LAKERS -at- ROCKETS - 1/12 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:02 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- ROCKETS - 1/12 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Just Another Tuesday Night in January... “Bet a Benjamin on it,” Dennis Schröder challenged LeBron from the sideline as the ball was kicked out to the corner. LeBron launched the three and turned around to look Dennis in the eye and said “Bet,” his back to the basket with the ball still in flight.

The Laker bench erupted as it went through the net -- Schröder, grinning from ear to ear, bounced down court behind LeBron before running back to the bench.

It’s a Tuesday night in January with the Lakers on the road and nights like these are where chemistry is built on and off the court.

“Every year your team has to reestablish that chemistry whether there are changes to the roster or not,” Vogel said. “It’s a priority of ours to try to build that chemistry everytime we’re together.”

The Lakers dismantled the Rockets for the second game in a row. This one was over early as the Lakers led by 21 after the first quarter. They were blocking shots, stealing passes and getting out in transition. Combine that with 44% three shooting and it was a long night for Houston.

Four Lakers (LeBron, AD, KCP and Trezz) had double figures in the first half as they pushed out to a 71-48 lead. The second half was garbage time, with a lot of sloppy play and Shaqtin’ moments in transition. Ugly ball, but no Laker would play more than 29 minutes in the 117-100 blowout.

The Lakers had 10 steals and 12 blocks on the night.

“When we execute our coverages and we can handle the pick and roll with two guys to the best of our ability that allows us to stay at home and recover back to shooters,” Vogel said. “I thought tonight was probably our best of the year in terms of recognizing those early reads and getting those recovery plays back to shooters.”

The Lakers extend their road record to 6-0 and their overall record to a league leading 9-3.


LeBron -- -- He was smoking in the first half with fallaway and threes (4-6). LeBron said Schröder bet him he wouldn’t make it. Schröder said it was something like “bet a Benjamin on it.” Regardless of the exact words, he took a corner three, turned around while the ball was still in the air to look at the bench and take that bet. The shot dropped. The bench went insane. He had 22 points in the first half. Then we got a bit loose in the second half. Some missed chucks, turnovers, ugly breakaways and he’d add just a point more in the third. He’d get an And-1 layup to start the fourth off a spin move against a leaning defender. Really, the stats don’t show just how dominant a game it was in the first half. Great game for LeBron in that he destroyed the opponent in the first half. Did it from the low-impact, perimeter-oriented old man game. Got to cruise in the second half and finished with low minutes as we had nearly a quarter of garbage time. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 10-20 shooting (4-9 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, 5 turnover and no fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +15.

Davis -- -- He had back-to-back blocks on Harden’s drives in the first half. In the third, Sterling Brown (Shannon’s brother) thought he’d try to cram a dunk on AD in transition and that was promptly rejected. I don’t even think Shannon has a chance on that. The look on AD’s face after that one was amusing. Like “what was he thinking?” Some great rim protection from AD with the 5 blocks. He was also rotating on help and using hands in the passing lanes to be disruptive, surprising he didn’t get credit with a steal. The defense led to Laker offense and we’ve really looked like the Lakers we saw last year as we dismantled the Rockets. Offensively, an efficient 7-8, including a three on an ATO behind a Caruso screen. That’s a pet play they’ve run a few times now and it’s been looking good. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-8 shooting (1-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 5 blocks and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +21.

Schröder -- -- In addition to that overall team chemistry, we’re starting to see some of that defensive chemistry develop. He can cover a lot of ground on rotations and helps us catch up with the ball once we’re in scramble mode. That’s where the team made its mark in the playoffs. Not with blocked shots by McGee/Howard which everyone seems to focus on now that they are gone, but with recovering after shutting down the initial two-man game. Dennis is going to be really key in this as the season goes along and we’re seeing the D get tighter and tighter by the game. The Lakers threw KCP, Schröder, AC at Harden and shut him down with 16 points on 16 shots. The beatdowns have gotten to him. “This situation is something that I don’t think can be fixed,” Harden said afterward. Offensively, he sank both threes he took. He had 3 assists with 3 turnovers. He missed quite a few passes. A couple to AD that he didn’t make. He also missed a pocket pass to LeBron and threw it away a second later trying to find him. That resulted in a layup at the end of the half and a 4-point switch. He led the team with the +20. He’d also hit a floater off a CP3 spin back dribble that he must have picked up from him last year. He also took a great bounce pass from Gasol off the backdoor for a layup. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +22.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Love his energy. It takes this team to another level as he’s flying around on D and gets us out fast in transition. I don’t know if there is another player who puts the team on turbo boost better than KCP. His energy and effort is really underrated. It manifests itself in steals and breakaways, but also just “running corner to corner” as he said, as he changes ends and spreads the floor for the corner three. Defensively, that kind of hustle is glue that holds the team together. There was even a play in the second half where he defended Gasol’s guy for him as Marc was not making it out on the perimeter, then he jumped back and covered his own man within the same breath. It wouldn’t be KCP if we didn’t see something odd from him (in this one, rejected by the rim on an uncontested breakaway dunk off a steal). He went 3-3 from three in the first half on his way to 11 points. He’d sink another wide open three on a Schröder kickout to the corner early in the third. That’s just too easy for him. If Schröder can do more of that dribble penetration and kick, KCP will be playing with three playmakers in (LeBron, Gasol and Dennis) in that starting lineup. He can keep it real simple on offense. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting (4-5 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a +19.

Gasol -- -- Some open looks early that he took. Always good to get one of those pick and pop threes to go when running that with LeBron. That just makes it easy for LBJ to do his thing later. We also saw Gasol in the corner on a few possessions to stretch the floor. He had 5 assists in this one. It felt like one of those bounce passes to Schröder going backdoor was a soul crusher for Houston. Defensively, he had a couple of blocks and steals. There are situations we have to be aware of that he can’t recover on. Usually it’s when he’s in no man’s land and teams can throw it over his head to his big, or the guard can go at him with speed and score easily. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnover and no fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +17.

Harrell -- -- A lot of perimeter oriented stuff mixed in with his pressure on the rim. He’s not shying away from the face-up jumpers and even knocked down a turnaround. He had 10 points in the first half and is really starting to find his rhythm with THT and the team in general. With THT they worked the two-man game for a layup for Trezz off the pocket pass. Trezz also threw down a behind-the-head putback jump on THT’s dribble penetration off their two-man game. The energy and hustle led to 6-8 from the line. We had Dwight drawing a lot of fouls last season, Harrell is doing that, as well. Defensively, a couple of blocks tonight. That helps the break, also Trezz running hard picks up our tempo. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-8 shooting (6-8 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +0.

Kuzma -- -- He had that energy going on the defensive end on the glass, swooping in again and again to pull down boards (11!). He worked for that double-double tonight. Scoring-wise, again it seems like he’s automatic on that first catch-and-shoot three of every game. This one was coming off a high screen on a SLOB inbounds to hit the three at the top of the arc. Nice assist in the fourth quarter, curling into the paint off the dribble and he wrapped a pass around a defender to Trezz for the dunk. Wonder if he strings together some bigger rebound numbers in the next few as he seemed determined on that end tonight. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -2.

Caruso -- -- One of those non-scoring, high-impact games. He had 3 steals and 1 block. I’m loving these AC/THT minutes together. Defensively, they can be disruptive. Offensively, THT can do a lot more off the dribble and allows us to get some penetration. AC has a bit of playmaking in his game, too. He had a nice whip pass off the two-man sequence from the corner with Kuzma to set him up for a layup. I’d prefer to see someone else have the ball in their hands at the end of the shotclock than AC. That’s his weakness. He’s not a tough shot maker. He needs to give it up to THT or Kuz in those scenarios, otherwise it generally something like an automatic miss on a pull-up from midrange or a bit of a wild runner or something. AC’s strength is on the catch and shoot or setting screens on set plays, particularly for corner shooters. He kills the Heat in the playoffs in that final game with his screen setting. Tonight, we used him to set up AD for his corner three. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a +8.

Horton-Tucker -- -- He struggled with the shot in the first half (1-6 shooting and 0-2 from the line). But his one make was a Caruso-like putback jam on a missed shot. Despite the poor scoring in the half, one of his dribble penetration plays led to a putback jam for Trezz. He also worked the two-man game with Trezz to set him up for a layup off the bounce pass. Some overpenetration at times on the dribble and that led to some sloppy plays. He and Trezz continue to develop that chemistry on the two-man action. Nice dime of THT to him on the bounce pass for one score. Sloppy game, but that’s why we need to get him reps. Learn through your mistakes. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-8 shooting (0-4 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -1.

Morris -- -- Back at it and he and Cousins left themselves alone in this one. Morris got hit with the $35K fine, which hurts considering the smaller contract he took to come back. Cousins managed to pick up yet another tech in his minutes. More hit a baseline catch and shoot and also a three off a swing pass in transition. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -1.

Cook -- -- He attacked the paint and drew FTs and didn’t get rejected. He got another bucket on a drive, stopping in the middle of the paint and knocking it down. A good stretch of 8 garbage time minutes. Feels like we’re seeing a lot of him this season. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 turnover and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a -10.

McKinnie -- -- Nothing to report in 4 minutes. The Stats: He had 1 board in 4 minutes. He was a -3.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Let’s go with 4:55 in the first when we forced a timeout. Harden got blocked by AD as we got the stop. Next time down Harden again attacked AD on iso, trying to attack to his right, AD sized him up and rejected the layup attempt off the glass. This led to a Laker three the other way and forced a timeout 28-10. Rockets didn’t show up for the fight and got beatdown.

Key Substitution: Let’s go with LeBron sitting after a short stint early in the fourth. He probably didn’t even need to play that as we led by 26 to start the fourth, but we kept his and AD’s minutes under control with 29 each while on the road.

Key Stat: The 21 Laker turnovers were a bit of a mirage. Just some lazy ball as they had a big lead. The 10 steals and 12 blocks they had were the real story. The imposed their will. That D was too tough, the Rockets too soft like Harden’s belly.

Coach’s Challenge: The Rockets took theirs to start the half on a turnaround jumper from AD on iso that he drew a call on. Challenge unsuccessful.
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mhan00
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:05 pm    Post subject:

Four quarters of garbage time.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:06 pm    Post subject:

First
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:09 pm    Post subject:

Beat you Omar
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DrDent
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:16 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB for the excellent summary

This wire to wire win was the Lakers playing at an extremely high level. Two consecutive games they shutdown a team that has guys that put the ball in the basket. Some of that was Houston shooting poorly, but alot was the lakers getting in their head.

AD was just incredible. When he plays like this, he is frankly just dominant. The last game he had very little rebounds but it did not matter, his imprint was everywhere.

I've been extremely impressed with The Menace's defense, especially the last two games. Add him along with KCP on the perimeter and that's a long night for alot of clubs. Dude is gritty and gets up on guys. He was even hounding Harden for a bit, frustrating the Beard. He's pesky in a Pat Beverly way, but like 25x better as a player.

LBJ - I mean sheesh. The whole sequence where he hit the 3 and turned to DS was fun to watch and just shows chemistry and how they like playing with one another.

Gasol had some nice passes, and actually played a solid game. With the exception of the missed dunk, KCP was playing well too. And Trez was Trez...what a luxury to have that guy come off the bench.

Love the fact the fellas put this one away. No Clipper collapses. No 4th quarter runs to make things tight. They got up, stayed up, and got to go 12 deep tonight.

9-3, best record in NBA for now. Will take it.
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Halflife
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:25 pm    Post subject:

Tbh this was impressive. The rox had a game to craft against and we still did this
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:33 pm    Post subject:

While it might have been a sloppy game for THT there were some man defensive sequences that made my jaw drop. He will be very tough to score on when he matures.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:42 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 12, 2021 11:17 pm    Post subject:

DB,

Great job as usual.

My observation: Harden has CHECKED OUT!
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:37 am    Post subject:

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Morris probably didn’t have to cover that fine himself .
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:51 am    Post subject:

This team is

DEEP
DEEP
DEEP

Hopefully we can keep LBJ and AD's PT at 30 or less MPG, especially given the upredicatability of this season
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:56 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 3:07 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! It is great to watch the development of chemistry between KCP and DS before our eyes (on both sides of the court).
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 3:26 am    Post subject:


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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:18 am    Post subject:

Love seeing the lakers. But can’t help but notice how harden fell off the wagon. He is so fat. He looks like an alcoholic and he looks like he smells like (bleep)
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:40 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

We're just out there toying with teams.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 7:26 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!
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