LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES – 2-25-19 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 9:50 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES – 2-25-19 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Slipping… The basketball gods are sharpening that fork.

They don’t reward lazy play from veterans. They don’t reward careless turnovers. They don’t reward guys who don’t like to play physical.

The Lakers bench, led by Rondo, was thoroughly outplayed once again as the Lakers fell 110-105 to the Grizzlies.

The game was still winnable down the stretch, but the basketball gods don’t let that happen when you don’t respect the game and the fundamentals. A series of turnovers, a no call on an 8-second violation and a charge all conspired against the Lakers late to thwart any chance of a comeback.

The Lakers just don’t have much of any margin for error to drop games against teams like the Pelicans and Grizzlies. You simply have to win these games because of your earlier losses to bad teams when the injuries killed them.

“You got to take these games in this league,” Luke said, adding that he thinks the team is starting to get on track despite the losses. They need a run.


LeBron -- -- Quiet triple-double from LBJ tonight. He was never dominating, but was steady throughout. He had 12 points on 5-10 shooting, 4 boards and a couple of airballs in the first half. He couldn’t connect on a three. The turnovers, though. He had 5 tonight. These are killer on the road from our vets. He and Rondo combined for 8 as our vets have been a bit careless with possessions. We went small with LeBron/Kuzma late. The advantage here should be more mobility on D. But when you see LeBron just camp back in the paint and let his man have a wide open three without even challenge or anywhere near him, that’s just a backbreaker. That killed the Lakers late in the game and you don’t deserve to win without proper effort. Despite that, the Lakers were still in it barely. He cut the lead to 2 with a big And-1 drive with a minute left, but missed a huge FT. The final dagger, however, was the Lakers down 4, LeBron attacked, spun on Noah who went down and they erased the potential And-1 dunk down 4. That was it. Wish we had the right calls with the no call on the goaltend that cost us 2 points and the 8-second violation at the very least. Somewhat surprised they called the charge on him on a spin move, but he did get stronger contact that you typically see. Still, refs typically swallow the whistle there when you are spinning. Tough break. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 8-23 shooting (0-4 form three, 8-10 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 11 assists, 3 steals, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: Sloppy pass out of the horns set, turnover. Low position and he powered in a layup. He attacked off a high screen and flipped in a layup. He bounced a pass between defenders to Kuzma for a layup. He posted up, scooped in the high entry on a reversed around the double team. He missed a tough turnaround from 14 feet with the shotlcock low. He kicked out to Bullock for a wing three. He posted up and hit a turnaround in the middle of the paint. He missed a baseline turnaround up against the shotclock. He airballed a wild turnaround from 18 feet out. Quick wing pick and pop to Bullock for a three. He airballed a wing three. He posted up and missed a turnaround in the middle of the paint. Speed in the offensive zone and he scored an And-1 layup when the defender tried to wrap him up, he missed the FT. He probed the paint at the end of the half and was fouled, he made both FTs. Second Half: He missed a tough runner, settling a bit on a drive. He lobbed to McGee on the break. He found Ingram for a corner jumper. He couldn’t finish a layup on a drive, tried again, got it back and the third time it went in. He attacked, spun and missed a one-hander. He attacked a crowd, turnover. He deflected an inbounds pass to get a stop. He couldn’t finish a drive. He attacked a big and was hit for FTs, he made both. He hit a floater in the middle of the paint. His layup looked goaltended with no call (should have been a score). Left open, he missed a deep wing three. He attacked and fumbled the ball away, uggh. He attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He pushed out a board and fed Ingram for the layup. He was fouled on a pushout for FTs, he made both. He pushed out, spun and scored the quick And-1 layup to cut it to 2, but then he missed the FT with a minute left. He airballed a deep three. He missed a deep three on our final attempt.

Ingram -- -- He’s really elevated his game. The three shooting on top of his efficient attacking has been potent. Strong first half with 19 points on 7-10 shooting and 4 boards. He’s really been one of the few bright spots lately. Even if we are dropping games, watching Ingram start to take it to the next level has been fun. He’s really figured out that he can finish and a high rate when he gets downhill and is searching for those opportunities. Combine that tonight with a pretty good looking, quick-fire release from three and the future is looking very bright. Look, even if the Lakers don’t revisit the AD trade this offseason, you’ve still got a roster with cap space this summer. You can add a two-way impact player to the mix instead of these one-and-done, low-impact bench players that we have right now. Combine that with the growth of our young guys and the future is still very bright. Right now, we’re getting killed by the crap one-year free agency signings. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 12-18 shooting (3-3 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He drained a catch-and-shoot three on a kickout (quick-fire, which is rare). He pushed out, shed his man and scored the easy layup. He attacked a big and flipped in a lefty layup. He missed a wing jumper. Quick counterstrike and he scored a tricky one over a big. He pushed it out at the end of the quarter and swished a pull-up fade with a second left. He was fouled on a wing three, he made all three FTs. Downhill, but he took off early and couldn’t finish on the break. He kicked to Kuzma for the three. He took a pass in transition, spun away from the D and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a throwdown off a cut, three the other way on the miss. He deflected a pass to get a stop. Quick attack trying to get a two-for-one and he hit the short fade in the paint. Second Half: He pulled up the dribble, pumped, bumped his man and hit the midrange jumper. He sank a corner jumper. He got knocked down on a drive, should have been FTs. Great recovery to block a pull-up jumper. He stepped on the sideline. He attacked from the corner and was hit for FTs, he made one. He swished a corner three on a swing pass. He missed a pull-up from the elbow. He swished a three trailing the break. He pushed out and used an off arm as he pulled up the dribble and Conley went down for a charge with 3 minutes left, painful one. He filled a lane on the break and scored a layup.

Kuzma -- -- Our announcing crew criticized him a little for not having big scoring games lately, but he’s been dropping career highs in assists. That should be acknowledged that he’s growing instead of a criticism for not firing more shots. He was solid in scoring tonight and efficiently went about his business. He’d finish with the team-high +7. He sank a couple of threes, got some midrange jumpers to fall and attacked the rim for points. Some good passing sequences early, but he didn’t tally assists after that. Defensively, we could have used some better rebounding. The Lakers got killed a bit there tonight, giving up 15 offensive boards. Really not much presence in the paint challenging or battling. He also got backdoored for a score ballwatching. Just a bit too soft. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-15 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He kicked out to Ingram for a three on our first possession. He probed middle and hit McGee with a pocket pass for the dunk. He threw a lob out of bounds when LeBron didn’t have a clean line. He hit a layup off a pocket pass from LeBron. He attacked down the middle of the paint, stepped around a defender and scored a layup. Airball forcing up a three off a screen. He missed a backhand layup after KCP stole the ball in the backcourt. He swished a high arching sideline three off a kickout. He got tapped on a short bank after gathering a poor pass. Second Half: He sank a step-back baseline jumper. He was blocked on a baseline drive. He sank an And-1 floater off the slip screen, he missed the FT. He came off a LeBron screen, took the pass under the hoop and scored the layup. He turned his head and got backdoored for a score at the rim. He attacked baseline and scored a layup. He posted up and was fouled on a tough corner turnaround, he missed the FT. He missed a wing three, we got it back to him and he was fouled on a throwdown attempt, he made both off a couple lucky bounces. He swished a wing three with a minute and a half left. He couldn’t box out Noah to give up a board. He missed a huge three with 33 seconds left.

Bullock -- -- He sank three threes in the first half in four attempts. Without Lonzo, we had him covering Conley quite a bit until Ingram took over late in the game. Neither provided much resistance. Bullock did well with that quick trigger from three. Some of those makes really showed off that quick release tonight. Good job moving the ball, as well. Good to see Luke running him more and the bench less. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting (4-9 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 39 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He swished a step-back three off a handoff. He drained a wing three on a kickout. He missed a wing three out of a timeout, rushed it a little and wasn’t on balance. He missed a corner three. He sank a sideline three off the quick pick and pop with LeBron (deadly). He missed a wide open three from the same spot. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He probed and missed the midrange pull-up. Quick-fire three coming off the screen and he drained it. He missed a wing three to start the fourth. He sank a jumper on an inbounds with 10 seconds left.

McGee -- -- Reaching on Noah on the perimeter so that he can blow by you for a dunk…kind of embarrassing, JaVale. He was thoroughly outplayed. The Lakers miss Zubac badly right now. The activity difference and physicality between Valanciunas and McGee was night and day. Not much impact on help D by McGee, either. We were just very soft in the interior tonight, getting pushed around too much. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He dunked off the pocket pass from Kuzma. He missed a tricky floater trailing the breaking. He gave up a putback And-1. He overplayed on the perimeter and got dunked on. Second Half: He missed a short one and a follow tip. He crashed the glass and tipped it a couple times for a score. He was rejected on a layup attempt. He threw down a lob from LeBron on the break. He found Kuzma coming off a screen for a layup. He pushed a man in the paint off ball, turnover. He missed a baseline hook. He gave up a layup to his man on a drive.

Rondo -- -- It’s very hard for me to watch Rondo these days. The defense has been killing the Lakers. The bad offense tonight was a double dip of awful. The Grizzlies were daring him to shoot and he bricked away. Throw in 3 turnovers without an assist and now I want to gouge my eyes out. When you are doing absolutely nothing positive for your team, just take yourself out, please. You’re supposed to be a cerebral player (which has been an overrated statement all season). But if you are a cerebral player, do you really think you would play yourself right now? I really don’t want to talk about him right now. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting to go with 4 boards, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He ball-faked to open up a lane but was blocked on the layup. He attacked off the three line with the shotclock low and scored a layup. Ill-advised bounce pass in traffic, turnover. He was called for a charge on a handoff. Second Half: He got backdoored for a layup. He missed a pull-up in the paint. He missed an open wing jumper. He was blocked on a layup. They left him wide open and he missed the midrange jumper. Long advance pass that was picked off for a dunk.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Pretty quiet but he did have a couple backcourt steals which was nice to see. I’m not sure we capitalized on either, which is par for the course. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He swished a 19-footer on the handoff. He swiped a ball in the backcourt. His perimeter pass was picked off. Second Half: He stripped his man in the paint. Another backcourt steal. He missed an open corner three.

Hart -- -- Every time he shoots, you just know it’s not going to drop. When he was out there, the Lakers were a -15 in 6 minutes. Can’t blame Hart for that, but it was a horrible stretch and he obviously had no impact. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 6 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He clanked a wing three. He clanked a pull-up in the middle of the paint. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Chandler -- -- Just awful tonight. The notes are few and far between…but consistent of negative stuff. Hard not to comment about missing big Zu here. Some bad combos out there along side him. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot and had 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He wasn’t ready for a pass that probably shouldn’t have come, turnover. Second Half: Illegal screen on the handoff, turnover. Perimeter foul on Noah with 5 seconds left to give up FTs, what are you doing?

Stephenson -- -- He was out there briefly for 3 minutes when I think Luke was a little fed up with his bench, but it appears he’s started to limit Lance’s minute and we saw Bullock’s go up, which is the right move. The Stats: He didn’t shoot and had 1 board in 3 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Muscala -- -- Good to see him in the mix after the injury. Hopefully, we can build a little chemistry with him out there, but that may be a little slow coming right now. Time we didn’t have. Offensively, he was quick on the trigger with the three and made one. He had a couple of blocks on D. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 2 blocks and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a wing three in transition (tapped). He drained a wing three in transition. Second Half: He didn’t hit rim trailing the break for a three. He blocked a guard on a drive. He missed a challenged wing three. He stripped his man on the other end to get a stop.

Walton -- -- The Lakers led 15-14 when the timeout came after 5 minutes… Chandler in early for McGee… Lakers up 1 when Rondo came in for Ingram (LeBron still in…don’t like having both on the floor defensively)… Hart and KCP in for Kuzma and Bullock, up 4… BI back in for LeBron with 1:49 left, score tied… The Lakers trailed 34-31 after the first, not a good sign for the D… He started a McGee, Muscala, Ingram, KCP, Rondo lineup… Quick timeout trailing by 7 after a couple of dunks… Rondo out for LeBron, Lakers down 3 with 8 minutes left… They fell back by 11 off a 10-0 run. Just too soft… Lance in for Hart out of that… The Lakers trailed 61-56 at the half… They tied it up with 4 minutes left, all starters still in… Rondo and KCP in for Bullock and Ingram, Lakers down 2. The game started slipping with the bench again… The Lakers trailed 87-81 heading into the fourth… He started a Muscala, LeBron, Bullock, KCP and Rondo lineup. Why Rondo here?... Rondo killing the Lakers… Ingram finally in for him, but that was painful… Ingram helped cut it to 2… It ballooned back up to 9 with 4 minutes left. Killer stretch with bad turnovers… Down 6 with 3 minutes left, they sat McGee to go small with Kuzma… They couldn’t get over the hump… “I’ve started limiting some of the minutes of the bench guys,” Luke said of the lack of production and impact from that group…
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TDRock
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 9:58 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB

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mookielala
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:00 pm    Post subject:

Thanks for the recap. At least BI is making strides. Hope that pays off down the line. Playoffs look pretty far away now.
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tony
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:00 pm    Post subject:

Rondo is absolute trash. For a guy whose constantly getting praise for his IQ, he’s always making dumb decisions.
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forzaCOREA
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 10:40 pm    Post subject:

Rondo has been hurting us. Our starting unit doesn't have a true pg. Can we give Alex Caruso some run please... Can't get worse. Give the bald mamba some minutes that's not garbage time, one thing is for sure he will play his heart out.
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waterman40
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:09 pm    Post subject:

Just looking at the stats, the bench got beat 33-7, you are not winning with that kind of difference.

We are really missing Ball and Zubac right now, and it looks like some of the other bench guys pretty much phoned it in. Lebron didn't shoot particularly well, combine all that and you have another loss.
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Klone_dd
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PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2019 11:35 pm    Post subject:

My 1st roadie with the team. BI was impressive, very efficient and when he''s got the 3ball and FT's working, you see potential being reached. Kuz was good too. Normally I favor his game over Ingram's, but Kuz is lacking more on defense and rebounding than BI.

As I was sitting behind the Lakers bench, I saw LBJ doing a lot of barking at Luke and then at McGee. Positioning? Effort? I wasn't sure. At the end, he was barking a lot at the refs. His 3x2 seemed hollow as I didn't think he really controlled the game. Especially when contrasted against Conley's. 0/4 on 3s and the rest of his perimeter game wasn't too much better.

I do believe that the kids are putting in the effort, but the Rentals have checked out. Rondo, ever since being benched after his Boston game winner, has been terrible. Lance lost his swagger. KCP is spotty. They don't have anything to play for, because they know they won't be here next year.
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Eindhoven
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:30 am    Post subject:

Our bench scored 7 points. Seven.
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oldlakerfan
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 2:38 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB,

This is now 3 games the Lakers would have probably won if they still had Zubac. We miss his defense, rebounding and ability to receive the ball and score in the low post.

Nice to see BI really turning the corner and Kuz has been much more consistent.

This season is turning very disappointing.
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danzag
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 4:51 am    Post subject:

Oh (bleep). This game was not a nightmare.
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akgolf
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 5:05 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB:(
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TooMuchMajicBuss
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 8:07 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Excellent recap, and spot-on observations about this team.

Magic either has an inside line on another max FA already or he just torpedoed himself by trading away Zubac. With the one year rentals mindset right now, trading away Zu was an instacrap move for this team.

Chandler, McGee, Rondo, and Lance have all checked out on this team. Seems it's been that way ever since the yelling match in the locker room before the trade deadline.

KCP - harder to tell, his minutes are slashed way down.

Hart - he's gone missing for more than a month now. I think he overdid it last summer, he needs an offseason but it's only February. Fortnite verus sleep?

Lonzo - gone. Long Gone-Zo.

LeBron - still doesn't look right. Getting by with heft and experience. He could use an offseason too, already.

I liked what I saw from Bullock - there's one rental who's playing well.

BI and Kuz made the game worth watching. Great game from Ingram.
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Nobody
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 12:34 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

This team is becoming unwatchable. I skipped large portions again today. Cannot stomach their half-ass effort on defense. The first half was especially pitiful - 61 points (!!!) given up to the worst offensive team in the league. Our center line is paper thin and we apparently have no bench anymore. Just a terribly constructed roster. I have resigned myself to the fact that the season is going to end on 10 April.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:43 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Another disappointing loss.

LeBron must be having recovery issues. Against the Griz it seemed he was stationary on both offense and defense for most of the game. Weird to say he gave a poor effort during a triple dub but that's what it looked like.

Disheartened by the unnecessary loss of Zubac. Magic better produce this summer.

Loved watching Ingram create. I guess that's the silver lining.
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2019 9:47 pm    Post subject:

danzag wrote:
Oh (bleep). This game was not a nightmare.

I had the same feeling today. Woke up with that feeling it was just a bad nightmare but nope, no such luck. Reality sucks sometimes.
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