LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 11-11-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Homecooking… Down by 17 in the fourth quarter, the Lakers chipped away with an 18-4 run. Right after Kobe re-entered the game, the team came up with a series of scores. The D held. And what should have been several trips to the line down the stretch, ended up with Laker players dumbfounded and angry with the no calls.

Three or four points from the line down the stretch changes the entire complexion of this one. Instead, the Lakers fall 107-102 to the Grizzlies.

The Lakers second unit was outplayed and outscored by the Grizzlies bench 38-14. The team dug itself into a hole with a 5-point play in the third quarter (a foul on a three and a tech by Scott). That lead ballooned to 17 early in the fourth.

Despite the loss, Kobe was optimistic about the team’s improvement.

“We play this way, we will get ourselves right back in contention,” he said afterward. Without the injuries to Swaggy and Kelly, their record probably looks a little better than the 1-6 it currently is. Pulling off a series of wins right now, however, is going to be very, very tough.


Kobe -- -- Kobe was fuming early on in this one at the no calls. That was nothing compared to what was in store for him down the stretch…getting hit on a jumper and on a trip down the lane in crunch time. Kobe was setting up teammates early like the last game. He also hit Hill twice for key scores late in the game. He became the all-time leader in missed shots in this game. A few of those should have been trips to the line. He was given the ball for quite a few late shotclock percentage buster shots in this one (a lot of tough threes). Probably a lot of both of those in that all-time missed shot number. Defensively, Kobe sagged of Allen and looked to be disruptive on help D. He had 4 steals as a result. Early on he got burned for a few offensive boards leaving his man, but he cleaned that up and hit the boards pretty hard. Strong effort on that end of the floor again. “He’s been remarkable,” Scott said of Kobe’s ongoing comeback from his injury. He’s still working his way back, whether people want to believe that or not. There have been multiple open shots in the paint that he never, ever misses that’s he’s been off on this season. He’s also overcompensating at times on some shots, trying to purposely get more legs into the shot, but throwing himself off even more. Points, boards, assists, steals… quite a few of each this game for Kobe. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 10-26 shooting (3-10 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 6 assists, 4 steals, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He hit Boozer in transition for a score. He gave up a couple of offensive boards. He set up Boozer for the open jumper off the two-man game. He missed a wide open sideline jumper. He was ticked at a no call on a short bank in the post. He sank a pumping pull-up jumper from the top of the key. He missed a good look at a sideline three. He gave up an offensive putback to Allen. He got tapped on a three coming off a screen. He sank a corner three when his man left to gamble for a steal. He swiped a ball and fed Boozer for the layup. He sank a baseline pull-up jumper off the high handoff. Nice defensive board against a big, then he gave it right back on a poor post entry pass on the other end. He attacked the lane, missed a layup that sent him to the floor with no call, but Hill slammed back down the dribble penetration. Nice off ball cut down the lane and Hill hit him for FTs, he made both. He missed a turnaround jumper short. Nice job challenging a layup on one end to help get a miss, the he got down court faster than everyone else to score a layup off Lin’s feed a couple seconds later. He pushed out a loose ball and missed the layup, but Hill cleaned it up again. He had 11 points on 4-11 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He attacked and was tripped and hit with no call, wow. He missed an open 5-footer he’s usually automatic on. He pushed out an outlet and swished the pull-up wing jumper. He found Boozer open for the jumper. Tough shot trying to hit a turnaround three and he came up short. He sank a tough pumping turnaround jumper as the double team started to converge. He missed a long three trying to beat the shotclock. He slapped a ball loose on the other end. We got it to him in transition and he went around his back and scored the one-hander. He missed a turnaround from the midpost. He swiped a pass and was fouled on the bust out, he made both FTs. He was headlocked as Carter tried to tie him up on a double team, he made one FT. He missed a tough turnaround trying to beat the shotclock. He drained a wing three in early offense. He missed a three next time down (you knew that one was going up). He hit Hill off the split play with a return pass for a score. He drew a moving screen call on Randolph on the other end. He worked off the pinch post with Hill, returned it to him with a sweet bounce pass and Hill slammed to cut it to 6. He jerked in a long wing jumper expecting a call that didn’t come. He was tripped on a drive with no call with 1:50 left, huge no call as he went to the floor…wow, such an obvious a trip, wow. He swished a wing three next time down off the split to cut it to 3. He got tapped on a tough wing three down 5 next time down. He missed a tough turnaround three off the inbounds.

Lin -- -- “I thought I heard go, but it was elbow,” Lin said of a key miss by the Lakers that resulted in Hill shooting a long jumper on a must hit shot in the final minute. Scott blamed himself for not using the hand signals. Jeremy also had a charge pushing the ball up into a crowd late in the game. Down the stretch, the Lakers went to their sideline split sequence with Hill, Lin and Kobe. These were largely set-ups for Kobe. Lin needs to change up some of the cuts/screens on those sequences to keep the D guessing and make himself more of a threat, as well. Still, it’s one of their better sets and apparently their bread and butter right now. Not a good close to the game for Jeremy, despite the Lakers comeback. You could see him start to defer down the stretch after that charging foul. He didn’t want to make another mistake. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He swatted Conley from behind on the drive. He attacked with speed, took contact with no call and hit the bank. Phantom tripping foul on Lin (should have gone to Wes). He got tapped on a bank off the drive. He saw an open lane, attacked past his man with speed and drew FTs, he made both (first Laker FTs with 4 minutes left in the half). He crossed over and was stripped, FTs the other way. He pushed out the break and whipped a pass to Kobe for a layup. He pushed up the ball, probed, drew the D and contact and dumped it off to Davis for the slam. He drew FTs taking an outlet in transition and attacking with speed, he made one. Second Half: He attacked the paint, drew the D and hit Wes for the three. He attacked from the wing almost stumbling and flipped in a tough layup before taking a third step. He missed a long wing jumper. Great job giving it up to Hill after picking up his dribble and immediately cutting down the lane to get it right back for the uncontested layup (caught his man flatfooted). He sank a wing three on a kickout. He missed a pull-up from the wing next time down. Wild dribble behind his back, turnover, layup on the break for the Grizzlies. He missed an open three in transition. He drew a clear-out foul on Conley trying to drive. Huge charge call pushing it too much right into a crowd in transition when Lakers could have cut it to 4 with 3 minutes left.

Hill -- -- Jordan didn’t have his perimeter shot tonight, missing everything from outside. So when the play was called and he hoisted up a long jumper in the final minute on a key possession and missed…not the best shot selection. What was working well down the stretch was some of the two-man sequences with Hill and Kobe. That helped the Lakers trim the lead to striking distance. Hill also came up with a huge deflection that led to a bustout and dunk for Wes. Some good plays on both ends in crunch time, so I can’t get too irked at the miss. He was key in the comeback. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-17 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 14 boards (8 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He forced up a wing three worried about the shotclock (probably could have given off to a guard). He choked a point-blank putback layup. He swatted Randolph’s layup attempt. Not close on a jumper from the top of the key. He grabbed a Kobe missed a layup and slammed it in. He whipped a pass to a cutting Kobe for FTs. Poor feed trying to thread a needle to Kobe in traffic, turnover. Great job following Kobe on the break to clean up the missed layup. Second Half: He kept an offensive possession alive crashing the glass. He missed a turnaround jumper from 16 feet out. He missed an open baseline jumper. He missed a flat wing jumper, wide open. He attacked, missed the layup but put back in a miss from Davis who kept it alive. Nice job battling for an offensive board over a couple of defenders and hitting the jumphook. He was fouled as we stole the ball and tried to push out, he made one FT. He hit a jumphook off the split play getting a return pass from Kobe. He slammed off the sweet bounce pass from Kobe off the two-man game. Great hands to deflect a pass and it led to a breakaway dunk for Wes. He missed a wide open jumper off the split play, Kobe was ticked that Hill took that, miscommunication on the play.

Boozer -- -- The Lakers will be happy if they can get decent games like this out of Boozer on the road. Our bigs stayed toe-to-toe with the Memphis bigs and kept the Lakers in the game. “We should really pound the ball into him a lot more than that,” Kobe said about a stretch to open the fourth quarter when Boozer was out there with the second unit. The second unit needs to learn how to run the offense through Boozer, Kobe or Lin when they are out there with them. We don’t have a lot of options and our team offense isn’t sophisticated enough right now not to. Boozer eventually fouled out of this game. He had more push-off fouls on the offensive glass in this game. That ended up costing him down the stretch…but we’re probably a better closing team with Davis on the floor than Boozer since the offense will likely go through Kobe and Lin (and eventually Swaggy). The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-13 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards (4 offensive), 3 assists and 6 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He scored a short one over Gasol in the lane in transition. He missed a pull-up from the right side. He scored a layup off the inbounds play. He sank a 17-footer off the two-man game with Kobe. He ball-faked and missed the FT jumper. He battled and put back in a Kobe missed three with a second left. He took a pass in transition, ball faked and scored the layup. He had 10 points on 5-7 shooting. Second Half: He missed a step-back 17-footer straight away. He drew FTs grabbing an offensive rebound that bounced right to him, he made one. He swished an open 17-footer. He was blocked trying to power a shot through a defender. He faced up and swished a wing jumper. Jab step and he attacked to his left to earn FTs, he made both. He missed a wing face-up jumper. He battled for an offensive board and put back in an And-1 in a crowd.

Johnson -- -- He was ticked after throwing down a breakaway slam while taking a clear slap to the arm with no call. Another huge miss by the refs with the game on the line. I really liked this game from Wes. Not only was he hitting shots, which is always a plus, but he was disruptive on help D throughout. I’m not sure how many deflections he had, but I’m sure he led the team in that category. He needs to use his athleticism and length like that with consistency. That’s what’s so frustrating. You know offense will come and go, but he should be able to be a disruptive defender every night and he’s not. More games like this, please. It’s vital for the team D and for Wes to not be a liability out there with frequency. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-10 shooting (3-7 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 39 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He hit a tough, leaning baseline jumper after getting hit in the knee. He faked Kobe into throwing a pass out of bounds, Wes is the best on the team at this. Nice inbounds to Boozer for the layup. He missed an open three. Bad pass and he fouled trying to get it back. He sank a wing three next time down. He swished a sideline three coming off the pindown. Nice anticipation to swipe a post entry pass and then get it to Lin to ignite the break. He swiped a pass but tapped it to a Grizzly who scored at the end of the half. He had 10 points on 4-5 shooting. Second Half: He ball-faked but missed the three. He swished a wing three on a Lin kickout. He missed a wing three. He missed a three from the other side. He slammed on the break with no call after getting slapped, wow, another huge no call.

Davis -- -- I like him on the floor to close games. Our D is much better and he and Hill can erase a lot of mistakes with their effort on the offensive glass (if our offensive sequences allow them to be near the hoop). I also wish we’d trust him a more in the post to go iso. More often than not, he’s scoring off some nice moves in there. I don’t care if the shooting percentage goes down, he needs more than one or two of those attempts per game. We just don’t run any post sequences for him. Defensively, he had half of the team’s 6 blocks. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-4 shooting to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He slammed off the drive and dish from Price. He swatted a shot off Carter to get a stop. He slammed off the drive and dish in transition from Lin. Second Half: He missed a tip in on a Hill drive but Hill tipped that back in. He faced up in the post, spun and scored in the lane (more please).

Price -- -- Decent first half and not much else after that. We ran some Lin/Price combos out there tonight with Ellington gone. That didn’t really do much. Our bench was 0-2 from three, both of those were misses by Price. The team shot 7-22 from three compared to 4-11 from the Grizzlies. Udrih and Koufous combined for 30 points. The first time the Grizzlies had any bench players score double figures. Those two were a +23 and +13 combined. The Laker bench didn’t show up. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He attacked the paint and shoveled it to Davis for a slam. Great defensive sequence switching and smothering to force a shotclock violation. He crossed over and missed a wing jumper. He attacked, spun at the elbow and banked on a two-for-one sequence. He threaded a pass to Sacre in transition for a score. Nice double team to force a turnover on the pass. He attacked to his right and scored a layup over the D. He missed a three from the wing next time down. He threw a pass away, gambled and gave up a transition score. Second Half: He missed a wide open corner three. Horrible pass on the wing and he gave up a breakaway score.

Clarkson -- -- Nothing minutes for him tonight. With Ellington, we like to run some of those pindown sets. That’s pretty much our worst offense sets and aren’t ideal for anyone besides Ellington. Clarkson needs the ball in his hands attacking. He’s not ready for prime time yet, but he won’t get there without getting him a little more involved when he’s out there. Hopefully, we don’t see him fade into nothing with more minutes like these. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot and had 1 turnover in 5 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: Nice pass deflection to save a wide open shot. He set a screen out of bounds, turnover. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Henry -- -- X had minutes similar to Clarkson. Non-eventful. He’s really nothing like he was last season. I’m not sure what percentage of it is mental, but he’s playing his game, that’s for sure. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 1 turnover and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He forced and missed a long wing jumper. He sank a wide open baseline jumper from about 15 feet out. He was stripped for a turnover. Second Half: Nothing to report.

Sacre -- -- Ryan Kelly, where are you? You can see these that these second units have an endless amount of jumpers for bigs. Simple pick and pops make the game easy on that end. Instead, we look confused and only the opposing D is thrilled seeing Sacre hoist up long jumpers. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 2 assists and no fouls in 5 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He scored a layup in transition when the Grizzlies matched up poorly. He missed a long jumper, then gave up a dunk on the other end. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Scott -- -- Not a great night for the coach. He got a T on a big 5-point play (it did seem like a bogus T) and he and Lin got their wires crossed on the play call in the final minutes… With Ellington out, he had to change his rotations a little… He brought in Davis for Hill and Price for Lin down by 8 with over 3 minutes left… Kobe picked up his second foul. We sat Wes with 2:26 left for Henry, Lakers down 5… The Lakers trailed 25-21 to start the second. He went with a Sacre, Davis, Henry, Clarkson, Price unit... A 12-0 run for the Grizzlies. Hill and Johnson back in for Henry and Davis… Down 8, he brought in Boozer, Kobe and Lin for Clarkson, Price and Sacre… They cut the lead to 7 forcing a timeout… Down 5, he sat Boozer for Davis… Some good D turning into transition opportunities for the Lakers… The Lakers trailed 56-52 at the half. The Lakers shot 55%, the Grizzlies 48%... The Lakers tied up the score midway through the quarter… Lakers down 2 when they gave up an And-1 three and a tech from Scott to compound the error, a 5-point sequence, now down 7. Wow… He sat Lin for Price and Boozer for Davis… Offense starting to look to Kobe to bail them out… The Lakers trailed 83-75 heading into the fourth… He started a Davis, Boozer, Johnson, Lin, Price lineup… The Grizzly bench once again took it to the Lakers bench and Scott called a timeout now trailing by 13… The lead ballooned to 17 by the time Kobe returned for Johnson. Second unit just not getting it done… Boozer fouled out with 4:32 and Davis came in, Lakers down 10… They cut it to 8 a few seconds later and forced a timeout… Down 3, the Lakers got a 5-second call on an inbounds with 37 seconds left to get a stop. They ran the split play, this time Hill kept it and missed a long open jumper (he’s missed those all game long). That was the ball game… The Lakers couldn’t overcome the series of no calls down the stretch… Scott on that key 5-point play where he got a tech: “I didn’t think he got touched first of all. He just fell down. And to get a technical for just saying ‘no way,’ that’s unbelievable to me.”…

[SweetP]

Close and yet so far away...
Thanks DB
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[K28]

Holy carp the refs in this game. It's the post-Stern NBA, but the refs are the same.

Thanks for all the hard work and dedication DB.

[Goldenwest]

I don't normally complain about the refs, but this game the refs were either blind or incompetent, or both. Just blatant misses. I hope the NBA goes over missed calls and strives to make improvements......

[Lakersneuron]

Thanks DB. 👍
_________________
"I don’t give a [expletive] what you say. If I go out there and miss game winners, and people say, 'Kobe choked, or Kobe is seven for whatever in pressure situations.' Well, [expletive] you. Because I don’t play for your [expletive] approval."

[cheesysapien]

Thanks DB
_________________
"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

[sonic the laker]

"Boo" to the loss, but "yay" to the effort. Bench sucked, but that's to be expected for the present.

Thanks for the analysis, as always, DB.


ZOOM!

[EddieJonesss]

Thanks DB.

The refs made me want to hurl my remote at the screen.

[Shaber]

Progress still.
“We play this way, we will get ourselves right back in contention,”

I force myself to be positive.


Thanks, DB. Great read, as always. You are spoiling us.
_________________
.

Lakers depth chart

PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan

[mhan00]

(bleep) the refs. So close yet so far, and I hate having to think what might have been if the refs had done their jobs.

[lelbron ajmes]

“I thought I heard go, but it was elbow,”

Even if he missed the cue, why would lin think a jordan 2 would be a good idea?

[H0B0]

THX DB .... GO LAKERS

[Honeybadger81]

[Shaber]

[ADA32]

Thanks, DB, for the great write up as usual.

The bad news is we lost the game.
The good news is we are improving and I love the direction we are going.

If we continue to play like this, we can compete with anyone. Can we improve on a few plays? Yes, once we get Swaggy and Ryan back we will take the close games!

[KobeBryantCliffordBrown]

That trip on Kobe cost us the game.
_________________
“It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.”
― James Baldwin, Collected Essays

[fiendishoc]

Some observations:

As usual, the split action / corner set got them a ton of buckets, and they went exclusively to it down the stretch in the fourth. I would have been better if they didn't have to claw their way back into the game.

Price is better at getting his own buckets than doing anything PG related. Their Horns sets generally worked all night with the exception of when Price was initiating it, in which case it completely broke down or became a turnover.

The high screen rolls really didn't get going tonight, even with Davis/Lin, probably due to excellent Memphis defense.

They ran a ton of Princeton Chin action in the first half and barely any in the second. It wasn't really working because of the terrible screens the bigs were setting.

They tried to post Booz on Randolph a few times. Wasted possessions. Otherwise, he shot well.

They do pretty well attacking in transition and early offense, but halfcourt is usually a struggle outside of the two sets that do work. There was one stretch in the 3rd and early in the 4th that I had no idea what the heck they were running. It looked like pickup ball.

Kobe did his guarding the player with 20 foot of space thing on defense, which really messed things up for the Grizz O. It usually works against guys like Allen and Rondo, though you generally don't want to tempt anyone else with it.

They did a better job having Wes catch and shoot rather than try to do anything else. The one time he did try to create off the dribble, he predictably turned it over.

[jlinfan]

I have told myself many times I just want to see the team competing every game. That's all. But man, I forgot how frustrating it is watching them lose in last minute.

Tonight is going to be another tough one.

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB! Tough loss but there was some positives. Good to see the Lakers fight for rebounds after being outworked for most of the first half.

[Richmond]

[ice_cold]

Thanks DB! I missed the game. Sounds like a tough loss. But I am encouraged that they came so close to beating the Grizz.

[Richmond]

DB - I DEFINITELY agree on the Home Cooking. It amazes me that the refs still call the tap AFTER a 3 point shot as a foul, yet Kobe and Lin were getting body blocked before the shots and don't get a call.
If the hand tap doesn't impede the actual shot, why call it???
Johnson has his arm pulled down and doesn't get a call but Jordan Hill barely touches Conley???

[hopandskip]

Lin and Wes need to shoot more 3's in place of Hill on a bad shooting streak or Kobe trying to go 1 on 3 at times.

Really missed Ellington's shooting efficiency this game.

That 5-pt play was the difference!

[Lakerbull]

thanks!

this has become one of my fave post-game must-read.

[Honeybadger81]