LAKERS -at- PACERS - 2-25-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Déjà Vu… It’s been a familiar story. The Lakers stick with teams in the first half, then get crushed in that third quarter. It used to be a habit of this team, it was probably just inevitable tonight facing the Pacers.

The Lakers were right there at halftime. The Pacers, however, put the clamps on and took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Lakers 34-16.

“We didn’t move the ball. We tried to go one on one,” D’Antoni said.

The Pacers cruised in the fourth quarter to the 118-98 win. Kent Bazemore led all scorers with 23 points, another new career high.

“We just don’t have an identity right now,” Farmar said, hitting the nail on the head. “We have a lot of guys coming back, a lot of guys who are new and nobody really knows their role on the team. You know, come in and have a specific job. It’s kind of random and hope we all play well.”

The Lakers small ball gave up 21 offensive boards and was out-rebounded 62-42 by the Pacers.

“If you get outrebounded by 20 rebounds, I don’t care who you are or what you do, it’s not going to work and you’re not going to win,” Pau said.


Gasol -- -- I liked that Pau had some better activity on D, blocking 4 shots in the first half of this one. However, he looked a little tired at times (getting beat badly down court by his man even). He also gets no challenges in of any type when someone comes off a screen for a midrange jumper. Those are just open shots against Pau. Offensively, not much of a game. He did have a sweet spin and slam around Hibbert, probably the play of the game for the Lakers. He said teams are fooling around with the Lakers and then turning it up when it’s time to get serious. “I’ve been on the other side of it and done it many times,” Pau said. He wanted the team to play more unselfishly and the coach to utilize their size more. He seemed pretty down on D’Antoni reading between the lines. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-13 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He sank an 18-footer off the Marshall pass. He attacked, drop-stepped and airballed a jumphook. He sank a one-hander in the lane off the Bazemore drive and dish. He airballed a lefty jumphook across the lane. He blocked a layup in transition. He was beat down court for a putback score. He attacked right, spun left and slammed an And-1 around Hibbert (very nice), he made the FT. He missed an open elbow jumper. Then no challenge on the other end on a jumper to give up a hoop. He hesitated and bricked an open 9-footer that could have tied the game up. He swatted a shot after Kelly gambled on George and came up empty. He was blocked fading instead of going strong. He had 7 points, 4 blocks and 4 boards. Second Half: He drew a clear-out foul on George (didn’t see it). He faced up and hit the baseline jumper on the other end. He couldn’t finish a drive. He powered in a lefty bank off the interior feed from MarShon. He had the ball knocked loose as he tried to back a man down. He put back in a missed jumper.

Marshall -- -- Not often I don’t have a decent amount of notes for Marshall. He just disappeared in this one. He’s played a lot of minutes and that could be affecting things. The Pacers are a good defensive team, too. We’ve changed lineups, or course, so that can have some effect on things, but shouldn’t have made that big a difference for the floor general. Just a little slump right now and the coach has also run with Farmar a little more partially as a result. Kendall’s not having fun right now. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed a 13-footer on the Lakers first shot. He was called for a charge. He missed a three. He swung it quickly to Kelly for a three. Second Half: Great anticipation to swipe a pass on rotation. He attacked and had his layup or pass swatted away for an And-1 the other way.

Bazemore -- -- Another career high scoring game again. “Career high, whatever. We still lost,” Bazemore said. You can tell by the length of his notes here that he was very active on court. A lot of that was attacking the paint, something the Lakers need and something he does fairly well. He can change directions, pace and use his length and athleticism to impose himself on the game. He drew a number of FTs with his aggression. He’s definitely making the most of his minutes. “I think he can play, defensively especially,” D’Antoni said. He struggled a little in the third quarter and D’Antoni mentioned he forced the shot a little. There were a couple of chucks that he needs to reel in. I don’t think anyone minds the drives since he’s shown he’s a willing passer off of those. He could probably do a little better there, though. The Lakers ran him at PG in the fourth. It looked much better than when we have Meeks running that. He hit cutters coming off the screens and worked the two-man game serviceably. He’s making the most of his minutes. You can’t get a good feel for your game and how to fine tune it if you don’t play. This should be a good growth period for him. “I got to learn how to find other guys,”Bazemore said on still getting used to his teammates. “A play will go by and they will say, ‘hey, look out for this.’ And I will remember it and hopefully start making plays for other guys, as well.” The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-19 shooting (1-5 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He attacked and bounced to Pau for the one-hander. He attacked and missed a layup with his right. He attacked across the lane and hit the lefty scoop layup. He airballed a FT pull-up (Hill cleaned it up). He swished a corner three on the Farmar kickout. He attacked strong off the handoff at the top of the key and drew FTs, he made both. Change of pace in transition next time down to attack hard in the paint and he drew more FTs, he made both. He grabbed a tipped pass and missed a three. He probed and sank the step-back elbow jumper. He attacked off the Pau screen and turned Hibbert around backwards with an inside-out dribble to score a layup (so nice). He was stripped on a layup attempt on the break. He had 13 points and 2 boards at the half. Second Half: He missed a three. Great bounce pass from the sideline to Wes cutting for a layup. He fumbled a pass out of bounds. He attacked and was stripped. He missed a wing thee on a kickout. He attacked hard and quick in transition and drew a foul on Hibbert under the hoop, he missed both FTs. Nice help D to swat a pass away under a hoop. He panicked after picking up a loose ball and threw up a bad chuck against the shotclock (had time to gather himself). He attacked, took contact with no call and couldn’t finish. He probed from the wing, slithering through a crowd and drew FTs, he made both. He poked the ball loose from Scola and was held trying to track it down. He was rejected badly on a drive. He missed a chuck from three straight away. Good job running the floor and Meeks hit him for the breakaway layup. He attacked and missed, but Sacre cleaned it up. He attacked and kicked out to Wes for three. He attacked and twisted his way to a layup at the rim. He swiped a pass on a perimeter and took it for the reverse two-handed jam. He attacked and set up Sacre for FTs on the two-man game. He reversed getting out quick in transition (not an easy finish).

Meeks -- -- He couldn’t hit much of anything from three, despite some really good looks. The floater has looked improved on drives, however. If he gets that Goudelock shot down, look out. He and Bazemore got the most minutes tonight. With Young now sidelined again by secret Tankmaster Vitti, the Lakers don’t have much choice. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-14 shooting (1-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He missed a three. He missed a wing three. He fumbled a ball away. He cut baseline, took the pass and scored the And-1, he made the FT. He swished a floater at the elbow. He was roofed on a drive but got the ball back. He swished an And-1 pull-up 17-footer off the handoff, he made the FT. He swished a baseline pull-up jumper in early offense. He had 10 points and 3 boards. Second Half: He bricked a baseline pull-up when he got contact with no call. He missed a corner three. He swished a corner three on a kickout. He missed a wide open wing three. He fumbled a dribble away. He swiped a pass and pushed it out to Bazemore for the layup. He stripped his man to ignite a break.

Johnson -- -- “Everybody has to come in crash the boards and help out the bigs,” Wes said. When we go small with him at PF, the team has to rebound as a team instead of looking to get out on the break. You just can’t do that if we don’t have someone gobbling up boards right and left (which we won’t with Wes at PF and any of our bigs at C). Pau doesn’t like the small ball at all because of that lack of support. Wes had his shot going decently in this one. He did choke a dunk, however. He suffered from a bit of foul trouble at the PF tonight, sitting after just the first three and half minutes. Pau on Wes handling Randolph tomorrow: “Good luck, right?” The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-10 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 5 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He sank a 16-footer. He missed a three. He finished a lob on the play out of a timeout. Second Half: He scored a layup when Bazemore found him cutting in transition. No touch on a finish at high speed. He grabbed an offensive board and drew FTs on the putback attempt, he made one. He swished a long pull-up wing jumper in transition, heels on the three line. He sank a wing three. He missed a long wing jumper. He sank a wing three on a kickout. He choked a wide open alley oop jam, wow, just like a bottom dwelling team.

Hill -- -- Yikes. The team was a -15 in 10 minutes when Hill was on the floor. Could be that he was also matched up with Kaman quite a bit. Hopefully, we start Hill tomorrow against Randolph, but who knows? He didn’t play with much impact or purpose tonight to give D’Antoni reason to. The Stats: He scored 2 ponts on 1-2 shooting to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 10 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He fell asleep and gave up a layup. He was blocked on a putback. He grabbed an airball and scored the layup. Second Half: No help again on a lob and he gave up a dunk. He lost his balance in a crowd and traveled.

Brooks -- -- He had a couple of errors on back-to-back possessions in the second half that forced the Lakers to take a timeout. Just sloppy basketball that led directly to points the other way. When the guards compound errors like that it makes things tough when you are barely holding the line. The dam seemed to break right then. He’s on the bubble and if he consistently does that, he’ll be moving along to yet another team. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He drained a sideline three off the Farmar kickout. He missed a step-back chuck form the wing. He attacked and missed the floater. He airballed the pull-up jumper in transition and wanted the foul. He attacked ball-faked and fed Kaman for the layup. He swatted a Scola layup from behind. He hit Kaman for the jumper off the two-man game. He got his man on his hip and missed a tricky one-handed bank. He took contact on a jumper with no call, but still got it to go. Second Half: He attacked and hit Pau for the score. He didn’t protect the ball in transition and had it poked loose for a layup the other way. He threw a pass away on the next possession for a score and D’Antoni called a timeout. He attacked and missed a bank floater. He missed a three. He grabbed a FT miss and took in the distance for FTs, he made one. He pushed it out in transition, used his body well against a defender and flipped in an And-1 layup over his head, he missed the FT. He iso’d and drew FTs on the drive, he missed both, then fouled. He swished a long three with the D not playing.

Kaman -- : cringe: -- He had no chemistry out there with the other guys. Seemed like he was going through the motions at times. For vets, the inevitable blowout can suck the fight from them, but the lack of chemistry because of all the changes on the floor right now probably had more to do with it. Dropped passes, attacking into crowds because of poor spacing like we saw from Kaman…a lot of that is just not being on the same page with everyone. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting to go with 4 boards, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He rejected a shot at the rim. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Brooks. He sank a wing jumper off the two-man game with Brooks. He blocked a shot on help D and it led to a breakaway score. Second Half: He took a power dribble and scored a layup. He was stripped attacking a crowd. He forced a turnaround in a crowd and bricked (move the ball, please). He was blocked on a lefty layup on one end, then gave up an And-1 on the other.

Farmar -- -- “We have to do our best to try to figure it out,” Farmar said. I think he’s pretty spot on with his quote up top. This team has be in flux all season with injuries, lineup changes, new guys, it’s just a struggle to develop any kind of chemistry or go to plays. Opponents are really light years ahead of the Lakers at this stage in the season. Farmar had some better moments of playmaking in this one and led the team with assists. He executed some of the set plays nicely. Some of those two-man sequences get a little sloppy, but he playmaked much better in this one. He only made a couple of shots, so two PGs had just 5 points again tonight. We have to have those guys a little more of a threat for everything to click. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He kicked out to MarShon for the three. He attacked baseline and kicked to Bazemore for the three. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He cut backdoor and missed the layup. He hit Kelly on the break for the layup. He hit Meeks on the baseline backdoor play for an And-1 layup. Sloppy pass on the two-man game forcing the Lakers to call a timeout on the scramble for it. He lobbed to Wes for the backdoor slam. He missed a three. He blindsided a man and took it for a dunk. Second Half: He drained a wing three a few seconds after entering the game. He missed a wing three on iso. He attacked and kicked to Meeks for the three. His pass was picked off next time down. He missed a wing pull-up.

Sacre – -- He played in garbage time and looked pretty decent in his time on court. Much easier to go up against a team’s second and third string. He and Bazemore had a little flash of chemistry in their brief time together. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He followed up a Bazemore drive and cleaned it up with a putback dunk. He missed a jumphook. He drew FTs on the screen-roll with Bazemore, he made one.

Kelly -- -- He was in the mix more in this one and looked slightly more aggressive than he has been lately. He sank a three and had a couple of nice finishes in the lane. Defensively, he had his hands full but got in a couple of good blocks along with his foul trouble. Better job this time out. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-4 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 4 fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: Great hustle back to swat George and save a hoop at the end of the quarter. He sank a floater in the lane. He attacked the rim on the break for a layup. He missed a three straight away. He drained a wing three off the swing pass. Second Half: Nothing to report.

D’Antoni -- -- Lakers wanted to push the pace so the Pacers couldn’t lock in in the half court… He brought in Brooks and Farmar for Meeks and Marshall to swap out his guards… Down 6, he brought in Kaman for Pau and Kelly for Hill for the bigman swap out… The Lakers trailed 30-23 after the first quarter… He started the Kaman, Kelly, Meeks, Brooks, Farmar unit… He brought in Wes for Brooks to go longer. I like seeing the length vs. the small ball… The Lakers were down 9 when Pau returned with Bazemore for Kelly and Kaman… He sat Farmar for Marshall with 4 minutes left down 7… The Lakers cut it to 5 a few seconds later forcing a timeout… They cut it to 3 when Wes had to sit with his third foul for Kelly… Strong second quarter by the Lakers on both ends. Their best of the night. A lot of challenges by the L.A. in the paint… The Lakers trailed 57-54 at the half. The Lakers were out-rebounded 36-21. Lakers blocked 11 shots, however… The Lakers fell back by 10 and he sat Wes for Kelly, Marshall for Farmar and Meeks for Brooks midway through the quarter… A couple of sloppy plays from Brooks that led to back-to-back breakaway scores and D’Antoni called timeout down 12. This seemed to be the breaking point… He brought in Kaman and Hill for Kelly and Pau… Too many turnovers for the Lakers and the game slipped away… The Lakers trailed 91-70 heading into the fourth… He started Kaman, Hill, Meeks, Brooks and Farmar… He sat Kaman for Pau and Hill for Wes after just 2 minutes… Garbage time shortly later… Bazemore back in for Farmar, Lakers going bigger with Baze at PG… Sacre in for Pau… Pacers coasted to the win after that third quarter crushing…

[ksmgf]

first. Thanks DB

[lakerjoshua]

Missed this one, thanks for the recap DB.

[TDRock]

Missed this one and sounds like that's for the best. Thanks DB

[Laker's Fan]

we all know it, this is going to get really ugly before the season ends. Lots of contract ball.
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Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[lakersfreak]

Thx DB

[wolfpaclaker]

Thanks DB, admirable work

Gasol vs MDA always will be a battle behind the scenes.

[LGTownDrunk]

[A Mad Chinaman]

He said teams are fooling around with the Lakers and then turning it up when it’s time to get serious. “I’ve been on the other side of it and done it many times,” Pau said. He wanted the team to play more unselfishly and the coach to utilize their size more. He seemed pretty down on D’Antoni reading between the lines. 
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The best description of tonight's performances that will be repeated till the end of the season

[OregonLakerGuy]

Great recap as usual. Thanks DB.

[lakerjoshua]

[mhan00]

Watching Wes at the four guarding West was torture.

[moonriver24]

Thanks DB.
I don't know how fun it is to summarize for losses after losses.
Hope you don't break the keyboards.
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Kobe's Top 5 Dunks, 81 points, MJ last gm @Staples

[dirka dirka]

The way we're using or not using Hill is moronic now. Trade deadline is over, his contract is expiring. It's now or never to see what exactly you have. Play him as many minutes as you can, whats the difference if he breaks down to the Lakers? More losses? Who cares?

Starting Wes against real PF's is just completely stupid. Hard to believe this man is being paid millions to make these kinds of decisions.

But sure, I guess we're tanking and not resigning our better players anyways right?
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[Omar Little]

Are we talking about the same Hill who led the team in per minute negative plus/minus. Why does this matter? At this point just let one of the ball boys coach...
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“We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” ― Elie Wiesel

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[magicdays]

[dirka dirka]

[E_Wulf420]

Why is Wes guarding West? Hes got like 30 lbs on him. Wes doesnt even like playing the 4 but mda still puts him there
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