LAKERS -at- MAGIC – 12-23-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 9:22 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- MAGIC – 12-23-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

I’ll Be Home for Christmas… The Lakers finally ended their lengthy trip away from Stapes with yet another loss, falling 109-90 to the Magic.

They went the opposite direction to start the game tonight. Instead of getting out to a big lead, they got shot out early. They were blocked 9 times in the first quarter, going scoreless for the first 5 minutes of the game as five of their first seven shots were rejected.

“They set the tone early,” Luke said of the Magic.

The lead would balloon to as many as 25 points, but the Lakers would cut it down to 6 with nearly 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Tantalizingly close, but I think missing the energy of Nance, Randle and Black caught up with them.

“Guys gave it effort-wise but we could never get over that final hump,” Luke said.

The next two minutes did them in. Turnovers, bad shots, poor D and just like that they were down 17 and the game was over. They will now return home for Christmas and hopefully put up a better fight.


Russell -- -- Some good moments in the third quarter that helped the Lakers reel the Magic in a little. That was his best stretch of the game, some mini-domination for a small stretch (as he grows, those stretches will be more frequent) and that was really probably the Lakers best stretch, as well, as we were getting stops with the zone D. I’d like to see them mix that up more along with less switching, as mentioned in the last game. Plus, start the game with more trapping and aggression on the screens. All of that would set a better tone for the team. “We just got to keep believing,” Russell said. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-15 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, 1 block and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He missed a step-back three on iso. He was blocked on a layup. He attacked the paint and was blocked on a righty layup. He threw a pass out of bounds on a half-hearted backdoor cut by Deng (give them each half a turnover). He left a big under the hoop in transition and that resulted in an And-1 dunk (communicate better, please). He swiped a kickout. He tried to thread a pass to Mozgov off the two-man game, turnover. He posted up Meeks and muscled in an And-1 off the glass, he made the FT. He missed a pull-up from the top of the key. He missed an off-balance corner three at the end of the half (could have cut it to 14). Second Half: He swiped a pass and scored an And-1 layup on the break, he made the FT. He curled off a down screen and hit the 17-footer. He swished a sideline three next time down. He busted out off the Young steal and Deng hit him for the uncontested layup. Sweet change of direction on a between the legs dribble to blow by the helping bigman and score a layup. He missed a jumper, got it back and missed the easy 6-foot floater. He missed a turnaround in the post. He missed a three in transition.

Young -- -- “The fight is there, we just have to learn how to get back to winning,” Nick said. Some very good moments on D from Nick in this game. We have too little of that from the team as a whole. Offensively, he was almost a non-factor. It also seemed like we should have gotten him some good looks a little sooner in the game when things went dry. He had 18 threes in the past three games, tying a Laker record. Just 1 tonight. We badly missed that 20+ point outing from Nick in this one. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks and no fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a wing pull-up. He sank a sideline three on a kickout from Russell. He attacked to his left and hit a fade across the lane. He was blocked on a drive. He missed a three straight away. He attacked in transition and drew FTs on a layup, he missed both. He broke up a lob pass. Second Half: He missed an elbow fade. Great reach across the body on iso D to knock a ball away and it led to an uncontested Russell score on the other end. He sized up Meeks in transition and blocked his layup. He missed a corner three.

Ingram -- -- A few rookie mistakes defensively (not guarding the right guys in transition, not protecting baseline on a double team, etc.). His three shooting is pretty awful this season. Most jumper right now I expect are going to miss. That will change at some point as he looked the opposite way in college. “I think it will come,” he said, mentioning the team needs to keep moving the ball and it’s not about him and his shots. He had some foul trouble in this game, but wasn’t making a lot of impact when on the floor despite scoring better. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He was stripped on a drive across the lane. Not close on a pull-up 17-footer. He bricked an open elbow jumper. He turned the corner on the pressure D, jerked his head like a pro and drew FTs, he made both FTs. He attacked the pressure D from the wing, stretched out under the arm of the defender and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He attacked off the three line and swished the short one just beating the shotclock. Bad transition D not matching up with the furthest guy down court and he gave up the easy score (off a made basket on the other end, too). He stepped back and clanked a three. He missed a drive to his right, then straight up choked the putback layup. He missed a wing three off the dribble. He had 7 points on 2-8 shooting. Second Half: No box out and he gave up a putback. He sank a pull-up wing jumper on the other end.

Deng -- -- Double-double from Deng tonight. He and Mozgov seem to have swapped mojo lately, where Deng’s the guy making some impact and Mozgov looks lost. He got Mozgov his only bucket on a nice feed off a two-man sequence. Our big-to-big passing used to be pretty strong earlier in the season. It’s a bit non-existent lately, especially with Nance/Black out who were our best at that. He played a little bit of C when the game was pretty much over and we went super small. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 block and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: His lob pass was deflected away. He was blocked on a layup attempt. He worked the two-man game with Huertas and fed Mozgov for the dunk. He swished a sideline three on a kickout. He up-faked Ibaka in transition under the hoop to draw FTs, he made both. Nice switch on the sideline to pressure a ball handler and he drew a hooking foul to get the stop. He had 5 points on 1-2 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He curled off a screen, saw a straight line to the hoop and scored the layup. He sank a toe-on-the-three-line jumper. He missed a transition layup. He telegraphed a kickout, turnover. He missed a wing three. He got tapped on a wing three. He drew FTs on a layup in transition, he made both.

Mozgov -- -- He started the game with a series of shot attempts that were rejected. Wish he could do the same for us on the defensive end. He just does so little for us on defense that it’s becoming a problem. There are times I just don’t want to see him subbed back in the game because it’s going to turn ugly. He’s really looked bad for most of December. Luke doesn’t have a lot of big bodies but even went to Deng at the C spot trying to find something that will work. Glad to see Zubac at least get some of those minutes. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-7 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He was blocked on a layup, might have been goaltending it looked like. He was blocked next time down. He was blocked on another layup. He missed a 9-footer from the left side. He missed a turnaround in the post. He dunked off the dish from Deng. Sloppy screen, offensive foul. He was held on the offensive glass to draw FTs, he made both. Second Half: He fumbled a pass that hit him in the hands on the screen-roll from Russell, uggh. He didn’t him rim on a pumpfaking layup, shotclock violation.

Clarkson -- -- This was again one of those games where he had some great moments, then bonehead moments where he was out of sync. He led the team in scoring (18), a team-low -19 and a team-high 5 turnovers. Good job knocking down some three balls, particularly from the corner. Strangest part of the game, he went from looking like he was nearly ejected after a disagreement with an official to the officials rescinding the technical. Not sure I’ve ever seen that. The ref kind of handed Clarkson the ball as he was stepping inbounds and it almost looked like a turnover. Clarkson gave him the ball right back, sticking it in the ref’s chest and the tech came. Clarkson was pissed, but they called off that tech and that saved him some cash. Props to the refs on that. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-14 shooting (4-8 from three) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 5 turnovers and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He airballed a three up against the shotclock. He crossed over in early offense and hit the short baseline pull-up. He hit a floater working off the two-man game. He missed a drive to his right. Bad pass to Robinson off the two-man game, turnover (should have waited just a beat). He drained a transition three. He faked a cut, stopped and Zubac threw it out of bounds, give Clarkson that turnover. He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting. Second Half: He blew a short floater in the paint. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He stepped on the sideline. He sank a wing three on a swing pass. Way off on a three in early offense. He sank a corner three on a kickout from Lou next time down. Breakaway dunk off the Huertas steal. He scooped up a loose ball and buried the corner three right next to the defender who failed to come up with it. He got caught in the air and threw it away. He iso’d and missed a step-back three, not a good shot. He charged on a floater.

Williams -- -- Not a good shooting night, missing a lot of the little chippies he’s been automatic on. The Magic were doing that to a lot of Lakers tonight. He didn’t seem to have his typical focus on both ends. This game feels like the road caught up with both Lou and Nick. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 3-11 shooting (1-3 from three, 6-7 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a layup high off the glass. He was blocked on a drive. He attacked in transition and fed Zubac for a layup. He missed an easy layup off the two-man game. He missed a heave at halfcourt. He drew FTs drawing contact on the perimeter and chucking it up, he made one FT. Second Half: He scored a layup on the slow backdoor cut play with Huertas (Payton looked like he dropped a plate of food when he realized too late what was happening). He drew FTs on the reach foul from three, he made all three. Lost on D he gave up a layup. He missed a three. He swiped a post entry pass. He airballed a floater (that couldn’t have been a pass) but Robinson slammed it down like a lob. He deflected a pass, but couldn’t get the transition layup to go. He attacked baseline and hit Clarkson for the corner three. He sank a corner three off the handoff. He scored a layup in transition. Off balance and he missed the short layup in transition, dunk the other way. He drew FTs on a drive, he made both.

Zubac -- -- Glad to see him get some good run. We’re playing horribly so it’s a good time to get him some development minutes. Every little bit helps. Not much to write about, but he scratched out a few points and generally looked a step slow or hesitant on everything (except maybe his FTs). In the summer league, he was quite the opposite. We just need to keep throwing him in the fire, maybe build a little chemistry on a few plays that put him in a successful position. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper on his first touch. He took a feed from Lou in the paint and scored the layup. He cleaned up the missed drive by Lou. Soft finish attempt instead of going up strong and he missed. Clarkson baited him into a backdoor pass, then stopped and Zubac threw it out of bounds. Second Half: He was blocked on a dunk attempt. He missed a short one off the two-man game, but Robinson cleaned it up. He couldn’t finish the easy lob pass. He was fouled on a reverse and made a couple FTs.

Huertas -- -- Luke went to him to help see if he could jumpstart some offense for the Lakers. I’m not sure that happened, but we did look a little livelier. He looked reasonable defensively in the zone. He sagged off a little too much on his man at times, but had some of his better moments of D this season with his positioning and communication. “We got to cover each other’s backs,” he said of the team playing shorthanded and the mentality needed. “As long as you’re playing the game the right way, you’ll always have a chance.” The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 steals, 1 block and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He sank a running jumper from about 12 feet out, working off the high screen. He fought through a moving screen to draw a foul. He missed a turnaround in the paint. Second Half: He deflected a pass and we got a stop. He missed a baseline jumper. He swiped a bad pass after positioning himself well to help force that in the zone and it led to a Clarkson dunk. He went back to the backdoor play one too many times and threw it away. His pass in the paint was picked off. He missed a chuck from three next time down.

Robinson -- -- Another excellent effort from him off the bench to give the Laker bigs some kind of life. He had 11 boards, 5 were offensive, hustling and battling like he does. He got his head split in the process by Zubac, who was fouled late in the game and whacked him. His offensive boards generally led to second-chance points for the Lakers, including a couple of threes and a couple of putbacks by himself. Good effort and good nose for the ball as usual. “He does what he does and he’s really good at it,” Russell said. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 block and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a runner, not a great look. He power slammed back down the missed Clarkson drive. He might have gotten a piece of a dunk attempt to get a stop. Second Half: He cleaned up the missed Zubac layup. He threw a kickout away. He drew FTs on a reverse, he made one. He battled for an offensive board and it led to a Laker three. He hammered down an airballed floater from Lou. He was blocked on a layup, but got it back and fed Lou for the three.

World Peace -- -- He came in for the final minute when Robinson got hurt. The Stats: No stats in 0:45 of action. He was a +0. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Walton -- -- The Lakers were blocked on several attempts at the rim and fell back 10-0 to start the game. Five of their first seven attempts were blocked. Maybe they have the Magic where they want them with the slow start instead of the lead… He brought in Clarkson down 10-0 still after 5 minutes. Lakers 0-10 shooting… Down 14-5, he sat Russell for Lou with 4:35 left… Robinson and Zubac in down 9 shortly later… Luke called another timeout down 19-5. The team flatlining completely to start this game… The Lakers trailed 30-14 after the first quarter… Starters all back in down 18… Down 23, he brought in Huertas for Ingram… They fell back by 25… Zone out of a timeout and they got a stop… The Lakers trailed 57-40 at the half. The Lakers shot 31%… Zone D to start the half and they get a steal and score… The zone and some Russell scoring helped them cut the lead to 10 and force a timeout early in the third… Finally subbed out Mozgov with 3:49. He looked done a few minutes earlier. Lakers down 13 when Zubac and Robinson came in for Deng and Mozy. Lou in for Nick… Huertas in for Russell down 14… Second unit falling apart… They trailed 86-69 heading into the fourth. Second unit let it slip away just too far in the last couple minutes… They cut it to 11 off a couple threes to force a timeout… They cut it to 6 with 7:49 left… A minute later, they trailed by 12 again and Luke called a timeout… Mozgov, Deng, Ingram, Clarkson, Lou in… Russell in for Lou… The lead ballooned to 17 with 5 minutes left and that was that… He went super small with Deng at C to try to mix things up a little…
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 9:23 pm    Post subject:

Programming note... Not sure if I will be covering the next with the holidays and everything. We'll see how it goes.
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mhan00
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 9:33 pm    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
Programming note... Not sure if I will be covering the next with the holidays and everything. We'll see how it goes.


Happy holidays DB. Thanks for your hard work. Enjoy the vacay.
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OregonLakerGuy
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 9:44 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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Inspector Gadget
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 9:51 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

Merry christmas to everyone on LG. Hopefully a better 2017 for the Lakers.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:40 am    Post subject:

DB, I think you underestimate the effect Huertas can have. He has a knack on seeing the game. Some of his passes today - they seemed completely effortless, yet were surprising to the opponents (sadly, some to teammates as well) and put guys in position to score easily.

There is a reason he was +8 today. He exited the game in fourth and the Magic went on a 7-0 run.
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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
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razor
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2016 7:06 am    Post subject:

Lakers made Elfrid look like an all-star......only thing the Lakers can't do, is make elfrids hair look good.....
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2016 7:27 am    Post subject:

razor wrote:
Lakers made Elfrid look like an all-star......only thing the Lakers can't do, is make elfrids hair look good.....




wtf is with that hair
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2016 9:41 am    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
Programming note... Not sure if I will be covering the next with the holidays and everything. We'll see how it goes.


Thank you for you efforts. Much appreciated.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2016 7:01 pm    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
Programming note... Not sure if I will be covering the next with the holidays and everything. We'll see how it goes.
Enjoy your well-deserved time with your family during this Christmas holiday.

The team is looking forward to ending a grueling schedule where there were few opportunities to practice and actual rest after this game - welcome to the NBA

"The Lakers have played more games than any team in the league at 32. A heavy workload continues through late January, but overall Los Angeles has the fewest games remaining."

Additionally, the Lakers have played the most road games in the NBA at 19, winning just five. Beginning on Christmas Day, the Lakers play eight of nine at home. Outside of an eight-game stretch with seven on the road during February, most of the remaining schedule is at Staples Center.

Hopefully the memories of The Black Mamba's mental toughness, DNA, focus and discipline will be totally embraced (and understood) by the young players on what it takes for one to even consider being an elite player. Our talented players (the vast majority of the NBA players are ver talented, athletic and acclaimed from where they came from) hopefully will not accept that just providing a good effort is good enough.

It will be exciting journey to see our young players grow up and which ones are up to the challenge.
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