HEAT -at- LAKERS – 3-16-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:07 pm    Post subject: HEAT -at- LAKERS – 3-16-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Flat, Slow and Turnover Prone… The Lakers guards didn’t show up in this game offensively.

KCP has lost his mojo. Lonzo continues to struggle. IT went stone cold, shooting 1-9. Those three combined for 10 of the Lakers 20 turnovers.

“They ended up with 18 more shot attempts then we did,” Luke said. That was key. Too many turnovers, too many second chances for the Heat.

It was back and forth all night with both teams building small leads and losing them. The Lakers had a chance to go up by 3 in the final minute, but Julius Randle had a jumphook rim out. Dragic would take the ball, no timeout for the Heat, work off a screen and hit a great look from about 10 feet out to take the 1-point lead instead with 14 seconds left. The Lakers inbounded, pushed it up and as Kuzma pounded the dribble at midcourt with no real purpose, Luke called a timeout.

We would try to set up a play for Randle, but the Heat left the inbounder to double Randle as he came across court. Lonzo inbounded to IT instead. He would attack left and miss a step-back fade from about 15 feet out. Ball game. Lakers lose, 92-91.

In the grand scheme of things, with the Lakers holding the Cavs draft pick, maybe there’s a small chance this loss might be a win. The Heat get win No. 37 (Cleveland with 39), so a small chance there that this might help, but they should have had this one. The Laker guards let them down and we couldn’t impose our pace.


Randle -- -- Consistently imposing his will on teams. Another 25-12 double-double tonight. Ingram had started to join him with that consistency before his injury against this team last time they faced. Those two will be young two-way impact players. That’s what you build around. Julius led the Lakers with 16 points in the first half on 8-11 shooting. He’d score 9 in the second half. The one we wanted, thought, was the hook shot across the lane that rimmed out with about 20 seconds left up 1. The last play of the game was also supposed to come into Julius, but the D took it away. I really wanted to see Julius at the C spot, switching everything to close the game. Lopez played good, but we got burned on that final score with the Lonzo/Lopez two-man D. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 9-17 shooting (7-9 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He was stripped in the paint as he rose up. He dunked on the drive, draw and dish from Lonzo. He spun baseline and scored the layup. He drop-stepped and hit a deep jumphook on the baseline. He attacked across the middle of the paint and hit he jumphook. He attacked middle, spun and missed the turnaround. He scored a layup on the screen-roll with Isaiah. Great rotation to the perimeter, then he stripped his man with pressure, pushed it out and scored the layup. He cut weak to strong, took the pass in the paint and scored. He took a pass on the perimeter, stepped on the gas, spun and banked in the And-1, he missed the FT. He zipped a pass from the perimeter to Lonzo under the hoop for the dunk. He hit KCP cutting for FTs. Second Half: He missed a jumphook trying to create with the clock low. Quick attack to his left down the lane to draw FTs, he made both. He attacked right but missed after bringing it back to his left. He smothered his man on a drive to get a stop, pushed it out and wanted the foul on the airball layup attempt. He nearly threw away a post entry, tracked it down, attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He iso’d and bricked a tough fade after a series of moves. He attacked in transition and was fouled on a floater, he made both. He charged. He shed a man with a screen, took the pass and drew FTs on the roll, he made one. He took the airball or pass from Lonzo and scored the layup. He smothered Dragic on a drive. He missed hook shot with 20 seconds left up 1, rimmed out.

Ball -- -- There was postgame discussion on what Lonzo should have done at the end of the game. With 14 seconds left, we didn’t call a timeout. This is where you want someone to want that ball. Lonzo didn’t get the ball in his hands in some fashion and try to create or orchestrate. Luke saw that they had nothing with Kuzma pounding the dribble at midcourt and called timeout. Lonzo’s not that guy right now. Ingram is. Randle is. Kuzma is. The vets Brook and IT, of course. Two or three years from now? Hopefully, a different story for Lonzo. Teams were defending the passing lanes again against him tonight. He was more aggressive trying to score, just not effective. Some very lazy angle post entry passes tonight that were picked off. Take a couple more dribbles so it’s not as easy for the defenders to step around and steal the pass. (Luke got on him on one of those.) Afterward: “We couldn’t made a post pass tonight, which is basic fundamentals of passing, so that’s frustrating,” Luke said. I’m sure someone is going to running some post entry passing reps in practice. “I know I had a couple dumb ones,” Lonzo said of the team’s turnovers. Defensively, it’s tough to guard a guy like Dragic in those two-man sequences. We got burned on the last one of the game. Lonzo let Dragic get middle. Lopez was too deep in the paint and we gave up a good look for the eventual game winner. Way too easy. Lots of learning for young rookies. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-15 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 8 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He attacked off the three line and fed Randle for the dunk. He missed a step-back 20-footer. He pushed the ball up, pulled it out and sank the wing three. Nice challenge on the break to force Dragic to miss. He missed a step-back jumper from the top of the key (shooting off one foot). He attacked the paint and bricked the layup he should have finished. He kicked to Wear for the three. Not close on a runner attacking to his left and shooting right. He drew an illegal screen call fighting through the screen. His post entry pass was picked off. He swiped an inbounds pass, gave it up, got it back and attacked for a layup (they were playing him to pass on that drive). He dunked when Randle spotted him wide open under the hoop. Second Half: Another poor entry angle and it was picked off. He forced Dragic into a brick on iso. Awful pass on the other end right out of bounds. He kept his man on his hip off the screen and scooped in the layup. He missed a layup (jersey held with no call). He was blocked out of bounds. He missed a corner three. High entry to Zubac for a layup. He was blocked on a floater. He missed a short one in the paint. He rejected Winslow’s drive out of bounds. Great advance pass to Kuzma ahead of the pack and on the mark for a layup. I think he airballed a floater right to Randle rolling for the layup.

Lopez -- -- That two-man D was worrying me all night. We struggled a bit to get to shooters a the three line and the midrange was very soft. When the D tried to get to the rim, Brook did a good job challenging. But we got burned for the short, open look in the paint on the game winner with Brook back there plugging instead of up higher and icing the screen but Lonzo wasn’t playing it that way. Offensively, he was hitting the threes, making 4-6 from behind the arc. He also had a great drive for a dunk off that. Not so effective in the post. I’ll give him a pass on that because of the back issues. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 5-10 shooting (4-6 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +0. The Action: He missed a step-back fade in the post. He swished a wing three after relocating after handing the ball off. He rejected a layup. He spun, and missed the one-handed bank. He missed a jumphook in the post. He sank an open wing three off the KCP kickout. He sank another three off a cross-court pass. He blocked a layup from behind. Second Half: He was fouled on a step-back sideline three out of a timeout, he made two FTs. Slow motion drive to his right and he drew more FTs, he made both. He sank a wing three of a swing pass. He up-faked from three, attacked and threw down over the help D (should have been an And-1). Poor attempt from three as he was running backward before shooting. He missed a three next time down. He overpassed and we turned it over as the D caught up. Good challenge at the rim. Nice help D to force a kickout out of bounds. He posted up and kicked to Kuzma for the three.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- He had one of the defensive plays of the night with a track down rejection on the break that also drew a clear-out foul trying to fend him off. That was a 3-on-0 break he saved. He did a good job with some of the little things in this game, but he struggled to score. The trio of Ball/KCP/IT combined for 17 points on 7-30 shooting. That’s the bulk of our backcourt minutes just unable to put the ball in the hole. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a wing three in transition. He was blocked trying to create again the shotclock. He kicked to Lopez after taking the pass off a hard curl and Brook hit the three. Poor angle on the post entry and it went right out of bounds. Great hustle back on D on a 3-on-0 break to reject a layup, but also draw a clear-out foul from Ellington. Strong cut to help Randle out who left his feet and Randle hit him for FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three on a kickout. Second Half: Poor read and his pass was picked off by the help D. He attacked to his left and missed the lefty layup. He knocked a ball loose, tracked it down and took it for the dunk, his first field goal of the game. He battled under the hoop to tip in a missed jumper in a crowd. His bounce pass was picked off.

Kuzma -- -- Man. We wasted a couple of big plays by Kuzma in crunch time. He hit a running hook across the lane and then sank the big three with 1:22 left to take the lead after a comeback. He was moving pretty good all game. Some hobbling after that hook shot, but he was able to give the team some good minutes despite the injury. He and Lonzo teamed up for one of those summer league long passes and scores at full speed. So, he was certainly able to get up and down the floor with speed tonight. Cracks me up every time I see Kuzma get a rebound and look off IT as he pushed the ball up court. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-10 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 8 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He grabbed the rebound, pushed it out, lost his man off a bump and a couple long steps to score the layup. He missed a wing three. He attacked left and missed the short one (probably should’ve taken it for a reverse). He posted up in early offense and banked over his man. He threaded a pass cross-court to Lopez for the three. Second Half: He crashed the glass and was fouled to regain a possession. He missed a corner three on a kickout. His inbounds pass was picked off (horribly spaced SLOB play). He couldn’t hold a pass, turnover. He choked a layup at the rim out of a timeout. Tough bounce pass to Randle and he couldn’t hold it, turnover. He scored a layup at high speed off the long Lonzo pass. He attacked across the lane, knocked a man down and hit the long hook shot. He posted up and missed a tough jumphook, hobbling. Out of a timeout, he took the kickout from the post a couple feet behind the three line and drained the huge three to lead by 1 with 1:22 left.

Thomas -- -- He pretty much did nothing for the first three quarters, going 0-6 with 3 points. The Lakers needed a boost from the little guy in the fourth. He would score a layup, then sit midway through the quarter. We brought him back with 7 seconds left. Got him the ball, he attacked left and missed the step-back 15-footer to lose the game. He actually had Randle under the hoop with plenty of time to hit him. “You get an open look for someone like IT at the end, you live with that,” Luke said. He was cold all night and had sat on the bench for the past 6 minutes. “I thought it was going in,” Isaiah said of the step-back. Poor game. Never looked comfortable. “They trapped me on every pick and roll,” he said of the difference tonight versus last time when he lit Miami up, mentioning it wasn’t an excuse, but that he has to play better. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a deep pull-up three. He worked off the screen, stopped at the elbow and drew FTs on the attempt, he made one. He worked the two-man game and hit Randle rolling for the layup. He attacked left, couldn’t finish the layup, got it back and missed again. He slithered through the D, drew defenders and slipped a pass around a defender to Zubac for the dunk. He missed a hanging floater in the paint. He turned the corner, attacked baseline and drew FTs, he made both. He was stripped on the perimeter. Second Half: He was pushed in the back on a drive with no call and missed. He lost the ball out of bounds on a drive. He missed a challenged wing three. He was blocked out of bounds in transition. He took an outlet, attacked and was able to finish with some good elevation. Nearly stripped, he backed it out, attacked and was stripped for good.

Wear -- -- He was hitting the three ball. One in first half and a couple of them to start the fourth quarter. Effective minutes offensively. I like that he’s aggressive with the shot. A lot of the G-League guys don’t carry over their aggressiveness. Some miscommunication on D, but I think that was on the guard in the play where we gave up an uncontested dunk. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-5 shooting (3-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He swished a corner three on a kickout. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs pulling up for a bank, he made both. Horrible outlet right to the Heat. Second Half: He missed a long wing jumper. He swished a wing three on a kickout to start the fourth. He sank a wing three on his next touch. He missed a pull-up wing jumper.

Zubac -- -- Wonder if we’ll start to see Bryant at all. Zu hasn’t exactly been impressing lately and seems to be good for getting blocked or stripped every time he’s out there. He had a couple turnovers tonight. Some better challenges at the rim defensively. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 block, 2 turnover and no fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He blocked a drive. He blocked another drive. He dunked off the drive and dish from IT. He turned into a defender and was stripped. Second Half: He scored a layup on a high entry from Lonzo. He brought an offensive board down instead of keeping it high and was stripped.

Ennis -- -- Well, without converting Caruso to a regular contract we’re going to see more Ennis unless we get guys back. He was a -6 in his 12 minutes. That’s a lot of minutes. So many. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 12 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He sank a long wing pull-up jumper working off the screen. He was called for an illegal D. He lost his man but choked the uncontested reverse. He attacked, was bumped and coughed it up. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Walton -- -- The Lakers led by 1 when the timeout came after 7 minutes. IT in for Kuzma out of that… Down 4, Luke called a timeout… Wear in for Lopez out of that and he hit a three… Ennis in for Ball, Lakers down 3… The Lakers trailed 25-24 after the first quarter… He started a Zubac, Wear, Kuzma, Ennis, IT lineup… Luke called another timeout down 4. They’re giving up a lot of open threes… He went with Lopez, Kuzma, Ball, Ennis, IT… Finally KCP back in for Ennis with 6 minutes left… Randle out for IT with 6 minutes left, Lakers down 4 still… Lopez hit a couple of threes and we pulled even. Timeout Heat… IT in for Kuzma out of that… Luke mic’d up: “Once we start locking up, those threes they hit early aren’t going to go in most of the game.”… Ennis in for IT and we gave up the lead… They were tied 50-50. Dragic with 22 on 7-10 shooting for the Heat. Feels like the Laker small ball lineup would work well to contain the three shooting and Dragic on switches… Lethargic start to the second half and Luke called a timeout after giving up a quick 6-0 run… The Lakers tied it back up getting to the FT line… A couple of dunks by the Lakers to go up by 4 and they forced a timeout… IT in for Kuzma out of that timeout at the 6-minute mark… He sat Lopez for Wear, then Zubac for Randle with 2:53 left, Lakers down 1… Lakers slipping back further… The Lakers trailed 74-71 heading into the fourth… He started Randle, Wear, Kuzma, Ennis and IT… Lopez in for Randle down 2. Sigh. Not the lineup I want to see… KCP in for Ennis, Ball in for Wear. So Lopez instead of Randle… Down 4 when Lopez sat a few seconds later. Randle in… Lopez in for IT with 6 minutes left down 4… They trimmed an 8-point lead down to 2 and the Heat called a timeout… Down 2 with the ball and a minute and half left, Luke called a timeout. A three by Kuzma on a kickout out from Lopez of that… Luke let them advanced the ball after a Heat make with 14 seconds left, then called timeout with 7 seconds left when they had no advantage. So down 1, with 7.5 left need a score… IT in for Lopez for this. He missed a pull-up from about 15 feet out. I imagine we could have used more time there to set something up, but he had given his guys a chance to create an advantage earlier. They didn’t take it (unlike how Dragic did for the Heat)… Lakers had 20 turnovers…
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:17 pm    Post subject:

Very frustrating loss. They've let a few wins go in some of these losses recently. This is the team's chance to learn from these mistakes and get better. Guards were putrid tonight. The only "bright" side to the loss is that it gets the Heat a bit closer to the Cavs, but of course I'd rather the Lakers have won.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:40 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Live in person #eyetest for this one:

1. The Heat game plan was to exploit IT. They succeeded.
2. It was nice to see guys find Lonzo cutting for layups, but he had some terrible turnovers in the first half and was fortunate he didn’t have more.
3. Dragic had it too easy tbh. Olynyk too, missed some shots.
4. They need Ingram back badly. Lonzo and KCP in particular are getting overextended. Ennis shouldn’t be getting any minutes.
5. For the first time in a long time, Luke’s rotations were suspect. Limited Kuz first 3 quarters then played him heavy in 4th.

Bad loss. They will have to surprise us with another big win somewhere, like the @spurs game, to make up for this one...frustrating.


Last edited by LakerSD on Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:53 pm    Post subject:

LakerSD wrote:
Thanks DB. Live in person #eyetest for this one:

1. The Heat game plan was to exploit IT. They succeeded.
2. It was nice to see guys find Lonzo cutting for layups, but he had some terrible turnovers in the first half and was fortunate he didn’t have more.
3. Dragic had it too easy tbh. Olynk too, missed some shots.
4. They need Ingram back badly. Lonzo and KCP in particular are getting overextended. Ennis shouldn’t be getting any minutes.
5. For the first time in a long time, Luke’s rotations were suspect. Limited Kuz first 3 quarters then played him heavy in 4th.

Bad loss. They will have to surprise us with another big win somewhere, like the @spurs game, to make up for this one...frustrating.


Point 4 most definitely, if Ingram was playing, we win this game.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 10:57 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:17 pm    Post subject:

IT drives me a bit crazy but I know it is a double edged sword.

His drives to the hoop where he gets so easily stopped are soul crushers. I feel really bad for IT because if he had the size, no doubt he would be even more effective. But the facts are he doesn't and can often times get abused. It just seems that at a number of important times, other teams seem ready for him and he can't get a shot off. I find myself screaming NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! far too many times. Then you get back on defense and he is running around doing very little and you can just see how he has to just accept he can't do a darned thing about the oppositions offense.

Very skilled player without the physical tools to be a true finisher. He has enough offensive skill to average 25+, while shooting around 40-45% but I doubt we ever see more than that and he will ALWAYS be a liability in crunch time as a goto #1 scoring option and as any kind of defensive player.

I absolutely love his mentality and if he had the size to truly back it up, I suspect he would be one of the better players in the league. I have to believe this is what Boston came to think of him too.
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 11:32 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB.

There was no reason to put a cold IT back in the game with 7 seconds left. Lopez should have stayed in. If you can't get the ball to Randle, Brook is always going to be available for a pass because of his height, and, like the end of the Magic game, the worst thing to happen would be that he can get near the rim and put up a decent shot, or get fouled. Down 1, that would have been a better strategy. And Lopez was having a pretty good offensive game, scoring 18 points on 10 shots. Just wasn't a great decision by Luke, and I liked his decision to call the timeout because nothing with happening with Kuzma with the ball.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 12:11 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 12:14 am    Post subject:

Still stoked Randle is ascending. Another impact game. I have hopes Ingram makes the same jump next year.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 12:31 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

Frustrating.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 2:07 am    Post subject:

Isaiah deserves a
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 2:38 am    Post subject:

I missed this one. How da hell did KCP get 30 shots?
--Edit--
Read that wrong my bad... Thanks again DB.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 4:24 am    Post subject:

Frustrating as (bleep). On to the next one.
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:44 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:45 am    Post subject:

Boo losing!

Thanks DB!
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