LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 2-26-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Memphis Blues… The Lakers looked they were going to consent to a one-sided beating tonight. Trailing by nearly 20 after a lackluster first half, they turned the tables on third quarters by holding the Grizzlies to just 17 points.

“We didn’t have the right spiritual energy, I thought, to start the game,” D’Antoni said, trying to channel his inner Zen Master, “but at halftime they talked about it, we got it together and because they are good guys they understood, and they went out and did a better job.”

They couldn’t break through the wall despite Jordan Farmar’s impressive final minute with a steal, score and a couple of huge threes off inbounds plays.

The Lakers fell once again, 108-103. Just don’t look at the standings. Look at the draft position and you’ll feel much better. It’s making other GMs nervous.

An oddly strong night in the Tank-a-thon world. The Lakers lose and Orlando, Boston and Cleveland (against OKC) all get W’s.


Gasol -- -- His comments yesterday, some of what we posted here, ruffled some feathers. You can tell when a player has that fed-up look and attitude. He’s been able to deal with the trade issues, but having to deal with D’Antoni…Pau’s tired of it. As for the game, he cross-matched with Marc and Zach. Pau covering Zach and Marc covering Pau. Some good battles with Pau and his brother. His brother got the best of it in the first half, but Pau punched back (elbowed even) in the second half. The offense was clunky when Pau wasn’t out there. He gives the team that easy post dump in, which we need right now with guys still trying to figure things out. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-14 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He wasn’t ready for a Bazemore pass and lost it. He missed a turnaround on iso. He scooped up a loose ball in the paint and dunked. He was blocked on a reverse attempt by his bro. He was stripped on the perimeter for a dunk the other way on his next touch. He was fouled on the defensive boards and drew FTs, he made both. He drew FTs on a reach by his brother, he made one. Second Half: He backed his brother down, popped him with an elbow and hit the short jumphook. He swished the Dirk step-back over his brother on iso. He attacked across the lane and missed a lefty hook badly, he wanted the foul. He took a pass over the D and flipped it in over a man to beat the shotclock. He choked a lefty layup he should have finished. He swished the wing jumper off the two-man game with Bazemore. He drew the D and kicked to Meeks for the three. He missed a turnaround after getting knocked off balance in the paint. He dunked off a pretty passing sequence among the team. He missed a turnaround in the paint. He tapped out a missed FT, we got it back to him, and he scored a layup off the excellent up and under move. He backed his brother down and choked the point-blank finish.

Marshall -- -- Kendall is taking over the bagel role. He’s slumping with the scoring, even missing some point blank shots he should have had. At least he was hitting guys tonight and setting up the offense with more regularity. Still, Farmar rightfully got the close again and closed strong. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-6 shooting (0-3 from three) to gow tih 5 boards, 8 assists, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a three on the first possession. He tried to thread the needle and it was picked off for a layup the other way. He missed an open three on a kickout. Great outlet off a jumpball to Brooks for the dunk. Poor angle on D and he gave up a layup. He attacked down the lane and choked a gimmie layup (you’ve got to finish those). Second Half: He clanked an open 18-footer in transition. Bad pass to Wes on the baseline for a turnover. He missed a wide open wing three on a kickout. He hit Meeks on the break for the And-1. He missed a tough layup on a drive, but got it back.

Bazemore -- -- “I thought he did a better job in the second half because he started playmaking a little more,” D’Antoni said. Yeah, we mentioned that already how Bazemore needs to find that mix of not chucking and moving the ball. Kent mentioned players telling him where they would be in certain plays so he could find them. He’s got to find that right balance. Turn down a few shots that have a higher degree of difficulty in order to find a teammate or reset the offense. A little better with that tonight, but still some ways to go. The shot numbers weren’t as high in this one and once again he got to the FT line with consistency (he needs to make them with consistency). The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-9 shooting (2-4 from three, 4-8 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He attacked with speed in transition and with a quick Euro step, he drew FTs, he made one. He swished a wing jumper off the kickout from Wes. His bounce pass to Pau was knocked away. Quick first step off the three line and he drew FTs in the paint, he made both. He got hit on the head from behind by Allen on a dunk attempt in transition, he missed both FTs, ugggh. Bad kickout after a probe and it was picked off. Then he stepped on the sideline trying grab a long three. He missed a chuck from the wing on iso (move the ball, please). He attacked in transition and missed a prayer at the buzzer. Second Half: He ball watched and gave up an offensive board. He stalled the offense on the dribble and it resulted in a bad possession. He worked the two-man to Pau for the wing jumper. He gave up a jumper getting lost on D. He stood in on the baseline and drew a charge. He iso’d and missed a chuck from three. He missed an off-balance shot, attacking to the teeth of the D with nowhere to go. He made a tough, stretching, up-and-under from the elbow area. He was called for a travel attacking off the three line before dribbling. He sank the corner three on the Farmar kickout. He missed a sideline three on a cross-court pass. He grabbed a board, pushed it out, stepped on the gas in traffic and drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He sank a quick-fire wing three to cut it to 7.

Meeks -- -- Loving the floater he’s been knocking down with consistency lately. It just looks much more controlled and natural. Efficient job scoring tonight with the 19 points on just 10 shots. The Lakers had some very good, well distributed scoring from the lineup with 6 guys in double digits. Just can’t give up those huge halves (65 points in the first half tonight). The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-10 shooting (2-4 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 37 minutes. He was a +/- of 0. The Action: He curled down the lane, took the pass and scored a layup. He ball-watched and gave up a dunk. He attacked off the three line and hit the floater off two long steps. He was blocked in transition. He drew FTs after taking a pass over the top of the D and trying to power it in, he made one. He forced up a wing three and swished. He missed a three in transition. He missed a corner three. Second Half: He curled into the lane and hit the floater (looked very good on that one). He changed pace, attacked baseline and scored the layup. He stepped on the sideline on a drive. He filled a lane, took the pass and was hit after scoring the layup, he made the FT. He made a tech FT. He drained a three on the Pau kickout. He threw the ball away after driving in transition.

Johnson -- -- “He’s winning that battle inside,” D’Antoni said, saying Wes was 2 for 2. Not sure about that and got to think a little of that is to go back at Pau, but Wes did put a good effort and scrap on the defensive end tonight. We put him on Marc Gasol defensively. This forced the team to double in the post. Wes had his hands full trying to hold ground on the defensive glass. He handled it. Memphis did a poor job of exposing it with consistency. While it’s not the best matchup, the fact that if you had to put Wes on anyone 1 to 5 shows his defensive versatility. Stu mentioned that he needs to work on his post game, which is true. Since you can run him defensively at the PG or SG, he’s got length that can force doubles against those smaller defenders. D’Antoni brought up the point about Wes either playing with really good energy or disappearing and how he has to learn to impose his athleticism on the game whenever he’s out there. It’s the truth and something Wes has to get into his head. He played with good energy tonight and was stroking the jumper, hitting four threes. Defensively, he had the 4 blocks and also drew a charge. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-14 shooting (4-8 from three) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 4 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He drained a quick-fire sideline jumper in transition. He swished a wing three. He attacked and kicked to Bazemore for the jumper. He was stripped on the perimeter. He challenged a layup to get a stop. He missed a sideline three. He banked over Conley in the post. He missed a face-up wing jumper. He sank a corner jumper in transition next time down. He was blocked on a putback attempt in transition. He missed a wing three off a handoff. He roofed Allen for a jumpball. He swatted a shot in transition. He drained a confident wing three. He scored 12 points, had 3 boards and 4 blocks. Second Half: He drew a charge on Conley on help D. He missed a layup in transition getting undercut a little. Nice inbounds from the sideline to Pau on the other side of the hoop for a score. He swished a sideline three on a kickout. He missed a wing three. He drained a face-up wing three. He airballed a sideline three.

Farmar -- -- Good job by Farmar making things interesting in the final minute. He got a steal at midcourt and a layup, then hit a couple of long threes to cut the lead to just 3 with 14 seconds left. We used to have Kobe doing that kind of stuff, but only got glimpse of him this season. Nice to see someone else provide a little fireworks to nearly pull out an impossible win. Lakers came down to just one hoop. That’s one defensive stand, one careless turnover, one less bad chuck. The team plays whole quarters or halves like that. Amazing they were even within striking distance tonight. At the beginning of the season, the Lakers had those full 48-minute efforts. Seems so long ago. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-12 shooting (4-6 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He pushed out the rebound and took it for the layup. He drained a wing three coming off the screens. He was called for a travel trying to score full court at the buzzer. He was called for a discontinued dribble on a probe. He missed a three. He attacked across the lane and didn’t hit rim on a layup. He swiped a pass to ignite a break. He missed a fading pull-up. Second Half: He attacked and was called for a travel. He blocked a shot at the buzzer. He missed a three behind a screen. He hit Pau off the great team passing sequence for the dunk. He drained a sideline three on the Brooks kickout. He attacked baseline and hit Bazemore in the corner for the three. Too long on a baseline pull-up jumper. He missed a layup on a drive, getting off balance before the finish. Big steal on pressure D at midcourt and he took it the distance to cut it to 5 with a minute left. He drained a deep catch and shoot off the inbounds to cut it to 4 with 19 seconds left. He got a double screen from a couple of offensive linemen in front of him, took the inbounds and drained a deeper three to cut the lead to 3 with just 14 seconds left (that was a 35-footer).

Brooks -- -- Efficient night from MarShon, which I think he needs to show more than Bazemore for the Lakers to keep him. . The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-6 shooting (2-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He pushed out the break and hit Wes for the jumper. His interior feed to Hill was too hot to handle. He tipped in a Farmar miss. He backed it out and drained a wing three. He attacked in transition and drew FTs next possession, he made both. He hit Sacre in transition for a dunk. He leaked out off the jumpball, took the pass and dunked. He had 9 points and 2 assists in the half. Second Half: He drained a deep three off the Pau kickout up against the shotclock. He probed and hit the pull-up jumper from 10 feet out in transition. He deflected a pass to get a stop on the other end. He was blocked after moving in off a fly by. He attacked and kicked to Farmar for the three.

Hill -- -- Another quiet game from Hill. He couldn’t hit his jumphook in this one. He’s been pretty consistent with it this season, but it just wasn’t dropping tonight. He was put in that backup C role with Kaman out. MDA split duty with at C with Sacre cutting Hill’s time down even further than normal. D’Antoni was all in on small ball tonight. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 foul sin 6 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He got Randoolph to travel in the post. He missed a short, rushed hook. He missed a jumphook in the middle of the lane. He picked up a couple of fouls trying to challenge drives on the move. He missed another jumphook. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Kelly – -- Good hands tonight blocking shots and tying up guys on the drive. His help D is very strong as a rookie. Kelly has more game to him than a lot of the token bigmen who just shoot the three. If he can become that knockdown three shooter (which he’s not yet despite sinking his only three tonight), he’ll be more than a token stretch four. If not, he probably doesn’t have quite enough game or ability to impose himself against the opponent. He’s got to do one thing exceptionally well. It’s going to be a big summer for him and remainder of the season to add to develop that more. Give him a little time to see if he can do it. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 3 blocks and 1 foul in 10 minutes. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: Excellent D tying up his man on a drive for a jumpball. He drained a wing three on a kickout to start the fourth. Another block and tie-up for a jumpball (we didn’t win either of those). He rejected a shot out of bounds on the same stand.

Sacre -- -- Good job on the boards tonight in limited minutes. He’s got to figure that out and bring it more consistently. Keep moving his feet, using his body and getting after the glass. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 4 boards, 1 block and 1 turnover in 7 minutes. He was -3. The Action: He missed a floater in the lane. He slammed trailing the break when Brooks found him. Second Half: Nothing to report.

D’Antoni -- -- He went small again, putting Wes on Marc Gasol. They would have to double team anytime Marc got the ball… With the score tied, the Grizzlies went on a 7-0 run to take a lead midway through the first quarter… He brought in Farmar, Hill and Brooks for Pau, Meeks and Marshall down 6… Down 4, he brought in Kelly for Wes… The Lakers had 6 turnovers in the first quarter. They let the last minute get away from them… They trailed 31-23 after the first… He started a Hill, Kelly, Meeks, Brooks, Farmar unit… Down 12 and Sacre/Johnson enter as the bigmen… Offense really stagnating into poor, long perimeter shots… He called a timeout shortly later down 13… He brought in Pau and Marshall for Farmar and Sacre down 13 midway through the quarter… Down 15 and D’Antoni picked up a tech for the refs missing a sideline out of bounds call (they then called one on the Lakers on the other end, so he made a comment)… Lakers had nothing that half… The Lakers trailed 65-46 at the half. Not good on either end… Late in the third, the Lakers went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 12. They’re finally getting into this and the Grizzlies seem lulled to sleep… He brought in Farmar and Brooks for Bazemore and Marshall… He brought in Kelly for Johnson shortly later… They cut it down to 7, extending the run to 17-4… The Grizzlies shot 38% in the quarter as the Lakers slowed them down finally… The Lakers trailed 82-73 heading into the fourth quarter… He started a Sacre, Kelly, Bazemore, Brooks, Farmar lineup… This unit really struggling with their offensive fluidity… He called a timeout down 11 after they had cut it to 6 with an opening quarter three… He brought in Wes for Kelly and Pau for Sacre… Down 11, he went with Pau, Johnson, Bazemore, Meeks and Farmar (starters with Marshall on the bench again, his new closers)… They set up a couple of late threes for Farmar getting him the ball behind a double screen that set a wall for him to take the inbounds pass and launch. Nice play call. We’ve seen that before. Great execution by Farmar… They made the final minute interesting, but came away with the L…

[Omar Little]

First?
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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

[Omar Little]

[mugwump]

Wait, did Gasol hit three 3's? Hmm, I must've missed that.

Thanks for the game review, makes this season more interesting...
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"At the end of the day, you are what your record says that you are." --Mitch Kupchak

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[TDRock]

This season needs to end.

Thanks DB

[lakersgirl]

[divncom]

Thanks.

I think we should change things around just for the rest of this year - make losses into smiley faces and wins into frowny.
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Chick Hearn was my favorite broadcaster ever - he's the one who taught me to think basketball, how to love basketball. - Bill Walton

[DancingBarry]

[LakerLanny]

[BennyLava]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Chronicle]

Bazemore is a lousy passer. What I mean by that is all his passes are telegrammed and usually a bit off-target.

Brooks is the better player.
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Kobe

[Yong]

[yinoma2001]

[magicdays]

Thanks, DB. I truly appreciate your hard work and effort under such difficult circumstances. I still look forward to reading your insightful analyses of the game, and the surrounding circumstances.
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Ahhhh, those were the days...time for a new beginning!

[pio2u]

[Laker_Town]

No time for Kaman?

[moonwalker8701]

Can we add defense to the reviews? Meeks/Bazemore were awful and gave up a ton of easy baseline cuts to Tony Allen.

[32]

Thanks DB.
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Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold.

[22]

Thanks DB! It seems like everyg ame is on a night when I'm not home.

I appreciate the reviews my boy!!

[DancingBarry]

[dirka dirka]

I just don't see how you can turn the ball over so much if you're going to be deficient in rebounding. It's like burning the candle at both ends.
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