RAPTORS -at- LAKERS – 10-27-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 9:59 pm    Post subject: RAPTORS -at- LAKERS – 10-27-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Competitive… The Lakers pulled out to a 17-point lead in the first half behind their stingy defense.

They were their own worst enemy, however. As their own turnovers piled up, the Raptors reeled them in.

Julius Randle and the second unit were doing their best to keep the Lakers in the game in the second half. In the fourth quarter, as Luke cycled back in their starters, the game got away from them.

Brook Lopez had a series of miscues on both ends. Down 8, Luke made a wholesale change, benching all his starters with over 3 minutes left. He was sending a message to the starters for not getting back in transition D. It was too late. The damage was done and the Lakers fell 101-92.

I wouldn’t have anticipated a win, let alone leading by 17 in this game. The Lakers are still working out a lot of the bugs…and will be for a while. But their defensive work made them competitive.

“I’m thrilled with the way we play honestly,” Luke said, then rattled off a bunch of issues. Still, it does feel like progress and growth the last few games.

The defense has been looking much improved. Now, if we can get the three shooting and turnovers ironed out. The Lakers were 3-23 from three and had 21 turnovers.


Ball -- -- He was 0-10 from three in the last two games, started 0-2 in this one before finally hitting. But that three ball at Staples has looked miserable. “He makes a lot of those on the practice floor,” Luke said. It was certainly not just him tonight, but the Lakers need some three shooting from Lonzo. This was the fewest amount of notes I’ve had for him to date. They need scoring from him or it makes it a little more difficult on everyone as the D can play under screens or defend the pass. I mentioned it a few times before the preseason, but this is how you need to defend him right now. Make him beat you with the three. If he can, then you start switching on D to protect from the pass and force the Lakers to iso some. Rookie season. There will be ups and downs. That’s how it will go for all rookies. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He swiped a pass and kicked it ahead to Nance for the dunk. He lobbed to Nance on the break (about a 35-foot pass). He attacked the paint for the lefty layup. He hit Lopez rolling with a well-placed high pass for the score. He missed a wing three. He bricked a three. Touch pass to BI on the break for the layup. He tried to split defenders in transition and was stripped. Quick hit ahead for Ingram who drew FTs. He had 2 points on 1-3 shooting, 4 boards and 5 assists at the half. Second Half: He sank a step-back wing three off the two-man sequence with Lopez. He missed a floater in the paint. He drew the D and hit Randle in the paint for the layup. He missed a step-back 18-footer. He drew an offensive foul on Ibaka in the post to get a stop. He missed a three.

Lopez -- -- He killed us in the fourth quarter when he came in for Randle. He had a series of misses offensively and then was picked on defensively, giving up too much space on the two-man D or not hustling back in transition and getting beat. That stretch was the game. “They were telling me they didn’t want to finish that game,” Luke said of their lack of transition D. I was waiting for Luke to bring back in Randle but the clock ticked…and ticked…and the bad plays piled up. Lakers trailed by 8 when Luke benched Lopez (and the starters). Glad he wanted to send a message. I worry, though, when you punish everyone for a couple lackluster starters. Good job rim protecting in the first half with 3 blocks. He had some better moments in the post in this one. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-14 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He sealed his man, took the post entry and dunked for the Lakers first score. He missed a three on the pick and pop. He grabbed an offensive board in a crowd and scored the putback after shedding a defender. He rolled down the lane, took the high entry pass from Lonzo and scored. He erased a drive with a nice rejection behind a defender. He backed his man down and missed the short jumphook. He missed a wing three trailing the break. He faced up on the low block off the rim run and banked in the short one. He erased DeRozan’s drive with the shotblock. He threw a pass away. He spiked Lowry’s drive out of bounds. Quick attack on the perimeter overplay and he drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He worked the post and missed the layup, but Kuzma tipped it in. He had 11 points on 5-9 shooting and 3 blocks. Second Half: He faced up, dribbled once to the middle, spun back baseline and scored the layup. He missed the short one with his left at the front of the rim. Not close on a lefty reverse instead of trying to finish strong. Foul taking an inbounds pass, turnover. Sagged off too much to give up a jumper to DeRozan. He was blocked from behind on a finish attempt, ugh. Poor look at a three, not close. Poor job getting back in transition and he gave up a huge layup.

Ingram -- -- An average game from him. Too many turnovers. It’s not going to be easy if we’re not knocking down threes in that starting lineup. They were 1-10 from three (BI was 0-2). The Lakers as a team were 3-23. The paint gets plugged a bit more, the help D can come over and cause problems on your drive like they did. That lob pass BI tries to throw gets easily picked off. (BI’s passing of late has been a bit on the wild side. Got to clean that up.) That floor spacing is going to be an ongoing issue and with Ingram’s desire to attack off the dribble that will make things tricky. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He missed an open three on a tap out. He missed a turnaround fade against the smaller man. He missed a drive. He faced up Lowry, attacked right and hit the pull-up 13-footer. He iso’d, attacked middle to his left and flipped in the layup over the defender. He scored layup on the break off the touch pass from Lonzo. He iso’d and it was easily challenged by the help D, miss. He took the advance pass from Lonzo, attacked and drew FTs, he made one. Second Half: His lob pass to Lonzo was picked off (didn’t read the D well). He was hit on a wing jumper for FTs, he made both. Wild pass on the break, turnover. He missed the corner three. He missed a point-blank tip.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Man, he had two blocking calls go against him and another no call on the offensive end. Refs weren’t too kind. His first dud of the season offensively. Any kind of offensive game from him tonight and you might have a more competitive finish to this one. The Lakers D was scrappy against a tough guard duo, so that was a positive. It kept them in striking distance, but our halfcourt offense had little flow tonight. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -17. The Action: He airballed an elbow pull-up on our first possession. He took the outlet from Nance off the steal and dunked. Wild pull-up jumper expecting a whistle that didn’t come. He got two bogus blocking fouls that should have gone the other way. Second Half: He missed a pull-up jumper in the paint. Wide right on a three.

Nance -- -- Some good moments early on, but then he faded with the rest of the team. He wasn’t willing to pull the trigger on his jumper tonight. He couldn’t have done any worse than the others. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-3 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: Uncontested dunk on the breakaway off the Lonzo steal. He finished the long lob from Lonzo in semi-transition. He swiped a pass and hit KCP ahead for the breakaway dunk. He spun around DeRozan in the high post and attacked the rim for a layup. He drew a loose ball foul on the defensive glass for FTs, he made one. He pushed out the break and it led to a Lonzo- to-BI score. Second Half: He drew a charge on help D (rare you see that call without the defender going down...but he had to go to the locker room to get his chin patched up). He was called for an offensive foul going up for a jumphook.

Kuzma -- -- He had his first NBA double-double. Good to see those rebounding numbers looking more like they were this summer. He had a couple nice tip-ins on the offensive glass. That floater at his size is just impossible to defend and it looks so automatic. I was shocked when he missed a 4-footer in this one, but later he hit about a 13-footer over a defender. Some up and down moments for him, but once again we look better with him on the court than off it. Too many turnovers, though, with 4 of the team’s 21. One of those seemed bogus. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-14 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 10 boards, 1 assist, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He crashed the glass and tipped in the Clarkson miss. He swished a three on the catch and shoot off the double fist fan play we run for him (looks like they gave him a two on that). He pushed out the board, stepped on the gas and scored high over Ibaka to force a timeout. He tipped in a Lopez miss. He missed a sideline three. He had 6 points on 3-4 shooting and 8 boards in the first half. Second Half: A bit off balance on the transition attack and he couldn’t finish. He missed a short floater that is normally automatic for him. He couldn’t handle a pass, travel. Bogus charge call on a great drop-step spin move, and that erased a hoop. He was called for a travel attacking off the three line. He drained a wing three on a kickout. He airballed a three on a kickout. He attacked off the three line and hit the floater over the big. He faked the three, moved in a couple steps off the fly by and hit the long floater. He missed a wing three. He missed a pull-up from the left side. He hit a floater off the interior feed from Randle. He missed a long three at the end of the game.

Randle -- -- He led the team with a +12 in the first half in his 9 minutes. He’s doing a much better job defensively at challenging shots at the rim or using verticality. Combine that with his ability to switch on smaller players and then change ends with speed and you have some great small ball minutes. Loving his play lately. “He’s done a much better job of attacking the rim,” Luke said. He added “when he turns himself into that dynamic roller with all that work he put in this offseason as far as changing his body and how explosive he is now, he’s just really hard to deal with.” That helps collapse the D. And when they don’t Julius is punishing them at the rim. He also had a couple nice drop-step scores in this one. He’s competing a bit with JC and Lopez to stay on this team next year with the free agency situation. Right now, this player, he’s the one you keep. This really his third year and this is when you see what you really have. Seeing his growth on the defensive side this year has been impressive. “You can tell when he’s focused,” Lonzo said of how Julius looks prior to the game. “We gave them life,” Jules said of the Raptors and the big lead the Lakers had in the first half. It would have been nice if they stepped on their throats. Julius and some of the second unit guys were balling. Need that from everyone. While on the floor tonight, he led the team with a +14. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: He attacked middle, drop-stepped baseline and powered in the lefty layup. He crashed the glass and drew FTs, he made both. He pushed out the board and kicked to JC for the three. He attacked and drew FTs, he made one. Great job going vertical to get a stop, but then he was stripped from behind and wanted the foul. Nice challenge again to force a miss. He faced up, attacked middle, spun baseline and powered in the layup. Second Half: Nice screen to free up JC for the open jumper. He drew FTs attacking off the pocket pass from JC, he made both. He stripped the ball off DeRozan’s leg to get the stop. Quick attack to his right and he threw down. He scooped up a loose ball, outlet it to Brewer, stepped on the gas himself, took the return pass and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a wing three. He rejected a drive, then outlet but two Lakers didn’t take the pass. He was tied up getting double teamed. He was blocked on a drive to his left. He let Lonzo set him up next time down and scored the layup. Interior feed to a cutting Kuzma for the score. He scored and And-1 putback but couldn’t hit the FT.

Clarkson -- -- Really not looking to pass to open this game, and everything went sideways for him as the D just converged and caused issues for him. He had no assists and 3 turnovers in the first half. He’s got to make the simple pass, especially early in the game to get teammates involved. In the second half, Luke benched him after he didn’t pass to Kuzma on one of our set plays for him. That meant bringing in Ennis and letting JC watch from the bench. He finally brought JC back when we were down 8 with over 3 minutes left. Message sent, but was it received? We’ll see. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-11 shooting (1-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a quick-fire wing three. He missed the pass as he attacked, then decided to throw it late, turnover. He missed a pull-up off the screen. Travel off the weave, he’s lost the balance in his game right now. He sank a sideline three off the Randle pushout. He missed a quick-fire three. He tried to drive through a crowd instead of making the pass, turnover. Second Half: He swished a wing jumper behind a Randle screen. Pocket pass (finally) to Randle to set up FTs. He iso’d on a big and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a chuck from three. He missed a deep three. He attacked the paint and missed a layup, but Randle cleaned it up. He attacked the paint and hit the floater. He attacked off the three line as the Raptors were protecting it and scored the easy layup. He threw a pass away. He missed a three at the buzzer.

Hart -- -- Throwing him on DeRozan defensively is a tough assignment, but I think he got better at it as the game went along. Frankly, was up for the challenge more than a rookie should ever be. He was coming up with steals both on ball and off. We’re running JC at point to get Hart the minutes. You saw it tonight when JC was playing lousy at PG, Luke wasn’t going to pull Hart so JC could slide to the 2. Hart earned that spot. Offensively, he showed more versatility than we’ve seen. He dunked (sort of) on the break. He split defenders and scored in the paint. Great spin move, as well, for another score. He also had an iso jumper. He was balling. He, Kuzma and Randle were the bright spots tonight. That trio made things happen. Luke said Hart’s defensive effort is contagious. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-4 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 steals, 1 block and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He stripped his man on a drive. He chased down the long rebound, pushed it out and threw down the dunk (almost blew it). He attacked left, spun right and scored the layup. Second Half: He split the defenders and scored a layup around a third. Great switch to knock away an interior pass and it ignited a Laker breakaway score. He swiped the ball on the sideline to thwart a Raptor set play off an inbounds. He iso’d and swished the wing jumper. He attacked off the three line in transition and drew FTs, he made one.

Brewer -- -- Some good moments as usual changing ends and looking for teammates. He also got in on some defensive scrambles to help get the team some stops. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 0-1 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He grabbed an offensive board and was swarmed, taking some contact in the process. He couldn’t handle the high feed from Lonzo under the hoop. He was hacked in transition for FTs, he made both. Second Half: His lob pass was deflected but we got it out to Kuzma for a three. He took the outlet and gave a return feed to Randle on the break for the And-1 layup. His man gambled, Brewer attacked the overplay and drew FTs at the rim, he made one.

Ennis -- -- We had to yank Clarkson for ballhogging. Ennis came in and was a liability offensively when he tried to get his own offense. Defensively, serviceable but we could barely wait for Lonzo to return. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-1 form three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 1 turnover in 5 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a half-court heave at the buzzer. He gave up middle and a score when the D had to help. He then was rejected on the other end attacking a crowd, just a bad decision. Not close on a finish attempt with his left.

Walton -- -- Lakers got into some transition off of their D early on. They trailed 13-12 midway through the quarter when the timeout came… Lakers up 3 when JC and Kuzma came in for Ingram and Nance… Randle in for Lopez, Hart in for Lonzo, Brewer in for KCP… A 16-3 Laker run to lead by 8… The Lakers led 26-19 after the first quarter… A couple transition scores and they forced a timeout up 31-19… Lonzo back in after JC looked awful at backup PG by not passing… KCP in for Hart, Lakers up 12… Ingram in for Brewer, Lakers up 10 with 7:14 left… They led 44-28, forcing another Raptor timeout… All starters in after that timeout… Nance picked up his second and third fouls quickly and had to sit for Kuzma… Bad stretch by the Lakers and the Raptors went on a run. Just sloppy, turnover-prone ball… A 12-1 Raptor run… The Lakers led 51-45 at the half. Lakers 1-9 from three, Raptors 2-16… Nance took a shot to the face and had to get patched up after a possession. Kuzma in for him… Lakers down 1 when Nance came back in with 7:52… Kuzma back in for Lopez… Down 3, he sat everyone but Kuzma to go with Randle, Brewer, Hart and JC… He benched Clarkson after not moving the ball (had an open Kuzma he missed that ticked Luke off after that bad first half). Ennis in. Lakers down 4… The Lakers trailed 72-71 heading into the fourth… Lonzo in for Ennis, Lakers up 2 with 8:34 left… Nance, KCP and Lopez in to go with Lonzo and Brewer… A 9-0 Raptor run after bringing in his starters… Luke then sat them all. Probably could have just benched a couple. Randle needed to be out there, but it’s early. Message sending it part of the process of establishing good habits…
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hexfire
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:01 pm    Post subject:

first? Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:06 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

What I’ve noticed early this season is the lakers can’t trade clarkson or Randle unless they are getting offense back. It would basically be Kuzma and pray without JC and Randle. Offense would be in big trouble.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:09 pm    Post subject:

Great writeup DB!
I only caught the 2nd half, but Randle & Hart especially impressed on the defensive end. Kuz was good, too (I can forgive turnovers on travels as I'm sure he'll clean that up). Don't have all that much positive to say for the rest of the team. Obviously the 2nd half wasn't great in general.

Are we the worst shooting team in the NBA? Hard to think of a worse team, as long as Ingram and Ball's shots are WIPs.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:11 pm    Post subject:

This team has ALOT of work to do, it can take the whole year of the team finding out who they are, so we might need to get used to a lot of inconsistency from this team were they win 1 lose 2 win 2 and lose 3 which might be our theme this year.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:12 pm    Post subject:

My heart sank and my rage stirred when I saw Lopez and Nance standing st the scorer's table in the fourth. The bench was doing a good job, the starters had not in the second half. And then Luke just sat there and watched the starters suck for three minutes and not be able to get a stop or a score. No reason to take out Randle, Kuz, or Hart at that point.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 27, 2017 10:14 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 2:25 am    Post subject:

Luke is learning which combinations work and don't work, along with discovering which rookies can be consistent in their production.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 3:09 am    Post subject:

We want to win. But we also have to give opportunities to our players to try to work things out. They have to overcome something develop themselves and as a team too. I'm fine for not to call timeout quickly. Great first half but DeRozan recovered and Raptors have found a way to stop Nance in the second half. That's star power and experience we need.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 5:20 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

This game turned in the 2nd quarter. There were a few charges that were not called and ticky tack and-1s both in favor of the Raptors. Our young team, wasn't ready mentally to deal with shoddy officiating. Then they lost their focus/intensity.

I'm pleased that they played very well vs to EC playoff teams. Defense is taking baby steps (two straight games of giving up basically 100ppg even though we lead the league in pace). We also rebound at a high clip (2nd in NBA at 50.3/game).

We had a fast start vs both the Wizards and Raps. Gotta learn how to finish teams off. I'm confident that they will.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 6:00 am    Post subject:

Pretty criminal how much this team lacks shooters, especially 3 point shooters. Ugh.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 6:21 am    Post subject:

This was a win-able game, but the Lakers just choked it away collectively at the end and losing the big lead.

But they are exciting to watch. I was frustrated by:

1. Lopez missing those easy close-range shots and missing a 3 pointer all at the end of the game when they were within 2-6 points behind.

Lopez needs to LIMIT his 3-pt attempts to 2 or 3 a game. He also needs to NOT stand behind the 3 point-line when the Lakers are on Offense, as the center guarding him stands in the paint, with one foot out (towards Lopez) and thus has a much better chance of a rebound than Lopez. Lopez NEEDS to focus more on Rebounds and Putbacks, that will increase his scoring and the Lakers FG %.

Ennis needs to NEVER try to do a layup, anyone taller than him, which is everyone on the opposing team can block his shots.

Ball needs to stop shooting 3-points and just drive to the basket for a layup, his 3py percentage has to be about 20%, while his layups are about 80%.. DUH...

Kuzma is awesome, he plays with SO MUCH confidence, something Ingram is still lacking, something that Nance is finally starting to show... You can't teach that...

Young teams have problems closing out games and that is what we are seeing..

Luke NEEDS to Coach these guys better and TELL them what they need to do and need to NOT do...!
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 7:30 am    Post subject:

Turnovers were many, and perhaps for the first time the worse area of play compared to the Laker conversion rate from outside. Didn't check box score but it felt as if they made few enough to log .250 or worse from downtown. Yeah, two strongl suspected Laker weakness entering the season. Defense looked a bit more encouraging, even if KCP couldn't put a dent on DeRozan's production.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:32 am    Post subject:

I quoted this from DB's writeup:

The defense has been looking much improved.


I agree and it is certainly a cause for optimism going forward. The defense is light years better from my unscientific eye test than it has been the last few years.

Obviously they lost last night because they shot terribly from 3, but to be honest that type of loss doesn't really bother me as the team competed hard defensively, was in the game late and looked like an actual basketball team.

Watching the lack of effort the last few years on D was turning me off bigtime to the team, that isn't development, it is just bad basketball. This season early at least they seem to be finally turning the corner.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:39 am    Post subject:

LakerLanny wrote:
I quoted this from DB's writeup:

The defense has been looking much improved.


I agree and it is certainly a cause for optimism going forward. The defense is light years better from my unscientific eye test than it has been the last few years.

Obviously they lost last night because they shot terribly from 3, but to be honest that type of loss doesn't really bother me as the team competed hard defensively, was in the game late and looked like an actual basketball team.

Watching the lack of effort the last few years on D was turning me off bigtime to the team, that isn't development, it is just bad basketball. This season early at least they seem to be finally turning the corner.


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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:51 am    Post subject:

Finally we are playing some defense. I can't remember the last we actually did. Maybe 2012-2013?

We lost this game on unexperience. Both Luke and the players.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 9:57 am    Post subject:

I was at the game. Lots o positives. Lots o negatives.

Thanks for the write up DB.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:00 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 11:35 am    Post subject:

danzag wrote:
Finally we are playing some defense. I can't remember the last we actually did. Maybe 2012-2013?

We lost this game on unexperience. Both Luke and the players.

Even in '12-'13 we were the #20th ranked defense in the league, lol
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 12:16 pm    Post subject: Re: RAPTORS -at- LAKERS – 10-27-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

DancingBarry wrote:


Brook Lopez had a series of miscues on both ends. Down 8, Luke made a wholesale change, benching all his starters with over 3 minutes left. He was sending a message to the starters for not getting back in transition D.


That was Pop-like. Loved it.
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