CLIPPERS -at- LAKERS - 3-6-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Nothing to See Here… The Lakers were outscored by 31 points in the second quarter of the game. They trailed by as many as 51 before it was over. They gave up 142 points.

Let those numbers sink in for a moment.

There. Now move on. Nothing to see here. The Lakers fell 142-94 to the Clippers. The worse loss in franchise history numbers wise, and they fell a half a game behind the Jazz for last place in the West.

Just think of it as half a game ahead in the lottery. That’s all you can do.

The Tank-a-thon continues…

Gasol -- -- This is the kind of game where you sit Pau after his first stint in the third quarter. That’s what happened. It was garbage time at halftime. Let him make a token appearance in the third quarter (like the Laker team did in the second quarter). Then sit him. By the time he came back in during that second quarter destruction, the starters looked defeated already. They had put together a strong first quarter, down by just 2. But they were now in a hole that was getting deeper fast. Twenty more games, Pau. The Stats: He scored 21 point son 8-15 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -36. The Action: He backed Jordan down and hit the jumphook. He got tapped on the jumphook next time down. He drew FTs on an elbow jumper, he made both. He scooped up the loose ball, pushed out the break, ball-faked to turn CP3 completely around and finished with a finger roll, so sweet. He missed an 18-footer. Change of pace past Jordan to pick up his second foul and he missed the And-1 layup, he made both FTs. He hit a jumphook in the lane off the Marshall feed. He missed a floater in the lane. He missed a two-footer in the post he should have had after losing Baby. He missed a high arching turnaround. He swished a face-up wing jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He scored a layup taking a pass after rolling to the hoop. He scored a layup off the no-look bounce pass from Bazemore. Second Half: He couldn’t finish a layup in a crowd. He grabbed an offensive board and put it back in. He drew FTs rolling to the hoop and taking a pass from Bazemore, he made one. Bazemore spotted him under the hoop for a layup.

Marshall -- -- His confidence is completely shot. The wide open threes he was hitting earlier in the year are a thing of the past. The open midrange game that is always there for him is his nemesis. It seems so long ago when he was able to drop double digits with relative ease. Now, it’s just a surprise if a shot falls. D’Antoni started Farmar in the second half, then went to Bazemore at PG when Farmar sat shortly later. Flea might have been able to suit up and get the next rotation at PG. Maybe David Rivers is out there somewhere. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 4 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a three on a post kickout. He stripped Jordan from behind on help D. He hit Pau in the middle of the lane for the short jumphook. He stepped in and drew a charge on CP3 in transition. He missed a wing three. He missed the wide open elbow jumper, got to hit those. He attacked and had his pass picked off trying to thread it to Pau, dunk the other way. Second Half: Practically passed it right to a Clipper off the dribble. He rattled in a short wing jumper in transition. He telegraphed a kickout, layup the other way. He hit a pull up from the top of the key. He thudded another wing three. He choked an open 8-footer in the lane, got to hit those. He finally hit a wing three in transition.

Bazemore -- -- It’s games like this (and the remaining 20 left) that I’m glad we have Kent Bazemore. At least there’s something interest to watch. Good hustle throughout the game. His energy, athleticism and speed are always there, but we also ran him at PG some in the second half so you could see his passing ability…a good idea. What you hope is that he doesn’t learn bad habits – the long chucks with nothing there instead of moving the ball. Running him as the playmaker forces him to look at the whole court and set teammates up. He’s got some excellent passing ability, so getting game to develop it was nice to see. Wish we could have seen a little more of it. According to Miller, D’Antoni compared Bazemore to Cooper. He’s got a ways to go to be a defensive player of the year type of talent in this league. He’s certainly got the athleticism for it and the passing ability. I’d be happy if Bazemore could make FTs like Coop. Start there. (I’d be happy if we could just get Coop to coach D for this team.) The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-9 shooting (1-4 from three, 5-10 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -29. The Action: Quick counter attack and he drew FTs on the breakaway getting hit in the head, he made one. He threw a pass away, but rejected the layup in transition to get the stop (get that out of here). Pretty stretching reverse layup in transition. He swished a three straight away out of a timeout. He iso’d and missed the long chuck, poor shot selection, three the other way. He drew FTs off the dribble, he made one. He attacked in transition and scored around a man. Then he drew an offensive foul on Griffin a few seconds later at midcourt for FTs, he missed both. He airballed a three. He hit Pau with a bounce pass for a layup. Second Half: He missed a long chuck on iso. He airballed a corner three. He hit Pau rolling for FTs. After dishing to Wes, who missed a three, Bazemore grabbed the board and hit Pau for the layup. He hit Sacre for the uncontested score off the two-man game. He couldn’t finish a flip in working off the two-man game. He knocked a ball loose to ignite a break. He attacked from the corner in transition for a layup. Turnover trying to attack a crowd. He filled the lane with Kelly and drew FTs on the break, he made both. He attacked the offensive zone with speed and drew FTs, he made one.

Meeks -- -- He was a -45. A -45. He took CP3 defensively while Marshall took Barnes to start. We were up for the challenge early on and Meeks was playing him well. Then it became garbage time and the game was already decided. Meeks D and hustle on that end disappeared. Offensively, nothing worthwhile mentioning. The Lakers offense looked like we ran about two plays all game. Very disjointed. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-11 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -45. The Action: He curled into the lane and finished a tough floater over Jordan. He missed a corner three. He swished a long wing jumper in early offense. He missed a wing three out of a timeout. He missed a runner after taking some contact with no call. Not close on a baseline pull-up. He fumbled a pass away. Second Half: Not close on a floater after breaking some ankles on the drive. He made a tech FT. He scored a layup on the backdoor baseline play (looked like the first thing we actually knew what we were doing on). He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a short one.

Johnson -- -- He got the assignment against Griffin defensively. Wes used his athleticism, speed and length pretty well earlier on. The second quarter, we were just a mess on both ends. Wes was awful offensively and this quickly became a one-sided battle. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-9 shooting (0-7 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -40. The Action: He deflected a bounce pass and it led to the breakaway score. He hesitated then missed the three. He deflected a pass on the other end to ignite a break. He was called for a charge on a pass off. Nice pressure D on Blake to force a turnover. He missed a corner three. Soft And-1 foul on Blake in transition to give up an And-1. Second Half: He missed a three in transition. Horrible idea trying to hit a turnaround jumper in the post over Griffin, not close, airball by about 4 feet. He missed a wing three. He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Xavier. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a sideline three.

Farmar -- -- Not Farmar’s night. He was sloppy with the ball. The Lakers were too far down for any of his energy and leadership to make a dent. After a horrible start in the second half, he faded into the night with the rest of them. No threat at all in this one. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-5 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -39. The Action: He missed a pull up at the top of the key. He threaded a nice bounce pass to Sacre off the two-man game for the score. His pass was picked off trying to work the two-man game. He attacked and was fouled for FTs, he made one. He missed a long wing three on iso. Second Half: His bounce pass was picked off at midcourt for a dunk. He missed a wing three. He swished a three on a kickout. He hit Meeks cutting backdoor for the layup. He missed a layup on a drive down the middle.

Brooks -- -- He looked awful in his first stint. The Laker suckfest only made things worse. He seems to be consistently good at getting one or two travel calls per game. Not sure why he’s always trying to take that extra step or shuffle step. Offensively, he was slowly finding his range after missing, then missing a little less, then missing even less. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He didn’t hit rim on a wing three in transition. He up-faked and was blocked in the paint. He probed in transition and did one of his shuffle-foot travels. Second Half: He took a dribble and missed a three with a man on. He attacked in transition, spun and scored the layup. He missed a wing three on iso. Another travel on a drive, sheesh. He sank a three next time down. He crossed over and scored the floater at the front of the rim. He hit Kelly in the lane for a layup. He missed a chuck from three.

Henry -- -- He missed quite a few chippies in this game. Not that it would have made a difference, but he’s still getting his legs and touch back. His jumper looked pretty solid. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-10 shooting (3-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a driving layup he should have had in transition. He dished to Sacre for the open jumper. He swished a three when his man sagged off. He attacked off the three line and hit the floater in the paint. Pressure D in transition and he forced the turnover. He crossed over and couldn’t hit the hooking layup. Second Half: He drained a sideline three on a swing pass. He threw a pass away. He missed a long jumper on iso. He attacked, drew the D and dished to Wes for the layup. He missed a layup in transition, dunk the other way. He hit the pull-up from the elbow in transition. He missed a drive. He sank a corner three. He was fouled in transition, he made both FTs.

Kelly -- -- Plenty of garbage time for Kelly in this one. He had a 4-point play. He’s not as adept at this as Nick Young, but he does seem somewhat consistent. Decent job on the boards, but it was garbage time. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 steal and no fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He attacked from the wing, spun and wasn’t close on the finish. He drew FTs on his next attack, he made one. Second Half: He missed a wing three on an inbounds. He hit an And-1 wing three, he made the FT. He scored a layup on the interior feed. Nice bounce pass to Bazemore on the break for FTs.

Sacre -- -- Kind of wish he had a mean streak in him. Come off the bench, get physical, get the blood pumping and flowing. Put an edge to the Lakers fight and maybe spark them to fight. He just took the beating with the rest of them. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-7 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He was called for a travel on the pass off. He sank an open baseline jumper. He scooped up a loose ball and got a shot off to beat the shotclock, but couldn’t knock it down from the baseline. He hit the short one off the great bounce pass from Farmar in the corner. He got out run by Jordan to give up a dunk. Second Half: He scored off the Bazemore feed on the two-man game. He faced up and swished a jumper. He fumbled a pass away on the screen-roll. He attacked and was fouled trying to pull up, he made both FTs. He was blocked on a layup.

D’Antoni -- -- Actually a good start by the Lakers. Pau got Jordan into foul trouble, Wes was playing D with energy and the Lakers were getting stops and out in transition. They led 15-13 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Bazemore dribbled himself into a corner shortly later and D’Antoni called a 20-second timeout when he was trapped… Down 1, he subbed in Henry and Farmar for Marshall and Bazemore… Up by 7 at one point, the Lakers now trailed by 5 with 2:32 left in the quarter. Sacre came in for Pau… A 14-0 Clipper run… Sacre, Kelly, Henry, Brooks, Farmar in now down 7. Good close by this unit… The Lakers trailed 29-27 after the first quarter… He went with the same unit to start the second… The Lakers fell back by 9 when the timeout came. He sat Brooks for Bazemore and Henry for Meeks out of that… A couple threes and a dunk later and the Lakers were down 17. Trouble… Starters all in now. Chuck fest offensively, and absolutely no D… Down 27, he brought in Farmar for Marshall… The Lakers lost the second quarter 44-13, nothing happening on either end of the court for them. Just horrible basketball… The Lakers trailed 73-40 at halftime. Lakers shot 2-12 from three, the Clippers 6-12. Clippers had a 26-7 advantage on the glass and 11-0 on second-chance points… He started Farmar in the second half for Marshall. We immediately lost the ball in the backcourt for a layup… D’Antoni called a timeout barely into the second half to yell at the Lakers after giving up a couple careless turnovers for dunks in the backcourt. Can’t blame him. That’s no way to start the half… He sat Bazemore for Henry after Kent picked up a foul early in the third… Lakers D consisted of an initial effort and then a foul… The score was 104-56 when the timeout came late in the third. Just embarrassing… He went with Sacre, Kelly, Henry, Meeks and Bazemore. Clippers brought in their second unit with 3 minutes left in the quarter… The Lakers trailed 109-60 after the third quarter… Sacre, Kelly, Bazemore, Brooks, Marshall to start the quarter… He sat Bazemore for Wes… Why must we take timeouts?… Why?… Ever want to look back at one of the worst losses in franchise history. It’s all here…

[lakersfreak]

Thx DB

[LakerLanny]

Second. You are the man DB, I don't know how you do it.
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Love, Laker Lanny

[wolfpaclaker]

Sorry you had to cover that one, DB.

Thanks.

[greenfrog]

so did mitch anmd jim get their answer from spotlighting kendall marshall yet? if more than 3 or 4 players are kept from this trainwreck going into next season you'll know all hope is lost...again

[Gimme_the_rock]

Thanks, DB.

This loss was like the rotten corn in the poop sandwich that is this season.

Most disappointing part for me was watching Pau, Farmar and Meeks go limp as the Clips kept sticking it to them.

Someone needed to put someone on their backside, or at least ram into Doc Rivers while diving for a loose ball.

At the very least, Bazemore kept after it with all he had.

It was painful to have to listen to the TNT announcers. Shouldn't surprise me since they were skeptically toned while the Lakers were going to the Finals 3 years in a row.

This is as rough a season as I can remember.

Going to take some kind of turnaround to wash this taste out.

[Moses]

Where are people saying this team is well coached now?
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Lakers, Chargers, Dodgers, Arsenal FC.

Mamba Forever
The Marathon Continues
Still I Rise

[lakerjoshua]

This was just terrible.


Thanks DB.

[mhan00]

Brooks is terrible. He travels every other time he touches the ball. The refs actually missed a couple of travels from him today. How does a guy get to the nba and have zero clue about what to do with his feet?

Nothing to say about this game. Just a terrible beating as we had no answers to anything.

[SweetP]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[LGTownDrunk]

The Lakers play small ball on offense, and tall ball on defense: slow to react,
easy to get around, and only use their arms, like they were all 10 feet tall.

MDA is hanging on to small ball now like it was his religion.

Thanks DB.
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We want Soon now....we want Soon now....we want Soon now!

[PLATNUM]

Meeks played like absolute trash. A bunch of off balance one-footed shots that weren't even close. It's like he was TRYING to throw the game. Yea,, the defense was bad... but the offense was just as crappy tonight. D'antoni gots to go.
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"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same."

[STiG909]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Wow! I missed the right game. Thanks for the recap DB. That had to be painful to watch.

[Shaber]

[ElginBaylor]

I only watched the 1st quarter. Sounds like the game should have ended then.
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Not a legend

[Arbitrary]

Thanks, DB.

[yinoma2001]

All the -40, -43, I thought this was the weather channel for Siberia.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[Wolverine]

[MIMLaker]

To say this team looks lifeless would be an insult to death.

MIM

[Klone_dd]

I'm beginning to hear "once-proud" Lakers too much these days.

This beatdown was embarrassing and depressing.

[yinoma2001]

Did Kobe/Nash show up for this?
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[RVCdesigns]

Sorry DB

[lakersgirl]