BLAZERS -at- LAKERS – 7-17-17 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:13 pm    Post subject: BLAZERS -at- LAKERS – 7-17-17 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Summer League Champions!… Give it up for this Summer League Laker team. They did it in style. High scoring, highlight reel plays and high octane.

The Lakers rested their Summer League MVP, Lonzo Ball, with the calf strain. Without the MVP, they were still able to push the tempo. That pace and speed they played with was now in their DNA after running game after game.

They struggled at times hitting the open man on some of their drives and pushouts. They were a little soft defensively. Still, they trailed by just 1 at the half behind Kyle Kuzma’s 19 first half points. The Lakers shot 8-12 from three in the first half, doing a good job finding their shooters.

The energy level picked up for the Lakers to start the fourth quarter. They came out swinging and forced a timeout up 13. The Blazers sank two threes to cut it in half, but the Lakers came right back to push it to double digits again. Coach Jud Buechler jockeying this group down the stretch. There was blood in the water, they tasted it and went for the kill.

Breaking the Blazers, the Lakers cruised the last few minutes to the 110-98 win.

The lowest seed to ever to go all the way, they won six straight games to take the Summer League Championship.

“They shared the basketball. They played the right way. If you do that, good things are going to happen,” Buechler said.


Kuzma -- -- “I didn’t know I was that aggressive. I wasn’t that way in college,” Kuzma said. Don’t lose that, my man. I think the aggressiveness with which we play pushes him to be that way and it suits him perfectly. Second Team All Summer League, huh? He shot 48% from three range while putting up a ton of threes (24-50). Just killed it every game. The 30 and 10 earned him the Finals MVP award tonight. He had 11 points in the first quarter, hitting three three’s to get rolling. You were expecting him to go cold sometime, but he never did. He’d finish the first half with 19 points on 7-10 shooting (4-6 from three). He loves the space and speed of the game at this level. No zone D’s to muck things up. He mentioned afterward that being the best player on a college team, they lock into you. The pro game frees him up, and he kept his foot on the gas all night long. Offensively, that shot has been pure. The Lakers saw him light it up in Chicago and then every game in this deep summer league. He wasn’t just hitting simple ones, either, tonight. He had a fading wing three and a hit buzzer beating, deep three after taking a dribble with 1.8 seconds left and letting it fly. He was also attacking the rim, getting speed into the offensive zone and going strong. I’ve been a little critical about his iso abilities. Tonight, he showed some nice change of directions to get to the rim. The more he can work on his handles, the better, because with that athleticism and length he’s going to cause trouble. He played both PF and SF in tonight’s game. I suspect that’s how the Lakers will try to play him next season. There’s absolutely no question the kid is a steal. The question is just how big of a steal? Buechler said he’s got a lot of work to do defensively still. The Blazer bigs forced him to fronting and battling with some big bodies. He battled hard. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 11-16 shooting (6-10 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 1 assist, 4 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He missed a three straight away to start the game. He knocked a pass off a man to get a stop. He swished a three on a swing pass. He swished a sideline three in early offense. He attacked in transition and scored over a defender with a couple long strides. Heat check three a few feet behind the line and he swished, wow. He missed a 20-foot pull-up. He drained a catch-and-shoot wing three off an inbounds (fading a little on that one). He missed a wing three in transition. He posted up, spun quickly to the middle and scored the And-1, he missed the FT. Bad cross-court feed, too high, turnover. He pushed out in transition, sized his man up and was wrapped up on the drive (surprised that wasn’t FTs). He pushed out in transition was pulled down from behind but still powered in the And-1 layup, he made the FT. Second Half: He attacked right, spun the other way and took it in for a layup. He threw a pass away in transition. He drew FTs trying to finish a lob attempt, he made one. He scored a layup on the drive and dish from Caruso. Quick fire corner three right in his man’s face and he knocked it down. Bad angle on a post entry, plus he telegraphed it, turnover. He took a charge to get it back on the other end. He took an inbounds with 1.8 left, a dribble to his left, he rose up and swished a deep three at the third quarter buzzer. He missed a deep three in early offense. He was called for a charge on a spin move. He worked the screen-roll to Zubac for the score. He missed a corner three on a kickout.

Zubac -- -- He got better as the game went along. He was playing small in the first half, but his presence was felt later in the game as he was disrupting more shots around the rim and getting stops. He came up a board shy of the double-double. The 1 block stat doesn’t tell the story on his improvement at protecting the rim as the game went along. Certainly Zubac’s scoring would have looked much better had Blue hit him on the roll on a few occasions where we was wide open. Zubac was open a number of times and the passes didn’t come. Some nice range on the jumper tonight. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-10 shooting to go with 9 boards, 1 turnover, 1 block and 6 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He dropped a pass in the paint. He was fouled on a layup with no call and missed. He missed a short baseline one-hander. He missed a lefty hook in the post. He missed a hook in the post. He was stripped in transition on a rim run. He cleaned up a missed layup on the break. He fumbled a pass but hit the 17-footer. He backed his man down and hit the righty hook. Second Half: He challenged a jumper and leaked out to take a pass for a dunk. He rejected Swanigan. He sank an 18-footer on the pick and pop. Nice challenge to erase a drive. He hit a baseline one-hander on the two-man sequence with Kuzma. He smothered his man to force a miss.

Caruso -- -- He was only 3 boards and an assist off a triple-double himself. It wasn’t pretty, but he stepped up again in Lonzo’s absence and kept the pace going. He seems to have a knack for big plays. Whether it’s a crazy, driving And-1 layup, a big block or defensive play, that’s when his games seems to become a little more legit and why he got the two-way contract. “Was never perfect but champs sure does have a nice ring to it!!” he tweeted after the game. The Lakers want him to push the pace like this for the G-League team so there will be more continuity with the NBA team in how they play. Hopefully, with more experience in what they want, he cleans up some of the turnovers and executes at a higher level. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 4-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 9 assists, 5 turnovers, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He kicked to Thomas for a three. Horrible advance pass that was easily picked off. He attacked and took it for a layup. He missed a pull-up 19-footer. Not close on a wild finish with his left. Bad feed in a crowd, turnover. Quick swing pass to Blue for the three. Second Half: He hit Zubac leaking out for the dunk. He missed a wing three. He hit Kuzma on a lob for FTs. Quick attack in transition and he dished to Kuzma for the layup. He was fouled on a throwdown attempt in transition, he made both FTs. He couldn’t connect with Bryant on a lob (hard to say whose fault that was). He attacked to his right, was smothered by defenders and went high off the glass and in for the And-1 score to start the fourth, he made the FT. He rejected a bigman coming from behind to help save a hoop. He lost the ball on a drive. He sank a pull-up 15-footer. He missed a three. He couldn’t beat a big off the dribble on a switch, missing the tricky scoop shot. He attacked the paint, faked the layup one way, spun the other and scored over a big. He drew a couple of FTs and made both. More FTs, he made both.

Blue -- -- Got him that trophy for his birthday. He said getting a rematch against Jarnell Stokes, a developmental league MVP whom he’s battled in the G-League finals and lost, gave the game some added tension for him. “I’m just in a good spot and just happy for everybody,” he said. This was a fun team to watch. He was a steadying force for the team with his ability to get to the rim and score with some consistency. Without Ball out there, some of his playmaking issues were on display. He missed Zubac a few times. He was also picked a few times off the dribble. Regardless, strong game and a big part of this team’s success. I think he advanced his stock for sure with his play, even catching Magic’s eye a little. “I want to play with winners,” Blue said. “There’s no better feeling than that. So I think I got to show everybody, not just Magic and Pelinka, but to show everybody that I’m a team guy and at the end of the day I’m just winning.” The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (1-3 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 6 assists, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He attacked in transition and wasn’t close on the reverse. He attacked in transition for a layup. He worked off the high screen and scored a layup around the big. He lost the ball on a reach from behind, dunk the other way. He attacked off the high screen and scored a layup at the end of the quarter. He charged on a drive. He attacked from the wing and drew FTs, he made one. He missed Zubac running the floor (Zu was like, “but Lonzo would have…”). He attacked off the three line and twisted around the big for a layup. He missed Zu again on a screen-roll. He sank a three on a swing pass in early offense. He attacked past his man on iso and missed the easy And-1, he made both FTs. He missed a 60-footer at the buzzer. Second Half: His man fell down so he hit the pull-up 16-footer. He got a big on a switch, blew past him and scored the layup with ease. He tried to attack between defenders and was stripped for a turnover. Lots of contact but no call on a missed jumper up against the shotclock. He missed an open three straight away. He charged in transition. He attacked, lost the ball and fouled out of a timeout. He missed a pull-up 17-footer. He was fouled with 39 seconds left, he made both FTs.

Thomas -- -- My other two-way contract probably goes to Matt Thomas. Ideally, you could wait until preseason. He just looks automatic at times from three. In fact, he was tonight, sinking 5-5 from beyond the arc. He had an extremely efficient 23 points on 8-9 shooting. He led the team with the +20. I can see a good case for giving it to Vander Blue. If the Lakers plan to move Clarkson’s contract to make space at some point, throwing Blue out there as an offensive spark off the bench might be a need. Still, shooting like Thomas showed is at a premium right now. Thomas has issues. If you make him do too much, you can force him into turnovers. Anytime, he was dribbling the ball in this game, you wished he could have passed to himself somewhere for a jumper because it was shaky. Defensively, they will pick on him at the next level like any young guy. He’ll have to learn to hold his own to get floor time. That’s what you would hope the G-League would give him. The Lakers again tonight shot big from three, going 14-24 as a team. They just lit opponents up and Thomas was one of the biggest parts of that. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-9 shooting (5-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +20. The Action: He fumbled a perimeter pass away. He sank a three for the Lakers first score. He missed a baseline pull-up after bumping the defender. He sank a corner three in early offense off some good ball movement. He sank a pull-up 17-footer. He missed a corner three. He cut backdoor and Wear found him for the layup. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. Wear kicked out to him, Thomas attacked and bounced back to Wear as he stepped back on the floor under the hoop for a layup. Second Half: He up-faked his man and drew FTs on a 20-footer, he made both. He sank a corner three in transition (looks automatic in those situations). He drilled a corner three on the feed from Caruso. He tried to kickout and was picked off. He buried a deep three straight away after not getting a shot off for a while.

Bryant -- -- Pretty quiet game and really, a quiet summer league after that first game. I don’t think they used him well. I would have liked to see more pick and pop, but you can’t second guess the results for the team. I suspect he’ll be in the G-League most of the year, developing his game. Buechler said Bryant was probably the most amped up after this win. You know it. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot and had 1 board and 1 block in 11 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: Nice challenge in the paint to force a miss.

Wear -- -- Got to give him a little credit tonight for his work on the defensive end. He had a couple of blocks battling under the hoop. He also forced a guard into a turnover when he was switched on to him. He’s not going to be plus defender, but he gave a solid effort on that end tonight and that’s what you want. He sank a couple of threes to help spread the floor. That part of his game is what you’d expect, but if he’s going to find a big contract someday, he needs more D like we saw tonight. Good job. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a baseline fade. He moved in off the three line and missed the jumper. He swished a wing three. Nice bounce pass to Thomas cutting backdoor for a score. He missed a layup on the break. He attacked, kicked out, got it back under the hoop and scored a layup. Second Half: He was stripped trying to create. Open and he drained a toe-on-the-three-line jumper. He forced a turnover switching on a guard and forcing a bad pass. He swished a three trailing the break. He missed an open sideline three. Nice challenge under the hoop to get a stop.

York -- -- Well, I got to put him in here for being a part of the championship. Not a lot of action tonight even with Ball out. The Stats: He didn’t shoot or score or have any stats in 4 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: Nothing to report.


Last edited by DancingBarry on Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Megaton
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:14 pm    Post subject:

First.

Big Baller Brand brought us a championship ladies and gentlemen!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:22 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB! WOW what a fun Summer League tournament!

MVP!

Championship game MVP!

Summer League Champions!!
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:24 pm    Post subject:

Now to rewatch all these games for the next two months without basketball.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:24 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:26 pm    Post subject:

Now for the long, dry, basketball-less summer.

What a great Summer League! Too much fun.

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:31 pm    Post subject:

DB, I just have to say all i can think about is all the write-ups you had to do with horrible games, bad players, bad coaches, tank commanders, a losing culture.....and now you/we get to have fun, in what will be an amazing season, mad props.
Miracles do happen, and in Magic we trust. Now how do we get Kuz in the starting lineup? Absolute sick game.
Out of all the great performances from Thomas to Blue, I want to give honorable mention to Zooby, who was frustrating to watch, but hung in there, really boxed and rebounded solid, won the philly game..... everyone is pulling for him, he just needs to get there somehow.....
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:35 pm    Post subject:

About Zubac:

Quote:
He scored 10 points on 6-10 shooting


That's hard to do

I know, it's SPL for DB, too!

Seriously - nice job, DB.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:45 pm    Post subject:

That was a fun 2nd half.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:50 pm    Post subject:

The summer league just ended and DB's already in mid-season form!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:58 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 9:59 pm    Post subject:

Summer league champs, Summer league MVP, Summer league finals MVP



Way to go young Lakers! And thanks DB.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:35 pm    Post subject:

Thanks for the great coverage of our Lakers Summer League championship run! We the
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:06 pm    Post subject:

Weeeeeeee arrrrrrreeeee thhhhhhheeeee CHHHHHHAAAAAMMMMPPPIIIOOONNNSSSS!

I know it's only Summer League, but it's the first success we've had in four years. It feels good and will hopefully tide me over until the preseason gets here.

Thanks for the write ups, DB! Looking forward to another, hopefully better, season of them!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:22 pm    Post subject:

AAAAA for DB!

This was a successful Baby Step for these pups.

The "Team" mentality and the collective (as shared by Big Game) drive to winter a pleasant change.

DLo is a talented player, but he has not had the impact that Ball has already done
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:23 pm    Post subject:

I hope T "gimme that (bleep)" Bryant gets a shot this yr if zubac doesn't have it. That guy brings it every time his number is called.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:26 pm    Post subject:

Lakers and Champs in the same sentence at this day in age... Nice! haha

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:27 pm    Post subject:

Carusmatic!
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 1:13 am    Post subject:

Thank you, DB! Really enjoy these write ups each game. The 2017-2018 season is going to be entertaining if nothing else.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 4:55 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!


I honestly thought we'd lose this game but what a great win! Impressive.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:10 am    Post subject:

razor wrote:
DB, I just have to say all i can think about is all the write-ups you had to do with horrible games, bad players, bad coaches, tank commanders, a losing culture.....and now you/we get to have fun, in what will be an amazing season, mad props.
Miracles do happen, and in Magic we trust. Now how do we get Kuz in the starting lineup? Absolute sick game.


I don't know how DB did it.

I couldn't stand watching the team the last few years, much less analyzing each terrible performance in depth.

Like you, I am hopeful that DB will get to report on much better contests this year.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:18 am    Post subject:


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