LAKERS -at- NUGGETS – 11-27-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Those Floor Stretching Bigs… Floor spacing bigmen have been an Achilles’ heel for the Lakers this season.

It’s not just them scoring on the Lakers (although they have lit us up like a Christmas tree this year). It’s how the D gets caught in no-man’s land and our drop coverage becomes soft. (Here is probably where Luke probably misses Randle and the ability to switch onto guards more.)

The Lakers paid the price tonight. To start the second half, the Jokic started raining jumpers and L.A. quickly found themselves down big. The game was over by the start of the fourth when the Lakers tried to go small and were killed more.

Offensively, the Lakers shot just 14.3% (5-35) from three. This resulted in the paint getting plugged, taking away the ability to get to the rim or find the bigs rolling. The Lakers fell apart completely, falling 117-85.

Poor three shooting, trouble again with a big that can space the floor, and finally second chances from some poor defensive effort did them in. An ankle injury to Lonzo Ball also hurt the cause.


LeBron -- -- Just 12 points on 12 shots in the first half. He’d only get a couple of FTs for 2 points in the second half. The paint was clogged for him with the poor Laker three shooting and their bigs that don’t floor space. We tried to go small in the fourth after we were down big, but that lineup just kept the bleeding going. Quiet night for LeBron. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-15 shooting (0-4 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -23. The Action: He choked a layup off a great feed from Lonzo. He took the outlet from Kuzma and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a deep three. He missed a wing three on iso. He attacked in early offense off a hesitation and scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. Too long on an outlet, turnover. He pushed it out with speed and scored a layup. Quick attack off the Lonzo outlet and he drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He rejected a layup, but threw it away in transition shortly later. He pushed a ball up, stopped just outside of the paint, pumpfaked and banked. He missed a step-back three. He hit Kuzma for a three. He swiped a ball on a reach and took it for a dunk. He missed a dunk on the break. He missed a floater. He missed another floater on iso (paint is clogged). Second Half: He missed a fade. He got tapped on a three. He got blindsided from the top of the arc for a steal and dunk the other way. He hit BI on the break for a layup. He blocked a man from behind. Tyson wasn’t ready for a pass, turnover. He attacked, spun and drew FTs, he made both.

Ball -- -- He twisted an ankle coming down on a the foot of a fallen player. He tried to go in the second half, but his mobility was noticeably lacking. They sat him shortly later. Hopefully, he can bounce back because we’re already down one point. Even still, it may slow him down defensively. We’ll see. We may be down to Caruso now, but he also twisted an ankle. Despite that, Lonzo said he’s playing Thursday. “I wanted to play,” Lonzo said of the game tonight. “It just didn’t feel right to leave him on the court, so we got him out quickly,” Luke said of Lonzo’s attempt to try to play. Luke said they missed his defensive energy. That might be the first time he’s commented on that this season. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a wing three on a skip pass. He scored a layup off an interior feed in which all five Lakers touched the ball. Pocket pass to Chandler for FTs. He took an outlet and lobbed to Kuzma for the dunk. He missed an open corner three. He sank a step-back wing three. He threw down with both hands off a tap pass from Kuzma. Second Half: He missed a wing three. Nice bounce pass to Ingram on the break for the dunk.

Ingram -- -- Some nice moments from BI in this one. I liked that he was able to get into the paint for short ones versus settling for longer midrange shots. He’s trouble when he gets open from that 5- to 10-foot range. Better job protecting the ball tonight. He actually had more assists than turnovers finally. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He bricked a pull-up from midrange on iso (ball died in his hands). He attacked the paint in early offense and scored a lefty layup. He attacked right, up-faked and drew FTs, he made one. He ball-faked to freeze the D, then hit the elbow turnaround. He posted up, got to the middle of the paint and hit the short one. He swished a pull-up from about 13 feet. He missed a short one off the inbounds. He lobbed to Chandler for a dunk. He missed a corner three. He was rejected on a layup he probably should have tried to hammer. Second Half: He dunked off the bounce pass from Lonzo in transition. He stripped a big, started the break, got it back and scored the layup. He posted up, got into the middle of the paint, up-faked and drew FTs, he made one. He was called for a charge.

Kuzma -- -- He had 9 points on 4-6 shooting in the first half. Good half with some excellent ball movement. The passing makes him so much more effective. In the second half, however, he got shot happy early forcing up some threes. Luke had a quick hook for him (maybe as a result) as we saw Beasley in early in the second half. He brought Kuz back, later, however. The three ball was not falling for him, despite Kuzma’s confidence from three (he made just 1 in 7 attempts). That little floater/runner of his was money. He also had some nice moments in the post. Defensively, when he got matched with Millsap he had issues. But he covered SFs with LeBron as the primary defenders on Millsap. Not a lot of resistance from our guys on Millsap tonight. Kuzma still had some moments on D with some nice shot challenges. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 9-15 shooting (1-7 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He iso’d, attacked with speed and hit McGee off the dribble for a layup. He swatted a layup. Outlet to LeBron for an And-1. He missed a corner three. Extra pass in the interior to Chandler for FTs. He dunked off the lob from Lonzo in transition. He beasted a smaller man in the paint and scored a layup over him. He missed an open three trailing the break. He stayed in front of a guard and then rejected him on the pull-up. He iso’d and was stripped on a crossover. He sank a wing three. He attacked and charged. Great tap pass to Lonzo on an offensive board for a dunk. He posted up a smaller man and hit the jumphook. Second Half: He drew FTs and made both. He forced a three and was swatted, not sure what he was thinking on that one. He missed a three in transition. Floater on the move to take the pass. He missed a deep three. He spun, attacked and hit the floater. He iso’d, attacked, bumped his man and hit the one-hander. He hit a turnaround in the post. He got tapped on an open wing three. He spun in the post and hit the floater over the help D on the baseline.

McGee -- -- If our three shooting isn’t falling, that’s going to make it tough for the Lakers to get in the paint or play vertical with McGee. Defensively, I would have liked to see us switch a bit more in this one. McGee was sucking wind at times, possibly with the altitude or just the quickness of some sequences. Luke kept the minutes short. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 4 blocks and no fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: Layup off the drive and dish from Kuzma. Interior feed to Lonzo for a layup. He rejected a drive. He blocked a dunk attempt. Second Half: He rejected a layup. He missed a scoop, he probably could have dunked.

Hart -- -- Four was the numbers for him tonight. He scored 4 points, but gave all those back on a 4-point play he gave up in the first half. He missed all 4 of his three attempts. He said once he got in and got the blood flowing, his ankle felt pretty good. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He swiped a ball. He fouled a three shooter for a 4-point play. Second Half: He kicked out to Lance for a three. He missed a sideline three. He missed a heave from halfcourt. He missed a sideline three but scored a putback shortly later. He dunked off the backdoor cut when Moe found him. He got tapped on a wing three.

Chandler -- -- He was just a -5 in his 20 minutes. That actually led the Lakers with team best. He said the team needs to learn from some of their woes on the defensive glass. He said the rotations were off and they weren’t defending on a string. He thought that resulted in a lot of the offensive rebounding issues. “Now we got to stop the bleeding and come together as a unit,” he said. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He drew FTs on the pocket pass from Lonzo, he made one. Kuzma hit him with an interior feed for FTs, he made one again. He threw down a lob dunk out of a timeout as he rolled off a screen. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Stephenson -- -- Our assortment of backup “shooting” guards (Hart, KCP, Svi and Stephenson) went a combined a 3-17 from three. The Lakers as a team went 5-35 from three. That was killer and may have leaked over onto the defensive effort. Lance had good effort on the defensive glass, however, pulling down 6 in just 14 minutes. They needed more of that group rebounding from everyone. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-8 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He clanked a pull-up wing jumper. His layup looked goaltended with no call. Perfect outlet to Beasley who ran under it for the layup. He missed a floater, then a three. Second Half: He swished a three on a kickout. He missed a three. He attacked Murray and scored an easy layup. He attacked and missed a layup.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- He got torched a bit by Murray in the first half. The result was a -21 in just 24 minutes. Again, he continued to struggle himself on the offensive end, making just one three. In the last game, we were at least able to make a comeback despite his poor shooting because of how disruptive he was on the defensive end. Tonight, he just played soft. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He blew a layup he should have had. He missed a corner three. He missed a deep wing three. He let a man fly by, measured and drained the corner three at the buzzer. He missed a wing three. He blocked Murray from behind (getting torched, though, right now by him). Second Half: He missed a three.

Wagner -- -- Finally in with 4 minutes left, he ran at the PF spot. Wish we could have gotten him some more run sooner. He and Zubac immediately gave up a dunk on an inbounds. You can see the pretty considerable size difference between Zu and Moe. That will be an issue for a while. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from hree to go with 1 board and 1 assist in 4 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Good challenge from behind to get a stop. He missed a wing catch and shoot from three. Nice bounce pass to Hart backdooring his man for a dunk.

Zubac -- -- Garbage time minutes for Zu. Nothing to report. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a jumphook. He missed a jumphook against a smaller defender. He iso’d and dribbled the ball off his foot. He rejected a drive out of bounds.

Mykhailiuk -- -- As mentioned, our shooting guards couldn’t shoot tonight. Young Svi has yet to get on track at this level. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 12 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a step-back corner three. He missed another sideline three. He missed a pull-up from the top of the key. He sank a corner three on a swing pass. He missed a three in transition next time down. He threw a pass away for a dunk the other way. He missed a bad chuck from three.

Beasley – -- His most productive minutes of the season. Perhaps, he’s getting a little more comfortable in learning the Laker schemes. Perhaps, they are going to experiment less with Hart as the backup PF. Beasley had a nice dunk off a quick jab step left and attack right to go down the lane. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: Face-up jab step, he attacked down the middle of the lane and threw down. He scored a breakaway layup off a long outlet from Lance. Second Half: He threw a pass away. He missed a three straight away. He posted up, spun, and drew FTs, he made both. He got a nice bounce on a forced turnaround in the paint. He missed a turnaround in the post. He missed a short one on a drive.

Walton – -- Down 15-9 Luke called a timeout. Chandler in for McGee out of that after 5 minutes… Lakers got out in transition and tied it up 17-17, forcing a Nugget timeout. Good pace for them early. KCP in for Ingram… Down 4 he made wholesale subs to go with McGee, Beasley, Stephenson, KCP, Ingram… The Lakers trailed 30-26 after the first quarter… McGee out for Chandler after 5 minutes… Timeout by Luke after we gave up several offensive boards. He brought back in his starters with Chandler. Lob to TC out of that for a dunk… Nuggets pulled out to a double-digit lead, but the Lakers trimmed it to 3 when the timeout came… Hart in at the end of the half… Lonzo in the locker room with an ankle twist… The Lakers trailed 58-50 at the half… Lonzo started the half, then quickly sat as Luke didn’t like his mobility after a few defensive stands… Drop coverage getting burned by Jokic with 10 points in the first few minutes of the half… Timeout, Lakers down 14 after 5 minutes. Chandler in for McGee. Beasley for Kuzma who got shot happy… Lance in for BI… Kuzma back in for LeBron… Lakers down 18, fading fast… Lakers giving up a lot of offensive boards, but only 8 points on second chances so far. So not the real cause of the big hole, but didn’t help… The Lakers trailed 89-71 heading into the fourth… He started a LeBron, Kuzma, Svi, KCP, Ingram small ball lineup… Two turnovers to start the quarter and they were down 21… White flag raised down 26. Garbage time…

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB.

First - but I'd rather it be after a win.

[DShotMaker1824]

Thank DB, everyone not named Kuzma or Ingram sucked in this one.
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"Through the legs to the left, through the legs to the right, we don't run them Laker plays, we just Kobe fadeaway..."

[tox]

I guess I should be thankful I missed this game... yikes

[Klone_dd]

Flush this one.

[unleasHell]

2 steps forward, then 1-1/2 steps backward...


Not sure how this old line from Animal House applies, but here goes anyway:
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son...
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“Always remember... Rumors are carried by haters, spread by fools, and accepted by idiots.”

[PLATNUM]

5 of 35 from 3?
Jeeezus.
That's just plain awful. Inexcusable, really.
Who are the development coaches on this team? Luke's buddies and/or Laker yes men? *sigh
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"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[blackmamba08]

Expected loss. Priority now is to win next four home games, something we are not going to do. I hope we will but the team is not really that good as we all think. Hope for the best.

[RI Laker]

Would love to have Matt Thomas with this team. He would tear it up and be a perfect fit. Oh well. I am glad he is doing well.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB! This won’t hurt too much if we can win the ones we are supposed to.

[drae]

If the Lakers had made 33% from 3 this game, say like 12 from 35, that's another 21 points and we're no longer blown out. What a huge impact on the result.