HORNETS -at- LAKERS – 2-28-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:29 pm    Post subject: HORNETS -at- LAKERS – 2-28-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Securing the Loss Down the Stretch… The switching down the stretch killed the Lakers as it often has throughout this season.

The Hornets got Randle against Kemba Walker for several straight possessions, abused the matchup and took control in crunch time. It wasn’t just Walker beating Randle on iso or collapsing the D, it also allowed the Hornets to pull Randle away from the hoop for a key offensive board in the final minute.

Despite a couple of late threes by Russell, those defensive problems were too much to overcome down the stretch and the Lakers secured the 109-104 loss. The tank rolls on.

It was a competitive game by the Lakers with some quality production by multiple players. It was certainly the kind of game and effort the Lakers want from both Russell and Randle with consistency.


Russell -- -- A good first quarter and start to this game and he had 15 points and 3 assists by halftime. The threes he took early on were not off the dribble, so he was more efficient. When he can get those stationary catch and shoot opportunities, he’s more dangerous. Some great chemistry with Tarik in the second half as he set him up for a number of scores. He had 6 assists in the third quarter as he orchestrated the offense with precision. That was fun to watch. Tarik was getting all the finishes, but Russell was floor general in all of that. Bottle that third quarter execution and repeat. Defensively, he got burned for a couple of layups as he was telling teammates to ice the coverage and they (Randle and Young) didn’t. Frankly, if it’s Young, just switch on those sequences. We threw multiple different defenders on Walker in this game, but down the stretch we were automatically switching everything, so you might see Russell automatically switch with Nick, Nick automatically switch with Randle and that’s when we were in trouble. So that was coaching. I still like the communication and some signs of leadership on D by Russell (Luke mentioned there was a lot of communication breakdown in this one), but I would have liked Luke to let the guys try to stay with their man. Luke’s auto switching allowed Walker to just wait until he got Randle on him down the stretch. That’s just too easy for a skilled point guard. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-17 shooting (5-8 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 9 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He sank a wing jumper, working off ball on the first possession. He rattled in a wing three in early offense working off the Randle handoff. He missed an open 16-footer on a tap out. He scooped up a loose ball and took it the distance for a layup. He scooped up another loose ball and took it for the layup. Way off on a three on a kickout (looked like he was trying too hard to keep both feet behind the three line as he wasn’t quite set when he took the pass). He missed a 16-footer straight away. He iso’d, backed his man down, then drew the FTs on the swing through, he made both. He rattled down the wing three off the DHO from Randle. He kicked out to Ingram for the corner three. He wanted Randle to ice, Randle was protecting the three from Kaminsky and they gave up a layup instead. He missed a pull-up midrange jumper. He missed a wing three at the halftime buzzer. Second Half: He was called for a charge on a drive to erase a hoop. He missed a wing three on the Randle kickback. He hit Black on the two-man game for the score. He couldn’t finish a layup off the feed from Randle. He hit Black down low for the short one. Sweet kickout to Nick for the sideline three as Russell worked off a screen. He hit Black rolling with a pocket pass for the And-1. Russell set Black up for a monster jam next time down after he broke down the defense with a cross over. He slowed up the break and hit the trailing Ingram for the two-handed jam. Low dribble through a crowd and he hit the 12-footer in the paint. He lost his man but couldn’t hit the wing pull-up. He was blocked on a drive. He sank a tough step-back three with a man all over him with 21 seconds left. He swished a pull-up three with 13 seconds left.

Randle -- -- Luke said he wanted him to be more aggressive looking to score. “That’s the longest period of time he’s played hard like that all season long and that’s really exciting to see,” Luke said. That activity and engagement – that’s what we want from him. Doing it for longer stints is what will grow his game. Good first stint from Randle in this one with 8 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. That allowed for Randle to get them in transition and push the tempo. He’d finish the first half with 14-8-6, on his way to triple double pace. Just very engaged and active. More focus on some of those kickbacks and DHOs. Whether it was defense leading to offense, or offense leading to more active defense it was good to see some of that two-way impact ball. He struggled a little with Kaminsky’s perimeter game and footwork off the dribble. Kaminsky struggled with Randle’s speed and strength. Some switching down the stretch on Walker that hurt us. Julius took the blame for some of that, but I can’t blame Julius or really any of the guys…as that’s what Luke called for and we got burned. Tough assignment for Randle to try to hold the line with after playing that hard all game. Luke said they have been challenging him in practice to play at that tempo to help him get conditioned and learn how to play through fatigue. “He’s been committed to doing it and it showed tonight,” Luke said. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 10-14 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 18 boards (4 offensive), 6 assists, 1 turnover, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He pushed it up and handed off to Ingram for the jumper. He gathered a pass and hit the short one in the paint. He swiped a pass to ignite the break. He stripped a man next time down on a switch. He faked a weave and attacked the paint for a layup. No hesitation but he missed the wing three. He pounced on a loose ball, pushed it out and threw down with both hands. Ingram attacked and set him up for the layup under the hoop. He attacked and couldn’t finish the layup after nearly getting stripped. Handoff to Russell for the wing three. He dunked on the break when Ingram found him. He hit Nick on the kickback for the three. He attacked in early offense and overpowered his man for the layup. Miscommunication with Russell on D and they gave up a layup. He gave up an up-and-under to Kaminsky. Another kickback to Young for a three. Second Half: He missed a hook across the lane. He was blocked on a putback attempt, got it back and scored the layup. He scored an easy putback on the Clarkson miss. He took his eye off the bounce pass from Russell on the two-man game, turnover probably for Russell. He attacked middle, spun back baseline and banked in the jumphook. He got lost and gave up a three to Kaminsky. He scooped up a loose ball and powered in the And-1 layup, he made the FT.

Ingram -- -- A ton of minutes for Ingram as we sat Deng this game, a healthy scratch for both him and Mozgov now. The Lakers are past the trade deadline, playing for lottery position and looking to develop their young. A relatively quiet game from Ingram after his career-high in the last one. That’s what you have to live through when they are young, folks. It wasn’t Ingram tonight, but Randle joining Russell in the scoring. Nance had a big game a few games ago and has been silent since. They are young and that means they will be inconsistent. A few too many misses from three and the line for Ingram tonight. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-10 shooting (1-5 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 42 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He swished a wing jumper off the handoff from Randle. He missed a sideline three on a kickout. He missed a three on a kickout. He threw a pass out of bounds on a drive. He changed directions to attack baseline and found Randle for a layup. Nice challenge on a drive to force a miss. He sank a corner three on a kickout. He pushed out a board with speed, spun and dumped it off to Randle for the dunk (might have been lucky there that Randle was in the right position at the right time). He airballed a corner three. He was hit on a pull-up at the FT line, he made one FT. Second Half: He attacked and somehow drew FTs with the defender all over him, he missed both, uggh. He missed a pull-up elbow jumper off a busted loop sequence in which he was the passer. He trailed the break and Russell hit him for the two-handed jam over a defender. He attacked and was blocked. He missed a three in transition. He was blocked on a turnaround.

Black -- -- Great third quarter. He picked up two fouls in 5 minutes to start the game and had to sit with early foul trouble again. Some better activity to start this one despite that. That activity picked up a ton in the third quarter as Russell started looking for him in the post or off the two-man sequences. One of those included a monster jam down the middle of the lane. Nice to see that chemistry. Hopefully, those two work on that some more. All of Black’s points came in that third. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 turnovers, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He blocked a drive on a switch. He was called for a travel on a pass off. Second Half: He regained a possession in a crowd of Hornets. He sank a jumphook off the two-man game with Russell on that same possession. Low position and he scored in the post when Russell spotted him. He battled for a Randle miss and eventually tipped it in. He drew a charge on the other end. He was blocked in the paint. He missed in the post after a busted elevator sequence for Nick. He rejected a layup out of bounds on the other end as he recovered to his man. Illegal screen as Russell might have gone a hair early. He attacked off the screen-roll and flipped in the And-1 layup over his head, he made the FT. He threw down a massive dunk off the bounce pass from Russell, who drew his man to him off a cross over.

Young -- -- What a nut. Nick’s offensive game looked like he was letting that All Star break three shooting challenge define his game until the very end of this one. His only attempt from two was in the final seconds when we needed a three. Not that I’m criticizing his game, but he shot three after three after three in this game. Every shot was a three until that last one. No other stats…just three shooting until that last one. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-11 shooting (5-10 from three) to go with 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He missed a wing three off a pistol sequence. He missed a wing three on the lob sequence we run for Ingram. He sank the three straight away off the Randle kickback. He missed an open corner three. He swished a wing jumper off the Randle kickback. He missed an open corner three. Second Half: He missed a three going to his right. He swished a wing three on the catch and shoot. He swished a sideline three on a kickout. Back in after a break and he drained a three going to his left at the top of the arc.

Clarkson -- -- That two-handed, two-footed dunk attempt he was blocked on from behind with a minute left was a killer. He could have finished that with a quick layup off one foot, instead he tried to go off two feet, pull it over his head and dunk. That got him blocked. Quiet, but efficient game from Clarkson early on. He was playing with Russell and Ennis so the ball was a little less sticky in his hands in the first half. He certainly looked a bit more comfortable out there. But if you want to close, you’ve got to make sure you get the score and not go for the highlight. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 7-14 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 5 fouls in 33:31. He was a -7. The Action: He attacked from the wing as we moved the ball from side to side and he scored the layup. He got into the paint, elevated and hit the short And-1 jumper, he made the FT. He missed a wing three on a kickout. Offensive foul on the perimeter for a turnover. He iso’d and hit the three to beat the shotclock. Second Half: He missed a three on a kickout. He missed another three on a kickout. He wheeled around his man, got into the paint and scooped in the layup before going down. He took it the distance and the end of the quarter but had it stripped off his leg (he wanted the foul). He probed and missed a runner. He crossed over his man badly and switched hands in air for the pretty finish. He attacked right and missed the baseline pull-up. He picked a man on help D and took it for the layup. He couldn’t finish a drive. Horrible perimeter pass to Randle over his head and out of bounds. He attacked from the wing, got his man on his heels and scored the layup. He was blocked on a dunk after backdooring his man with under a minute left (might have scored a layup but he pulled it back behind his head).

Nance -- -- Another quiet game from Nance. He combined his relative lack of impact with a couple of turnovers. I love Nance when he imposes himself on the game. He didn’t do that tonight again. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 2-2 from the line to go with 3 boards, 2 turnovers, 1 steal and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He threw a pass away instead of taking the post-up with the shotclock winding down. He was on the receiving end of an interior pass for once and drew FTs, he made both. Bad kickout and it led to an even worse pass by Clarkson for a turnover. Second Half: He swiped a bounce pass.

Zubac -- -- His minutes were cut short in the fourth as Luke went small. We need more than 8 minutes for him. Not a lot of time to do much, but they were calling his number quite a bit during those minutes. That three in his stat line was a full-court heave. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: Nice work sealing the smaller man as we worked the ball for a corner entry pass and he scored the layup. He hit Nance with an interior feed for FTs. He hit the backboard on a full court heave at the buzzer. He missed the 17-footer off the inverse play. He made a tough hook after avoiding a charge on the two-man game as a help defender rotated over. He missed the short hook working the post. Second Half: He missed a hook in the post to start the fourth.

Brewer -- -- I could see him carving a role in our second unit as we go from an aggressive offensive unit to maybe more of an aggressive defensive unit. Offensively, his reluctance to shoot the corner threes sometimes stalls the offense. He’ll try to quickly attack off it, but sometimes the D is ready for that and any progress made with ball movement can be quickly erased. A lot plays where the ball ended up there in this game with nothing in return. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block in 11 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He attacked from the corner, got off balance and threw it away. He missed a corner three. Second Half: Sensational block behind Ingram to reject a big at the rim and control it. He missed a corner three, no hesitation on this one. He swiped a kickout and took it the distance for a layup.

Ennis -- -- Deng sat and we went a little smaller with Brewer at SF, Clarkson at SG and Ennis at PG. That unit got outscored early in the second quarter. Ennis was a -14 in just 4:29 in that first half. That was that for him in this one. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three in 4:29. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a sideline three. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Nwaba -- -- He came in early in the fourth as Luke decided to pull Zubac and matchup small. He was active and aggressive on D. His first attempt at a shot as a Laker I’m sure he’d like back. It was an awful shotput that bricked off the glass badly without coming close to the rim. Don’t expect any perimeter shooting from him, like ever. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 board in 5 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He attacked and shotput an attempt off the glass badly, not sure what he was thinking there.

Walton -- -- The automatic switches down the stretch killed them, but secured the L… Nance in for Black after 5 minutes after Tarik picked up two fouls early again… Clarkson in for Young, Lakers down 2… Zubac in for Randle, who had a good quarter on both ends. Lakers down 2… Brewer in for Russell in the final minute… The Lakers led 31-27 after the first quarter… Zubac, Nance, Brewer, Clarkson, Ennis to start the quarter… A 12-2 run for the Hornets and Luke called a timeout… Young in for Brewer and Ingram in for Zubac… Nance and Ennis out shortly later for Russell and Randle, Lakers down 10… They quickly tied it up with a 10-0 run… They fell back by 8, struggling to defend Kaminsky on the perimeter… Good effort by the Laker bigs to start the half… Black and Russell taking it to the Hornets… Black out for Nance with a couple minutes left… Excellent quarter by Russell orchestrating. The Lakers led 82-80 to start the fourth… He went with a Zubac, Nance, Ingram, Brewer, Clarkson unit… He sat Zubac after a minute to go small with Nwaba… The Laker D picked up and they pulled out to a 6-point lead, forcing a timeout… Nick in at PF for Ingram… Midway through the quarter, he called timeout and went to the Randle, Ingram, Young, Russell, Clarkson unit up 2… The Hornets took a 5-point lead with a minute left abusing Randle’s switches on Walker…
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:42 pm    Post subject:

First! Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:12 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:28 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:30 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

Good effort by the team, hopefully we see a lot of close competitive games to end the season, we are gonna need to hang our hats on it.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:47 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 11:52 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

You are kind of critical of Ingram, and mention lack of.. agression?
Yet, I note he was +11. The best of the Lakers in that regard.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 2:44 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB

Good to see Black come alive again, now we need Larry Nance to get his groove back.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 6:43 am    Post subject:

I saw a lot of good things this game.

Normally when our opponent pressure the guards in the half court, they just back off trying to set up the weave. Last night they were aggressive about penetrating and either going to the hole or collapsing the defense and passing out to the open man. Guards need to continue to be aggressive going forward.

The starters carried their weight. The bench outscoring the starters has been routine for the last couple of month. The starters get off to a slow start, put the Lakers in a hole and expect the bench to bail them out. Not so last night. Starters 80 bench 24. While it is easy to blame the bench for this loss, it is the first time Brewer and Ennis got significant playing time and it going to take a while for the bench to gel. PS this would have been a good game for Zubac to get more minutes against Kaminsky / Zeller. Neither is physically overpowering and their game give Zubac more experience against mobile perimeter oriented players.

Effort and communication on the defensive end was good. Randle was engaged and active on the defensive end. Luke did not make the adjustment when Kemba was burning Randle at the end of the game. It was like Lebron against Curry in the finals last year. Big time mismatch.

All in all a very good game to build on.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 6:56 am    Post subject:

THanks, DB.
Good effort, but I guess learning how to close games is part of the process.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 8:04 am    Post subject:

I think the Lakers could have won that game if Luke did not sub in the new players instead of Deng. He was coaching to win. So this is a win for the tank. I am so sick of tanking. NO MORE!
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 8:50 am    Post subject:

Fun game. Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2017 10:01 am    Post subject:

Thanks for the game summary DB. Really do appreciate these threads. I just can't bear to watch these games and yet my curiosity about the team's path remains high.
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