, 1 steal and no fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +16. The Action: He sank a wing pull-up off a screen with the shotclock winding down. He rattled in a wing three. He let a Pelican big run by him in transition, then followed him into the lane for a layup. His floater or pass was blocked in the lane. He picked up his dribble and then threw it away. He missed a deep early offense three. He missed a wing three. He missed a drive but Robinson cleaned it up easily. He swiped a ball from behind Davis on help D. Second Half: He drew a foul on a three with 0.9 on the shotclock, he made all three. He sank a corner three on the extra pass from Ingram. Sloppy pass off the weave, turnover. He attacked the big off the screen and reversed. He drained the corner three off the Black kickout. He sank another three off the dribble handoff from Randle. He dunked after we turned the Pelicans over.

Williams -- -- He’s one of the key steadying forces for this team. “I’m trying to stay on the floor, man,” Lou said when asked why he’s defending and passing so well right now. He had 4 assists with no turnovers and 2 steals. Keeping Marcelo and Calderon nailed to the bench has been vital to the team’s improvement. The style of play is fitting him like a glove right now. He could be effective last year in our iso and chuck offense, but he’s finding the perfect balance of scoring and passing. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-15 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a +23. The Action: Great early offense post entry to Larry on the rim run for the layup. He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He swiped a bounce pass and ignited the break. He missed a wing three off the weave. He swished a floater in transition. He lost his man badly on an up-fake, got deep in the paint and hit the floater. He turned the corner in early offense off the Nance screen and scored the layup. He sank a quick-fire three next time down. He missed a baseline jumper expecting a whistle. He attacked off the high screen and hit the runner. He attacked deep into the paint and whipped out a pass to Nick for the three. He missed an early offense wing three. He attacked with the shotclock low, got deep in the paint and And-1 reversed, he made the FT. He scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting and had 4 assists. Second Half: He sank the wing jumper off the dribble handoff from Nance. He missed a three in transition. He drew a reach and should have had three FTs, but they didn’t give it to him so he hit a three on the subsequent inbounds play. He missed the baseline fade over a crowd. He got his man on his hip and took it for the easy layup. He knocked a ball loose to ignite a break.

Ingram -- -- He rolled an ankle in the fourth quarter. I imagine it will be minor, but you don’t know until after the game and how it swells up. Hopefully, it’s not a step back, because Ingram seemed like his game took a small step forward in this one. He was a little more aggressive at getting to the rim and scrapped his way to double-digits, scoring 9 of his 10 points in the first half. We talk about guys making the extra pass and Ingram does this as well as anyone (if not better). The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He attacked a big and scored a layup. He missed an elbow jumper. He scored an And-1 layup at high speed after taking some contact, he made the FT. He attacked and was tied up on a drive. He sank a turnaround in the post out of a timeout. He ball-faked to lose a help defender, Davis came over to double and he hit the high arching turnaround over him. He scored 9 points on 4-6 shooting. Second Half: He attacked in transition and couldn’t finish. Great extra pass to Clarkson for the three. He attacked the paint and fed back to Black for a layup. He attacked the rim and drew FTs, he made one.

Nance -- -- You can’t measure his impact in points. It all the other little things he does on the court with consistency. The stats show the boards, steals and assists, but he’s out there hitting the floor for loose balls, making the extra pass to a teammate, and rotating to jam up a play and have his teammate’s back. So much of that tonight. This team flips the tables on opponents when we get our bench out there and all those things start to add up to stops and easy scores. A few fouls in this one as he wasn’t given verticality. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals and 5 fouls in 22:29. He was a +16. The Action: Nice rim run and seal and Lou found him for a layup. Strong challenge on Davis’s drive to get a miss. He tipped a ball loose, chased it down and dove on the floor to recover it (he won the jumpball to complete the stop). He freed Lou up off a screen in transition for the layup. He crashed the glass and cleaned up the miss by Lou. He missed a wing jumper. Second Half: He jumped a passing lane, swiped the ball and took it for the uncontested dunk. He took the pass in the middle of the paint off the screen-roll and bounced it to Tarik for the dunk. He missed a 17-footer.

Black -- -- Some good moments battling on the glass to regain possessions. Some of his timing on the screens were a little off in our plays. The team quickly got into their counters off those plays, but if we want to see some of those highlight reel lob passes, he needs to stick defenders hard on those screens. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 block and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He hit a lefty jumphook. Great weakside rotation to reject and control a layup attempt. He battled for an offensive board but missed the putback. Second Half: He was fouled on a dunk down the middle of the lane and missed, but didn’t get the whistle. He took the interior feed from Ingram and scored the layup with his left. He battled in a crowd for an offensive board and reset the offense. Nance set him up for the dunk off the interior bounce pass. He made the extra pass on a screen-roll to Clarkson in the corner for the three.


Huertas -- -- Some late game garbage time run with Calderon. His main highlight was a nice feed between his legs to Robinson on a screen-roll. Marcelo missed his only attempt. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three but had 2 assists. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He went between his legs to Robinson the screen-roll for the score. He missed an open corner three.

Robinson -- -- A couple of great finishes from him in this one, including a putback slam off a screen-roll sequence and then another layup off a screen-roll with Huertas. He got some first half minutes when Randle was in a little foul trouble. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist and no fouls in 7:18 of action. He was a +1. The Action: He putback slammed with both hands a Clarkson missed drive. Second Half: Nice finish off the screen-roll with Marcelo.

Calderon -- -- Only player to not have an assist in the game. He was out there for just a couple of minutes of garbage time and manage to knock down a three. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 board in 2:#0 of action. He was a +6. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He swished a wing three.

Walton -- -- Ingram in for Deng who was ineffective against a smaller defender… Black, Russell and Clarkson in, Lakers down 6 with 4:19 left… Nance in for Randle, Lakers down 6 with 3 minutes left. Full second unit in now… Just 2 minutes later they have a 5-point lead. Nance and Williams the keys. Nance on D, Williams on O… The Lakers led 30-26 after the first quarter… Randle and Young in a few minutes later for Clarkson and Black… The Lakers led by 8 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. Luke went with Russell for Lou and Deng for Ingram out of that… Randle with a quick foul and he went out for Robinson with 4 plus minutes left, Lakers up 4… The score was tied shortly later and Luke called a timeout… Luke was ticked and sat Russell, Nance, Young and Deng for Clarkson, Mozgov, Williams and Ingram… The Lakers trailed 56-55 at the half… Davis tweaked his back on a score, Lakers up 1 with 8 minutes left… The Lakers went up by 13 just 3 minutes later… That was pushed to 15 before Davis was ready to return… Luke called a timeout when it was trimmed to 10 with 2:17 left. He brought in the bench… The Lakers led 84-71 heading into the fourth… He sat Ingram for Russell when BI rolled his ankle in the fourth. Lakers up 12… Some excellent passing sequences in the fourth quarter as the team consistently made the extra pass for scores… Black out for Randle, Lakers up 17 with 6 minutes left… Lakers up big when he cracked out the deep bench, running both Marcelo and Calderon… The Lakers shot 55.3% for the game (including 53.3% from three, going 16-30) and made 6-7 from the line…

[yuurin98]

First! But why the sad face tho
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I was an atheist, until I knew Kobe.

I love basketball. *Metta voice*

[DancingBarry]

No idea why that happened. It's correct in my word doc. Weird. Fixed quickly.

[yuurin98]

[DrDent]

AAAAA

Thanks once again, always look forward to your review. Agree with your assessment. Liking what I see out of them with energy, attacking on offense, and defensive intensity.

Battle of arguably the two best young teams tomorrow...keeping my hope up for another laker W!

[A Mad Chinaman]

Great to have a team that one is excited to see.

Curious that Deng is not producing more, maybe he is a needed veteran presence to keep the kids grounded?????

Mozgov is invaluable in taking up space in the middle.

Interesting to see the team go into their weave but it rarely goes in and out to make the defense move. Could this be a problem when the face teams that play harder defense like Wolves (w/Thibbs as their coach), Spurs (w/Pops), Grizzs, Cavs and other defense-minded teams

Great Write-up DB

[Mation]

Thanks DB! Always appreciate the thoughts and ratings. Hope Ingram is okay to play tomorrow.

[Chronicle]

I LOVE BASKETBALL
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Kobe

[tox]

Thanks, DB!!

[mhan00]

Amazing what competent coaching can do. If we can somehow end the month at 0.500 or above then that might be a great indication that playoffs might be possible. Our upcoming schedule looks brutal.

[LakerEric]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[oldlakerfan]

Thanks DB this is the first place I go in the morning after a game. You do a great job.

Deng it only guy that seems to be struggling. Last year he played much better at PF.

Still hoping to see more Zubac but hey if that is your biggest complaint life is good.

[dcastillo]

With young,Russell, and clarkson making 4 3's a piece, one more guy makes 4 3's and we tie the record with 4 players making 4 3's in a game with the warriors who did it a couple days ago with curry Thompson green and Durant. Not bad 👌🏽

[lounger]

Thanks DB! I hope Deng finds his mojo...

[LakerSanity]

Imagine if Clarkson, Russell and Randle all came into the league with a system like this, which teaches you from the get go that if you play for each other and pass the freaking ball, instead of relying on isolation after isolation, you win games AND have fun too.

I can't help but believe that this system will shape the player Ingram will become, much like Pop's system and culture shaped the player Kwahi Leonard has become. I still see some remnants of Byron in Randle, Russell and Clarkson, but I also see those things disappearing more and more each game.

Thanks for the awesome write-up as always DB. Lots of reasons for optimism around here.
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[sonic the laker]

Thanks, DB! Great analysis, as always. Great to see that the Lakers limited their turnovers. That's going to be key, going forward. Not sure what's up with Deng, but I'm confident he'll pull it together. Too solid of a player not to.


ZOOM!!!!!!

[SGSD32]

Been here more than a decade.. didn't have much reason to post the last couple of years. Loved Kobe, but understood it was the end of an era that was ending in a rough way.
I'm enjoying this team like I enjoyed the mid-90s non-star teams with Nick the Quick.. Vlade.. Elden.. Eddie and Anthony. Those were some fun teams to me.

These guys? It's like a celebration on court.. Luke's approach combined with youthful exuberance and a lot of talent is just FUN.

DB.. this has to be the most fun you've had doing these reviews since 10... and I wonder if you're just enjoying the non-expectation beauty of this team.

[Laker7]

Lakers tied for 6th in the west and a half game out of 4th. Yeah baby!
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Tanlentueux]

[DancingBarry]

[razor]

Its funny, worthy and the other announcers are questioning "what is the identity of this team"....this team might not get an identity, because of the great ball distribution, everybody counts, no hog ball, great unselfish offensive flow, which of course results in an entertaining, and winning new form of showtime......

[mhan00]

Damn. I knew the last two seasons had to be tough on DB, but I didn't realize how tough. Thanks for all the hard work you do, and I think I can safely say that we are all glad that Luke's Lakers have helped you find joy in doing these smiley ratings for us every game.

[A Mad Chinaman]