LAKERS -at- BLAZERS - 3-3-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Speed Kills… Down 1 with 7 seconds left, Jordan Farmar set a backscreen to free up Wes Johnson for the inbounds lob. It was perfectly executed -- a quick strike that stunned the Blazer crowd. After a stop at the other end, the Lakers took the 107-106 win over the Blazers in a hostile road environment.

Speed killed tonight. The Lakers pushed the tempo off steals and blocks and outscored the Blazers 32-9 on the break.

If you like basketball and seeing the Lakers get after it, then this was an entertaining game from start to finish. The crowd was loud, the Lakers pushed tempo, scored on big plays and got key stops. The challenge for the Lakers players is to make something of their lackluster season. The challenge for more and more fans is also to make something of the season…but that something is a high draft pick.

These diametrically opposed goals leave Laker fans in a backwards, Bizarro anti-Lakers world. Take a left at the Twilight Zone and somewhere along the way you’ll enter the darkside of Tankerville…where wins are potentially losses, and losses are potential wins.

As chick used to say ... mothers hide your daughters.


Gasol -- -- Ideally with small ball, you have a defensive anchor that can reject shots and ignite the break. Pau had a couple of blocks in the first half that the Lakers quickly changed ends on in a heartbeat for scores. That’s been a main missing ingredient for them with this type of ball this season. We need good D to create quick counterstrikes. Otherwise, we just give up more than we get. We’re taking the ball out of the hoop and trying to push it vs. off blocks, boards and perimeter D. Without an anchor, the guys in front of the center can’t pressure the ball and passing lanes as much. Tonight, they seemed to have it all working together. They got stops, forced 20 turnovers and got out on the break. We probably won’t be able to do it very often with Pau, but it was enjoyable to see tonight. Looked like a younger, feistier Pau out there on both ends. He was playing animated and moving up and down the court fast. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 10-20 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and no fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He sank the 11-footer off the two-man game with Marshall. He sank a FT jumper off the two-man game. He dunked off the drive and dish from Marshall. He missed a hook across the lane. He missed a shorter lefty jumphook in front of the rim. He attacked baseline but failed on the power up, throwing it up too hard. He drop-stepped and banked in the lefty layup. He saved a pass inbounds to Wes for the score (and good hustle back on D by Pau). He kicked to Kendall for the three. He missed the baseline turnaround on a repost. He nearly traveled on an awkward looking reverse pivot but got the turnaround to fall. He blocked a wing drive, controlled it and pushed out the break to set up Meeks for FTs. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He swatted a drive, it went to Marshall, who quickly outlet to Bazemore for the streaking dunk. He scored off the drive and dish from Marshall. He had 12 points, 5 boards and 3 assists at the half. Second Half: He scored a layup trailing the break when Wes found him (great job by the bigs getting down court). He got outmuscled to give up a putback. He sank the elbow jumper, ticked he didn’t get the foul call. He fumbled a post entry pass away. Nice close out to block a jumper. Quick first step off the pass reception and he threw down with both hands, hanging on the rim and wanting the And-1. He drew FTs on a face-up jumper, he made both. He slammed after we got a transition block and outlet to him still down court. Lane violation cost the Lakers a point (could have been painful had they lost by one). He missed a pull-up elbow jumper. Not close on a flat-footed floater in the lane. He missed a top-of-the-key jumper. He missed a hook on low position out of a timeout. He couldn’t secure a missed FT board getting no help from teammates (looked like Lillard left early at the FT line).

Marshall -- -- Well, he finally got rid of the dubious string of bagels offensively. He came out distributing the ball well from the start and the Lakers got off to a good start. His in-between game is horrible and it’s a surprise whenever he scores something in the midrange. That’s how he broke his scoring slump, though, with a midrange jumper. Farmar would once again finish the game. You can really see Farmar trying to impose his game on the opponent in the fourth quarter. Hopefully, Marshall makes this a tougher decision for D’Antoni by building on this game and scoring some more. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 6 boards, 11 assists, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He worked the two-man game to Pau who hit the short jumper. He hit him for a FT jumper for the Lakers next score. He threaded a pass to Wes beating Aldridge down court for the dunk. He finally scored himself, hitting the wing jumper off the Pau screen. He attacked with speed, drew the D and hit Pau in the lane for the dunk. He knocked a pass loose. He kept an offensive board alive and Wes scored. He swished a wing three on an inside-out sequence. Awkward runner in the lane, not close (he really needs to work on that floater). Quick outlet to a Bazemore streaking for the break. He attacked and was blocked. He missed a long three up against the shotclock. He hit Meeks in transition for the three. He attacked, drew the D just enough off the deep penetration and hit Pau for the score. His transition feed was deflected for a dunk the other way. Second Half: Not close on a step-back jumper up against the shotclock. He got tapped on a layup. He took the handoff off the split play, attacked, ball faked and hit the short one in the lane. He had the ball swiped from him in the backcourt. Great baseball pass to Pau on the break for the dunk. He threw an outlet away next trip down.

Bazemore -- -- The energy he brings to the floor might be a little contagious. He’s hustling, rotating and covering for teammates. When guys see that, you would hope it would get them fired up. However, when you look at a lineup with Wes, Meeks and Bazemore, you’re going to have guys hustling and getting to shooters or bigs in the lane with more frequency. The athleticism just makes a big difference. Nice to see D’Antoni bring Kent back in for a couple of key plays in the final minute. First, he had him in for defensive purposes on a key stop with the Lakers down 1. Bazemore smothered his man in the corner, forced the miss and recovered the layup. (He then pushed it out and was probably lucky it was tipped away from him in transition as he picked up his dribble outside the three line with defenders around…not sure what he was going to do then.) D’Antoni left him in and Kent threw the perfect lob pass to Wes for the game winner with a seconds remaining. Those were key plays to get the W. Prior to that, Kent was stroking the three ball. He pulled up in transition for a couple and knocked them down. He’s got to love playing in a free-wheeling offense like this. Good job on some of his double teams and rotations, good job on the boards and great job getting out in transition tonight. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting (4-5 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He swished a quick-fire transition three from the wing. He missed a step-back jumper from the top of the key. He pulled up in transition and drained another three. He attacked from the wing and couldn’t finish the layup. Quick transition attack, slicing through the D at high speed and he drew FTs, he missed both. Nice board and a quick outlet to Meeks to ignite the break. He went into Blazemore mode and got down the court in a flash off a Pau block, took the outlet and dunked (great job changing ends from under his hoop at one end to the dunk at the other). He missed a long chuck from three trying to beat the shotclock (percentage killer). Second Half: He missed a pull-up at the FT line in transition. He swished a deep three on a Pau kickout. He was called for a clear-out with his off arm trying to create with the clock low. Great help D rotation to deflect a pass and get a stop in the paint. Ill-advised long outlet to Brooks, turnover. He swished a three on the weakside out of a timeout. Great D to challenge a huge jumper in the corner, he then got the board (and had it tipped out of bounds from behind on the break with 7 seconds left).

Meeks -- -- “He did an unbelievable job on Lillard on the last play. He shut him down,” D’Antoni said. We sat Farmar to get a better defensive matchup out there and it was Meeks vs. Lillard on an island the final 6 seconds. Meeks smothered him and forced an airball from long range. That play was over in about 3 seconds when Lillard picked up his dribble at the three line and Meeks was still in his jersey. D’Antoni also mentioned that Meeks has added a lot of stuff to his game that he didn’t have last year. Of course, we have seen the improved handle to get into the lane and finish under control since the beginning of the season. Lately, however, the floater off the dribble has been money. That’s making him even tougher to cover. You can’t chase him off the three line without paying now either at the rim or in no-man’s land in between. He’s always had the hustle D (it was all game long tonight). But you throw in that combination of a more complete offensive threat and the hustle D and now you’ve got a heck of a role player. He’s going to be tough to keep. Love what he’s put into his game this year. Meeks had a couple of slams in this one. One had the Blazers crowd buzzing. “I wanted to keep going and make them call something, but I got to the rim and smashed it down,” Meeks said. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-16 shooting (2-6 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 39 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He missed a layup on the first possession, but drained a quick-fire corner jumper next time down just a few seconds later. He stripped Lillard on help D. He missed a pull-up three off the handoff. He slapped a ball loose to get a stop. Pressure D and another turnover he forced on the sideline. He jammed off the baseline backdoor cut. Same exact play next time in early offense and Meeks scored the layup. He drew FTs on the break with Pau, he made both. He attacked across the lane, took contact as Lopez went straight up and missed the drive. A little ticked he didn’t get a call, he took the inbounds pass, attacked and destroyed the rim with a throwdown. He swished a transition three next time down. He had 13 points at the half. Second Half: He sank a floater from the FT line. He couldn’t’ finish a layup on the break, getting chased down after he stole a pass. He missed a step-back corner three. He missed a wing three. He didn’t inbounds and drew a 5-second call, ouch (and some pissed off words from Farmar). He drained a three off the Farmar kickout in transition. He airballed a pull-up 20-footer. Out on the break and he scored the And-1, getting undercut, he made the FT. He missed a sideline three. Great D on Lillard on the final stand to force him into an airball, just smothered him.

Johnson -- -- Got to love a lob for the win. We’ve seen the play before and the alignment was also similar to when Farmar sank his big threes behind the doubles screens (different play, though). Wes came off the backscreen, elevated and finished over Aldridge for the eventual game winner. Great two-way effort from Wes. This is the small ball play that Wes and the Lakers need to be successful. He ran Aldridge up and down the floor, taking advantage of his speed for multiple scores. This is what Shawn Marion did in this offense. If you have speed and athleticism, use it. If not, you give the opponent the advantage. Aldridge scored 21 on 9-19, however, Ryan Kelly was getting taken to school a little in the first half for several of those scores. We sent doubles quite a bit to try to force Aldridge to pick up his dribble and help our PFs. Once we did that, it got a little uncomfortable for LaMarcus. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 7-11 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He missed a quick-fire wing jumper in transition. Great job running the floor to beat Aldridge down court and dunk. He sank a sideline jumper off the Pau pitch out. Nice switch to cut off the baseline and force a turnover. He jumped the lane, slapped down the pass, tracked it down, missed the layup, Marshall kept it alive and Wes tipped it, gathered it and powered up and in. He jumped another passing lane and swiped a pass. Pau saved it into him for a layup. He picked up his second foul on a great challenge above the rim to save a hoop and he had to sit with 3 minutes left in the quarter. Nice high-low read to set up Brooks for FTs. Great job again beating his man down court and Meeks found him for the layup. He missed a wing three at the buzzer. He had 10 points, 6 boards and 2 steals at the half. Second Half: He pumpfaked and hit the baseline jumper, beating his man down court again. Great read after beating his man down court, taking a long pass, he fed Pau trailing for the layup. He forced Aldridge to hesitate on a jumper and get a 3 second call. Great D with Bazemore in transition to reject a layup and it led to a quick dunk for Pau on the other end. He attacked and threw a pass out of bounds. He fouled a three shooter at the end of the quarter. He out lep Aldridge for a lob pass off a Farmar backscreen to take the 1-point lead (play took barely a second) and left 6 seconds left.

Farmar -- -- First off, great backscreen by Farmar to free up Wes for that lob. In the fourth quarters, Farmar is coming to win games. The attitude of the team has changed with his return and the addition of our two new younglings. They were slumping and wallowing in their failure, but that’s starting to change. March is going to be tough, though. Good defensive subs by D’Antoni down the stretch. Farmar wasn’t having much success on the defensive end in crunch time. MDA went with length at the guards and the Lakers got two key stops to secure the win. Some nice passes by Farmar in this game (he and Meeks teamed up on two straight plays on that backdoor baseline cut play). The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He was called for a push off on an inbounds pass. He drained a wing three in transition a few seconds later. Nice feed to Meeks on the baseline backdoor cut for the slam. Same exact play next time down and Meeks scored the layup. He missed a wing three. He swiped a ball at midcourt but couldn’t score on a runner as the quarter ended. Nice bounce pass to Sacre under the hoop for the score. He backdoored his man, took the pass, drew the D and set up Sacre for FTs. He stepped on the gas from the wing and scored the layup. He missed a wing jumper. Second Half: Sloppy kickout and we couldn’t recover it. He kicked back out to Meeks in transition for the three. He missed a step-through bank in the lane. He curled around the screen, took the handoff and confidently drained the runner. He attacked from the wing, had his man on his hip and flipped in the long scoop. He missed a three in transition, he wanted that one (would have been his third score in a row). He was stripped in transition on his way for a layup (the Blazers hit a three the other way, 5-point switch…big sequences). He was called for a foul on a challenge on Lillard with 35 seconds left, score tied.

Brooks -- -- He had some offensive moves right out of Kobe’s book in this game. Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish like Kobe. Just goes to show how automatic Kobe makes things look with such a variety of skills. Despite the poor shooting, Brooks was able to scratch out some points at the line. Defensively, Brooks had a strong game at times on help rotations, but breakdowns as well boxing out his man (once for a putback dunk, the other on a critical FT miss with 30 seconds left). It seems like such a simple thing, but you don’t want that bad habit. Possessions are the name of the game and you can’t give them away like that. Speaking of which, he should have had a backcourt violation not bringing it up fast enough in crunch time (he nearly had another one earlier). D’Antoni was screaming his head off, but it was too loud to hear. So surprised the refs didn’t call that one. Had it been earlier in the game, they most likely would have. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 1-9 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a one-hander off a spin. He curled off a wing screen, took the pass, reversed directions, attacked and missed a pumping layup, but Sacre cleaned it up (very nice drive, though). He posted up, was fronted and drew FTs on the high-low feed from Wes. He traveled in transition. Second Half: Nice help challenge on a jumper to get a stop. He probed and drew FTs on a herky-jerky drive, he made both. He got his man on his hip and kept him there like Kobe, but didn’t finish the one-hander in the lane like Kobe would. Quick board and outlet before evening coming down and it led to a Meeks breakaway score. Nice help D rotation to save a hoop with a deflection. He probed in early offense and finished off the glass with a soft touch. He attacked quickly and missed the drive, but Kelly cleaned it up. He stripped a handoff to get a stop. Another great weakside rotation to swipe the ball and save it. He grabbed a loose ball with the shotclock low, attacked from the wing and drew FTs in the lane, he made both. He gave up a putback dunk not boxing out. He attacked, up-faked, stepped through like Kobe, but didn’t finish the shot like him. He missed a wide open jumper with under a minute left. He didn’t box out Lillard on a missed FT and gave up a key offensive board down 1 with 30 seconds left.

Henry -- -- A brief stint from Xavier. He looked a little heavy in his game. It may take a little bit of time to get that jump back in his step. Both drive he took he was blocked on. Usually, he’s hanging, drawing contact and getting to the line. They may have to work him back in slowly. Defensively, though, I love seeing our length and athleticism back on the floor. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting in 5 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He attacked from the wing and was blocked from behind. Euro step down the lane and he was swatted out of bounds. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Kelly -- -- He had his hands full with Aldridge defensively, who was lighting him up early on. In the second half, Kelly had some scrappy plays on that end of the court to hold his own. (We also stopped leaving him on the island.) Looks like he’s back in the favored rotation status with D’Antoni (unlike Jordan Hill, who didn’t play in this one). Some better moments in the last couple of games. Hopefully, he’s pushed through his slump. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a corner three. He attacked in transition and was blocked. He was getting lit by Aldridge in the post on those turnarounds. He posted up a smaller man and had his shot goaltended. He picked up his second foul and sat. Second Half: He stripped a guard on a double team. He stripped Aldridge clean as he turned to shoot to get a stop. He cleaned up a Brooks drive and miss.

Sacre -- -- He ticked off Lopez when he kicked his loose shoe out of bounds. Sacre didn’t care. That might have been payback for the poster job that Lopez gave him earlier in the game. Scrappy game from Robert. He scored some chippies around the rim, getting set up by teammates or cleaning up their penetration. This is the kind of game you hope he can have consistently. He was a little foul prone, but was trying to keep the scores in the paint to a minimum. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He kept a couple of offensive boards alive on one possession. Then got the ball in the post and was tapped on the jumphook. He slapped a ball loose on the other end to get a stop. He missed a runner that he looked like he wanted to dunk. He put back in the missed Brooks drive. He hit the short jumphook in a crowd when Farmar set him up. He was fouled on the dunk attempt off the Farmar feed, he made both FTs. He got posterized by Lopez (Sacre was smiling about that one on the bench as the timeout came). Second Half: He gathered a pass he fumbled and hit the short one on the baseline. He kicked Lopez’s shoe out of bounds.

D’Antoni -- – It’s weird how my muscle memory works. Normally, when typing up this section, I’m writing about the Lakers being “down by” x amount. From nearly start to finish in this one it was “up by,” but I kept erasing after my fingers automatically typed “down by.” Happened again and again. That’s just a sad state of Lakers… Midway through the first quarter, the Lakers led 17-9. Tempo very fast, Lakers with a 7-0 advantage on the break… Up 9, he sat Marshall for Farmar with 4 minutes left… He brought in Brooks for Bazemore up by 12. After another hoop, they forced a Blazer timeout… Kelly for Johnson when Wes picked up his second foul with 3 minutes left… He brought in Sacre for Pau… He brought in Xavier with 10 seconds left for Meeks… The Lakers led 33-20 after the first quarter (this would be the only quarter they would win)… He started a Sacre, Kelly, Xavier, Brooks, Farmar unit next quarter… He subbed back in Wes for Kelly who picked up his second foul, Lakers up 11. Athletic defensive unit, but a little undersized until the Blazers go small themselves and sit Aldridge… A 20-6 advantage in the paint so far for the Lakers… He sat Brooks for Bazemore up 10… He brought back in Pau, Meeks, Marshall for Farmar, Sacre and Henry… The lead was quickly trimmed down to 4 and D’Antoni called a timeout… The Lakers turned on the speed off defensive stops and pushed the lead back out to 9 to force a timeout. They are imposing their game on the Blazers… The Lakers led 63-56 at the half. The Lakers shot 45% in the half (5-11 3PT), the Blazers 51%. The Lakers had a 22-4 advantage on the break with 18 assists in the first half… Up 7, he sat Blazemore for Meeks this time with 4 minutes left in the third… Back-to-back threes by the Blazers and the lead was just 3. D’Antoni called a timeout to settle the crowd down… He brought in Farmar for Marshall and Sacre for Pau. Bazemore swished a three out of that timeout. Lakers not folding… The Lakers led 87-84 heading into the fourth… He started a Sacre, Kelly, Brooks, Meeks, Farmar unit… Up 9, he brought in Wes for Kelly with under 6 minutes left… A 5-point switch and the Lakers led by just 2. D’Antoni took a timeout with 3:30 left… Up 2 with 1:30 left and he called a timeout to go to Pau, who missed… He brought in Bazemore for Farmar on D. They got the stop. Down 1 with 7 seconds left. D’Antoni timeout. Pau, Wes, Bazemore, Meeks, Farmar in offensively. Sweet lob pass to Johnson off the backdoor from Bazemore for the score with 6 seconds left… He sat Farmar for Brooks defensively on the other end. Meeks shut down Lillard on iso… Lakers won the break 32-9…

[SweetP]

Great win.
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[lakersfreak]

Thx DB

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[mhan00]

Fun, fun game. That was a great play drawn up by MDA to win the game.

[Omar Little]

I'm starting to like the Marshall, Farmar, Meeks, Baze backcourt.
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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

[GoldenThroat]

That was a fun game. I'm glad they pulled that out...they were definitely the team that deserved the win.

[LakerEric]

I still love it when the Lakers win despite the fact draft position is more important at this time. I don't care...win!

[playground]

Once swaggy P is back, and Henry gets back in shape, this team could easily go over .500 in the remainder of the season. It's not that bad of a team, just utterly destroyed by zillions of injuries.

[E_Wulf420]

Wes Johnson.
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[Koalita]

[cisternachyli]

no QFTOS? Or has that been nixed for the Tankfest

[yinoma2001]

Heart and soul of this team is Farmar. Love his moxy. We will need guys like him next year who WANT to be a Laker. He has now gone through the highs (2 rings) and the lows (this season).
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[lakerjoshua]

Thanks DB! Awesome game!

[Gimme_the_rock]

[Rawr]

[Klone_dd]

That may have been the first full exhibition of MDA style bball. The court was wide open; the team, fast and attacking, more health and athleticism out there. Very entertaining when they're hitting shots.