KINGS -at- LAKERS - 12-9-14 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Kings for a Day… After nearly boring Staples to boo’s in the last one, the Lakers gave the fans a much more entertaining effort tonight, taking the 98-95 win against the visiting Kings.

The seemed like a hard one for the Lakers to lose with the Kings missing Cousins, the Lakers playing on their home floor and probably more than a little ticked about everything from the benchings to the booing.

The starters were predictably poor again offensively to start this game and as a direct result, the Lakers were down by 12 points at one point. The Laker bench came to their rescue more than once.

Down the stretch, Scott mixed up the lineups, putting both PGs on the bench and running with Ellington and Boozer to help spread the floor for Kobe at PG.

“I’m going to do it again, probably a number of times,” Scott said.

The Lakers got stops to hold the Kings to just 14 in the fourth and multiple clutch scores to close them. While the Lakers were fortunate the Kings missed a number of FTs in this one, they did a good job not coughing up the ball – just 4 points scored off 5 Laker turnovers.


Kobe -- -- He looked more like the Kobe we know in the second half of this game. In the first half, he was stone cold and not taking great shots. He came out firing early and often. You could see the D sagging and collapsing on him, daring Price and others to shoot wide at times. Sometimes this led to us finding Davis open under the hoop for an easy score as they looked to help on Kobe. But more often it led to Price and Johnson building a brick fortress one long shot at a time. Kobe helped with that with some poor shot selection at times (also missing some he’s been automatic on in previous seasons). It’s a domino effect for Kobe. If you don’t have guys to space the floor, it makes it even tougher on him as defenses can load up on him. In the third quarter he started to heat up making five of his next seven shots. Sometimes, you could see him taking quick shots to avoid the extra D. In the fourth, he came back in and orchestrated the offense as the PG, hitting teammates for big scores when they focused on Kobe and coming up with big scores himself. He also sank his FTs down the stretch, something he uncharacteristically struggled with earlier this season. A couple of hard bumps and bruises for Kobe in this one. He took a back screen hard in the middle of his back and went down. He also hit heads on a foul and had a fat lip as a result. “You got to play through it, man. You got to play through it,” he said. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 11-27 shooting (2-6 from three, 8-8 from the line) to go with 3 offensive boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a long jumper standing on the three line. He sank a long wing jumper off the split play. He missed a wing three. He swished a turnaround baseline jumper. He stepped through and missed a wide open leaning jumper in the lane (he is not automatic on those this year like the rest of his career). He then got his own miss and missed a turnaround jumper. He wanted a foul on a short one in the post at the front of the lane. He missed a wing jumper next time down. Quick post feed from Lin in early offense and Kobe quickly scored the And-1 off the glass, he made the FT. He missed a sideline jumper going down with no call. He went up high in a crowd to pull down an offensive board, went to the floor, but kept his pivot foot down, got up and hit Boozer for the layup. He drew FTs in early offense, he made both. He missed a tough wing jumper with time on the clock to create something better. He missed a wing jumper. He tried to thread a needle and it was picked off. He cleaned up a missed dunk by Wes on the break. He was stripped at the buzzer. He had just 11 points on 4-13 shooting. Second Half: He drained an early offense pull-up jumper from the wing. He hit Hill for the FT jumper. He was blocked from behind when the D collapsed. He then fouled a three shooter in transition. He missed a 30-footer getting a late clock kickout. He sank a long And-1 jumper standing on the three line, he made the FT. He sank another long wing jumper working off the threat of a screen. He wheeled around a screen, rose up and hesitated a hair before swishing the jumper. He drained a wing three in transition next time down. He missed a wing jumper on the split play, wanting a foul. He missed a baseline jumper. He was blindsided and seemed to fumble the dribble away. Quick-fire chuck and he missed a few seconds after returning to the game. He hit Boozer off the screen-roll for a layup. He drew the D again and hit Wes for the three. He and Boozer forced a turnover and with a trap on Gay and it led to a Kobe bust-out dunk. He drained a wing three off the Hill offensive board. Wow, did he thread the needle off the dribble with a 35-foot no-look pass to Hill for the layup. He missed a pull-up elbow jumper that he probably should have kept attacking on. He attacked around his man next time down to drew FTs with 34 seconds left down 1, he made both clutch ones to take the lead. He was fouled with 15 seconds left, he made both again.

Hill -- -- He came up with a huge offensive board late in the game that led to a Kobe three. That’s when he’s at his best. Those kill opponents. He also had a nice late-game block. He didn’t have his outside shot going in this one, but limited his damage from there. Not a great game from him, but he was strong in that fourth when it mattered most. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He swiped a pass stepping in front of it with some good anticipation. He took an interior feed from Davis and dunked. He doubled off his man to give up an easy score. He missed a 20-footer straight away. He missed a one-hander off the pick and roll. He jumped to pass then was forced to shoot and was off badly. Second Half: He sank a FT jumper off the Kobe feed. He missed a 20-footer. He choked a layup at the rim. He made up for it on the other end with a shot rejection that we controlled. He pulled down an offensive board and hit Kobe for the three. He took a bullet feed from Kobe and scored a layup with 1:37 left.

Davis -- -- He didn’t miss a shot from the floor, but had his usual struggles from the line. Loved seeing the PGs find him for easy ones. Price spotting him wide open a couple of times in the lane and Lin with the highlight lob dunk. Defensively, I was a little surprised Scott made a sub down the stretch to bring in Price for a stand, but left Boozer out there. Ed didn’t get the call to help the close. The Spurs will pull Ed from the paint in the next game. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-5 shooting (1-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: Low post position and he scored easily (more please). He hit Hill with an interior feed for a dunk. Nice reaction to save back a blocked shot and get a stop. He slammed when his man sagged to help Kobe and Price whipped it to him under the hoop. He drew FTs battling on the offensive glass, he missed both. He took a pass in the lane and attacked the rim for FTs, he made one. He regained a possession drawing a foul on the offensive glass. He scored a layup when Price found him alone under the hoop. He trailed the offense, took a pass, attacked off a dribble and scored a layup. He had 9 points on 4-4 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He slammed off the Lin lob when his man was trying to help on a developing play.

Johnson -- -- The Lakers shot 5-25 from three. I think the Kings called timeouts twice after Wes made each of his two. All we needed in this game was someone to step up some with Kobe on the floor to put the team over the top. That first unit will struggle if someone else doesn’t. Scott always has the option of instant offense with Swaggy at SF and may need to be more liberal with that when he go stone cold. Wes had some moments defensively against Gay. “Just giving him different looks,” Wes said. “I know he likes to get to his right hand, just trying to take that from him.” The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-11 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a wing three on the Lakers first shot. He swatted a shot from behind. He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He sank a wing pull-up jumper. He blocked a Gay jumper on D on iso and Davis saved it back to him. He missed an open wing three when they collapsed on Kobe. He missed a long wing jumper. He missed a dunk on the break, but Kobe cleaned it up. He had 2 points on 1-7 shooting. Second Half: He attacked and was fouled on the drive, he made the FTs. He sank an early offense three from the wing. He missed a wing three next time down. Dumb challenge undercutting Gay on the long two while stepping-back with his toe on the three line (just let your man try to hit that tough shot). He was blocked on a baseline drive. We got it back, Kobe drew the D and hit him for the open three.

Price -- -- He was given multiple wide open threes early on as the D just left him alone to deny Kobe the ball. He was 0-3 from three in that first quarter (looked like 0-4 as one of those threes was called a two) as the Kings dared him to beat them. He was able to find Davis a few times for scores, but the Lakers had just 12 points in that quarter until he sat with 3 minutes left (they would score 12 points in the next 3 minutes). He ended up with the team worst -13 for the game. We just have one too many non-threats offensively in that starting unit. Scott benched him down the stretch in favor of Ellington. He’d bring Price back for a couple situational defensive subs in the final minute (he only played a few seconds of that 14-point defensive fourth). You may see more of that if he can’t be a threat offensively, or at least the Lakers compensating by throwing Nick out there instead of Johnson to get more balance. The Lakers probably don’t win this game had the Kings not missed 13 FTs. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -20. The Action: He missed a wing three. He missed an open three when his man sagged off. Bullet feed to Davis under the hoop for a dunk. Not close on a wing three. He missed another wide open wing three when they collapsed on Kobe. He swiped back a Hill miss that went to a King. Bullet feed to Davis under the hoop for score. He knocked a ball loose and it led to a Laker breakaway score. He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting but had 4 assists. Second Half: He swiped a ball and found Wes for the three. He attacked off the three line off the Kobe kickout instead of bricking a three and he scored a layup when no one rotated to him.

Young -- -- He and Boozer tag-teamed the Kings at times offensively for the bench. They don’t need a playmaking point to get decent shots off. Nick helped energize the Lakers in the first half and got the crowd fired up again on a couple of plays in the second half. He struggled a bit with his three-ball. Defensively, he gave a spirited effort and took a couple bumps and bruises himself on that end of the court. Good to see him happy again after the game. He’s playing in his hometown and just hasn’t had a chance to be part of a winning Laker team, which is a different beast. Hopefully, the state of the team changes at some point when he’s on the roster. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-13 shooting (1-5 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He crossed over, stepped back and banged down an And-1 three, he made the FT (a little bit of a dive). He wheeled around a couple times off the dribble and hit the wing pull-up jumper. He poked a ball loose and it ignited a breakaway score for a teammate. Half-hearted rotation and he gave up a wide open lane and foul for his bigs. He missed a wing jumper in transition. He changed directions behind a screen to completely lose his man, attacked the paint and scored the lefty layup. He got tapped on a long three. He missed a wing jumper in early offense. He had 8 points on 3-6 shooting. Second Half: He iso’d, went behind his back and scored the pull-up jumper. He rose up with a man on and buried the long jumper in early offense. He missed a baseline jumper on an inbounds pass. He nearly hit a halfcourt heave at the buzzer. He missed a long wing jumper. He hit Boozer on the two-man game for the jumper out of a timeout. He missed a three in transition. He missed a long wing three on a kickout.

Lin -- -- Decent defensive game from Lin. I think he picked up three offensive fouls on Kings and had a steal. The Kings had 16 turnovers, the Lakers just 5, so we controlled that stat, which helped our transition D, as well. He even snipped at Kobe at one point for not getting back on D. Offensively, he was shooting blanks like Price. The second unit doesn’t really need him with Nick and Boozer who can find their own offense and Ellington, who can score out of Scott’s sets. But, hopefully, once he gets more integrated in with them he becomes more of a threat himself. He had a brief overlap with Davis on the court and found him for a lob dunk. Scott needs to stagger his rotations better. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He found Kobe in the low post in early offense for the And-1. He missed a pumping leaner with a man on. He picked up his dribble after probing baseline but Boozer cut and Lin found him for the layup under the hoop. Way off on a wing three when left wide open. Quick attack off the screen and he scored a layup in early offense. He deflected a pass out of bounds, nearly coming up with the steal. Second Half: He stood in and took a charge in the middle of the lane. He dug down on help D and knocked a ball off Gay to get a stop. He pushed it up, drew the D and hit Boozer for the jumper. He probed and lobbed to Davis for the slam. He attacked the paint and lost the ball out of bounds. He missed an open sideline three in transition, got to hit those. He drew a moving screen to get a stop. His man fell asleep and Lin turned on the speed to draw FTs at the rim against the help D, he made one. He stripped a man on help D. He drew another offensive foul on a King to start the fourth. He spotted Boozer pop free in the paint for FTs. He missed an open three.

Boozer -- -- Boozer’s effort on the defensive end was much better in this one. Although, he wasn’t attacked nearly as much as the Kings probably should have. This allowed Scott to play him down the stretch and the Lakers to have some more fire power in the offense. He and Kobe combined for a big sideline trap late in the game that knocked the ball free and led to a Kobe dunk. That was a huge play. He may not like playing off the bench but the team is better for it. If he’s putting in a better effort on D like he did tonight, they can extend his minutes. “I thought we won the game with our defense,” Boozer said. Much more competitive game from him and he helps balance that bench scoring so that we don’t dump the ball into just Sacre when Nick isn’t shooting. “As long as we win games, that’s what it’s all about,” Boozer said. He liked the fight in the bench. He led the team in the +/-. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-13 shooting (3-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He missed a turnaround in the post. Kobe got the miss and hit him cutting for the layup. He drew FTs on an attack down the middle of the paint, he made one FT. He iso’d and hit the baseline jumper. All kinds of contact on his post move but no call on the miss in the middle of the paint. He scored a layup cutting to the ball under the hoop. He had 7 points on 3-5 shooting. Second Half: He sank a jumper at the FT line when Lin found him in early offense. He attacked and missed off the glass. He attacked and missed the lefty drive. He popped out in the paint and drew FTs when Lin found him, he made one. He swished a short jumper off the two-man game with Young. He took contact in the lane and missed a layup. He put his head down, attacked and drew FTs at the rim, he made just one again. He faced up and clanked. He scored a layup off the screen-roll with Kobe. Nice double with Kobe and we stripped the ball from Gay on the perimeter and it led to a Kobe dunk. He missed an open jumper but Hill got it back for us.

Ellington -- -- Scott sat both Lin and Price down the stretch in favor of Ellington with Kobe running the point. Just the threat of his outside shooting helps. Defensively, he stayed on his feet and challenged well. Good job contesting that three at the end of the game and forcing his man into a tough one. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: One dribble to his right to lose his man and he sank the long wing jumper with his toe on the three line. He pushed out the loose ball and drew FTs at the rim getting hit on the arm, he made one. He missed a three straight away. He stepped back and missed a wing three. Second Half: Nice job staying with his man and blocking the jumper. He missed a good look at a three. He missed a wing pull-up jumper against the shotclock. He was blocked on a drive in transition.

Sacre -- -- One of the benefits of having Boozer on the bench is not having us just dump the ball over and over to Sacre in the post or from long-range for open jumpers. He’s gotten better at those, but still needs work. Instead, we can run those same plays with Boozer and the team is much better for it. Additionally, Sacre is a better defender than Hill to team Boozer with. Some pretty good D in the fourth when he was in there. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a long jumper but got his own miss back. He grabbed a missed Young jumper and put it back in. Nice challenge to force a brick on a drive. Second Half: Nice hard foul on Gay in transition preventing a dunk. He muscled his way to offensive board and scored the putback.

Scott -- -- More offensive issues for the Lakers starters. Price, Wes and Kobe were clanking badly from the perimeter early as the paint was packed and defenders sagged off. The Lakers trailed 11-10 when Boozer came in for Hill after 7 minutes… He brought in Sacre, Lin and Young with 3 minutes left, Lakers with just 12 points after 9 minutes… The Lakers would score 12 points in the next 3 minutes… The Lakers trailed 29-24 after the first quarter… He started the Sacre, Boozer, Young, Ellington, Lin unit… They took the lead and quickly forced a timeout… He sat Boozer and Sacre for Hill and Davis, Lakers with a 2-point lead. Good offensive spark by the second unit… Up 39-37 with 5 minutes left, he brought back in the rest of the starters and here goes the lead… The Lakers got out scored 10-1 over the next several minutes, again no offense with this unit. Timeout Lakers… The Lakers trailed 55-46 at the half. The Lakers were 1-12 from three… Finally another Laker three and the Kings call timeout, Lakers down 4… They came out in a zone and gave up a three and then another next time down, down 10 again… The Lakers trailed 69-62 when Price sat for Lin 6 minutes into the half. A few seconds later Hill picked up his fourth, so Boozer in. Lin again having to play with Boozer… Young in for Johnson, as well… They tied it up shortly later… He sat Davis for Sacre (just after the Davis/Lin lob dunk. You had your seconds of court time together!)… The Lakers trailed 81-78 heading into the fourth… He started the Sacre, Boozer, Young, Ellington, Lin lineup… A small 5-1 run for the Kings and the Lakers took a timeout… Hill in for Sacre, down 6… He brought in Wes and Kobe for Young and Lin. So Kobe at PG. Better than Price, so good job changing up the rotation in-game… We made another three again and it forced a King timeout… They trimmed it to 1 off a Kobe dunk after a good defensive sequence, then tied it up on a Kobe three… With 34 seconds left and on D, he left Boozer in but brought Price in for Ellington. Lakers gave up a wide open three to Gay, but he missed, thankfully. Dodged a bullet… Next defensive stand, he wisely sat Boozer in favor of a Hill, Johnson, Kobe, Ellington, Price unit. The Lakers defended the three line well and got the win… The Lakers shot 39.6% from the floor. The Kings shot 24-37 from the freethrow line…

[LakerLanny]

In.
_________________
Love, Laker Lanny

[Shaber]

If I was Mitch, I would waive Price to force Scott to use Lin and Clarkson and stop wasting Lakers time. Just like once upon a time Fish had to be traded.

Lakers are winning so rarely these days that I have forgotten how to celebrate them.

At least I remember to visit this thread and praise DB. Thanks, man!



Or maybe I am just not in the mood today.
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.

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

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[nitron]

Good analysis DB

[TDRock]

Yay!

(And yay for you, you got to write up not only a win but a pretty enjoyable game (2nd half) )

[fiendishoc]

I really want to see that tally's of DB's ratings, whoever it was who said they would do it.

[Honeybadger81]

[fiendishoc]

[mhan00]

I thought this game would be much easier than it was. Only reason we were even in a position to steal it was he Kings bricking fts and open shots, possibly due to the back to back. Price is a disaster with the current starters. Defenses just ignore him and sit in Kobe's lap. Glad to see Scott was smart enough to avoid Price down the stretch, outside of a few seconds strictly for last twenty seconds of d. And I really want Lin to get more minutes with Davis on the floor.

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Honeybadger81]

[koen]

Thanks for the review, DB.

Here is a preview of what I promised to make: I didn't realize this board does not allow any kind of html. It also does not allow the table code which comes in some BBcode, and would have been invaluable. It is very hard to get the emoticons to line up without some kind of table code.

So, I just pulled together the first three games. The loses will be colored in red and the wins in green.

If anyone is aware of an easier way to line up the emoticons, I'm all ears.

Game__________BS_____KB_____JH_____CB_____WJ_____JL_____ED_____RP_____NY_____WE_____RS_____JC
10/28/2014______ ___ ___ ____ _____ ____ ___ _____ _____ -- ______ -- _____ ______
10/29/2014______ ____ _____ ____ ___ ____ ______ _____ _____ -- ______ ____ ______
10/31/2014______ ___ ___ _ ___ ____ ___ ____ _____ -- ______ _____ ______

(I also just realized that I have a pretty wide monitor at home. So I don't know how many of you would have this thing do a line wrap, which would completely mess up the spacing)

[fiendishoc]

That's awesome.

[terpski]

[Lorenzomax]

[Chronicle]

Byrons making some questionable decisions but at least we got a win!
_________________
Kobe

[Alloy]

[fiendishoc]

[Lakersprime]

Thanks, DB. We were luck to win last night.

[meows a lot]

I agree with DB that lin shoudl be on the starting line up with ed - since boozer, wayne and nick already shoot the ball quite a bit on that line up. it's lame, now the starters dont have enough offense...

i have to say the minutes were pretty balanced on the team but the rotations are off as DB said.
_________________
“We do have a lot in common.
The same air, the same Earth, the same sky.
Maybe if we started looking at
what's the same instead of
always looking at what's different,

...well, who knows?”

- Meowth

[lakerboy]

collison had a season high in points... so much for our defensive stopper

[fiendishoc]

WHAT I LIKED:

That pass from Kobe to Hill. Whew!

[Richmond]

Good win (and thanks DB!!) but how on earth are the Lakers expected to flourish with an offense that's predicated on turn-around jumpers and Swaggy thinking he's Kobe?
The simple beauty of paint points is proximity to the rim and an opportunity to pick up fouls.

[fafan]

Thanks, DB.
_________________
"Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." --Sarah Cook.