THUNDER -at- LAKERS - 1-11-13 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

L...L...L...L...L...L… 2013 hasn’t been very kind to the Lakers. They haven’t won a game this year. Their bigmen are now all sidelined, including Jordan Hill, whom it was reported is now out for the season.

At least Earl Clark has given fans something interesting to watch. He got the start tonight, brought the energy and had Staples excited anytime he did something positive. With Hill’s injury, he’s worked his way into the rotation even when the other bigmen get back.

I’m not sure anyone really expected the Lakers to be able to hang with the Thunder this game. And as anticipated, it seemed as if the Thunder were just toying with the Lakers like a cat with a near-dead mouse.

For their part, the Lakers assumed the role with near-dead mouse on defense. “We’ve got to try to make them take low percentage shots,” Kobe said of their defensive issues after the 116-101 loss.

They made matters worse by bricking 6-28 from three (it didn’t even look that good with an 0-11 first half). Metta led the charge of bad shot selection with a 1-9 from three.

“Hopefully, they will run the clock during the timeout,” Stu said during one stoppage still in the third quarter.

D’Antoni said they have to make their stand on Sunday when they get guys back.

“I told the team our season starts Sunday,” he said afterward. “We’ve got to make a run. We’ve got one shot at it.”


Kobe -- -- “I’m way too stubborn,” Kobe said about thinking the Lakers wouldn’t make the playoffs. He’s guarded Westbrook many times before, of course. Most notably was when DFish was getting torched in the playoffs and the switch changed the series in the Lakers favor. He’s better on the ball, but had to be cautious with Westbrook off ball crashing the glass and got burned on that once. He did an average job tonight. It’s very tough when you have no anchoring behind you to help plug the lane. Asked about the injuries and tough breaks, he didn’t give that as an excuse. “You make your own luck,” Kobe said. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 8-23 shooting (2-8 from three, 10-13 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -24. The Action: He missed a wing three on a kickout. He sank a long wing fallaway on iso with the shotclock low. He was called for a foul after it looked like he forced Westbrook into a double dribble. He cut down the lane, took the pass and drew FTs, he missed both, uggh. He attacked, drew the D and dumped it to Jamison for the easy layup. He missed a three. He attacked the lane, wheeled the other way and sank the And-1 baseline fade, he made the FT. He missed a wing jumper. He pushed out the Clark block and scored the runner in transition. He attacked and went down hard, holding a shoulder, he made both FTs. He got Westbrook to hook in the post. He missed a three, it went to Nash, Kobe cut and Nash found him for a reverse. He ballwatched and gave up an offensive board to Westbrook, then fouled him on an And-1 jumper. He posted up and hit the turnaround in the middle of the lane. He attacked in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He was fouled when he split a double team, he made one FT. He had 16 points on 5-10 shooting. Second Half: He missed a long wing one-hander. He wanted a foul after splitting a double team in the post and missing a layup. He missed in the lane expecting a foul, then picked up a tech. He was swarmed on a drive and missed. He was fouled in transition for FTs, he made both. He attacked, hung and missed the reverse, but Jamison put it back in. He sank a long wing three. He missed a long face-up jumper with no one close to rebounding position. He iso’d and drew FTs, he made both. He drained a wing three going for a two-for-one. He missed a tough chuck from three at the buzzer (didn’t want that Sacre screen to bring that extra defender over). He forced and missed a three. He missed a pull-up elbow jumper in transition next time down. He missed a 30-footer. He iso’d and hit the running hook across the lane (does he ever miss that shot?) .

Nash -- -- He had a very poor first half, throwing a few turnovers that were easily turned into quick points the other way. One of his weaker outings as a Laker. In the second half, we saw some nice two-man work between Jamison and Nash. Really some of the best two-man action we’ve seen. The two veterans showing how it was done. Of course, they both looked weak at best defensively on the other end with our depleted lineup. To win this game, Nash really needed to throttle up the scoring and playmaking. It just never happened. It’s also a lot harder when the talent around you isn’t as big a threat to finish. “As the game wore on a I think the difference in depth and quality took over,” Nash said about being overmatched. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-3 from three) to go wtih 4 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -29. The Action: He hit a lefty floater in the lane. Bad pass into Clark’s shins, dunk the other way. He attacked down the lane but couldn’t finish the layup. He got backdoored for a dunk. He missed a wing three. Bad pass to Sacre in a crowd, turnover, three the other way. He grabbed a long rebound and hit Kobe for a reverse. His swing pass was picked off, dunk the other way. He lost his man and hit the layup. Second Half: He hit Jamison rolling to the hop for a layup. He swished a three in transition, the Lakers first in 13 attempts. He hit Jamison slipping screens for a couple more scores. He missed a three on a kickout.

Peace -- -- Awful, awful game. The -34 seems about right. Horrible shot selection. Had the Lakers any hope in this game, he killed that. He struggled to square up from three early on in this game. The result was spraying missed threes all over L.A. He was a -26 in the first half. Just awful, chucking bricks from three and missing over and over and over. He never stopped firing. It killed them. You just can’t jack three’s against the Thunder. If you’ve missed your first two or three or four...stop. Just stop. D’Antoni said after the game, if you’re a shooter, you’ve got to take the next one. Well, not if you keep missing and not if it’s poor strategy against your opponent. Defensively, he and Clark had their difficulties with Durant. The Thunder often used screens to get freed up. So the team D was a factor in that. Just too soft at times and too much room for Durant. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-18 shooting (1-9 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -34. The Action: He missed a drive off the three line but Clark jammed the miss back down. He missed a fading three. He missed a three on iso. He iso’d on Durant, was blocked on the drive, got it back and scored the layup. He missed a rushed three straight away. He missed a wing three. He missed a sideline three (stop already). He attacked baseline and couldn’t finish the layup. He finally sank a step-back, 17-footer straight away. He bullied his way to a layup over Ibaka in transition. He picked up a tech talking to the Thunder bench who said something to him. He pushed up the dribble, attacked and scored a layup. He grabbed a freethrow rebound, pushed it out and missed a layup. He bricked another wide open three, a better look at least, but stone cold from three all night. He attacked and threw it away. He had 8 points on 4-14 shooting (0-5 from three). Second Half: He forced a Perkins turnover in the backcourt. He ball stopped to iso and then turnover it over, ugggly. He jacked and missed another wing three. He quickly attacked a smaller man with purpose and drew FTs, he made one. He finally sank a three from the sideline on his eighth attempt. He was called for a charge on the next trip down. He jacked up a long early offense three, layup the other way.

Clark -- -- The Lakers will miss Jordan Hill killing teams on the offensive glass. Hopefully, Earl Clark can fill those shoes. Last year, Clark got some run defending Durant while on the Magic and did a very good job. Of course, having a defense that’s familiar with each other and Dwight backing up the paint will help. D’Antoni put him in the starting lineup tonight. “I woke up today and I’m going to be starting today at Staples Center,” he said smiling before the game. “It’s just a great feeling and a great accomplishment for me, personally.” You have to be happy for him. Dwight is. Loved watching Dwight get up off the bench and cheering loudly for Clark whenever he did something great, which seemed to happen a lot in the first quarter. Whether he ran out of gas or not is hard to say, but he gave the team some definite energy and spark in that first half. “The game’s slowing down for me,” Clark said. “This is my fourth year in the NBA and I’m just taking my time, trying to play hard.” It does look like it has slowed down for him. He’s less panicky on offense and even showed some ability to playmake for others on a couple of very nice feeds under the hoop. Keep up the good work. Defensively, he pretty much covered position 1-5 out here. Whether he was playing the C, guarding Durant or even on Westbrook on occasion. The Lakers were switching a lot with their small lineups. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-12 shooting to go with 10 boards (2 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 37 minutes. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper to start the game. He crashed the glass and threw down a follow jam for the Lakers first score. He attacked the lane, drew the D and dumped it to Sacre for the jam. He flashed to the ball at the wing, took the inbounds and hit the jumper. He swished a baseline jumper off the Kobe feed in early offense. He swatted a jumphook in the paint on iso D to get Staples roaring. Great challenge on the other end again on a guard switch to force a brick. He had 6 points, 3 boards and a block in the first quarter. Sweet bounce pass off the dribble to Jamison under the hoop, between defenders, for an And-1 layup. He swiped the ball from Durant on one end, then posted up and hit the turnaround from 15 feet on the other. He was blocked from behind after losing his man. He missed a couple tip attempts at the rim. He had 8 points on 4-6 shooting and 2 assists. Second Half: Too long on a pick and pop jumper from the wing. He swatted Ibaka on iso. He missed a turnaround jumper on a slip screen. He blocked Westbrook on help D. He grabbed a board and missed a turnaround. He was blocked on a drive. He missed a wing jumper. He was stripped on a face-up drive. He up-faked, took a dribble and sank the wing jumper.

Sacre -- -- D’Antoni limited his minutes, going with smaller units and more Clark. They needed an anchor to help plug the lane and challenge the drives. Sacre’s not going to provide a lot of that. Hopefully, we get Pau and Dwight back in the next one and we can see a little more success on D. Sacre had just 1 defensive board tonight and as many points as fouls. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting to go wtih 4 boards (3 offensive), 1 block, 3 turnovers and 6 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He jammed off the drive and dish from Clark. He sank an early offense jumphook. He was stripped in the paint. Second Half: He was called for a moving screen. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a three-footer off a Kobe set up, got to hit those. He drew a charge on Durant as he attacked. Nice follow jam on the wild Ebanks drive.

Jamison -- -- Forced out of the doghouse where now just Ebanks resides, he was able to score a number of easy ones for the Lakers around the rim. Whether it was from others breaking down the D and finding him or Jamison getting out in transition, he had a much better scoring mix in this game then just hanging out on the three line and bricking. Defensively, the Thunder were picking on him, getting screens from whomever he was guarding so that Jamison had to make decisions against Durant. The Thunder abused Jamison anytime they got him in that match up, which was a lot. Good to at least see some tiny, minute bit of chemistry from anything with those two-man sequences with Nash. Problem is, we really need Dwight to anchor the D for those two and that wasn’t available. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-17 shooting (0-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He scored an easy layup off the Kobe drive and dish. He missed a three straight away. He showed the ball on the horns play and was stripped. He swiped a rebound and hit Meeks cutting for a score. He scored an And-1 layup off the Clark bounce pass, he made the FT. Second Half: He scored a layup leaking out in transition. He rolled to the hoop and scored a layup when Nash found him. Again out in transition and he drew FTs, he made both. He tried to leak out after a Durant miss and Durant ended up dunking off a cut when the Thunder got it back. He sank a floater on a slip screen. He crashed the glass to grab a Kobe miss and scored the layup. He sealed his man on a screen-roll, took the pass and scored the layup. He missed a chuck from three in early offense (we gave up an And-1 layup the other way in semi transition). He missed a quick flip at the rim on a drive. He cut backdoor, took the pass and scored a layup. He missed a quick-fire three in early offense.

Duhon -- -- He was a ghost out there tonight. He plays that role quite a bit, but was especially effective at not being a threat. It will be interesting to see when Steve Blake gets back if he can give the Lakers a little more energy and toughness. Neither guy is much of a threat to attack the paint and score, but Blake should be able to give some better defensive energy. The Stats: He didn’t shoot and had 1 points on 1-2 from the line to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 block and 1 turnover in 23 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He attacked and drew FTs on the floater, he made one. Second Half: He lost the handle on a drive.

Morris -- -- Hopefully, the starting lineup time is a thing of the past and the Lakers can stay healthy. He had some meaningful first half minutes off the bench in a small ball unit that was up against a Thunder big unit. He ended up on Collison as they tried to do that. He’s the king of getting some late garbage time scores. He’s always aggressive then and seems to get to the rim with ease. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was +4. The Action: He missed a long three with the shotclock low. He missed a fade, got it back and was blocked on a reverse. Second Half: He scored a layup in transition. He spun off the high screen, attacked the lane, used his body well and scored the layup. He scored a layup leaking out.

Meeks -- -- Pretty much a nothing game from Meeks. He was in on one of the Lakers better stretches of ball early in the first half -- that and some late garbage time was why he ended up with the team-high +19. But really brought nothing to the table tonight. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a +19. The Action: He missed a wing jumper in early offense. Second Half: He attacked off the three line from the corner and scored a layup. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a three. He missed a chuck from three.

Ebanks -- -- Out of the doghouse for a little action. He came in with 4 minutes left for the garbage time...well, official garbage time. He was the only one who could make threes, sinking both of his attempts. They should have played him more in this game because of his ability to help defend on Durant. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 1 board and no fouls in 4 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He airballed a baseline jumper. He scooped up a loose ball and hit the three. Wild drive that bricked so badly it looked like a nice off the backboard pass to Sacre for the throwdown. He swished a high arching three in early offense.

D’Antoni -- -- The Lakers didn’t stand a chance in this game and made sure of it by playing into the hands of the Thunder with the three chucking offense. You’d like to see them at least make some progress in learning a system offensively, but there was little there and little gained. Defensively, this lineup would struggle... Mike shuffled the lineup to get Clark in to face Durant and to slide Kobe onto Westbrook, while Nash hid on Thabo... Tied up, he sat Clark for Jamison midway through the quarter. Clark has to run at backup C when Sacre sits... Laker turnovers are quickly turning into easy Thunder buckets. The heavy three-ball bricking wasn’t doing the Lakers any favors, etiher... They trailed by 9 when Meeks and Duhon came in to go with Kobe, Jamison and Clark... 17-4 run for OKC, just dominating the Lakers... Behind some Clarksanity the Lakers tied the game at 25-25 with an 11-0 run to end the quarter... He started a Clark, Jamison, Meeks, Morris, Duhon unit... We got Morris against Collison... He sat Jamison for Sacre to get some more height out there. Then brought in Metta for Clark, Lakers up 1... He sat Meeks for Nash down 2... Midway through the quarter and it was back to the Lakers starters... The Lakers quickly trailed by 10. Nash playing poorly this half... He brought in Jamison for Sacre... Lakers switching a ton on D with the smaller lineups... The Lakers got buried on a 14-3 run. The Durant/Westbrook combo just killing them... The Lakers trailed 64-48 at the half. The Lakers shot 42% (20-48, 0-11 3Pt, 8-12 FT). The Thunder shot 59% (26-44, 5-13 3Pt, 7-14 FT)... You can’t shoot a lot of threes against the Thunder, who will run it down your throat... He brought in Jamison for Sacre down 22... He sat Metta for Duhon... The Lakers trailed 93-73 after the third quarter... They started a Clark, Jamison, MWP, Meeks, Duhon unit... Down 18 with 8:42 left, he brought back in Kobe for one last run... He went to the deep bench with 4 minutes left... “Good old-fashioned butt whooping,” Robert Horry said afterward. Yep...

[Vishnu]

1st. Thanks for the report DB

[busym]

A sad game to watch. Kolbe has slowed a few steps. World Peace lost the rest of his mind.Clark and Jamison were the only bright spots in the game. I hope the Lakers can make the playoff.

[WASP]

Clark is good, MWP suck as hell.

[cycl0nus]

[Knowledge]

Metta world Peace is DONE
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#TEAM TANK

[Laker_Town]

Metta needs to be given a yellow light and sometimes the red light. way too many attempts where he simply stops ball movement. Its happened all year, not just recently with our bigs out.

Jamison was better moving...actually moving without the ball. STAY AWAY FROM THE 3

Clark... Weve got ourselves a good young prospect. These were big time teams he played against and he looked comfortable. Id like to see him and Dwight at the same time on the floor.

Nash. HAS TO be more assertive. I cringe when he simply dumps the ball to kobe at the 3 line. This CANNOT be our offense. Him and Jamison connected well on several ocassions. SHOOT THE BALL NASH. SHOOT MORE. Metta you shoot you less, and NASH, you shoot more

Sacre seemingly gives too many and 1s. Hes trying his best to keep up with the elite, but clearly, hes not cutting it.

Meeks needs to get involved with Nash. set some picks, get open. Maybe run a few plays for him. He seems to be the type of player that gets going only when he makes his first few shots. If he misses his first couple, then expect brick city all night

Duhon. didnt do anything too special. actually forgot the guy was in there. no threat offensively



De Antonio. When you see your team jack up all those 3s and only make 4, you need to say something. better yet, you neeed to coach/adjust.
when you see metta go 1-3 on offense, you need to coach. When you see durant go for 40, you need to coach.

[Laker's Fan]

Stu: You know that light at the end of the tunnel?
Billy Mac: It's dim?
Stu: No it's bright, but it's a train
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Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[mugwump]

"'Hopefully, they will run the clock during the timeout,' Stu said during one stoppage still in the third quarter."

Ouch.

Thanks for the review, DB.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB - pretty awful game, and awful to hear that Hill's out for the season.

Looks like Clark had better get used to 20 minute nights a lot more often.

[A Mad Chinaman]

Thanks DB for doing a TOUGH JOB!

With our final line of defense is our 4th string center (Sacre) and 5th string center (Clark), the Lakers have to completely change the way to defend - which they failed.

Now we know why Meeks isn't starting for elite teams, lack of consistency. This game was tailored-made for him since they needed scoring from the outside.

World Peace did take some ill-advised shots, but who else are willing and able to make shots. Clark (understandably faded), Sacre was hesitant, Duhon was a ghost, Meeks is MIA, Ebanks is in the doghouse, Morris can't finish and James gives up as many points he scores.

The Thunder did what they have to do when playing against 3rd/4th string players, give them a beatdown - especially since they were embarrassed by the Wizards.

John Ireland stated that MDA recognizes that a slowdown game with postups is best for this team when they have D12 and Pau - as per an interview a couple weeks ago.

[goldBLOOD]

Excellent sharp review yet again.

Great work.
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You always have to be on edge. You always have to take every practice, every game, like it is your last - Kobe

[Crazy Like Ron Artest]

I don't understand why MDA went back to MWP playing SF. It really worked well with MWP at PF. It was a great adjustment.

MWP at SF just kills us. He lacks the footspeed to play there and becomes a huge net negative whereas he does alright at PF.

It's the single thing I hold most against Mike.

I'd rather him activate Ebanks and play him 15 minutes a game there, with Kobe getting the bulk of the minutes there, but just not MWP.
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Crazy yes......Nostrodamus no way because my predictions fail!!!!!

[ForrestHump]

[SilverBullet]

Thanks DB.

Clark is definitely a keeper. I hope he continues to play great.

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

Let's see; we're horrible at defense, particularly transition defense. We're also a poor three point shooting team, so what do you do against a team that excels in transition? Answer: Shoot more threes.

Brilliant!

Well I'm stoked. Our season starts Sunday.

[lakers96]

If we make the playoffs we wont go far any way bcuz we have to work so hard to even get a playoff spot

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Lakersneuron]

thanks DB. Once again, your write ups are a bit of sanity in an otherwise chaotic season.

Honestly, at this point, what disturbs me most is not our horrible play, but the fact we can't just tank and acquire a solid draft slot.
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"I don’t give a [expletive] what you say. If I go out there and miss game winners, and people say, 'Kobe choked, or Kobe is seven for whatever in pressure situations.' Well, [expletive] you. Because I don’t play for your [expletive] approval."