Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:08 pm Post subject: LAKERS -at- WIZARDS - 12-3-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
Win Streak Over… The Lakers success against the East ended on the second night of the back-to-back in Washington, D.C. The cold weather mirrored some cold shooting for a few Lakers, and the Lakers fell, 111-95 -- the final score a little misleading to how close this game was.
Both teams traded double-digit leads at one point in this game. After a 33-point first quarter, the Lakers would score just 36 over the next two quarters. They couldn’t dig themselves out of that hole.
“We just needed more guys to join the party,” Scott said.
Nick Young led the bench with 21 points (but only played 24 minutes). Kobe had his usual scoring output with 29 but Boozer was the only starter who managed to get double digits (and did it in the very brief garbage time in the final minute). Jeremy Lin went scoreless on 0-10 shooting.
This game was within their reach, which is what you want on the road against one of the better teams in the East. Nick Young had a stretch of impact ball early in the fourth that helped bring them back. It would be nice if Scott ran Nick a little more when the team goes through dry spells. He’s available to jumpstart them.
Kobe -- -- He had the DC crowd buzzing early in this one with a big scoring first quarter, which included back-to-back threes (the second three he lost his man on a quick crossover). He had a 20-point half, but faded in the second half. The Wizards started defending him differently with a bigger player and shadowing with a secondary help man. That allowed him to find teammates on a few occasions. He was shooting over more doubles in this one, but he did mix it a good amount of passing. Guys just were missing. Late in the game when we were trying to dig out of a hole and were within a couple of hoops in the final minutes, he had a few bad possessions to put the nail in the Lakers coffin (Lakers were already down, but that made the lead balloon into an ugly last-minute butt kicking). Defensively, he spent time against Beal and Pierce. It looked like he and Pierce were having fun talking trash to each other, smiling the whole night. “It’s refreshing to see someone who came up in my era still playing. Ain’t too many of us left,” Kobe said. He was asked about if he would re-up with the Lakers. “If I feel like playing, I’ll play. If I don’t, I won’t,” Kobe said. He didn’t want to predict the future. Right now, he said he’d say no, but that may change. Kobe said he felt good on the second night of the back to back. He didn’t quite have his same pep late in the game, but he did come up briefly injured in the first half. Kobe pulled up off a pass off after making a cut. He couldn’t get down court and he hobbled around, asking to stay in the game. That was a scary minute as he didn’t get down court on D and just hunched over in the corner in pain. Glad he bounced back. Good job also getting to the line in this one. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 8-22 shooting (2-6 from three, 11-14 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -30. The Action: He sank a deep corner turnaround jumper away from the double team. He hit a turnaround from the other side next time down after working the post. He missed a quick-fire sideline jumper. Poor post kickout right out of bounds, just sloppy. He missed a long wing jumper out of the high post of the split play. He biffed a reverse layup in transition. Quick attack left and he hit the pull-up wing jumper. He hit Davis trailing for FTs. He missed an elbow jumper. He bullied his way across the lane and hit the And-1 fade from 10 feet, he made the FT. He sank a pull-up wing three working off the high screen. He got the DC crowd buzzing with a crossover and pull-up three next time down (once he makes one three, he’s putting up another if he can next time down). He missed a third three next time down (had a man behind him) but Davis cleaned it up. He missed a wing three off the split play. He wheeled around his man in the post, got in the middle of the lane, pumped the defenders and drew FTs, he made one. He posted up and sank the turnaround. He swished a FT jumper right over his man. He was blocked on a turnaround. He had 20 points on 8-15 shooting (2-4 from three). Second Half: He missed a good look at a three behind a screen. He crossed over and missed a wing pull-up. He forced the issue in the lane and drew FTs to manufacture the Lakers some points finally in the second half, he made both. He was called for an offensive foul trying to shed the D. He posted up and whipped a pass to Hill under the hoop for a layup. Again next time down he hit Hill for the layup after drawing a double. He jumped out off the screen, reached and swiped the ball, then he was tripped in transition for FTs (looked like his heel was clipped despite what the commentators were saying and that forced Kobe to trip himself), he made one on the clear-path foul. He drew a foul on a three, he made two FTs. He missed a lefty layup getting through a couple defenders. He changed pace on the sidelines and drew FTs on the dribble, he made both. He missed a wide open wing jumper. He missed a turnaround, faking his man badly on the initial fake, but allowing him to catch up on the second one. He attacked and hit Boozer for the layup. He was fouled on an up-and-under layup attempt, he made both FTs. He spun on his man and was held to prevent the dunk, but not FTs. He went between his legs several times and missed a three (dunk the other way when that backfired). He lost his balance and the ball, dunk the other way next time down. He airballed a fallaway on his next one. He fouled a three shooter on our final defensive stand for an And-1.
Lin -- -- Scott went with Price in the fourth quarter. Lin was stone cold and Price was hitting his threes and playing well defensively. It was the right decision. “Just one of those bad nights,” Scott said. Glad to see Lin not stop shooting. He said he felt like they were all going in. He had some good looks but they weren’t dropping. Sinking two or three of those threes would have made a big difference. “I think the old me would have kicked myself over and over and over again and found myself a gym tonight in Boston. That’s the old me. I think I’ve grown. Sometimes it just is what it is,” Lin said. I like his confidence after the game. Good to see. Hope for a good bounceback game in Boston. The Lakers need him. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-10 shooting (0-6 from three) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He worked the sideline pick and roll and hit Hill for the layup (more please). He attacked, pulled up and missed the elbow jumper. He was hit on a three with no call and missed. He missed a layup but got his board back then hit Boozer for a layup. He missed a wing three in early offense. Great outlet over the D but Kobe couldn’t finish the reverse off it. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a three behind a screen. Turnover trying to force it to Kobe on the perimeter. He was blocked on a three at the end of the half. Second Half: Way short on an open three. He missed a tough turnaround from the wing up against the shotclock, stone cold and that looked closer than other shots. Nice D on Pierce to force a brick. He missed a wide open wing three, then got scored on. Looked like a great block in transition off Wall that should have been Laker ball. He threw a pass right to Gortat, turnover.
Hill -- -- He didn’t have his jumper going, but Kobe still found him for some scores again. He said he tried diving to the rim more and working the glass after not feeling it from the outside. The Wizards scored 56 points in the paint and Hill didn’t have a foul. I don’t like those numbers. As our starting C he needs to put in a few hard challenges and hard fouls instead of having the lane open for business all game. Our interior was much too soft tonight. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards and no fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He sliced through the D off the two-man game with Lin for a layup. He missed a layup off an offensive board but drew a whistle, he made both FTs. He attacked baseline and missed a reverse. He missed a 19-footer. Second Half: He missed an open jumper from his spot. He scored a layup when Kobe found him from the post in early offense. Kobe found him again next time down uncovered for a layup.
Boozer -- -- Speaking of soft D, Boozer got benched at one point tonight. It came right after he threw an inbounds pass away. Scott had a few words with him as he came back to the bench. I’m not sure what they were discussing but I would much rather Scott be pulling him after a horrible defensive miscue (lazy two-man D or transition D) than an offensive one. Maybe Scott was. There was plenty of Boozer in no man’s land defensively all night. That’s a frequent theme with him all season. Later we brought back Boozer in to run at the C spot with Wes. Haven’t seen that very often. Offensively, Boozer did his usual stuff. When he’d miss a long jumper, we were often late in transition to contain the counter strike. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-9 shooting to go with 8 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -20. The Action: He swished a face-up wing jumper. He missed an open elbow jumper, then gave up an And-1 in transition. He scored a layup when Lin found him under the hoop. He missed a pull-up jumper in the lane. Horrible inbounds pass that went right out of bounds, that got him benched and Scott had some words for him on the sideline. Second Half: He missed a long pull-up (long board and an And-1 layup for the Wizards in transition). He sank a 16-footer, Lakers first field goal in 5 minutes. He missed a wide open elbow jumper and was beat down court. He was stripped in the paint. He couldn’t secure a defensive board. He scored a layup off the Kobe drive and dish. He scored a layup on a Kobe airball.
Johnson -- -- He and Kobe had the impressive -30 (that especially bad close to the game really hurt those numbers. Wes had some poor shot selection on a couple of shots. He’s been eliminating those the last few games, but we saw a little of that tonight. He still drained a couple of threes. He just needs to stay disciplined. He didn’t do much else tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -30. The Action: He missed a chuck from three, not a good look. He worked around a screen, squared up and drained the wing three. He swiped a ball on the other end. Not close on a long forced wing jumper, poor shot selection. He sank a wing three as Kobe had to rest on the other side of the court with the knee issue and the Lakers needed someone to create some offense. Second Half: HE missed a three coming to the top of the arc. Wide open for a big three, airball, yikes.
Young -- -- He and Kobe were the only real threats for the Lakers tonight. The two combined for 50. He got the Lakers back into it early in the fourth getting opportunities in transition for threes and points at the rim. That little run came off blocks and steals defensively. The Lakers didn’t sustain that enough. Good job knocking down the threes tonight. Still think he needs more than 24 minutes. He had some shoe issues that cut a minute of his time out. When the team is struggling to score early in the second half, Scott shouldn’t feel shy about subbing in Nick to help ignite the offense. If Scott says not enough guys joined the party, well run Nick an extra 12 minutes. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-14 shooting (5-8 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He attacked left and couldn’t finish a drive. He swished a deep three up against the shotclock. He stepped into a three and knocked it down straight away. He missed a tough, off-balance 22-footer next time down, forcing that one. He swished a corner three in transition in front of the Laker bench. He had 9 points on 3-5 shooting. Second Half: He missed an off-balance three trying to draw a foul. He swished a baseline pull-up jumper. He thought he drew contact on a missed three but got no call. He drained a three in transition, rare early offense initiated off a Davis block. He sank a three from the same spot off a Sacre block a few seconds later. He was stripped on a spin move. He missed a 16-footer off the dribble. He pushed out the steal and took it the distance for a layup. He crossed over in transition and drew FTs on the drive in early offense, he made both. Bad rotation to leave Beal open for a corner three instead of giving Humphries the long jumper. He missed an elbow jumper. Great save of a bad Kobe pass and it led to a Price three. He missed a three.
Davis -- -- His D looked a little better than it has recently, but the fouls were still there. Some nice hustles for offensive boards and good things usually happened as a result. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-2 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 1 steal, 1 block and 5 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He took a pass on the secondary break and bullied his way to FTs, he made one. He grabbed a Kobe miss and scored the And-1 putback, he made the FT. He tracked down an offensive board and it led to a Young three. Second Half: He missed trying to power through the D at the rim. He rejected a layup on help D.
Price -- -- Excellent two-way game from Price. He’s been MIA recently so he was due. Great anticipation and reads defensively for steals on team D and some nice moments on man D moving his feet. Offensively, he didn’t miss a shot and sank all three of his threes. Because of that, Scott gave him the opportunity to close this one. The problem with Price is he can’t string these games together. He can’t disappear for several more games living off the success of this one. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-4 shooting (3-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He drew a moving screen call. Great D to shutdown his man on iso at the end of the quarter. Great help D to deflect a pass on the D end and get a stop, then he threw it out of bounds on the other end. He sank a wing three with the shotclock low. He pushed it up and hit Nick for the three. Second Half: He charged trying to probe in transition. He sank an elbow pull-up jumper. Great help D read to snag a pass. He sank a wing three off the split play. He swished a wing three. He swiped a pass on good rotation.
Ellington -- -- We couldn’t free him up for good looks. As a result, he started to force or rush his shots. He’s been pretty dependable lately, but this game was looking more like that guy we left behind in preseason. He still led the team with the +14 as our second unit had some nice moments. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He missed a forced wing jumper badly. He missed a rushed wing three. He missed another wing jumper off the pindown.
Sacre -- -- Serviceable minutes from Sacre. There were times when we dumped the ball to him and trusted him to go one on one, which is saying something. He’s improved and his teammates are leaning on him a little more. He’s still a finesse finisher around the rim and that probably cost him a few points in this one. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-9 shooting to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He was called for an illegal D. He missed a short one at the front of the hoop. He missed a post turnaround. He posted up and swished the turnaround. He missed an elbow jumper short. Second Half: He blocked a drive off the glass. He grabbed a board but couldn’t finish the jumphook putback. He didn’t try to finish strong at the rim, instead missing a jumphook. Great job going vertical on a challenge, then swatting the shot. He iso’d and hit the pull-up one-hander on the baseline. He worked the post and hit a big jumphook in the middle of the lane on iso. He missed a baseline jumper.
Scott -- -- Wizards hurting the Lakers in transition early but the Lakers staying with them… Down 16-15, Davis came in for Boozer… Scored tied when Sacre, Young and Price came in for the remaining starters to run with Kobe… Kobe getting the DC crowd buzzing and the Lakers pulling out to a little first-quarter lead… Kobe sat for Ellington… The Lakers led 33-27 after the first quarter… He started the Sacre, Davis, Young, Ellington, Price lineup… Wes in for Young, Lakers up 4. Boozer in for Davis shortly later, foul issues… Young back in for Wes shortly later… Lakers up 10 off Price and Young threes… Up 10 still, he brought in Kobe, Wes and Hill for Sacre, Ellington and Young… Lin in for Price, Lakers up 9… A 9-0 Wizard run. He benched Boozer after a couple bonehead turnovers… The Lakers double-digit lead was lost… The Lakers led 54-52 at the half. Wizards 4-14 from three… A 7-0 start for the Wizards to the half and Scott called a timeout. Lin stone cold and missing… Wizards with a 9-point lead before the Lakers finally scored… Lakers trimmed the lead, but soft D gave it right back up. Timeout with 4:45 left… Young and Davis in for Boozer and Wes… Price in for Lin Lakers down by 8… Ellington in for Kobe, Lakers down 11… The Lakers trailed 78-69 heading into the fourth… He started the same Sacre, Davis, Young, Ellington, Price unit… They trimmed it to 5 off a couple of blocks and Young threes… He brought back in Kobe and Boozer for Davis and Ellington, Lakers down 4 with 6 to go… He brought in Wes for Sacre, weird, Lakers down 9 now with a smaller lineup and Boozer at C… Lakers fall apart in the final couple minutes and it leads to a grand finale of crowd pleasing dunks for the Wizards… The Lakers shot 12-29 from three… They lost the points in the paint 56-20…
Joined: 12 Mar 2006 Posts: 3732 Location: The other side
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:26 pm Post subject:
Thanks, DB!
I think you should have assessed Kobe's game in last minutes too. A prime example of hero-ball leading us nowhere. But this is of course not solely on Kobe. The teammates need to help. And they were nowhere to be seen. And yet, at times like these Lakers are so predictable... Ball goes to Kobe, double him up (Gortat was excellent at that!) - turnover. The ball should go thru PG at times like these and Kobe must be in a catch and shoot action. Lin should have been in. Price just is not the guy to run the show at minutes like these.
And I like Sacre more and more. He is just growing. Slowly, but steadily. I wish Kareem was still around and would teach him post moves.
We were missing a true C badly in this one again. Someone like Gortat.
By the way - if you look at a stat sheet, the +/- difference between starters and bench is just funny. And so opposite for both teams, as can be. _________________ .
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
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 8488 Location: The (real) short corner
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 10:52 pm Post subject:
WHAT I LIKED
Bench holding strong in the fourth
The bench blew away the starters in +/- , and in the start of the 4th quarter, when they have the entire starting lineup resting, they did a much better job holding the line than last game. The big men did a good job of shutting down the interior without fouling and Swaggy took over at the other end. Price ran the offense without trying to do too much, and knocked down his shots when he was open.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
Not pulling Kobe out
This was the second game where Kobe looked like he got hurt, stayed in the game, and then got out of control. The first one was against Phoenix. When he hurt his knee, that would have been the prime time to pull him out. I know he wanted to stay in, but here's where Byron has to assert his authority- it was the second game of a back to back, Lakers had the lead, and he'd already let the other team get a ton of points in transition by not hustling back. Not to mention the history of him getting seriously hurt after playing through incidents like this.
Swaggy could have taken his place, as he had it going, but only ended up playing 24 minutes. Nick is too good to only serve as an offensive security blanket when Kobe is out, outside of the last 6 minutes of the fourth. It seems like their plan is to have Wes cover for Kobe on D until crunchtime- the problem is that it doesn't work, and they end up limiting Swaggy's minutes.
Bad rotation by Swaggy
That being said, a HUGE three was given with about 5 min to go, because Swaggy decided to help off Beal in the corner to stop a twenty footer from Humphries of all people. Just doesn't make sense, but I've seen it happen so many times with so many Laker players this season, that I have to believe that they've been told to do it.
Brutal game from Lin today. Good looks, just missed them all, and he got nothing going to the basket.
I was shocked when Price started knocking down threes. Those generally look to be a couple feet out of his range, but he was money tonight. Hopefully he's got that going now, but I'm not holding my breath.
As BS repeatedly talked about and practiced D, I just couldn't understand our lack of defense. Aside from the lack of focus from our bigs, could it be BS's poor defensive schemes/strategy, and so on?
Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 8488 Location: The (real) short corner
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 5:22 am Post subject:
tw-lakbfan wrote:
As BS repeatedly talked about and practiced D, I just couldn't understand our lack of defense. Aside from the lack of focus from our bigs, could it be BS's poor defensive schemes/strategy, and so on?
Poor strategy, which is slowly being fixed. They were doing two things wrong- first, playing too far up on the pick and roll, and second, over-helping leading to 3pt shooters being open. They fixed the first problem, as seen in the last three games, but are still stuck somewhere in the middle on the second problem.
Transition defense is also not too good. Certain players also have defensive lapses, and I'm not sure they're being held accountable.
Bench holding strong in the fourth
The bench blew away the starters in +/- , and in the start of the 4th quarter, when they have the entire starting lineup resting, they did a much better job holding the line than last game. The big men did a good job of shutting down the interior without fouling and Swaggy took over at the other end. Price ran the offense without trying to do too much, and knocked down his shots when he was open.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
Not pulling Kobe out
This was the second game where Kobe looked like he got hurt, stayed in the game, and then got out of control. The first one was against Phoenix. When he hurt his knee, that would have been the prime time to pull him out. I know he wanted to stay in, but here's where Byron has to assert his authority- it was the second game of a back to back, Lakers had the lead, and he'd already let the other team get a ton of points in transition by not hustling back. Not to mention the history of him getting seriously hurt after playing through incidents like this.
Swaggy could have taken his place, as he had it going, but only ended up playing 24 minutes. Nick is too good to only serve as an offensive security blanket when Kobe is out, outside of the last 6 minutes of the fourth. It seems like their plan is to have Wes cover for Kobe on D until crunchtime- the problem is that it doesn't work, and they end up limiting Swaggy's minutes.
Bad rotation by Swaggy
That being said, a HUGE three was given with about 5 min to go, because Swaggy decided to help off Beal in the corner to stop a twenty footer from Humphries of all people. Just doesn't make sense, but I've seen it happen so many times with so many Laker players this season, that I have to believe that they've been told to do it.
Right!!! Totally pissed me off!! Byron has to make that call. Also, the 3rd quarter the starters were terrible, but he left them up until the 2 min mark or so. The bench should have come in earlier. The that crazy sub he made after the bench brought us back, what was THAT? _________________ New Beginings
Excellent comments as always.Thanks _________________ "Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.
Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67620 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 8:35 am Post subject:
Thanks DB.
In the end I thought Kobe's legs betrayed him. The last turnover indicated to me they were tired.
Kobe's a inconsistent willing passer. His mind set still allowed the attitude, I'm the one to do it, to take charge in this game.
We hung tough with one of the best in the East. I was pleased with our effort. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
Bench holding strong in the fourth
The bench blew away the starters in +/- , and in the start of the 4th quarter, when they have the entire starting lineup resting, they did a much better job holding the line than last game. The big men did a good job of shutting down the interior without fouling and Swaggy took over at the other end. Price ran the offense without trying to do too much, and knocked down his shots when he was open.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
Not pulling Kobe out
This was the second game where Kobe looked like he got hurt, stayed in the game, and then got out of control. The first one was against Phoenix. When he hurt his knee, that would have been the prime time to pull him out. I know he wanted to stay in, but here's where Byron has to assert his authority- it was the second game of a back to back, Lakers had the lead, and he'd already let the other team get a ton of points in transition by not hustling back. Not to mention the history of him getting seriously hurt after playing through incidents like this.
Swaggy could have taken his place, as he had it going, but only ended up playing 24 minutes. Nick is too good to only serve as an offensive security blanket when Kobe is out, outside of the last 6 minutes of the fourth. It seems like their plan is to have Wes cover for Kobe on D until crunchtime- the problem is that it doesn't work, and they end up limiting Swaggy's minutes.
Bad rotation by Swaggy
That being said, a HUGE three was given with about 5 min to go, because Swaggy decided to help off Beal in the corner to stop a twenty footer from Humphries of all people. Just doesn't make sense, but I've seen it happen so many times with so many Laker players this season, that I have to believe that they've been told to do it.
DB's recap = the Earthquake.
Fiend's additions = the Aftershock.
Great tag team. Keep up the work! _________________ From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals
D-Fish stats is Ok. (8 FGA). (he doesn't need to be Steve Nash)
(1) Lakers run heavy Princeton > PNR
(2) Lin needs to cover the first unit lack of pace transition defense
(3) Kobe plays better with D-Fish type of PG
I only caught the last half of the 4th qtr. Saw a minute or two of the bench trying to keep the game within reach and then the starters being run over roughshod. Glad to hear that the Lakers were competitive for a good portion of the game.
I think you should have assessed Kobe's game in last minutes too. A prime example of hero-ball leading us nowhere. But this is of course not solely on Kobe. The teammates need to help. And they were nowhere to be seen. And yet, at times like these Lakers are so predictable... Ball goes to Kobe, double him up (Gortat was excellent at that!) - turnover. The ball should go thru PG at times like these and Kobe must be in a catch and shoot action. Lin should have been in. Price just is not the guy to run the show at minutes like these.
I thought I assessed it talking about his series of errors turning the game into "an ugly last-minute butt kicking".
I don't fault Scott with not running Lin to close this one. He was having a poor game and Ronnie was hitting threes. I agree, we need a PG to playmake more down the stretch, but even if we had Lin in there, you know that wouldn't have happened with this team right now. We just haven't got a one-two punch figured out down the stretch...even with Nick out there...we're generally pretty myopic with play calls.
Bad rotation by Swaggy
That being said, a HUGE three was given with about 5 min to go, because Swaggy decided to help off Beal in the corner to stop a twenty footer from Humphries of all people. Just doesn't make sense, but I've seen it happen so many times with so many Laker players this season, that I have to believe that they've been told to do it.
Yeah, I specifically mentioned that defensive sequence in his writeup. That hurt.
As BS repeatedly talked about and practiced D, I just couldn't understand our lack of defense. Aside from the lack of focus from our bigs, could it be BS's poor defensive schemes/strategy, and so on?
Poor strategy, which is slowly being fixed. They were doing two things wrong- first, playing too far up on the pick and roll, and second, over-helping leading to 3pt shooters being open. They fixed the first problem, as seen in the last three games, but are still stuck somewhere in the middle on the second problem.
Transition defense is also not too good. Certain players also have defensive lapses, and I'm not sure they're being held accountable.
It's definitely a combination of both. I'm also not sure sometimes whether our guys aren't buying the defensive schemes/plans or lazy. There used to be a lot of confusion on how we were defending certain things, but they seem to be more on the same page in the last few. Ultimately, though, we need more talent on that end of the floor and we're a little short there. We make a lot of mistakes and rarely erase them with help.
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2014 11:51 am Post subject: My true review
I have been watching all the laker gmes. I love kobe but if he is unable to shoot one ball in the fourth quarter. He should just pass it to the person who was shooting the ball already. Im the wizards game, Nick Young was looking sharp in the end. But in the death Kobe took it on his shoulders and we lost. Nick brought us back and unfortunately Kobe brought us down.
I wish we ever make the playoffs
In the crunch time, If BS goes ahead with Kobe ball, can he at least come up with some designed plays? Kobe is stubbon enough to take charge now, but isn't it possible to get the chance of making shots higher?
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-- He had the DC crowd buzzing early in this one with a big scoring first quarter, which included back-to-back threes (the second three he lost his man on a quick crossover). He had a 20-point half, but faded in the second half. The Wizards started defending him differently with a bigger player and shadowing with a secondary help man. That allowed him to find teammates on a few occasions. He was shooting over more doubles in this one, but he did mix it a good amount of passing. Guys just were missing. Late in the game when we were trying to dig out of a hole and were within a couple of hoops in the final minutes, he had a few bad possessions to put the nail in the Lakers coffin (Lakers were already down, but that made the lead balloon into an ugly last-minute butt kicking). Defensively, he spent time against Beal and Pierce. It looked like he and Pierce were having fun talking trash to each other, smiling the whole night. “It’s refreshing to see someone who came up in my era still playing. Ain’t too many of us left,” Kobe said. He was asked about if he would re-up with the Lakers. “If I feel like playing, I’ll play. If I don’t, I won’t,” Kobe said. He didn’t want to predict the future. Right now, he said he’d say no, but that may change. Kobe said he felt good on the second night of the back to back. He didn’t quite have his same pep late in the game, but he did come up briefly injured in the first half. Kobe pulled up off a pass off after making a cut. He couldn’t get down court and he hobbled around, asking to stay in the game. That was a scary minute as he didn’t get down court on D and just hunched over in the corner in pain. Glad he bounced back. Good job also getting to the line in this one. 
-- Scott went with Price in the fourth quarter. Lin was stone cold and Price was hitting his threes and playing well defensively. It was the right decision. “Just one of those bad nights,” Scott said. Glad to see Lin not stop shooting. He said he felt like they were all going in. He had some good looks but they weren’t dropping. Sinking two or three of those threes would have made a big difference. “I think the old me would have kicked myself over and over and over again and found myself a gym tonight in Boston. That’s the old me. I think I’ve grown. Sometimes it just is what it is,” Lin said. I like his confidence after the game. Good to see. Hope for a good bounceback game in Boston. The Lakers need him. 
-- He didn’t have his jumper going, but Kobe still found him for some scores again. He said he tried diving to the rim more and working the glass after not feeling it from the outside. The Wizards scored 56 points in the paint and Hill didn’t have a foul. I don’t like those numbers. As our starting C he needs to put in a few hard challenges and hard fouls instead of having the lane open for business all game. Our interior was much too soft tonight. 
-- Speaking of soft D, Boozer got benched at one point tonight. It came right after he threw an inbounds pass away. Scott had a few words with him as he came back to the bench. I’m not sure what they were discussing but I would much rather Scott be pulling him after a horrible defensive miscue (lazy two-man D or transition D) than an offensive one. Maybe Scott was. There was plenty of Boozer in no man’s land defensively all night. That’s a frequent theme with him all season. Later we brought back Boozer in to run at the C spot with Wes. Haven’t seen that very often. Offensively, Boozer did his usual stuff. When he’d miss a long jumper, we were often late in transition to contain the counter strike. 
-- He and Kobe had the impressive -30 (that especially bad close to the game really hurt those numbers. Wes had some poor shot selection on a couple of shots. He’s been eliminating those the last few games, but we saw a little of that tonight. He still drained a couple of threes. He just needs to stay disciplined. He didn’t do much else tonight. 
-- He and Kobe were the only real threats for the Lakers tonight. The two combined for 50. He got the Lakers back into it early in the fourth getting opportunities in transition for threes and points at the rim. That little run came off blocks and steals defensively. The Lakers didn’t sustain that enough. Good job knocking down the threes tonight. Still think he needs more than 24 minutes. He had some shoe issues that cut a minute of his time out. When the team is struggling to score early in the second half, Scott shouldn’t feel shy about subbing in Nick to help ignite the offense. If Scott says not enough guys joined the party, well run Nick an extra 12 minutes. 
-- His D looked a little better than it has recently, but the fouls were still there. Some nice hustles for offensive boards and good things usually happened as a result. 
-- Excellent two-way game from Price. He’s been MIA recently so he was due. Great anticipation and reads defensively for steals on team D and some nice moments on man D moving his feet. Offensively, he didn’t miss a shot and sank all three of his threes. Because of that, Scott gave him the opportunity to close this one. The problem with Price is he can’t string these games together. He can’t disappear for several more games living off the success of this one. 
-- We couldn’t free him up for good looks. As a result, he started to force or rush his shots. He’s been pretty dependable lately, but this game was looking more like that guy we left behind in preseason. He still led the team with the +14 as our second unit had some nice moments. 
-- Serviceable minutes from Sacre. There were times when we dumped the ball to him and trusted him to go one on one, which is saying something. He’s improved and his teammates are leaning on him a little more. He’s still a finesse finisher around the rim and that probably cost him a few points in this one. 
-- Wizards hurting the Lakers in transition early but the Lakers staying with them… Down 16-15, Davis came in for Boozer… Scored tied when Sacre, Young and Price came in for the remaining starters to run with Kobe… Kobe getting the DC crowd buzzing and the Lakers pulling out to a little first-quarter lead… Kobe sat for Ellington… The Lakers led 33-27 after the first quarter… He started the Sacre, Davis, Young, Ellington, Price lineup… Wes in for Young, Lakers up 4. Boozer in for Davis shortly later, foul issues… Young back in for Wes shortly later… Lakers up 10 off Price and Young threes… Up 10 still, he brought in Kobe, Wes and Hill for Sacre, Ellington and Young… Lin in for Price, Lakers up 9… A 9-0 Wizard run. He benched Boozer after a couple bonehead turnovers… The Lakers double-digit lead was lost… The Lakers led 54-52 at the half. Wizards 4-14 from three… A 7-0 start for the Wizards to the half and Scott called a timeout. Lin stone cold and missing… Wizards with a 9-point lead before the Lakers finally scored… Lakers trimmed the lead, but soft D gave it right back up. Timeout with 4:45 left… Young and Davis in for Boozer and Wes… Price in for Lin Lakers down by 8… Ellington in for Kobe, Lakers down 11… The Lakers trailed 78-69 heading into the fourth… He started the same Sacre, Davis, Young, Ellington, Price unit… They trimmed it to 5 off a couple of blocks and Young threes… He brought back in Kobe and Boozer for Davis and Ellington, Lakers down 4 with 6 to go… He brought in Wes for Sacre, weird, Lakers down 9 now with a smaller lineup and Boozer at C… Lakers fall apart in the final couple minutes and it leads to a grand finale of crowd pleasing dunks for the Wizards… The Lakers shot 12-29 from three… They lost the points in the paint 56-20…
