NETS -at- LAKERS - 2-23-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

A Net Win… The particulars of this game will be lost in time. The Lakers fell behind early, couldn’t pull off a fourth quarter comeback and fell 108-102 to the Nets. Another game lost to another random opponent in a long, miserable season.

But history intersected with Lakers tonight as the Nets Jason Collins, a now 13-year journeyman veteran center, became the first openly gay man to play a major professional sporting event. Collins entered the game in the second quarter to warm applause from Staples.

“I thought it was great,” Collins said of the reaction from Staples. “Being an L.A. kid, I can’t think of a better situation. Playing for the Nets and playing here and getting the win, just glad Kobe and Shaq weren’t out there.”

A win for the Nets and a net win for pro sports.

"It's fantastic," said Kobe Bryant. "It sets an incredible precedent. I think the most important part about it, what I've learned on the issue is that one person coming out is showing this type of courage that gives others that same type of courage. It's dealing with a lot of issues for kids who are afraid to be themselves. Afraid to be themselves because of the peer pressure that comes with it." Kobe went on to mention the troubles faced by gay and lesbian youth. (Suicide rates for gay and lesbian teens are four times higher than hetero teens.)

It was a long time coming for pro sports and certainly would have been more notable had this been a decade or two ago.

As for the details of the game, the Lakers fell behind early with some trademark poor first-quarter D and could never dig themselves out of the hole. They cut the deficit to 4 in the fourth quarter behind their bench energy, but missed FTs, turnovers and the inability to get a missed freethrow rebound had them down by double digits again. Kent Bazemore, who scored 17 points, became the 16th different player to start for the Lakers this season. That’s just crazy when you think about it.


Gasol -- -- Efficient game offensively from Pau to lead the Lakers in scoring. He got a few points in the final minute which may have padded the stats a little. Our bigs are starting to benefit a little more from dribble penetration now that we have Bazemore and Brooks in the mix along with Farmar and Young back healthy. Pau was set up for FTs on multiple occasions on the drive-and-dish work from his guards. The Laker D was a mess in that first half. “We play small and we just have to get after it. We got to get into guys instead of giving up positions. There wasn’t enough fight in us,” Pau said, rattling off a number of mistakes they made. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-12 shooting (6-7 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He lost the ball in the post, turnover and score the other way. He missed a layup in transition. He missed a 17-footer. He grabbed a Meeks brick and hit the short 5-footer. He worked the post for a short one at the front of the rim. He fumbled a dribble, regained it, backed his way in and hit the short one at the front of the rim. He fumbled away a dribble on the spin move, losing it this time. He cleaned up a Bazemore missed drive with a putback at the rim. He faced up and missed the baseline jumper. He had 8 points and 7 boards. Second Half: He was hammered on the drive and dish from Bazemore for FTs, he made one. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Meeks. He missed the 16-footer straight away. He blocked Plumlee along with Wes. He was fouled on the drive and dish from Marshall, he made both FTs. He iso’d in the post and muscled his way around Blatche for the short one at the front of the rim. Bazemore found him in the paint and he was hacked for FTs, he made both. He backed his man down and muscled in the And-1 jumphook, he made the FT. He attacked, spun and dunked.

Marshall -- -- Poor night for Laker PGs. Marshall had just 2 points and 7 assists in limited minutes. Just 17 assists for the Laker team tonight with 17 turnovers. All of these lineup changes, the new players, the return of Swaggy P and his iso ball, just didn’t lend to a lot of great passing sequences. Deron Williams had the stat line of the night with 30 points, 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 boards. Better defensive work in the second half. He said they want to get stops so they can run, especially against the Pacers and Grizzlies. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a pull-up 18-footer. His backdoor pass to the baseline cutter was picked off. He stripped Pierce under the hoop to save a basket. He attacked and threw a pass away (that’s where his midrange game needs to be). He attacked the paint and scored the layup to his left. He iso’d against AK at the end of the half and was promptly rejected on the layup attempt. Just 3 assists in the first half. Second Half: Turnover on the first possession for a dunk the other way. He stripped his man and pushed out the break (he stopped running as he expected Bazemore to take it all the way) but Baze sent the ball back to him so Marshall touch-passed to Meeks for the layup. He stripped Deron and it ignited a breakaway. He missed a wing three behind a screen.

Bazemore -- -- The Lakers slid him in the starting lineup with Nick Young now back in the mix off the bench and D’Antoni going small with Wes against AK at the PF. Not sure if they will keep that despite another quality outing from Kent. Bazemore brought the athleticism and penetration that they’ve missed since X has been out. He’s explosive to the hoop and can change directions quickly. He only had 1 assist on the night but he had some nice drives and dishes that led to FTs and no assist. He played reasonable D, going up against Johnson quite a bit. The Lakers are having a little miscommunication on D at times with new lineups we haven’t had time yet to play together. But Bazemore brings some much needed energy to that end of the floor. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-13 shooting (1-3 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 2 steals, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He attacked baseline hard and drew FTs at the rim, but bricked both. He attacked, spun, tripped and lost the ball. He attacked strong from the wing and got tapped on the layup. He attacked the paint aggressively for more FTs, he made both this time. He drained a three from the wing in transition. He attacked, stepped back and swished the wing jumper (first step-back he’s made). He brought the dribble up, exploded off the high screen and slammed with both hands. He choked a layup in transition he should have had. He attacked from the wing in transition, missed the drive, but Pau cleaned it up. He had 9 points on 3-6 shooting. Second Half: He probed and was blocked out of bounds. He missed a wing three on the same possession. He attacked, spun and short-armed the finish. He was a little too unselfish on the break and it nearly caused a problem, but Marshall cleaned it up quickly with a touch pass to Meeks. He attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked and set up Pau for FTs. He jumped a passing lane to swipe a pass. He filled the lane on the break and Meeks found him for the layup. He attacked to his left with speed and scored a layup around a big. He attacked strong to his right and was called for the charge, looked questionable and could have easily been an And-1. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He attacked and set up Pau for FTs. His inbounds pass was picked off. He attacked with speed off the inbounds and scored a layup.

Meeks -- -- Tough assignment against the bigger Pierce as they matched up quite a bit. Pierce and Williams killed the Lakers. Meeks had an opportunity to cut the lead down to 3 or 4 late in the late game with time left to overcome that but missed a FT and a short open jumper he’s usually automatic on. Lakers just couldn’t get over the hump. Good job by Meeks getting down court quickly off steals and defensive stops to turn those into points. He’s fast enough, he doesn’t have to cheat out. Just go when we’ve got the stop, which he did well as the game went along for easy points. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-13 shooting (2-5 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a scoop on a drive. He sank a wing three that started as an inside-out sequence and swung to him. He missed a runner badly. He sank a wing three in transition. He missed a wing three on the split play. He attacked baseline and rattled in the floater. He missed a good look at a three straight away. Second Half: He attacked baseline strong and reversed. He scored a layup on a nearly botched breakaway. He attacked the paint, drew the D and fed Pau for the layup. He scooped up a loose ball, pushed it out and fed Bazemore for the layup. He attacked hard and hit the short floater. He attacked in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked with speed off a Laker rebound and drew more FTs avoiding the charge at full speed, he made one. He missed an open wing jumper in transition that could have cut it to 4. He cut it to 4 with 8 seconds left on a drive and layup. He missed a long three.

Johnson -- -- He started at the PF spot, going up against AK, who has the worst hair in the NBA, and some Pierce. Wes wasn’t much of a factor on the floor and took just one shot. Hard to say what D’Antoni will do with the minutes. He basically put Wes into Kelly’s minutes and didn’t play Ryan in this game. We’ll probably see a stretch of that as things will only get tighter when X returns. So Sacre and Kelly will be back to DNPs. We will probably go bigger in the next couple of games to match up. Tough to keep switching gears so much. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He blocked a layup on the break, but got Deron with the body. He gave up an And-1 in the post to Pierce and picked up his second foul. Second Half: He swished an early offense three from the top of the arc. He and Pau rejected Plumlee and Wes pulled it down and controlled it.

Young -- -- Nick returned to the rotation and was back into his sparkplug role off the bench. He didn’t put up a lot of shots, saying he was trying to find his rhythm. He might have been the reason Pierce went off early on. “I was talking a little trash before the game telling him that old man stuff ain’t about to happen. I guess he proved me wrong tonight,” Nick said. He never really got it going himself. He was able to draw some FTs on the perimeter pump fakes, but he missed a couple FTs on a three-point play in the fourth that hurt. “He was a little winded…and that’s probably why his foul shots were off,” D’Antoni said. It will probably take him a couple more games to get back into it. Hopefully, he refocuses himself on the defensive end. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He iso’d and swished the elbow fade on his first touch a few seconds after entering the game. He threw a pass out of bounds. He drained a deep three straight away off a kickout. Nice D on Johnson on the last possession to force him into a bad pass. He up-faked and drew contact on the jumper for FTs. He attacked and lost the dribble, wanting the foul. Second Half: He was called for a clear-out foul on iso. He pushed out a steal and scored a layup on the break. He up-faked his man and drew FTs on a three (anyone better at this then him?), he made just one, however. He missed a chuck on iso from the wing, not a good shot.

Farmar -- -- Just 5 points between our two PGs tonight (compared to 30 from Deron). Farmar looked like he wanted to spark the team again in the fourth, hitting a three, but continued to clank after that. He just connected on one shot all night. On several of his misses, however, teammates were there cleaning up for him. Defensively, we had some poor communication at times. When they started to get the energy and intensity up in that fourth, we did better. Just need to bring that in the first halves. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 1 The Action: He missed a step-back three. He missed a wing three. He fouled Deron on a three. Second Half: He kicked to MarShon for the three. He drained a three straight away to start the fourth scoring. He missed a wing three, Hill cleaned it up. He missed a three straight away, but MarShon tipped it in. He swiped the ball from Pierce and missed a layup on the break, but Hill tipped it in. Sloppy two-man game and his pass was picked off.

Brooks -- -- MarShon moves smoothly on the floor with a little bit of Kobe’s fluidity wearing that Laker jersey. (LaRon Profit had some of that same look to him, as well, when he was here.) Kobe, of course, have every move and counter move and can score both inside, outside and everything in between. It would be interesting if Kobe had time to mentor some our new young guys. MarShon hit a corner three and had a tip in of a missed Farmar three in the fourth, but we didn’t have the Nets on their heels like the Celtics the previous game. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He attacked and kicked to Young for the three. He missed a pull-up jumper at the top of the arc. He attacked in transition, stopped and missed the point-blank layup. He attacked the paint and hit the soft floater. Nice reach to strip a man. He attacked the paint like Kobe but didn’t finish like him (Hill cleaned it up, though). Second Half: He swished the corner three on the kickout. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. Sweet job crashing the glass and tipping in the Farmar missed three perfectly. Nice D on Teague on a switch to force a brick.

Hill -- -- He could have gone to the Nets had they been willing to fork something worthwhile over. That would have helped them a lot. Collins ended up getting that bigman spot instead. Big difference in skill level there. Hill nearly had the double-double tonight, getting on the offensive boards like he does. The jumphook looks good. A lot better than the jumper. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-8 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He airballed a baseline jumper, wide open. He backed his man down and hit the jumphook in the middle of the lane. Sweet up and under in the post for the layup. He attacked hard off the backdoor pass and drew FTs under the hoop, he made one. He crashed the glass on the dribble penetration and cleaned up a missed layup. He swatted Deron’s drive. He backed his man down and didn’t get a whistle on a miss. He choked a point-blank layup putback. He had 7 points and 5 boards. Second Half: He found Kaman free under the hoop for a layup. He grabbed the Farmar miss from behind his man and hit the jumphook in the middle of the lane. He up-faked Hill on a layup attempt but they didn’t give him FTs. Good job following Farmar’s steal on the break and he tipped in the miss.

Kaman -- -- Not a good fourth quarter tonight. He choked a layup he should have had, he missed two FTs and he threw an ill-advised cross-court pass away. He also didn’t secure a missed FT that led to a 4-point possession. Not quite the same great play as in the last one. Lakers needed more from him and Farmar in that fourth, but didn’t get it and couldn’t dig out of the hole. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He tipped in a missed three. He missed a jumphook. He sank a baseline face-up jumper. He attacked with his head down and was picked on the dribble. He got away with a travel and bricked the jumphook. Second Half: He missed a wing jumper. He backed Blatche under the hoop and scored the layup. He sealed his man, took the pass from Hill and scored the layup. He choked a layup on the break. He backed Collins down under the hoop and earned FTs, he missed both. He threw a cross-court pass away.

D’Antoni -- -- He started Bazemore at SF, slid Johnson to PF and sat Kelly hoping to get some more speed in the lineup. Plus, the Nets run small these days… The Lakers gave up 19 points in the first 6 minutes and fell back by double digits early… Down 17, he sat Hill for Johnson, Bazemore for Young and Marshall for Farmar after 5 minutes. Peanut Butter Jelly time. Haven’t seen that much lately… He sat Pau for Kaman… He sat Meeks for Brooks down by 13 with 2 minutes left… The Lakers trailed 33-21 after the first. Could have been much worse… He started the same unit to open the second quarter… Down 15, he subbed out Young and Farmar for Bazemore and Marshall… He brought back in Pau for Kaman… He subbed in Meeks for Brooks down 10… Very soft D in the first half… The Lakers trailed 63-47 at the half. The Lakers shot 46.3% (19-41, 4-8 3PT, 5-8 FT). The Nets shot 58% (22-38, 7-14 3PT, 12-16 FT). Nets had 18 assists, Lakers 6. Lakers just not playing tight on D… The Lakers cut it to 10 getting out on the break off of steals and forced a timeout… Down 9, he brought in Kaman, Young and Farmar for Pau, Meeks and Marshall with 3 minutes left… He sat Bazemore for Brooks a minute later… Hill in for Wes… The Lakers trailed 86-74 heading into the fourth… Same unit to start the fourth. They started to get the crowd into it… They cut it to 4… Unable to get a missed FT and the Nets end up with a 4-point possession. D’Antoni called timeout down 11. He sat Young for Bazemore with 6 minutes left… He brought in Meeks and Pau for Kaman and Brooks… The Lakers D got progressively better. As the game went along the Nets scored less each quarter. The Lakers score more each quarter as the game went along, as well…

[tony smith]

First!

[mhan00]

Another game, another loss. Sigh.

[Shaber]

Whateverth.

Thanks, DB!

I hate small-ball (aka Wes at PF) and all these unforced changes to starting line-up. Have some consistency, MDA.
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Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[magicdays]

MDA small ball sucks. One of our few unique strengths is our bigs--use them!!! We need rebounding, defense, and consistent offense--thats what bigs do for a team. It also opens up our perimeter shooting!

Ugh, please get rid of this coach...
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Ahhhh, those were the days...time for a new beginning!

[LoyalLakerfan44]

[LakerEric]

Pringles = Truly a terrible coach

[LakersMDGurl]

Pringles is a "flavor of the month" coach!!!!
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New Beginings

[cisternachyli]

Pringles will lead us to the promised land, and then at the pearly gates, we drop him

[Chronicle]

Pringles is better as potato chips than as coach
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Kobe