PELICANS -at- LAKERS - 3-4-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Defense? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Defense… On second thought, just a little would have been nice.

The Lakers fell to the visiting Pelicans 132-125, helping New Orleans snap their 8-game losing streak. In Tankerville, this was a huge game.

For Staples, it was a disappointing loss. The Lakers nearly came back from a 20-point hole, but couldn’t get over the hump in the fourth quarter.

Sparked by Kent Bazemore on offense and Ryan Kelly on D, they turned things around in the third quarter. Kelly was coming up huge in the paint, blocking shots, taking charges and giving the Lakers their only presence down there all game. Bazemore turned on the speed and athleticism and imposed his energy on the game with 13 points in that third on his way to another career high 23 points.

Laker fans take a lot of crap, but if you listened to Staples in the fourth quarter against the lowly Pelicans, you would have thought it was playoff game. You think this would happen in a front running town like Miami? Forget it. It was loud until the end. They aren’t even playing for the playoffs, but the fans were battling with the team right there to the end.


Gasol -- -- He had the Lakers first 13 points before another Laker finally scored in this one. He also had another scoring binge to open the second half. Good job by his teammates setting him up, as well, for a lot of easy ones. After making all 7 FTs in the first half, he missed 4 straight in the second half and some big ones late. He knows had he hit his FTs in the second half, the outcome could be different. Great offensive game from Pau. Defensively, we gave up way too many straight line drives to the rim. With Pau back there, we’ve got to give at least some token D in front of him. It wasn’t there. He’s not going to erase any hoops when guys are driving to the rim at high speed. Those are the ones he’ll watch go by before even thinking about reacting. The team D was way too loose and exposed our paint issues. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 10-15 shooting (9-14 from the line) to go with 12 boards (5 offensive), 4 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a hook in the lane on the first possession. He took a pass in traffic from Kendall and scored at the front of the rim next time down. Low position and he was hacked as he went up to score, he made both FTs. He drew FTs when Bazemore found him with the bounce pass, he made both. He kept a board alive, got it back in the post, attacked baseline, faked one way and reversed the other. He attacked to his left, took contact and banked in the fading And-1, he made the FT (11 straight points for Pau). He missed a face-up wing jumper. He sank a pull-up in the lane (13 straight before someone else finally scored). He missed a jumper from the top of the lane. He blocked a shot out of bounds. He attacked, took contact and coughed up the ball. He dunked off the Farmar bounce pass on the two-man game. He drew FTs and made both. He missed a jumphook in the middle of the paint. He was stripped in the post. He had 17 points on 5-9 shooting (7-7 FTs). Second Half: He drew FTs on a bounce pass in the paint, he missed both. He cleaned up a missed Farmar runner with the point-blank putback. He follow-tipped a missed drive by Wes. Bazemore set him up on a drive and dish for the layup. He took the bounce pass from Farmar in the paint for the layup. He kicked to Bazemore for the three. He missed the open FT jumper. He attacked across the lane, took contact and scored on the continuation, he missed the And-1 FT. He grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled on the putback, he made one FT. He drew FTs off that lob play we ran last game (which we didn’t have the lob on and went deeper into the sequence that turned into Farmar attacking off the Pau screen), he got tapped on the first FT, made the second to trail by 3, ouch.

Marshall -- -- His D was pretty nonexistent out there. Guys would just waltz around him to the rim with ease. Whether it was that or the bagel shooting in the first half, he sat to start the second half. Farmar brings more fire and maybe D’Antoni was hoping to spark a fire. Kendall slumped his way to another bagel offensively. He distributed the ball well, but teams know he’s not a threat to score and that’s hurting. He’s got to develop that midrange game. It’s there for the taking. Will Marshall come off the bench again in the next one? “Might be that way Thursday,” D’Antoni said. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting to go with 1 boards, 10 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He attacked, drew the D and hit Pau behind for the layup. Poor feed to Meeks who had a bad angle on the curl and they coughed it up. He biffed a layup on a drive through traffic. He airballed a wing jumper up against the shotclock. He attacked, showed the ball and missed a high scoop prayer over the D. Sloppy post entry pass and it was picked off. He short armed a floater in the paint (please work on that). He kicked out to Meeks for the three. He had 6 assists at the half. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Bazemore -- -- Big third quarter from Kent to help spark life into the Lakers and the crowd. He was attacking with speed and draining threes on inside-out sequences. He had 13 points in that quarter and cut a huge lead down to just 6 at one point before he sat. That changed the game for the Lakers. He imposed his energy on the game and good things happened. Late in the game, he couldn’t hit some clutch threes to push the Lakers over the top. We had little margin for error with all the points we were giving up on the other end. When this team is at its best, I think you see Bazemore flying up and down the court. Defense usually leading to offense in those instances. If the Lakers get some shut down defenders out there, you might see a lot more of that. They need to play more like last night, making it tough to get into the paint and tough to finish there. Way to easy. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-17 shooting (4-9 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a wing three in transition. He crossed over, then got twisted in the lane and missed the forced prayer. He set up Pau for FTs off a bounce pass in the paint. He swished a rainbow corner three over Davis closing on him. He swished a baseline jumper off an inbounds pass. He blocked Evans while staying on his feet, but then coughed it up in transition seconds later. He had 5 points on 2-4 shooting at the half. Second Half: He finally decided to attack and blew past the D for a layup. He drained a long three on the Pau kickout next time down. He attacked with speed again, drew the D and bounced to Pau for the layup. He picked a man from behind, pushed it out and scored the breakaway layup. He drained another three on the Pau kickout. He got tapped on a layup at the rim he should have had. He pushed out the block at high speed, took contact but couldn’t score the twisting And-1 layup, he made one FT. He filled the lane with speed and Brooks found him with the tap pass for the layup. He attacked the paint, missed but Sacre easily tipped it in. He attacked with speed and drew more FTs on the drive, he made both. He missed a three on a kickout from Pau. He faced up and swished a wing three up against the shotclock. He missed a big corner three with over a minute left that would have cut it to 1, Staples wanted it. He stood in and took a clutch charge to erase a hoop down 4 with 22 seconds left. He airballed a three down 5 with 13 seconds left, ouch. He missed another chuck at three at the end of the game.

Meeks -- -- Sort of a quiet game from Meeks, but you look at the stat line and you see 17 points and 3 steals. I wouldn’t mind seeing Meeks defending the PG with Bazemore, Xavier or Brooks out there without a PG to see if you can dial up the defense with some length/athleticism. Our PGs and SGs struggled quite a bit defensively (Roberts with 19 points on 10 shots, Gordon scoring 28). Just switch everything, cut down on the massive dribble penetration and see if you can change it up. Or go to a zone. We can’t just give up 132 without mixing things up in key spots to try to be more disruptive. “We couldn’t really give them angles and we did that pretty much all night,” Meeks said of the Lakers current schemes where they try to funnel. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-12 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He swiped a pass. He missed a three from the top of the arc. He attacked baseline and reversed. He missed a wing three. He was blocked on a baseline drive. He cut backdoor on the baseline, took the pass and reversed. He took an outlet and scored the layup. He coughed up the ball in the corner. He swished a three on the Marshall kickout at the end of the half. He had 9 points on 4-7 shooting. Second Half: He jumped the passing lane, swiped the ball and took it for the two-footed dunk. He missed an early offense three. He attacked off the three line, took contact and muscled in the And-1 floater, he made the FT. He missed a floater. He drained the wing three off the quick Farmar handoff.

Johnson -- -- He couldn’t outrun Davis like he did Aldridge and Davis played a much more versatile game. Wes got into some foul trouble in this one, losing the PF battle convincingly. Kelly did a much better job at PF and in the team D sequences. There were times in this one where Wes was just lost on D, guys pointing at spaces and where someone should have been. We tried to go full court a couple of times with our defensive pressure and Wes looked just as lost there, too. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: Too easy a layup for Davis on a drive (Davis scoring with ease early on). He missed a one-hander on the baseline. He ball-faked, attacked, left the floor early and drew FTs on a dunk attempt over a big, he made both. He missed a corner jumper. Second Half: He threw a rocket post entry pass right through Pau’s hands. He sank a wing jumper. He attacked, took contact and missed a layup, but Pau tipped it in (probably should have passed to Pau to begin with). Back in and he sank a big wing three. Big offensive putback score for Davis behind him, that hurt.

Farmar -- -- Offensively, Farmar dropped 20 points on 12 shots and 8 assists with just 1 turnover. You’ll take that every night of the week. Problem was we gave it up too easily on the other end. He had some trouble with Roberts in the fourth quarter defensively that cost us. “Should have just got some stops when we needed it,” Farmar said. “I think that was a little stretch that hurt us a lot in the fourth quarter and I take responsibility for that.” Love seeing him step up and take the blame. He knows it has to start with D. We need his offense out there, but we’ve got to get stops. If we aren’t then, we may need to go to something a little more unconventional defensively until guys understand there’s an emphasis on D and consequences if you don’t play it. You just can’t outscore an opponent when you give up 132. Loved seeing the offensive fight in Farmar down the stretch. He was right in the middle of it all. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (2-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 26 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He got a kind bounce on the floater in the lane. He worked the ball to Pau cutting behind him off the two-man game for the jam. He missed a long three at the buzzer. He attacked from the wing and hit the soft runner off the glass. He drained a three behind a screen. He telegraphed a pass off the two-man game (two big a wind up) and it was picked off for a dunk. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He posted up and missed the turnaround in the paint (wanted the foul). He attacked from the wing, took contact, concentrated and finished, he made the And-1 FT. He bricked a runner high off the glass, but Pau cleaned it up. He curled into the lane, drew the D and bounced to Pau for the layup. He fouled a three shooter. He scooped up a loose ball, pushed it out, fumbled it and scooped in a layup. He pulled up around a screen, got hit from behind but still sank the And-1, 18-footer to cut it to 5 with the FT make. He attacked and drew FTs on the pass off, he made both. Huge sequence down 8, they had to get a score, Farmar rose up and drained the wing three to cut it to 5 with 2:10 left. He missed a pull-up three with 40 seconds left down by 4. He set up Pau for FTs off the inbounds pass and attack.

Brooks -- -- Not much of a game from Brooks in this one. He seemed to be a little unsure offensively at times. Travels, awkward shots…it just seemed to take a little while before he had any bit comfort out there. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He was called for a travel trying to create. Second Half: He missed a floater, got it back and missed a fading bank (seemed to be second guessing everything on that sequence). He pushed out a loose ball, had it poked away but tap passed to Bazemore streaking to his left for the layup. He shook off a screen, iso’d and was stripped. He attacked across the lane, hung and hit the one-hander. He attacked in transition and stepped around a defender like Kobe and finished the shot this time. He attacked and hit Xavier for FTs.

Henry -- -- Much better game from X. We saw some more attacking offensively. He had a few trips to the line, like his old self. Defensively, he doesn’t look there yet. Guys were going around him with some ease at times. He got crossed over badly. He doesn’t look like himself at all on that end. He was one of our best defenders when healthy, so expect that to come around as he gets a few more games under his belt. The Stats: The Action: He attacked off his first touch, drew contact and the whistle, he made one FT. He attacked the paint and wrapped a pass to Kelly through a couple of defenders for the dunk. He attacked, shed a man on contact but couldn’t finish (Sacre did easily). He missed a pull-up wing jumper on iso. He drained a three on a kickout. He lost the ball in transition, got it back and banked in the layup. Evans just went right around him for the layup. He had 6 points at the half. Second Half: In for Bazemore and he coughed up the ball on a drive. He iso’d and missed the baseline jumper (drive, please). He threw down on the break when we swiped a ball and outlet quickly. He attacked down the lane, hung and swished the one-hander. He got crossed over badly and it led to a dunk. He cut off of MarShon’s drive, took the pass and contact for FTs, he made both.

Kelly -- -- He and Bazemore have lockers next to each other. That’s where the press should have been. Some great D by Kelly in this game during a stretch that helped the Lakers come back. He was blocking shots, altering shots and taking charges. While Bazemore was doing it on offense, Kelly was igniting the fire on D. We badly needed it this game. He provided the lone stretch of good D during that third/fourth quarter run. He’s been blocking shots and making plays with some consistency on that end, which isn’t easy on this team. You have to understand he’s still a rookie and still learning. In the first halves of each of these last couple of games, he struggled some on D. In the second halves, he made adjustments and tightened things up, holding his own. Get a little more strength on him and experience and see how he develops. So far so good, but there’s a maturation process for the young guys. Usually, late first rounders or second rounders need three years to round into shape and really know what their career arc will look like. Hopefully, the growth continues. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He blocked a three. He slammed off the drive and dish by Xavier. Second Half: Great challenge on Davis to force a brick. Looked like he blocked him on his next attempt but was called for the foul. He swatted Gordon’s drive. He blocked another drive to ignite a Laker break. He stepped in and took a charge next time down to get another stop. He up-faked, attacked to his right and hit the tricky baseline fade before falling into the crowd (cut it to 6). He rejected a shot, spiking it off a Pelican and out of bounds. Another smothering defensive sequence and the Lakers got out in transition for another score.

Sacre -- -- You could have made a case for leaving Sacre and Kelly in there longer with how that unit was doing. They had the best +/- of the night with their defensive work, clogging that paint better than the Pau/Wes lineup. With Pau, you can’t give up straight line drives. That’s usually a score. Sacre and Kelly anticipate and challenge better on those team D rotations. Offensively, he also did a good job getting to the front of the rim off our guard penetration and cleaning up or taking passes for easy ones. I sure wish he had about 3 more inches on him. He’s afraid to finish strong and even when he did tonight, he missed the dunk. Plus, some of those fouls on challenges would be blocks, as well. Vitti needs to figure out something to solve this problem. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards (4 offensive), 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: Nice foul to prevent Davis throwing it down, nothing else he could do there on help D. Not close on a lefty jumphook. He up-faked off the bounce pass, took contact, but biffed the And-1 finish (got to make those), he made one FT. He tipped in a missed drive by Xavier. He was called for an offensive foul on a turnaround in the paint, leading with the elbow. Second Half: He powered up the pass/miss from Bazemore for a layup. He missed the short one in the lane (probably could have attacked the rim). He tried attacking the rim, powering up and he missed the dunk, uggh, got to finish those. He tipped in the putback off the Bazemore drive and miss on the layup. He short-armed a floater in the lane, got it back and hit the second time.

D’Antoni -- -- Down 9-4 after 3 minutes and D’Antoni called a timeout… He sat Bazemore for Brooks a minute later… Pau was the only Laker scoring down 15-13… He sat Marshall and Meeks for Bazemore and Farmar with 4 minutes left down 9. The Laker D was too loose and Wes had problems against Davis… He brought in Kelly for Wes… Down 11, he brought in Sacre for Pau… He subbed in Xavier for MarShon down 14… Davis had 17 points against Johnson and Kelly in the first quarter… The Lakers trailed 35-23 after the first… He started a Sacre, Kelly, Bazemore, Henry, Farmar unit… Down 13, he sat Kelly and Bazemore for Johnson and Meeks… He subbed out Farmar for Marshall down 11 … He sat Sacre for Pau, then Xavier for Bazemore shortly later… Laker D just allowing scores at will at the rim… The Lakers hit a three at the end of the half to cut the lead down to 16. Barely dodged giving up 70 to the Pelicans in the half… The Lakers trailed 67-51 at the half. The Lakers shot 47% (18-38, 4-10 3PT, 11-13 FT). The Pelicants shot 57% (25-44, 4-11 3PT, 13-15 FT). The Pelicans had 34 points in the paint… He sat Marshall for Farmar to start the second half… Horrible full-court D out of a timeout and they gave up FTs in just a couple seconds. That got Wes benched with his fourth foul for Kelly… He subbed in Brooks for Meeks… Bazemore and Pau getting the Lakers back in it… He sat Farmar and Pau for Sacre and Marshall… Some great D by Kelly in this stretch and they cut the lead to just 6… He sat Bazemore for Xavier (ride the young man, he was on fire)… The Lakers trailed 95-85 heading into the fourth… They quickly cut it back down to 4 behind some more excellent D from Kelly. That resulted in a Pelican timeout… He brought in Meeks and Farmar for Brooks and Marshall down 6… Same deficit, he brought in Bazemore for Xavier… Down 9, he brought in Pau for Sacre… Down 4 after missing a couple of threes that could have brought it to 1 and D’Antoni called a timeout with 22 seconds left. He ran that same lob play, but the Pelicans took the lob away, so we saw Farmar pop out for a possible three, which wasn’t quite there. He attacked off a quick screen-roll with Pau and set up Pau for FTs. So you saw a good full cycle of that entire play… Lakers missed some threes down the stretch that maybe could have been drives. Definitely died by the three in the final minute… The Lakers shot 54.1%, the Pelicans shot 59.7%...

[SweetP]

Well, the win streak was fun while it lasted...

And I'm liking this Bazemore kid.
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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

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB.

[mhan00]

Kelly should have finished the game. Rob, no. He's terrible and he's the master at giving up and ones. Hard worker and he tries, but no actual talent or skill. When we don't leave Kelly on an island all alone, he's actually shown a decent ability to help on d. Shocking.

[epak]

Imagine if Gasol didn't miss those 5 free throws.
Kelly played surprisingly good defense today.
Sacre needs to learn when to just give up the layup sometimes.

[LaxT]

[Anthem_Joker]

Pringles should of just went along with the line up of Xavier, Marshall, Brooks, Kelly, and Sacre in the fourth quarter. They were just starting to heat up right before he decided to sub them out. -_-

[PLATNUM]

Pau's numbers ring hollow for me sometimes. The guy can't go up and secure a rebound with any authority whatsoever. Guards consistently poke the ball away from him or give him a little bump and the guy flails his arms, screams like he's being assaulted and loses the ball. Sick of it.

During some FTs, Xavier (not the coach) had to tell Sacre and Wes to switch defensively so Wes could guard the smaller Aminu and Sacre could take Davis. That's just sad.

During New Orleans' 8 game losing streak, the Pelicans were averaging 92 points per GAME. They had 95 at the end of 3 quarters tonight vs the Lakers.

Check. Mate.

[Shaber]

Thanks DB, great recap as usual. You are spoiling us.

[Chronicle]

These high 120 point games remind me of the games from the 80s.
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Kobe

[LakersMDGurl]