JAZZ -at- LAKERS - 10-19-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Punching Back… The Lakers must have finally grown tired of getting their collective asses kicked this preseason. To open the third quarter, they got after it defensively. With Ronnie Price spearheading the defensive attack and strong efforts from all the starting five, they had the Jazz on their heels. They turned a once 22-point Jazz lead into a 4-point Laker lead at one point.

It was an inspired and sustained defensive effort – something we had yet to see from them. Despite being undermanned and without any of their walking wounded, they turned the tables on the Jazz. They got strong contributions from Randle and Davis, and Kobe made sure the door stayed shut in the fourth quarter as the Lakers took the 98-91 win.

“We weren’t a step slow in the second half. We were almost a step ahead,” Scott said of his team’s defensive turnaround. They came up with 17 steals in the game and 34 points off 29 Jazz turnovers.

The defense turned into fastbreak opportunities and scores. Even with more transition opportunities, it did appear the Lakers loosened up their offensive sets some from the ineffective pindowns and long two’s in order to run some simpler two-man action. The spacing improved as did their flow and execution.

Hopefully, this is the kind of game they build on. But it sure would be nice to get a little more talent returning to the floor.


Kobe -- -- He looked much better mixing it up in the paint and collapsing the D than the previous games. He also knocked down some shots behind the arc, as well. His first step seems fast enough. His handle is still very sharp. I think it may be more mental and whether he has quite the elevation he wants in the paint to finish there. Still, he’s making progress in different parts of his game. Unfortunately, he had too little help out there on the floor at times. In the first half, he was looking a little discouraged sitting on the bench and watching the second unit get their butts kicked. He was also annoyed at the refs who missed a few fouls on his shot attempts. In the second half, they had a fire lit under them and got after it. He was pushed into more ball handling with our lack of skills in that department, so that also pushed him into more of a guard role than a post role. He wasn’t efficient tonight, but he had to take a few percentage busters and couple that were probably trips to the FT line. Overall, it’s just seeing him mix his game up just a little more that is what you like to see. “I think each game he getting a little bit strong and feeling more comfortable and confident,” Scott said. In the last game, we ran a lot of sets that looked like early-go pinch posts on the left side, except where Kobe kept the ball and worked off brush screens or on iso. They ran that again tonight, but started to defer to Price having the ball a little more in those sequences. This looks like it will be a strong part of their offense. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 7-22 shooting (3-7 from three, 9-11 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +21. The Action: He missed a wing jumper coming off a screen. He got undercut on a bank shot off the inbounds pass and drew FTs, he made both. He was blocked on a long post turnaround (he wanted the foul). He doubled the post to cause a turnover. He was stripped in the paint after getting good low post position. He disrupted a triangle set coming strong side, then threw a pass away, layup the other way. He didn’t draw iron trying to create in the lane. Off our pinch post early go sequence, he took a brush screen and hit the top-of-the-key jumper. He created off the high screen and missed the pull-up jumper. Great box out on the D end to pull down a board. He was blocked on a drive on the other end, however. He gambled and missed, his man hit an open three. He sank a turnaround elbow jumper. He was called for an illegal screen. With the offense busted, he took a pass and swished a 30-footer. He missed an elbow jumper. He got it back, attacked the paint (beautiful drop step to the middle), drew the D and went behind his back to Boozer, who attacked for the layup. He was blocked on a jumper in the lane. He tracked down a loose ball at the sideline, jab stepped to create space and sank the sideline three. He took contact on a three and was irked there was no call. He spun baseline to lose his man and couldn’t finish the layup (wanted the foul). He got it back and fed Boozer for the And-1. He pump-faked at the wing, drew contact and banked in the And-1, he made the FT. Great jump pass from the three line to Boozer under the hoop who choked the point-blank layup. He missed a long three at the halftime buzzer. He had 15 points on 5-15 shooting (2-4 from three). Second Half: He deflected a pass to ignite a break. He backed his man down and drew FTs at the front of the rim, he made one. Nice challenge in transition after the missed FT to help get a stop. He lost the handle on a drive, turnover. He helped knock a ball loose, they pushed it up, got it back to him and he drained a wide open three. He split a double team and swished the baseline turnaround. He missed a baseline fallaway. He missed a long three on a busted sequence. He missed a wing three. He missed a turnaround in the post. Sweet jump pass behind a defender’s head and to Davis in the paint for a layup. He missed a fallaway bank on iso. He drew FTs taking contact 35 feet from the hoop by a bigman trying to hedge, he made both. He drew more FTs on the perimeter, he made one. He attacked down the lane, took contact in a crowd and drew more FTs, he made both.

Hill -- -- Kind of an average game for Hill tonight. He played the fewest minutes of the starters. He’s always good for at least one or two scores off of hustle on the offensive glass. The Jazz bigs were taking it to us in the first half. Gobert had 4 blocked shots and was a presence in the paint. The Lakers bigs came out with much more intensity in the second half, kept the Jazz bigs off the glass and to one-and-out possessions. We don’t have enough offensive talent right now in these games to overcome too many second chance points. Every night, Hill and company have to try to win that battle. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 2 steals and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He drew FTs on the drive and dish from Wes to start the game, he made one. He missed a wing jumper. Nice help D close out to force a travel. He missed a wing bank, crashed the glass off a Boozer miss and put it back in. He swished an elbow jumper off the Price kickout out. He had 5 points, 4 boards and 2 steals in the half. Second Half: He swished a baseline jumper off the two-man game with Price. He missed a jumphook in the lane. He missed a jumphook in the lane.

Boozer -- -- “We just started reading what they were trying to do,” Boozer said. He led the team with 6 steals and was an important part of that third quarter run. He came to life a little more offensively when we started running the two-man game with him and Price in the second half. That allowed him to keep the D guessing and score in a variety of ways versus just settling for jumpers. Defensively, in that third quarter, while it was mostly Price, you’ve got to also give Carlos a little credit with the good hands and anticipation. Interestingly, Scott kept Boozer on the bench despite bringing Kobe and Price back. I’m not sure if Scott trusts that Davis/Randle unit to close in the regular season, but we’ll see. They were active, for sure, but it seems doubtful he doesn’t bring Boozer back in to close a game after putting up numbers like that. Better job by Boozer and the Laker bigs in boxing out in the second half, as well. Boozer has been getting killed defensively on the boards and in other places this preseason. Nice to see him making a positive impact on that end tonight. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-12 shooting (7-7 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive) to go with 1 assist, 6 assists, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He grabbed a board and missed a reverse, but Hill cleaned it up. He attacked from the elbow and was blocked. He posted up, faked middle, spun the other way and scooped in a tricky layup. He forced up a long wing jumper on iso (very inefficient on those). Kobe collapsed the D and went behind his back to Boozer, who attacked for the layup. He missed an FT pull-up out of a triangle sequence. He scored an And-1 cutting off Kobe in the paint, he made the FT. He got undercut on an 18-footer for FTs, he made both. He choked a layup off a great Kobe jump pass, no one even on him. He had 9 points, 4 boards and 3 steals. In the half. Second Half: He dribble hard to his left and hit the 14-footer straight away. He and Kobe knocked a ball loose under the hoop on D with some good hands and anticipation. He missed a jumper in the lane. He attacked baseline and was fouled on a throwdown attempt, he made both FTs. Quick spin on the catch in the paint and he scored the layup. He worked the two-man game, attacked baseline, faked like he was going to pull it out, attacked again and drew FTs, he made both. Great reach on the post entry to knock it loose and steal it. Another two-man sequence, he took the pass, attacked and scored the layup.

Johnson -- -- “We had enough of it. Plain and simple,” Wes said. He said it was “just flying around. That’s all it was,” on the defensive end. That’s what you want to see from him…”flying around.” He’s got that length and athleticism that you wish he played a little more like AK47 or some of the more disruptive SFs that have played. It’s attitude and IQ that will probably keep you frustrated with him. Some of the best plays in this game were him and Price flying around on the defensive end and turning that into transition scores that got the crowd to their feet. It sure would be nice to see them hang their hats on that and bring it with consistency. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-7 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: Quick wing attack on a triangle set to start the game and he set up Hill for FTs (rare to see him aggressive like that). He missed a wing three. Weak cut to the ball from the weakside of the triangle and the pass to him was picked off. Horrible pass on the break behind Randle, wasn’t even necessary, turnover. He sank a tough wing turnaround jumper off a skip pass. He missed a wing jumper off a down screen. Second Half: He missed a pull-up jumper on the break instead of attacking aggressively, uggh. He took an outlet off the Kobe/Price steal and rode it in for a layup. Great read seeing Price turn his man on the perimeter, he pounced for the blindside steal and took it the distance for the massive jam. He busted out on the Price steal, took the behind-the-back pass and soared for the massive slam over a defender. He drew a jumpball getting one hand on it on the perimeter, he controlled the tip.

Price -- -- Pretty sensational game by Ronnie tonight. He spearheaded the Lakers comeback by getting after it on the defensive end. That was some lockdown D at the PG spot. “We stuck to our principles,” Price said, mentioning that the players haven’t done their part defensively this preseason. This was the first time the Lakers defense had an opponent on their heels for an extended duration of a game. Offensively, we badly missed the playmaking PG work in the first half. In the second half, he got more into that role. We scrapped some of the slow developing sets and went to more simple two-man games and attacking from the left wing. The offense seemed to have much better flow as a result. But it was clear that the defense sparked the offense to life in this one. Laker fans appreciated the all-out effort on that end of the floor in the second half tonight. If there was any doubt if he was making the team, that was put to rest tonight on this game. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-10 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 10 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He attacked down the lane and scored the layup high off the glass. Nice effort diving to the floor to try to recover a loose ball on D, didn’t get it, though. Great job to erase a break by stepping in to take the charge on the pass off. His man crashed the glass and put back in a miss. He attacked and kicked back to Hill for the jumper. He missed a long pull-up jumper when the offense stalled. He fumbled a dribble out of bounds on a busted play. He attacked with speed at the end of the quarter and drew a whistle, he made one FT. He missed an open corner three on the Kobe kickout. He missed a pull-up jumper in the middle of the lane. Second Half: Rare PG two-man game and it led to a Hill jumper. Great hustle in transition to intercept a long pass and save a hoop. He attacked down the lane and threw it away. He scored an early-go And-1 layup high off the glass, he made the FT. He swiped an ill-advised Jazz pass in the lane. Great reach on the perimeter to knock another ball loose on the next stand and it led to a Laker breakaway score. He turned his man on a reach that nearly got the ball loose and Wes pounced to blindside him and finish the steal for a dunk. He missed a drive, bringing the ball down instead of attacking hard to the rim. He worked the two-man game and hit Boozer for the layup. Great hands again on the perimeter, quick reach to steal the ball, he pushed it up, and went behind his back to Wes for the soaring slam. More pressure D and the Jazz threw it away on the next trip down. He airballed a pull-up three in early offense. He missed a long three. He should have held onto a Boozer save, instead of attacking and losing the ball with 14 seconds left (the Jazz got an And-1 on the other end with the poor shotclock management). He knocked a ball loose, dove for it and the Lakers recovered at midcourt. He missed a tough wing fade on a busted sequence (again another one of those pindown sequences where the offense just dies). He drew a moving screen on a big on the two-man D. He drew a charge on help D, stepping in at the FT line on a pass off. He erased another break taking a charge in front of the hoop. He reached, came up empty, recovered to his man and blocked him out of bounds.

Randle -- -- “The game’s so much easier for him when he just takes the shot,” Kobe said. Julius sank a few from the perimeter as the D gave him room and he didn’t hesitate. This is the range he showed in his workouts and in practices. In the first half I made a note that with the second units we put out there, he really needs the ball in his hands to create something for them. The offense just dies as we don’t have anyone who can collapse the D and we resort to weak pindown sets. When we cleared a little more room for him to iso or create in the second half, good things happened and the second unit offense had more life in it. Very noticeable difference. I love seeing him pull down a board or scoop up a loose ball and go. He gets into Freight Train mode and there’s no one like him on the floor when he’s like that. Defensively, he was active and had some great challenges under the hoop, including a rejection of Gobert at the rim that forced a jumpball. Even though I wanted him to play more in the last one, I’ve got no issues with Scott sending and early message and Kobe in his ear. You want to bring him along the right way to be the player he can be. “He made some mistakes but it wasn’t because of lack of effort and that’s the way he has to play,” Scott said. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-8 shooting to go with 5 boards, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He grabbed an offensive board, attacked and fed Smith who was promptly rejected. He missed a 17-footer. He attacked, spun and was rejected by the help D. Second Half: He rejected a drive to start the fourth. He attacked, spun and missed a tough one off the glass. He drained a 19-footer on a kickout. He up-faked, attacked and bullied his man for a layup. He swished another 19-footer on the next trip down the court. He iso’d, his man sagged off so he swished the elbow jumper over him (this has to be his office, right there, facing up). Wow, great challenge on Exum’s drive and he sent the ball into the seats while sending Exum to the floor, foul, but a good one. He attacked on iso, spun and missed a jumphook after drawing a second defender, but Davis easily cleaned it up at the front of the rim. He was called for an illegal screen, not holding it for a beat. Freight Train mode after scooping up a loose ball, he floored it down court, around a defender, drawing another and then dumping it off to a guard filling the lane who was fouled for FTs. He attacked and charged. He iso’d, attacked baseline and kicked it out after picking up his dribble, it led to a Laker three another pass later. Great point-blank rejection forcing a jumpball at the rim.

Davis -- -- I like seeing the ball go into him in the post. He had some mismatches tonight and abused those, but he’s got some nice footwork and length that he uses well. He didn’t play in the first half as Scott went with Sacre (who ended up with the team-low -11). With Kelly likely out for the rest of the preseason now, Randle and Davis need to try to cement themselves into the rotations. Davis, Randle and Sacre have all been in and out of Scott’s rotations. Good to see us finally go with the Davis, Randle, Johnson, Kobe, Price lineup in the fourth. I’d like to see that unit develop a little chemistry. A lot of active bodies out there around Kobe. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting to go with 3 boards (2 offensive), 1 block and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Low position and he scored with ease over his man. He got tapped on a jumphook. He cleaned up a Randle drive and miss when his man left to challenge. He bodied up his man, got the post entry and scored easily. Kobe threaded a needle to him and Davis scored the layup in the paint on the cut. He recovered on his man and blocked a drive out of bounds.

Sacre -- -- After a couple of quick scores, he was the only bench player in that first half able to put some points on the board. It wasn’t pretty, and when he’s your leading bench scorer, that’s not a recipe for success. In the second half, Scott went to Davis (thankfully) instead. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He hit a jumphook in the middle of the lane. He drew FTs battling for an offensive board in a crowd, he made both. He missed a turnaround on iso in the post. He didn’t hit rim on a long jumper, uggh. Second Half: He did not play in the first half.

Ellington -- -- He continued the awful play of the last game by shooting blanks again to start this one. He just looked horrible again in the first half. He showed a little more life in the second half. We clearly (and badly) miss Swaggy on the floor in these minutes. That just changes everything for the second unit where we struggle to create from the guards and forwards…and centers. Honestly, Ellington has showed very little to make this team. I’m not familiar with his game enough to know if he can come off the pindowns and hit the long two’s off-balance. These are low percentage shots to begin with and it seems like what we set him up for. I’d really like to see more of him with his feet set and shooting squared up. Give him a few more shots like that and see what happens. Even still, there’s probably better talent out there somewhere. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-9 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a three off a throwback set at the top of the key. He attacked, missed a pull-up in the lane, got his miss and missed that, too. Open sideline jumper and he missed. He missed an open 19-footer off a down screen. He was blocked on a reverse. Second Half: He finally knocked down a long, fading two off the pindown screen (still tough shot selection). He picked up his dribble then lost the ball. He missed an open three set up for him out of the quarter break. He attacked after scooping up a loose ball and was fortunate to draw the blocking foul, he made both FTs. He drew FTs filling the lane with Randle leading the break, he made both. He finally drained a corner three off an inside-out sequence and swing pass where he was stationary and fired.

Brown -- -- A few minutes of run in the first half, but very little to report. Wish we could set him up for some open catch-and-shoot threes. The Stats: He didn’t shoot or score and had 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: Nice reach on help D to knock a ball loose. Second Half: He did not play in the first half.

Smith -- -- He does an excellent job of getting on the offensive glass and making something happen. He hasn’t shown a lot of versatility to his game, but he does do this one thing well. Unfortunately, we probably need someone who can hit the three from his position. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He was rejected on a layup attempt. He crashed the glass for a board and reset the offense. Second Half: He crashed the glass, pulled it down and scored an And-1 jumphook, he made the FT. He attacked off the three line and charged.

Scott -- -- He brought in Ellington for Johnson midway through the first quarter, Lakers down 4, slight change to his rotations… The Lakers trailed 22-15 when the timeout came with 3 minutes left. He sat Hill for Sacre and Kobe for Wes, new rotation… He brought in Randle for Boozer with 2 minutes left… The Lakers trailed 30-20 after the first quarter. Offense wasn’t run quite as bad as previous games (we cut out the worthless pindown plays even with the second unit), but the D was par for the course… He started the Sacre, Randle, Johnson, Smith, Ellington unit… They fell back further, long jumpers for the Lakers. Dunks and layups for the Jazz. Timeout Lakers down 16. Lakers with just 2 points in 4 minutes… He brought Kobe back in for Wes after 5 minutes… Down 43-25, he brought back in Boozer and Hill for Sacre and Randle… Price back in for Ellington who was horrible… Brown in for Smith, Lakers down 20… The Jazz led 54-38 at the half. The Jazz had a 32-16 advantage in the paint. The Lakers made 2-6 from three and shot just 28% from the floor… Good start to the half by the Lakers and they forced a timeout off a Kobe three. They trailed 55-46. Excellent D during this stretch… The defense forced multiple steals and tied the score 57-57 forcing another timeout. A 19-3 run in the quarter… They pulled out to a 4-point lead, getting after and the crowd behind them… Down 1, he brought in Davis for Hill with 4 minutes left… He sat Kobe for Ellington, Lakers still even… The Lakers forced 11 turnovers into 18 points of those in the quarter… They trailed 72-69 heading into the fourth… He started a Davis, Randle, Smith, Ellington, Price unit… Up 84-83, he sat Price and Smith for Kobe and Johnson midway through the quarter… A lot of offense going through Randle, which is nice to see. Coaches and Kobe in his ear, helping him… The Lakers led 91-85 when a timeout came. That led to Price returning for Ellington… Kobe closed it out getting to the line on several trips… The Lakers had 17 steals in the game…

[cheesysapien]

Thanks DB. it is definitely more fun to read your analysis after a win than a loss
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"We have a lot of guys that have been kinda discarded ... Myself with the injury and the age. Jeremy ... a bunch of players who other teams really felt they had no use for. So we have that kind of attitude built into ourselves" -- Kobe Bryant

[mhan00]

Finally another fun game.

[LoyalLakerfan44]

It's definitely great to watch the Lakers win, but I just want them to compete defensively like this every night. I know there will be some tough loses, but I want them to be known as a tough defensive minded team that will not be an easy win.

[summerly]

[busym]

An overall good game by the Lakers. Too bad they had to come from behind to win it, They won and showed a lot of heart. Another great writeup DB thank you.

[SweetP]

Punching back is right.
Good to see, hope it continues.
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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

[vixvolatility]

thanks DB

[GoldenThroat]

[fiendishoc]

Still a lot of problems offensively and defensively for the team (don't want to read too much into forcing a 19 yr old PG into turnovers), but there were some reassuring things from individual players.

Price - smelled blood and went for it.

Kobe - showing he can still shoot 3s.

Randle - finally getting his confidence and aggressiveness back. Seeing him dribble past Exum in the open court warmed my heart. Team is better when he's on the floor.

Davis - Nice seeing him using his mobility to score with his back to the basket. More of a post threat than Hill.

[mhan00]

Jazz did sit Trey Burke entirely and Hayward and Favors in the second half, arguably their three best players, but still a nice win, especially considering our own injury woes. Biggest key was seeing the level of activity of our players that has been lacking the last three games. Let's keep up the momentum in the next game.

[Harlemlakerfan]

[KeepItRealOrElse]

[EddieJonesss]

Thanks DB.

17 steals?

*whistles*

[All_Star_Laker]

I wish these games were on NBALP
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[catman2u]

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[mhan00]

[ADA32]

Due to family engagement, missed the game.

Thanks DB, as always, another great Thoughts and Ratings.

[13th Man]

Thanks DB. Good showings by Kobe, Boozer and Price!

[yinoma2001]

A win is a win. I'll take that.

Anyone else think 8 pre-season games are too many? I just want this team to get to the regular season without any further injuries.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[silkwilkes]

They sat Favors and Haywood the entire 2nd half... and the Lakers made the run. But in the first half when both played, Utah torched us.

Tbh, with the injuries, the Lakers talent is just crap. If this is how it's going to be, we're winning around 30 games this season.

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB, Davis is the Lakers defensive anchor.

[nikeykid]

The game was on LP for me, but cable-only - not on LP broadband. Not sure why preseason games are on cable with the LP subscription but not broadband.

[LoyalLakerfan44]