LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 12-5-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:12 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 12-5-14 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

”20 Games is Enough”… That’s what Scott said after the Lakers fell to 5-15, losing 113-96 to the rival Celtics. Changes are coming to the starting lineup. What those are, Scott didn’t say.

The Lakers defense was horrible from the start. Carlos Boozer and Jordan Hill were caught in no man’s land all game. They played very poor D, very indecisive with very little impact on that end of the floor. Scott’s only answer was to run Sacre a little extra, who while he played decent defensively, was a rally killer on the offensive end, going just 1-10. Meanwhile, Zeller scored 24 on 10-11 shooting and had 14 boards. “He played a whole lot harder than our bigs did,” Scott said. It was ugly, and Scott had praise for the opposing bigs, none for the Lakers.

“Their bigs did a great job running the floor and hitting the glass and just outworking us,” he said.

Scott said after talking with his coaches he’s going to make some changes in the starting the lineup. (Insert tears for losing Julius Randle in the first game here.)


Kobe -- -- The Laker faithful came out to see Kobe in Boston. You could hear the crowd cheering when good things happened for Kobe and the Lakers. Remember before the Celtics traded for KG how Kobe drew “M-V-P” chants in Boston? Well, those crowds are back. Fans would have loved to make some noise for him tonight and did when they had a chance, even chanting for Kobe to enter the game. “I didn’t think I’d hear that here,” Scott said. Kobe said he also appreciates the “boo’s” from the crowd. “When the Celtics struggle there are plenty of things to do in Boston, I guess,” Kobe said of how many Laker fans showed up. Kind of an average game for Kobe, which was still enough to lead the team in scoring. He didn’t get to the line like he has been recently. Sad stat of the night, he co-shared the team-high for assists with 3. Usually, we let Kobe cross match defensively and sag off Rondo to play free safely to clog things up. We didn’t clog anything up tonight. Celtics got whatever they wanted. “Whatever he feels is right, I’ll back him up 100 percent,” Kobe said of Scott’s upcoming decision to mix things up. Only position that seems save with Scott is at SG. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-21 shooting (1-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a -29. The Action: Lin threw a pass to him out of bounds, Kobe returned the favor next time down and threw a kickout over Lin’s head (well, they’re working on the chemistry, I guess). He missed a wing jumper after losing his man badly. He found Hill off the two-man sequence out of the corner for a layup. He missed a baseline turnaround up against the shotclock. He iso’d with the shotclock low, worked Green into the post and hit the lefty jumphook. He missed a wide open 18-footer. He missed a long baseline jumper out of a timeout, the team should have set up a better look than that. He posted up and threw a wild kickout out of bounds. He swished a wing jumper off the screen in early offense. He rattled down a long three in early offense. He posted up and drew FTs on a turnaround, he made both. He sank a long pull-up wing jumper next time down. He missed a long baseline turnaround, layup the other way in transition. He missed a three. He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting. Second Half: He drew an illegal D whistle while posting up and made the tech. He then airballed a baseline pull-up jumper. He sank a pull-up 17-footer working off a high screen. He missed a pull-up in early offense. He crossed over and missed an open 8-footer, disgusted with himself. He attacked to his left and scored a layup around the D. He missed a wing three. He worked across the lane, wanted the foul but still hit the little jumper from the midpost area. He spun baseline to lose his man and reversed, wanting a foul as he hit the floor. Poor help D not covering a man wide open under the hoop. He pumped, spun away from the D and missed the lefty one hander. He iso’d and missed a pull-up. He intercepted a backcourt pass and banked a pull-up jumper.

Lin -- -- Finally, he started just going to the rack and playing more of his game. There’s no reason he can’t do more of it. You knew he was going to have a bounceback game after the bagel in the last one. This Lin is the Lin that all fans want to see more of. He was scoring layups through the D, attacking on consecutive possessions and then hitting a three after getting it going. That aggressiveness was rewarded with just 19 minutes. Sigh. He could have played double the minutes. “We got to try to get easier buckets. We didn’t get any stops today,” Lin said. “I don’t think we gave a great effort defensively. And when you don’t get stops it’s hard to score easy buckets.” He and Kobe looked more like a one-two punch when he was playing this way. Instead of sitting him then, run more minutes and see if he, Kobe and Young can spark the team to life. Worthy and Horry in the post game were as careful as they could about criticizing Scott, but they still said it. “Lin really sparked them, then he was out of the game,” Worthy said, mentioning Scott is maybe still trying to figure out his roster. Then Horry followed it up. “He got mad because Rondo was taking it to the basket,” Horry said, “and he started saying, ‘hey, I’m going to the basket, too.’ He got four layups, then he got the three and all of the sudden he’s on the bench. You got to keep him out there.” Horry said that’s when an assistant coach should speak up and remind the coach he ought to play him more. Yep. Lin was on track, let him soak in it longer in the court. Long-term the team will be better off. To be successful here he needs to play like a PG and an SG and switching in between. His game is maturing enough that he can do that…but he’s got to have time. Instead we get Ronnie Price with 24 minutes. Horrible. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: Miscue throwing a post entry out of bounds in early offense (I think he didn’t think Kobe was posting up but continuing to cut). Not close on a wing bank shot. He attacked down the middle of the paint and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked again, got into the chest of the big and banked in the And-1, he made the FT. He drew a moving screen call on D. He attacked off a screen next possession but missed a very tough off-balance shot. He got an inbounds pass with 4.5 seconds left, pushed it up with speed, split the D and scored a layup a hair before the buzzer (and probably getting away with three steps). Second Half: He found Hill trailing on the two-man game for a layup. He missed a pull-up wing jumper next time down. Aggressive attack from the wing and he scored a layup through multiple defenders. He took a pass, pushed it out with speed and scored a layup next time down and forced a timeout. He swished a long three in early offense. Weak double-dribble call, looked like it was a loose ball he was just gathering.

Hill -- -- He and Boozer were horrible defensively. “We weren’t quite there,” Hill said of their defensive rotations. “They were just playing harder than us.” That sounds about right on both fronts. Hill wasn’t making any presence felt defensively, just not quite there and caught in no-man’s land. He pulled down just 4 boards, which he can do in his sleep. Offensively, he didn’t miss a shot. He hit just one jumper, the rest was all around the rim. Zeller had 24 points on 10-11 and 14 rebounds. We were dominated. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-6 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -25. The Action: He scored an And-1 off the interior feed from Boozer to start the game, he made the FT. He scored a layup off the two-man game with Kobe. He sank an 18-footer from his usual spot. He tipped in a Boozer miss. Great hustle to get after a missed Kobe three, he gathered it and scored the layup. He had 11 points on 5-5 shooting and 3 boards. Second Half: He scored a layup off the two-man game with Lin. He threw a poor post entry to Kobe, picked off, score the other way. He gave up a putback score to his man.

Boozer -- -- Just awful. Afterward, he said he was under the weather and that Rondo chewed them apart. Boozer was horrible in transition D and not making any kind of impact in the halfcourt. I’m getting more and more frustrated watching him out there. People focus on his shooting and points. That was MIA today, but who cares? The lack of D drives me nuts. Man, I wish we had Randle. He’d be moved into the starting lineup now. Even if we had the same record, it would be fun to watch. I don’t even want to dwell on it. If Boozer isn’t being moved out of the starting lineup…uggh. Unfortunately, with both Randle and Kelly out our options are few. Start Davis, Sacre or Slide Wes to PF. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He hit Hill with an interior feed for an And-1 to start the game. He missed a sideline jumper. He missed an open 17-footer, then fouled in early offense on the other end. He charged on the two-man game. He posted up, faked left, went right and hit the jumper in the lane. He bullied his way to the front of the rim but missed the layup. He missed a short one in the post getting a clean shot off, then he gave up an offensive putback on the other end. Another layup for his man in transition. More poor D and he tapped a defensive board out of bounds not in proper position. He gave up another offensive board from behind on the same defensive stand, killing me. Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper. Left his man open on an inbounds to give up an easy jumper. He grabbed a ball Lin fumbled, then charged.

Johnson -- -- Well, the easy move for Scott it to start Swaggy and sit Wes. I’ve got to think he’s debating sitting both Boozer and Wes for Davis and Nick. Right? He likes Nick off the bench, but he needs to get Nick more minutes and this may be his plan. Hard to jump into Scott’s head. I think he’s fine with the PGs and SGs, just not happy with his starting front court. Wes was back to chucking up poor, off-balance shots…even when open you could see him not square up properly. That drives me nuts. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-5 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He missed a three straight away. He blocked a layup on help D in transition. Second Half: Bad chuck with a man on him and Wes just wanting to get a shot up, brick. Wide open on a Kobe kickout and he did a poor job gathering himself and subsequently airballed, you could see that coming a mile away. He then threw a post entry away. Finally a good, squared up three and he missed. Horrible swing pass right to a Celtic, layup the other way.

Young -- -- Rare interview afterward where he wasn’t his usual upbeat self. “I ain’t giving no credit to them. We played like…I don’t want to talk about it,” Nick said. He was frustrated with their play tonight and cut his interview short, walking away. “Frustration is good,” Kobe said. “Frustration is good. You have to be able to use your frustration in the right way and channel it to have good performances.” He, Kobe and Lin were the only ones who seemed to be up for the fight tonight. Not always on D, but they were battling hard and trying to impose themselves on the game. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-14 shooting (1-3 from three, 5-6 form the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a 20-footer. He probed and hit a step-back elbow jumper. He worked off the split play and hit the pull-up at the FT line. He worked out of the sideline triangle, drew the D and fed Davis who blew the dunk. He drained an open three when Sacre erased his man with a nice screen. He posted up and missed a turnaround. He got tapped on an elbow step-back jumper. He had 7 points on 3-7 shooting. Second Half: He attacked, spun and missed a tough one in the lane. He nearly banked in a three he bricked it so badly. He took some contact on a three and went down quickly making sure he got the call, he made two FTs. He cut backdoor, took a pass from Sacre and drew FTs to start the next quarter, he made both. He attacked down the lane with speed and scored a layup. He missed a wing three (Celtics pushed it out quick for an And-1). He stretched out for an outlet over the D at full speed, shielded the defender and scored a lefty And-1 layup in transition, very nice, he made the FT. He attacked and lost control, turnover. No transition D and he gave up a three.

Davis -- -- He got the most minutes of any big, which leads me to believe Scott may be moving him into the starting lineup to try to help the D. No foul trouble for Davis limiting his time tonight. Like I said, it’s hard to get inside Scott’s head. That starting unit had massive negatives on the +/- again. Something needs to change. Ed led all Lakers with 9 boards. He struggled from the line, missing 4 of 6. He had a nice jam and post move for a score. I’d like to see us dump the ball to him more in the post. If we can get Sacre 10 shots in a game, surely we could Ed a few more looks down there. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 1 block and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He was rejected down the lane after taking a pass at high speed. He knocked a defensive board away from Price who clearly had it. He rejected Turner’s drive badly. Two-hand slam off the bounce pass from Price. He posted up and hit a jumphook next time down (more please). He couldn’t finish a dunk after a great pass from Nick out of a timeout. Second Half: He battled for an offensive board and drew FTs, he missed both. He drew FTs in the post and made both. He drew more FTs.

Price -- -- He probably got some extra run today because the starters got their butts kicked in the third. It’s easier for Scott to sit all starters but Kobe in the fourth. I would have rather seen us go all in with Kobe, Young and Lin being aggressive and seeing if that could give the team some jump in their step. Instead we get Sacre and Price combining for an impressive 4-20. That won’t stagger anyone. If you move Boozer to the bench, that gives you some much needed scoring punch for them and you hope that Ronnie’s D helps us depend slightly less on Boozer to erase mistakes. Because that’s not happening. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-10 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed an 18-footer. He missed a half court heave at the buzzer. He attacked off a screen by Young and scored a layup. He hit Davis at the top of the lane and he took it for the jam. He missed a pull-up jumper working off a screen off a busted offensive sequence. Second Half: His man overplayed and Price got into the lane for an easy open jumper from about 8 feet out. He iso’d and bricked a long pull-up. He made a three off a Kobe pitch out. He missed a long three next time down. He attacked down the lane and missed a layup. He missed an open three on a kickout.

Clarkson -- -- He finally made it in with 1:32 left. What a waste. Killing me. We were getting our butts kicked in the fourth and we can’t even get him in there sooner. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting from three to go with no other stats. He was a +6. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He sank a garbage time three on the last possession.

Ellington -- -- He led the Lakers with a +10. We ran him and Kobe in the two guard front for one stretch where Ellington looked like the primary ballhandler/PG. With our offensive sets you can do this since we don’t rely on a PG for playmaking a ton. I wouldn’t mind seeing him and Boozer working some two-man game action for the bench. It’s simple enough and both are threats to score jumpers that any bit of space can create something. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists and 1 board. He was a +10. The Action: He sank a long wing pull-up jumper. Short on a wing three. Explosive attack after taking a pass at half court and he scored a layup. Second Half: He probed off the three line and swished the short jumper. He missed a long sideline jumper. He hit a pull-up at the top of the key after slicing through traffic on the perimeter. He sank a wing three coming off the screens.

Sacre -- -- He was a rally killer offensively, but probably our best defensive big. All those misses, even on consecutive possessions just sucked the life out any kind of rally at times. He had more of a presence defensively and the team was a +8 when he was out there in 26 minutes, but we couldn’t gain any traction with his clanking on the offensive end. It was awful. A good two-way big would make a difference for this team, but two-way isn’t how this team plays. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-10 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He missed an 18-footer. Great screen to free up Nick for the open three. He blocked a shot on the other end. He bricked a hook on across the lane. Second Half: He missed a jumphook in the post, looked dead when it left his hand. Nice find of Nick cutting backdoor for FTs. He missed a post turnaround in early offense. He sank a baseline jumper off the two-man game. He missed a jumphook off the weak pindowns that didn’t free up anyone. He missed another jumphook. He bricked an open one-hander in the middle of the lane. Next time down, he bricked a jumphook, what are we doing?

Scott -- -- Uninspired game from the players to the coaches.… Turnover-prone offense early on for the Lakers and they fell behind. Scott subbed out Boozer for Davis down 11-5 after 4 minutes… The Lakers trailed 19-9 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Swaggy in for Wes. Lakers getting killed... Price in for Lin Lakers down 25-9… Sacre in for Hill… Down 16 and the Lakers go to the zone… Down 9 we sat Kobe for Ellington with 1:34 left… A 9-0 Laker run helped cut the lead to 7 during a stretch… The Lakers trailed 30-20 after the first quarter… Usual unit to start the second quarter… The Lakers cut it to 5 on an 8-0 run after a few minutes. Celtics timeout… He sat Davis for Boozer down 6… Kobe, Wes, and Hill back in to go with Boozer and Ellington. Weird… The lead went back up to 9 after some poor transition D with that lineup and he brought Lin back in for Ellington… Lin getting aggressive, finally and the Lakers chipped the lead down… The Lakers trailed 53-48 at the half. The Celtics had a 9-2 advantage on the break… Lin continued his aggressiveness and forced a Celtic timeout… Boozer just awful on D… Down 10 and we sat Boozer midway through the quarter for Davis… Lakers falling back further, down 16, Scott called a timeout… Sacre in for Hill whose D was horrible and Young in for Wes who was invisible… Down 14, he sat Lin for Price… Down 17, he sat Kobe for Ellington… Horrible defensive quarter… The Lakers trailed 86-70 heading into the fourth… He started the Sacre, Davis, Young, Ellington, Price lineup… The 18-point lead was trimmed to 12 behind Nick and some Celtics miscues on offense… Nick cut it to 9 with under 8 minutes left (and the crowd starting to chant for Kobe)… He brought in Kobe down 11 with 7 minutes left for Ellington… Lead back up to 17… Lead up to 20 when the timeout came… Sacre awful on offense… Should have brought in Lin minutes ago, but he sat Nick for Wes with 5+ minutes left… He subbed out Kobe and Price for Ellington and Clarkson with a minute and a half left Clarkson should have been in a while ago… Rondo a +40. Zeller a +39… The Celtics had a 27-7 advantage on the break, scoring 18 points on the break in the second half. Horrible transition D… “They played harder than we did and we got exactly what we deserved,” Scott said.
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fafan
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:19 pm    Post subject:

1st,thanks
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cheesysapien
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:19 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB. I was waiting for your post.
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:20 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
A Laker team that plays uninspired in Boston? Never thought I'd see that.
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:32 pm    Post subject:

THX DB. GO LAKERS
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:46 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB. Nice recap as always.
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infinite-loop
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:49 pm    Post subject:

Very balanced and fair. Thanks!

I also saw the post game where Worthy and Horry were scratching their heads about Scott's decisions. Clearly they were conflicted about criticizing Scott.
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:54 pm    Post subject:

everybody takes a guess, who is or are going to be removed from the starting lineup.

My guess is:
1, Boozer, if there is any change, it should be Boozer, otherwise it is a crime from Byron.
2, Lin, for whatever reason, Byron just does not like how Lin plays PG in his system. Ronnie replacing Lin is almost like a crime, but not totally unreasonable...

I don't see Byron will remove Wes and Hill, Hill has been consistent offensively and he rebounds well... Byron has a forever LOVE toward Wes...
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 12:02 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB, I hope you it didn't take you 5 hours to write this. Maybe you went for a drink after this miserable loss?

LOL for the emoticon for BScott
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 12:04 am    Post subject:

If we are losing, let's play Lin and Clarkson more. They actually have the potential to improve, unlike Price. Unfortunately, I have a sinking feeling Scott is going to bench Lin as he seems to have been itching to do all season, and run with Price even more.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 12:25 am    Post subject:

20 games was way too long. I've said early on that I knew Davis would start at some point in the season. I also said that I knew that Byron would be way too stubborn to do it until an unreasonable amount of losses. Whether he gets into foul trouble or not is besides the point- you have to hold guys accountable, especially on the defensive end.

Now I hope that is the change being made, not Price over Lin, or else I'd be speechless. You would also hope this trend of Wes playing more minutes than Swaggy would be reversed.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 1:22 am    Post subject:

fiendishoc wrote:
20 games was way too long. I've said early on that I knew Davis would start at some point in the season. I also said that I knew that Byron would be way too stubborn to do it until an unreasonable amount of losses. Whether he gets into foul trouble or not is besides the point- you have to hold guys accountable, especially on the defensive end.

Now I hope that is the change being made, not Price over Lin, or else I'd be speechless. You would also hope this trend of Wes playing more minutes than Swaggy would be reversed.


It would be ironic if Ed moves from bench to starter and then Lin moves from starter to bench as Ed is basically the only big man on the team that Lin can run the PnR with.
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rayfantastic
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 1:59 am    Post subject:

Hurrican wrote:
fiendishoc wrote:
20 games was way too long. I've said early on that I knew Davis would start at some point in the season. I also said that I knew that Byron would be way too stubborn to do it until an unreasonable amount of losses. Whether he gets into foul trouble or not is besides the point- you have to hold guys accountable, especially on the defensive end.

Now I hope that is the change being made, not Price over Lin, or else I'd be speechless. You would also hope this trend of Wes playing more minutes than Swaggy would be reversed.


It would be ironic if Ed moves from bench to starter and then Lin moves from starter to bench as Ed is basically the only big man on the team that Lin can run the PnR with.


That's the beauty of the tank.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:35 am    Post subject:

The starters came out flat as well as cold from outside when the game started, and the team never recovered. Although the players have the ability to score and make plays on their own in spurts, this was where you wish there was a bit more creativity or purpose in the offensive sets.

WHAT I LIKED

Lin's aggression
Lin, along with the rest of the starters came out cold and out of sorts. When the starters came back in, it was minus Lin, as Ellington remained in the game. Rather than get discouraged, he turned it up a notch, driving to the basket at will and finishing. He even showed a bit of attitude as a Celtic player tried to take the ball away from him on a deadball. Very nice to see.

Unfortunately, the coach decided to troll fans around the world by benching him for Price.

Easy E
Ever since the regular season started, Ellington's shot has been on. Today he hit a 3 off a floppy play which was set further out than he usually runs it, which was good to see, rather than the usual long 2. However, on the season he's shooting 39% from 3, and 57% on long 2s, so basically you're fine with him launching from anywhere on the court. Given what he's had to deal with off the court, you can't help but root for the guy.

If they decide to start him, I hope it's at Wes' expense and not Lin's. Or else you can forget about seeing any transition buckets with the first unit.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE

Lazy bigs on D
I agree 100% with DB here. Watch the bigs closely in transition or in scramble situations and you see them unilaterally decide to switch or "protect the paint". God forbid they run to their rotation if it's more than 10 feet away. Kobe does it as well from time to time, but when the bigs do it, it always seems to lead to the other team scoring.

Bad Wes returns
I can live with Wes being off with his shot. I can't live with him taking more than one dribble. Whenever that happens, something bad is bound to occur.
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 2:52 am    Post subject:

Quote:
(Insert tears for losing Julius Randle in the first game here.)


Damn right. Julius would already be the starting power forward for the lakers by now. This season sucks big time.

Great write up.
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OregonLakerGuy
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 3:07 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 5:24 am    Post subject:

DB, great job. I thought Scott was awful too and hope the lineup changes move Boozer to the bench and if it has to be someone else, Wes. Wes took so many steps back in this game but, he was beginning to get better. But the team didn't look prepared and it seems Scott never blames himself for a flat team.

Scott should have played Lin more. After a horrible game, he became the Lin fans have been wanting to see and then he rides the pine for no good reason.

Overall, Scott was abysmal. He coached the game like a pre-season game. He gave it away without a good fight.


Last edited by bws94 on Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:41 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 5:25 am    Post subject:

zePokar wrote:
Quote:
(Insert tears for losing Julius Randle in the first game here.)


Damn right. Julius would already be the starting power forward for the lakers by now. This season sucks big time.

Great write up.


Sigh... We could had Ed Davis and Julius Randle as our front court...
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Alloy
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 5:46 am    Post subject:

Honeybadger81 wrote:
everybody takes a guess, who is or are going to be removed from the starting lineup.

My guess is:
1, Boozer, if there is any change, it should be Boozer, otherwise it is a crime from Byron.
2, Lin, for whatever reason, Byron just does not like how Lin plays PG in his system. Ronnie replacing Lin is almost like a crime, but not totally unreasonable...

I don't see Byron will remove Wes and Hill, Hill has been consistent offensively and he rebounds well... Byron has a forever LOVE toward Wes...


If BScott is true to his word, he needs to move Hill: Hill is simply not protecting the paint consistently. He might suddenly come to life and make a block or so. But his defense fundamentally is simply not there. He is not moving his feet correctly. When our guards Lin and Kobe got hard screened by opposing bigs, you got to ask where Boozer and Hill were at that time. And the answer is that they might be several feet away from their man. They did not make the opposing big'a life harder. Then of course they could not do the right thing when it comes to PnR defense. Hill and Boozer, they have the a mentality that they only try to defend when their man have the ball and then it is usually too late...

And also he needs to change our offense set. His offense put Hill or Boozer at the top and Put both PG and the SF on the weak side far away from our court. Unless you expect our PG (Lin and Price include) and our SF (Wes and Nick) to run significantly faster than opposing players, are we suppose to defend in transition when our man closest to our court are Hill and Boozer.
We often ends up with Kobe or Lin or Wes being only the player back and defending 2 players or so in transition l. BScott can only blame our players to not playing hard but if you see this often, you got to ask whether this has anything to do with how our players are spaced on the offense.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:08 am    Post subject:

On pace to win 20-21 games. Still may not finish bottom 5.

Scott should have known from day 1 that having Hill and Boozer together was never going to work on D. You needed an anchor or at least someone that can block shots. Ed Davis was the best choice there even if it were for 22 mpg. Another thing - I think we loaded up on too many PF's this summer. Don't get the point of signing all these guys who can't really play a C role.

Anyway, it is what it is, and hopefully something good comes out of it in the end in regards to another top 5 pick.

Oh and yeah. Randle. How nice would it be for him to have gotten this throw away season to develop.
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infinite-loop
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:18 am    Post subject:

Is 20 games enough to change the coach?
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webattorney
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:20 am    Post subject: Response

bws94 wrote:
DB, great job. I thought Scott was awful too and hope the lineup changes move Boozer to the bench and if it has to be someone else, Wes. Wes took so many steps back in this game but, he was beginning to get better. But the team didn't look prepared and it seems Scott never blames himself for a flat team.

Scott should have played Lin more. After a horrible game, he became the Lin fans have been wanting to see and then he rides the pine for no good reason.


I normally don't post here that often, but I am posting now: Either bench Lin to play with the 2nd Unit and reduce Kobe's PT; or let Lin play as he's capable of playing. Most of Lakers' defensive woes are due to slow, lousy bigs who at the offensive end, play more like jump shooting SFs than PF or centers. I mean, who in the Lakers can do any post moves except for Kobe? The bigs just take jump shots; that's all they do. Ed Davis is the only big who can run PnRs, but Lin hardly plays with him. Only thing Lin can do are: just keep on passing to Kobe and let Kobe play PG; pass to the bigs for jump shots; OR forget everything and play his brand of BB like he did today. If Lakers wanted a Fisher type of PG, they shouldn't have gotten Lin. Who knows, maybe Lakers just wanted a high draft pick that came with Lin. Anyway, if they don't want him, just trade him or something. Or let Ronnie Price start if BS likes him more for whatever reasons.

At any rate, what I don't understand is why BS is playing Kobe so many minutes when he said at the beginning of the season he would limit both Nash and Kobe's PT to less than 25 minutes. It seems like this Lakers team is designed to let Kobe get points rather than win. That's the impression I get.

It is plain weird the way BS runs the team. I mean MDA ran a more entertaining team.
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Trade Lin and bring in another PG if that will further Lakers' priorities.
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webattorney
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:25 am    Post subject: Response

That's another thing I don't understand. If Lakers want to use this season to develop players, they shouldn't play Kobe that much and let some younger players play. It almost seems like Lakers don't care what happens for next 2 years until Kobe leaves.

wolfpaclaker wrote:
On pace to win 20-21 games. Still may not finish bottom 5.

Scott should have known from day 1 that having Hill and Boozer together was never going to work on D. You needed an anchor or at least someone that can block shots. Ed Davis was the best choice there even if it were for 22 mpg. Another thing - I think we loaded up on too many PF's this summer. Don't get the point of signing all these guys who can't really play a C role.

Anyway, it is what it is, and hopefully something good comes out of it in the end in regards to another top 5 pick.

Oh and yeah. Randle. How nice would it be for him to have gotten this throw away season to develop.

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Trade Lin and bring in another PG if that will further Lakers' priorities.
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DrumR
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:46 am    Post subject:

It makes me so happy to read you write about Boozer the same way I feel about him. Watching him is play is almost insulting. If he isn't scoring he's completely useless and plays WORSE defense somehow.
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jlinfan
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:48 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB

If BS history is any indicator, we will be left scratching our heads with the lineup changes.

At some point you have to accept the situation your in and make the best of it. This team is being suffocated with ineptitude and thats the reality and benchmark the guys have to work from.
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