ROCKETS -at- LAKERS – 12-3-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:43 pm    Post subject: ROCKETS -at- LAKERS – 12-3-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Varsity vs. JV… There’s a reason you can’t give away wins like the Lakers did in the last one. It’s games like tonight where you’re going to take your lumps.

The Lakers saw a 5-point hole turn into 15-point deficit to close the first half. They were automatically switching Lopez or Nance onto the smaller Rockets guards and they got picked apart on in iso. If it’s not Julius Randle defending, that’s a tough ask for the other bigs.

The Lakers won the first 5 minutes of the third quarter to cut the lead to 3, but then offense went dry. The Laker guards were no match for the Rockets superior talent at those positions. The defense went under screens against Lonzo Ball, shutting him down. JC had a rare, non-scoring game in this one, as well.

On the other side of the floor, Harden had 36 points (9 assists), CP3 had 21 points (6 assists) and Gordon had 22 (18 in the first half).

It was like the Varsity squad vs. the JV. Luke eventually sat both Ball and JC to run Ingram at the point guard. The Lakers faded into the night, losing 118-95.

“As soon as we go dry offensively, that lead just goes back up with the way they can shoot the ball and the way they get to the freethrow line,” Luke said.


Ball -- -- Not a very aggressive first half. He missed his threes early and the Rockets took away the rest as they went under screens and dared him to shoot. Can’t make the shot, this game becomes very difficult for a PG. When Lonzo loses his swagger because of the lack of confidence in the shot, he struggles badly to make an impact. We give our rookies a ton of minutes, so their inconsistency will be the team’s as they learn the game. Luke decided to cut those minutes back tonight. The right choice with how ineffective Lonzo was, and we need to give our rookies some rest (especially if his calves were bothering him). Might also be why there wasn’t any rebounding from Ball, either. “A lot of what we do is how he gets engaged on those defensive rebounds, how he’s pushing the ball up floor, how he’s collapsing a defense or flattening a defense and we didn’t see that much out of him,” Luke said. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-4 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a wide open wing three off a swing pass. He missed a pull-up wing three. His pass to Ingram hit the rim, turnover (or miss). He swatted a drive on a recovery. Second Half: Turnover to start the half, leading to a wide open three the other way. Aggressive attack in transition and he drew FTs, he made both. He bricked a runner, not taking the three when they went under the screens. He blocked a shot from behind on a switch. He threw a pass away, not taking the three as they went under the screen. He missed the wing open wing three, taking it this time (way short). He hit Lopez for the open three on the pick and pop.

Lopez -- -- I liked the start to this one much better. You could see him passing up the three’s early on. He was more aggressive at attacking. As a result, we didn’t piss away multiple possessions like we have been. Maybe he’s going to be more selective early on. That seemed to be the case. The Lakers were actually a +9 when he was in the game tonight. That was despite him getting stuck on an island at times against the Rocket guards defensively. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He grabbed an offensive board behind a man and scored the putback. He blocked a layup. He blocked a drive without leaving the floor. He was fouled on a putback attempt, he made both FTs. Sloppy with the ball on the perimeter and it was picked off. He handed off to BI in transition for the dunk. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a wing three (first one at the 5-minute mark and then he sat). He was called for a charge leading with an elbow against a smaller player, his third foul. Second Half: He smothered his man to force a turnover. He posted up and drew FTs on the turnaround, he made both. He forced a drive off the three line when it wasn’t there and traveled. He sank the pick and pop three next time down. He faced up Nene in the midpost and drew FTs, he promptly missed both. Not close on a corner three. He blocked Nene at the rim. He missed a tough fallaway against a double team in the post.

Ingram -- -- Pretty good outing for Ingram as he was able to get to the rim or the line for points, but he was also finding teammates at times, as well. We had him running the PG for stretches as our other guards were ineffective. His best past was a lob to Nance on a set play out of a timeout that Nance hammered. He’s starting to show consistency. He’s got confidence in his ability to manufacture points off the dribble and is making it tough on defenders. Keep it up, BI. Just need to see more confidence in the three ball to see his game really blow up. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-16 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnover and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He attacked across the lane and couldn’t hit the off-balance drive. He missed a wing three. He attacked from the corner for a layup in transition. He reverse jammed in transition off the handoff from Lopez. The D sagged off and he missed the 18-footer. He sank a wing jumper off an inbounds. Awkward off-balance jumper in the paint. He drew FTs on the interior feed from JC, he made both. He swiped a ball and was called for a horrible charge as he passed it a half second later, really all in one motion off the steal. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. He missed a baseline runner. He couldn’t finish a drive. He iso’d, missed the runner, bounced up quickly and put it back in. Second Half: Swing pass to KCP for a three. Nice oop feed to Nance out of the timeout. He pushed out in transition, hung and drew FTs, he made both. He kicked to KCP for the three in transition. He missed a long pull-up two. He attacked in transition, missed but teammates cleaned it up. He attacked the paint, drew contact and FTs, he missed both. He crossed over, attacked, got deep into the paint and scored the layup. He broke up a lob from the weakside. He attacked the paint and went glass again for the layup.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- He hurt himself a little late in the game and was pulled. Not sure how serious. Better game tonight, but defensively he was really no match out there. Offensively, he got some scores. Those long two’s he takes just play right into the defense’s hands. The Stats: He scored 16 point on 5-12 shooting (4-7 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He flagged down a cross-court pass. He missed a tricky wing pull-up jumper. He couldn’t finish a tough layup off a cut. He sank a catch-and-shoot wing three out of a timeout. He let his man blow by him for a dunk. He airballed a three off a skip pass. Second Half: He got undercut on a pull-up wing jumper, he made both FTs. He hit a wing three in transition off the swing pass. He hit a floater in the middle on the lane. He swished a corner three on a kickout in transition. He stepped on the sideline on a high kickout. He missed a corner three, but hustled back in transition, stole it, pushed it up and hit the pull-up three. He missed a long pull-up two (that would have been a benching on the Rockets). He missed a long iso pull-up jumper, not a good shot.

Nance -- -- Good first stint as he was active on the offensive glass. Second stint, Luke brought him back to run as the backup center to close the half. That went predictably bad and the Rockets built a huge lead. He finished the half with 11 points on 5-10 shooting and 6 boards in the first half. Good numbers, but defensively we fell apart as a 5-point hole turned into a 15-point hole with Nance at C. “You stick your hand in once and they got you for a foul,” Nance said on dealing with Harden and Co. He was pretty frustrated with the officiating throughout the night. Good numbers for Nance, just didn’t like how we’re using him. I prefer seeing him in passing lanes or the guy helping the helpers. Not the main defender on the point of attack. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-12 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 8 boards (5 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He couldn’t tip in the lob, but grabbed the miss as he had defender’s arm pinned and he scored an And-1 flip in with his left, he made the FT. He swished a jumphook in the middle of the paint. He turned the ball over on a push out. He missed a tip but kept the offensive board alive. He was fouled on the offensive glass. He tipped in a missed a three. He hit a jumphook in the post. He scored a layup on post entry. He choked a layup left alone under the hoop. Second Half: He crammed down a lob jam off the timeout. He follow tipped in an Ingram drive in transition.

Kuzma -- -- “I challenged him before the game tonight on the defensive end to kind of get his edge back,” Luke said. It seemed like Kuzma was a little more focused on that end. He was moving his feet better against the guards. He had a couple of steals and should have had another (or a block), but they called a foul on him that was a bit bogus. He battled on the boards, as well, finishing with 12. Offensively, he was his dynamic self. He was stroking threes and finishing around the rim in a variety of ways, including a massive dunk off a give and go with Brewer (finally got one of those big ones to go!). Kuzma is also usually good for at least one travel again, and that was there again tonight. Luke said the +/- wasn’t indicative of Kuzma’s game tonight. One of the few bright spots for the Lakers, even if he did have some garbage-time scores. If you'd like to see him back in the starting lineup and Nance back to the bench, we’ll probably need to pile up several more losses. Not sure what the breaking point will be for Luke in that regard...seems like it will come, though. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-16 shooting (3-7 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -25. The Action: Bogus foul on a strip-block on Nene. He missed a layup in transition. He attacked, spun and was blocked. He sank a three straight away. He missed an open wing three. He posted up Harden and drew his third foul, he made one FT. He attacked down the middle of the paint and drew FTs, he made both. He tried attacking in transition, lost the ball, dunk the other way. Second Half: He attacked past his man in transition, took contact and still made the And-1 layup, he missed the FT, however. He missed a sideline three. He hammered down a strong dunk off a give and go with Brewer. He posted up, spun and scored at the rim. He sank a catch-and-shot three. He was called for a travel in the post. He pushed out the break, changed directions with speed and scored the layup. He attacked, spun and was blocked out of bounds. He missed a deep three. He crashed the glass and scored the putback off glass. He sank a wing three on a kickout. He stripped a man to ignite a break. He didn’t hit rim on his next three attempt.

Randle -- -- Again, watching the chemistry between Luke and Randle, after he subbed out Randle in the fourth, he went over and talked to him about something. Quiet night for Randle, which has been rare. The second unit usually gets teams on their heels, not the other way around. Luke said he wasn’t happy with how we were running things offensive with the bench. Guard play was lousy for us all night and that will impact the bigs. Randle had a very nice throwdown on a drive tonight but was held to just 5 points like JC was. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-4 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He missed a forced jumphook. He swiped a kickout after a nice challenge on CP3. He attacked and missed on the finish at the rim. He drew FTs battling on the offensive glass, he made both. He blew past his man to the left and hammered down the dunk. He iso’d and missed a dunk. Second Half: He was held on the perimeter for FTs, he made one.

Clarkson -- -- “It was just JC and Julius taking turns a little bit and we didn’t get into that flow,” Luke said of the second unit. Like Randle, one of Clarkson’s weaker outings of the season. Those two had been working on some chemistry, but it certainly wasn’t there tonight. JC couldn’t get anything down. He had 1 assist and 4 turnovers and only made one shot all night. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-9 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: Bad kickout, turnover. He ball-stopped, iso’d and finally hit Ingram off the drive and dish for FTs. He drew FTs and made both. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. His pass was picked but we stole it back and hit JC in transition for a pull-up three. He probed the paint and missed the short floater. He missed a tough wing three trying to beat the shotclock. He attacked the paint and couldn’t finish the lefty layup. He missed a corner three in transition. Second Half: He dribbled a drive off his leg, turnover. He missed a pull-up three off a screen. He missed a three over a big on a switch. He was picked by a big on a crossover. He missed a transition three.

Brewer -- -- The clap is for Corey Brewer playing in his 300 consecutive game. Congrats. This, of course, is why we’re always going to see him get some minutes in the first half. He had a couple steals tonight, but wasn’t really a factor defensively or on the other end. He did make a great read to Kuzma cutting for a dunk, but that was it. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He tracked down a ball handler in transition and knocked the ball loose, it led to a JC three. Second Half: Not close on a layup on a drive right. He swiped a perimeter pass. He hit Kuma on the give and go for a dunk.

Hart -- -- Not a lot of notes from him in this one. He didn’t score on his three attempts and defensively, didn’t really make a bit impact like we usually see. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 assist and 1 turnover in 15 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: Nice effort on the offensive glass to regain a possession. He was picked a few seconds later as he attacked off the three line. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He missed a pull-up at the elbow. He missed a long three.

Ennis -- -- It’s games like this where both Lonzo and JC are extremely flat that you wish you had a guard that could energize the team a little off the bench. Caruso should have Tyler’s job and maybe he will by later this season. Luke only brought Ennis in for garbage time because it really isn’t an option in those situations. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 turnover in 3 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He took a ball coast to coast for the layup. He threw a skip pass out of bounds, no one there.

Zubac -- -- In for the final minutes of garbage time. Hey, he got to see Harden and CP3 out there. Not sure what the Rockets were doing still running those guys. Zubac did nothing while out there. Got to talk to Tarik. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot and had no stats in 3 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Walton -- -- Lopez only took his first three with 5 minutes left just before he sat. Lakers were up 16-13 when Randle came in for him. Better start to the game… Larry sat for Kuzma, Lakers down 1. JC in for Ball… Luke picked up a tech off a bad call against Ingram… The Lakers were tied 27-27 after the first quarter… He went with the Randle, Kuzma, Brewer, Hart, JC lineup… Down 4, Luke called a timeout. Gordon with 18 points quickly… Lakers down 7 when Lopez returned for Randle and Ingram for Brewer… Ball in for JC down 4… Down 5, Lopez sat for Nance after picking up his third foul… Bigs getting killed on iso switches. Just very predictable. If it’s not Randle, we really can’t do that… Typical results with Nance at center here as the Lakers fell apart… The Lakers trailed 61-46. Rockets shot 52%, Lakers 32%... They cut the lead down to 6 in the first 5 minutes… The lead ballooned back to 12 as the Laker offense went dry and couldn’t get stops on the other end. Luke called a timeout… JC in for Lonzo out of that… Down 11 when Randle came in for Lopez… The Rockets led 85-73 heading into the fourth… Randle, Kuzma, Brewer, Hart, JC lineup to start… Rockets hit a couple of threes and the game was quickly out of reach… Ingram in for Brewer. KCP in for Hart… Don’t blame Luke. He sat JC and Ball and went with Ingram at PG… Ennis in for KCP…
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tox
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:50 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:09 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:13 pm    Post subject:

Seeing Randle & Luke clearly not clicking bums me out.
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:33 pm    Post subject:

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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 12:15 am    Post subject:

Quote:
If you'd like to see him back in the starting lineup and Nance back to the bench, we’ll probably need to pile up several more losses. Not sure what the breaking point will be for Luke in that regard...seems like it will come, though


DB, if we were to see Kuzma reinserted into the starting lineup, what do you see as Nance's rotation? Playing opposite Randle in the second unit?
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 2:02 am    Post subject:

Professor NBA applied another lesson to the young Lakers!!
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 3:36 am    Post subject:

Laker's Fan wrote:
Quote:
If you'd like to see him back in the starting lineup and Nance back to the bench, we’ll probably need to pile up several more losses. Not sure what the breaking point will be for Luke in that regard...seems like it will come, though


DB, if we were to see Kuzma reinserted into the starting lineup, what do you see as Nance's rotation? Playing opposite Randle in the second unit?

Put Julius as starter with Kuzma. Lopez can play with Nance in the second unit.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 5:07 am    Post subject:

AllorNothing wrote:
Laker's Fan wrote:
Quote:
If you'd like to see him back in the starting lineup and Nance back to the bench, we’ll probably need to pile up several more losses. Not sure what the breaking point will be for Luke in that regard...seems like it will come, though


DB, if we were to see Kuzma reinserted into the starting lineup, what do you see as Nance's rotation? Playing opposite Randle in the second unit?

Put Julius as starter with Kuzma. Lopez can play with Nance in the second unit.


Maybe they do not start Randle because they know he will not be back next year
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 6:47 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. MDA is the OG of small ball. Dubs vs Rockets will be epic.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 7:09 am    Post subject:

smoothazsilk wrote:
AllorNothing wrote:
Laker's Fan wrote:
Quote:
If you'd like to see him back in the starting lineup and Nance back to the bench, we’ll probably need to pile up several more losses. Not sure what the breaking point will be for Luke in that regard...seems like it will come, though


DB, if we were to see Kuzma reinserted into the starting lineup, what do you see as Nance's rotation? Playing opposite Randle in the second unit?

Put Julius as starter with Kuzma. Lopez can play with Nance in the second unit.


Maybe they do not start Randle because they know he will not be back next year

I don't think Lopez will be back either.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:19 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:32 am    Post subject:

Texas_Pete wrote:
Thanks DB. MDA is the OG of small ball. Dubs vs Rockets will be epic.

The Dubs will have a broom ready by then.
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 10:42 am    Post subject:

diando wrote:
Texas_Pete wrote:
Thanks DB. MDA is the OG of small ball. Dubs vs Rockets will be epic.

The Dubs will have a broom ready by then.


I would bet good money that the handle breaks against the Rockets
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 5:06 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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