SUNS -at- LAKERS - 3-30-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Bouncing Back… The Sun has already set on the Laker season. All that has yet to be determined is where they end up in the lottery, and for the players, whether they can mess with other teams.

“Welcome to the Player Haters Ball,” Nick Young said. “The players hate us here, baby. We trying to hate, hate, hate. New York to Phoenix, it’s over.”

After the loss to the bottom-of-the-pack Bucks and the massive blowout by the T-Wolves, the Lakers bounced back at home against the Phoenix Suns.

“Just something about home cooking,” Kent Bazemore said. He hooked up Chris Kaman with a hunting bag before the game, putting it into his locker as a gift. (Golden State loved Bazemore as a teammate.)

The Lakers looked to establish Kaman from the start. They fed him early and often. With all that going on, he was engaged offensively and that helped carry over to the defensive end where the Lakers clamped down.

Kaman finished with Laker career highs of 28 points and 17 boards (just a point off his personal best).

Somehow the Lakers D even held the line in the last 2 minutes at 99 points to get Staples their tacos. The crowd was loud. Got to prop Laker fans for the enthusiasm and cheers all night in response to a good effort. They were representing L.A. all the way through the 115-99 win. It didn't help the lottery positioning one bit, but they showed a lot of pride.


Kaman – -- Season highs in points and boards for Kaman tonight. The Lakers looked to get him engaged from the start. The first play out of the gates was to set him up for a score. Kaman then had 6 of the next 8 Laker shots. This seemed to help both him and the team to play some better D. Kaman was active offensively and it carried over to the other end of the floor. No sleep walking through this one. The guards gave a lot of credit to the team D tonight in holding down the Phoenix guards. The Lakers built a lead early on, sat him, then lost the lead. They brought him back in the second quarter and went on a roll, pushing back up to an 18-point lead at the half by going to him in the post. Lakers couldn’t get him his career high down the stretch, though he had some opportunities. Staples gave him a loud ovation when he sat. He led the team with a +31 tonight. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 13-19 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 17 boards (5 offensive), 6 assists, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +31. The Action: He drained a baseline jumper set up for him on the first play. He spun on the dribble, stopped, pivoted a couple times and swished the fallaway. He missed a jumphook in low position. He missed an elbow jumper. He missed another elbow jumper. He posted up and banked in a jumphook. He hit Meeks cutting down the lane with a nice bounce pass for an And-1 layup. He swished a wing face-up jumper. He hit Hill on the high-low for the dunk. He took the pass off the two-man game at the elbow and dunked. Back in and he backed his man down and scored an uncontested layup. He hit the jumphook off the glass out of the timeout. He had a mismatch and Kelly found him for the easy layup. He sank a tough turnaround from 15 feet out up against the shotclock. He had 18 points on 9-13 shooting, 10 boards and 4 assists in the half. Second Half: He took a pass on the roll, bumped his man twice as he moved closer to the rim and hit with the left off the glass. He found Hill on the interior feed for a dunk. He sank the 17-footer straight away. He drew FTs on the defensive boards, he made both. He picked up a tech disagreeing with a moving screen call. He missed a wing jumper. He picked up another illegal screen moving after passing the ball off. He tipped in a miss off of Marshall’s dribble penetration. He got tapped on a jumphook he should have slammed. He was doubled in the post and coughed it up. He finished a lob from Marshall. He drew the double team and hit Kelly for the corner three.

Hill -- -- Very quiet night from Hill. We featured Kaman quite a bit, which led to a couple Kaman-to-Hill passing sequences for dunks. Not much else from Hill tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He missed a jumper on the break. He dunked after grabbing the high-low lob from Kaman. He missed a reverse he knew he should have had. He missed a jumphook short next time down. Second Half: He hammered down the dunk off the interior feed from Kaman. He hit a short one flashing to the middle of the paint to take a pass.

Marshall -- -- Great bounce back game for Kendall. He needed it. He turned on the scoring by getting into the paint and finishing. We haven’t seen that for a long time. If teams know he’s always going to pass, that just makes it harder for him to set up teammates. So he’s got to be a scorer. Early on, he orchestrated the offense through Kaman quite a bit. When he wasn’t working the two-man game with him, they often set Kaman up in the post. We had a very good balance of inside-outside ball tonight. Hopefully, he can build off this game. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-9 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 11 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +30. The Action: He missed a pull-up jumper working the two-man game. He hit Kaman at the elbow off the pocket pass and Kaman took it for the dunk. He curled into the lane and scooped in the layup at the last second. He hit Kelly on the roll for FTs (nearly and And-1 dunk), no assist, though. He had 5 assists at the half. Second Half: He attacked down the middle of the lane and hit the floater, one of his better looking ones to date. He probed the lane and banked in the floater. He sank a pull-up 21-footer in early offense. He missed a corner three next time down. Nice feed to Hill in the middle of the paint for the short one as he surveyed multiple options. He was stripped on a drive. He attacked with speed after spotting an open lane and scored the And-1 layup. Wow, rare block on his man’s layup attempt. He missed a bank on a probe. Great pass to Meeks on the backdoor play, that had no room for error and Meeks was fouled for FTs. He curled into the lane off the Kaman screen and lobbed it up for Kaman to score the easy one. He blew past his man and scored the layup.

Bazemore -- -- He was the glue defensively. They got a good defensive performance from the bigs to help anchor the D, but Bazemore’s rotations seemed to tighten everything up a notch. The Suns guards could have chewed the Lakers up, but the Lakers were more on the same page defensively than we’ve seen in a while. They ran Meeks at the backup PG for a stretch this game while both Marshall and Bazemore sat. They’ve reduced Bazemore’s playmaking role. He still somehow had 5 turnovers tonight, but had some very nice passes that led right to easy hoops. Certainly didn’t seem like a 5-turnover performance He took an elbow to the eye socket by Dragic in a loose ball scramble that opened up a cut. That may be a black eye tomorrow. Good job on the FTs tonight. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 4 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +23. The Action: His backdoor pass to Meeks was picked off. He missed a tricky baseline pull-up. He attacked off the outlet, changed directions on a quick two-step around the D and tossed in a tough off-handed layup as he faded away. He swished a deep three behind a screen. He attacked and had a kickout picked off. He blew past the D on an inside-out dribble and no-looked a bounce pass to Kelly for the And-1 dunk. He attacked with the shotclock low and couldn’t finish at the rim. Nice challenge at the end of the quarter to force a brick. He scooped up a loose ball and put it right on Meeks’s hands for the breakaway layup. Great recovery to block a shot from behind on a drive. He missed a pull-up jumper at the buzzer. Second Half: Great challenge on one player, then he closed out on another to force a miss. He was hit on a three with the shotclock low, he made all three FTs. He missed a three with the shotclock low. He let a man fly by at the three line, moved in with a dribble and hit the 18-footer. He found Kelly cutting for the layup. As Bill and Stu were signing his praises, he threw a pass right to a defender, then gave up an And-1 in transition. He attacked an open lane with some serious intent and was undercut as a defender tried to slide under and take a charge, he made both FTs. He got popped in the eye by Dragic who caught him with an elbow as they went for a loose ball, had to get the cutman to work on that one.

Meeks -- -- While Kaman was key to the big run in the second quarter, Meeks also scratched out a few points in that stretch. He had a very efficient first half with 15 points on 7 FGs. We ran Meeks some as the backup PG, not our best minutes. But outside of those, his was quietly killing it on the floor. He finished with 22 points on just 9 attempts. He led the Lakers getting to the freethrow line. All that speed on the break or cutting off ball caused a lot of problems. Everyone played their roles well. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 6-9 shooting (1-3 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He missed a floater. He was fouled on a layup attempt off an inbounds pass, he made one FT. He took a bounce pass cutting down the middle of the lane and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He stripped a man from behind on the break. He missed a wing three. Left alone, he swished a wide open corner three like a freethrow. He hit the And-1 baseline floater before fading out of bounds, he made the FT. Busting out off the turnover and Bazemore put it right on his hands for the layup. He cut on the baseline backdoor play, took the bounce pass and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He scored 15 points on 5-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-5 from the line). Second Half: He was fouled on the perimeter for FTs, he made both. He grabbed the long outlet over a defender, took a bump, focused and hit the And-1 bank high off the glass, he made the FT. He drew FTs on the backdoor cut and made both. He missed a wing three.

Johnson -- -- The only Laker not to score tonight. He had an uncontested layup he choked, so nobody’s fault but his own he couldn’t scratch. He had his hands full with Green lighting him up in the first half. Green just got into the zone and was hitting some crazy shots. The Lakers were able to play through it and get their lead back. Not many minutes for Wes tonight. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 11 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a wing three. He missed a wide open wing three from the other side. He missed a quick-fire wing three (meanwhile Green was lighting him up). Second Half: He choked a point-blank layup, uncontested as he got past his man, he looked a little embarrassed by that one.

Young -- -- He was misfiring a bit from the perimeter. Some of those were tough chucks, poor shot selection. Some were open, good looks. They just weren’t falling. He had a three erased because it was still in his hand as the buzzer went off at the end of the third quarter. That was like a March Madness play with the long pass to him on the sideline and the quick chuck by Nick. Too bad it didn’t count. Good to see him smiling again after a game, especially against the Suns. “We’re just out their fighting,” Nick said. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-12 shooting (1-6 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He was fouled on a wing three on his first attempt, nearly a 4-point play as the three rattled out, he made two FTs. He missed a wing three. He missed a long step-back baseline jumper. He missed a bad chuck on iso at the wing. He stripped his man on a reach, pushed it up and drained the wing three. Nice feed down low to Kaman for the jumphook out of the timeout. Second Half: He scooped up the loose ball and took it the distance for a layup. He was denied at the rim on a drive. He had a three at the buzzer waived off, just had it in his hands a hair after the clock went off. He missed a wing three on a handoff. He missed a three from the same spot on an inbounds. He attacked with purpose off the three line and hit the short pull-up. He missed a three from the other side. He let a man fly by, moved in a dribble and sank the baseline pull-up.

Kelly -- -- He had the crowd going in the last couple of minutes. First he swiped a sidelines inbounds pass, went behind his back to lose a defender and slammed on the breakaway. Then he hit a three. And, most importantly, he preserved the tacos with a shotblock on a drive with 9 seconds left. “He’s been better than I thought defensively for us,” Kaman said of Kelly’s overall game. He also praised him for the taco save. There was a lot of substance in Kelly’s game tonight. You saw him hit a lefty floater from the elbow (I think only Kobe or Nash on this team are the only guys who could pull that off with their off-hands). Right after that he threaded a needle on a bounce pass to Meeks for an And-1. Those are some real skills there. Such a mature, well-rounded game already for the rookie. D’Antoni mentioned his need to become more of a knockdown shooter and get stronger. Those are two things Kelly can control and improve on this offseason. Credit the Lakers staff with a steal in the second round. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-12 shooting (2-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He threw down an And-1 dunk off the drive and dish from Bazemore, he made the FT. He swished a three trailing the break (I’d like to see him take that shot a little more in that situation…bigs usually pack the paint giving him a little room). He missed a wing three on a swing pass next time down. He missed a wing jumper, fading to his left as he rose up. Nice challenge on Dragic’s drive to get a miss. Great low post feed to Kaman on a mismatch for a layup (put it only where Kaman could get it). Wow, he drained a lefty floater from the elbow area like it was nothing. He hit Meeks cutting backdoor with a perfect bounce pass for the And-1 layup next time down (that was two highly skilled plays on back-to-back plays). He just missed hammering on a And-1 dunk over a player, he made both FTs. He had 10 points on 3-5 shooting. Second Half: He attacked, changed directions with a spin but couldn’t finish off the glass, taking some contact with no call. He tried to force a pass to Meeks in the paint (Meeks didn’t have a clear step on his man), turnover. He missed a flat FT pull-up jumper. Great block on a putback on one end, then he scored a layup on the other. Then, he stripped his man, pushed it out and drew a frustration foul by the Suns. He missed a toe-on-the-three-line jumper out of a timeout. Nice challenge on Green’s three to force and airball. As Stu was naming Kelly as the Subway sub of the game, he stole a sideline inbounds pass, went behind his back on the dribble to lose a defender and slammed on the breakaway, Staples going nuts. He swished a corner three on the next possession. He missed a runner in the lane. He swatted a drive out of bounds with 9 seconds left.

Sacre -- -- I liked that the Laker bigs gave some hard challenges tonight. We haven’t seen that at all this season. But there were some bodies hit the floor under the hoop. We’ve needed that all season. Teams have feasted on our soft interior D. Luke brought up a point about having a bigman being your leader on D, saying it’s much easier for the bigs to see everything and they need to be the vocal leaders. Kaman was very vocal tonight. The Lakers need that leadership from Sacre to take his D to the next level. “I think his defense is outstanding. He’s come a long ways,” D’Antoni said. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He gathered a pass at the rim, powered up and hit the short jumphook. He swished a wing jumper off the two-man sequence with Wes. Second Half: He missed the runner in the paint. He was called for a charge in transition. Nice hands in the post to knock the ball away from his man and ignite a break (key to that was his strength to hold ground against the post up). He swished a tricky turnaround to start the fourth (poorly designed possession out of a break).

D’Antoni -- -- Kaman had 6 of the Lakers first 8 shots as they tried to get him involved early and often. Either trying to get him involved or keep the Suns from getting on the break. Maybe both… When the timeout came midway through the quarter, the Lakers were up 14-8… The Suns missed 8 straight shots and the Lakers extended to a 10-point lead… He brought in Kelly, Sacre, Young and Johnson, leaving in Bazemore up 8 with over 2 minutes left. Kaman had 10 points and 8 boards in his stint… Lakers D limited the number of easy shots that quarter, Suns couldn’t find a comfort zone… The Lakers led 26-15 after the first… He sat Bazemore for Meeks to start the quarter. So Meeks is now the PG… The Lakers once 13-point lead was trimmed down to 3 and they called a timeout… The Suns took a 1-point lead as Gerald Green was lighting up Wes. D’Antoni called timeout and brought back in Kaman and Marshall for Sacre and Wes… With Kaman back in, they went back to the low post and started to pull ahead again. They stretched the lead to 50-39 and forced a timeout… The Lakers led 61-43 at the half. The Lakers shot 52% (24-46, 4-10 3PT, 9-11 FT) to go with 18 first half assists with just 3 turnovers. The Suns shot 34% (17-50, 4-20 3PT, 5-8 FT). They had just 4 points on the break and only 5 off the Laker turnovers. Meanwhile, the Lakers had 13 points on the break… Great D on the first stand to force a shotclock violation with some excellent rotations… Lakers in the bonus after just 3 minutes… They extended out to a 26-point lead… He brought in Young, Sacre, Johnson and Kelly with 3 minutes left for everyone but Meeks… Poor close to the quarter again without Marshall, Kaman and Bazemore out there… The Lakers led 89-74 heading into the fourth. Suns still in striking range… He started Bazemore and Marshall for Meeks and Johnson… He brought back in Kaman for Sacre with 7:43 left, Lakers up 15 still… The Suns trimmed it to 11, nearly 9, but they threw a breakaway pass away. That was as close as they would get… Staples going nuts to try to get Tacos in the last 3 minutes. Lakers pulled it off, not giving an inch in crunch time…

[projecktecks]

Very nice write up!
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“When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.”

“Nature is not mute; it is man who is deaf”

[mugwump]

Ha, the sun is setting in this laker team.

Hilarious, the crowd eager for tacos with an impossible 90 seconds to go, cheering at the end like was a championship series win.

I really enjoy watching Marshall's game, so it's very good when he can at least hold his own out there. The game just seems a bit more sticky and deliberate when he's on the floor with less playground random ball.

Anyhow, a very solid game throughout.
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"At the end of the day, you are what your record says that you are." --Mitch Kupchak

[kobe209]

when the Lakers win, can we start putting sad faces? I'm beginning to get falsely excited when I see the happy face
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IG: wywsabaywb

[SweetP]

Nice game from the guys. Being at home seemed to help but the effort was great. They are inconsistent, understandably so with all the injuries and various line-ups, but when they play well, they play very well.
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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

[Goldenwest]

We have the makings of a killer bench. Hope we can keep some of the key pieces we saw tonight. Now we just need to put a starting squad together and bring a coach in who (to borrow PJ's phrasing, can create a positive environment in which to play)

[TDRock]

I was at this game. Nice to be in a fun environment again. Yay.

[Texas_Pete]

Thanks DB.

R Kelly is making his case as our future stretch 4. Loving how his game is coming together.

[LakersMDGurl]

The Lakers have no business winning damnit!!!!!! They better lose next game!!!
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