JAZZ -at- LAKERS - 3-19-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Bad Kind of March Madness… If it wasn’t for the rookies, this game would have been barely watchable. Tarik Black threw down dunk after dunk on his way to lead the team in scoring (with just 13 points), while Jordan Clarkson led with 8 assists.

The halftime score, however, was just 36-33. Outside of Tarik, no other Lakers would have more than 4 points at the half. The team would score just 52 after three quarters.

If that wasn’t torture enough, between all that non-action Time Warner Cable kills you with the same commercials over …and over…and over...

“We’ve got to spread the love, spread the love, all over the world.”… “I love going all natural. It just makes me feel better.”… “We lose our way, we get back up again. It’s never too late to get back up again.”…“I love you, California, you’re the greatest state of alllll.”…

This is the bad kind of March Madness.

“It was an ugly game from jump,” Ed Davis said after the 80-73 loss to the Jazz, who controlled tempo all night.

The Lakers would fade in the fourth as usual despite playing it close. They coughed up the ball down the stretch and that was that. A familiar story.


Clarkson -- -- Some nice passing in this one to finish with the team-high 8 assists with just 1 turnover. “He tries to make the right pass at the right time. He’s not trying to make the homerun pass,” Scott said. Defensively, down the stretch, his man got to the rim for a couple of scores. He yelled at Hill on the defensive end on the first of those when he got no help on a screen and drive. I liked it. Scott did, too. “For a rookie like that, when he gets upset that we didn’t do a couple of things, that’s good. He’s not accepting the fact that we are losing games,” Scott said. I agree and it shows he’s willing to be vocal. I’d ignore the +/- stat this season. The starters +/- will never be good with our lack of impact talent while they are up against the opponent’s best players and we are simply outgunned. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 8 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He scored the layup off the pass from Black on the break. He was rejected badly by Gobert on a pull-up jumper at the FT line. Nice adjustment, pulling up off the screen to draw Gobert again, but this time he whipped a pass to Black for the layup. He beat a man to the long rebound and quickly scooped an outlet to Ellington for the layup. He probed with the shotclock low and scored the layup. He worked off the high screens on the perimeter, then whipped a bullet feed to Wes under the hoop for the slam. He had 4 points on 2-3 shooting, 3 boards and 3 assists. Second Half: He pushed up the break, stopped at the FT line, let Black fill the lane and found him for the jam over Gobert. He lost the ball trying create, layup the other way. He pushed out the break off the Black steal, threw up a high lob, Black went up and got it with one hand and slammed. He missed a wing pull-up jumper. He probed off the high screen and hit his floater. He missed a 20-foot pull-up off the high screen with 2 minutes left. He was fouled pushing the ball up, he made both FTs. He missed a long, forced three with 6 seconds left on the shotclock (had more time to get a better shot). He missed a step-back wing jumper.

Hill -- -- His final couple minutes were garbage. Some major miscues down the stretch. He threw an outlet out of bounds down 5 with just a minute left. That was the killer. Just prior to that he was stripped on an attack across the lane. Two huge turnovers. That strip play was an iso that we set up for him out of a timeout. Hill was 1-7 for the game. Is this your go to play? Call that a steal tank move. Not a good close for Hill. To top it off, Clarkson yelled at him for not defending the screen-roll when we gave up a layup a minute earlier. Good job on the boards. The Jazz had just 2 offensive boards. Glad to see Hill taking that corner three again. Seems like he may have the mindset to try to make that part of his game. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a 17-footer. Horrible pass on the perimeter and he fouled in transition to prevent a dunk. He hit a long jumphook across the middle of the lane. He missed a jumphook. Low position but he missed the hook. He missed a corner three (shoot it more, please). He faced up, worked his way along the baseline and drew FTs, he made one. He had 3 points on 1-5 shooting and 5 boards. Second Half: He missed a jumphook off a spin. He drew FTs off an offensive board, he made one. He missed a sideline jumper in transition. He swiped a pass under the hoop. He tried to take a jumpball the distance and fumbled it away (dunk the other way). He was stripped on a drive across the lane out of a timeout with 1:35 left. He grabbed a board with 1:09 left and threw an outlet out of bounds, ouch.

Black -- -- How do you like your dunks? Off the lob? Putback jams? Down the middle of the lane? Over defenders? On the break? Tarik was hammering them down tonight. “If I have room to take off, put it by the rim, I’ll be in the vicinity to make a play on it,” Black said. His strength and athleticism was on display tonight as he led the team in scoring with 13. “That’s what we expect from him every single night,” Scott said. He liked his communication, energy and the way he changes ends of the court. Good first half as he led the team with both points (7) and boards (10). He didn’t have a board in the second half. Not sure how he managed that. Late in the game, he met Hayward on a drive, going vertical to get the stop while Hayward went horizontal to get the floor. He ran into a brick wall. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-12 shooting (1-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: Nice feed while under control on the break to Clarkson for the layup. He was blocked on a post move in the middle of the paint. He airballed a hook over Gobert. He follow slammed over Gobert on a miss by Hill. He scored a layup off the sweet feed from Clarkson after they got a switch on Gobert on the two-man game. He missed a layup on the screen-roll, but Ed cleaned it up. He slammed back down a Kelly missed layup. He was fouled on the screen-roll, he made one of the FTs. Sweet bounce pass from the elbow to Wes cutting baseline for the dunk. He had 7 points on 3-6 shooting and 10 boards (2 offensive). Second Half: Out on the break, he jammed over Gobert and stared at him. He couldn’t finish a jam down the middle of the lane. He swiped the ball, pushed it up court, gave it to Clarkson in the middle, got a high lob in return, elevated and threw down. He was blocked trying to power up a reverse. He attacked from the elbow but couldn’t finish the drive. He and Hayward met at the rim, Hayward went down hard (refs saying Black went straight up…looked like it). He drew FTs on the defensive glass with 41 seconds left, he missed both. He took a pass from Brown and soared for the dunk a few seconds later.

Ellington -- -- Very little notes from him tonight. He missed all four of his threes. He was mostly invisible. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and no fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He pushed it up and hit the runner off the glass for the Lakers first score. He missed a wing jumper, got it back and threw it away. He scored a layup on the outlet from Clarkson. He saved an outlet and missed a wing three. Second Half: He sank a wing jumper on the catch and shoot. He missed a wing three. He missed a wing three out of a timeout. Not close on a late three.

Johnson -- -- “We played into their hands,” Wes said, of the pace of the game. Some nice moments moving without the ball early in the game. He needs to make this a constant in his game. I typically mention Matt Barnes here at the SF when he was on the Lakers, the constant cutting to get open. Wes just doesn’t have that mindset every night, or even once a month. Tonight he got some dunkage off of it early on. He was a little shot crazy to start the second half, missing on three straight possessions. It looked like we were trying to get him going to start each half. Seems like Ellington always gets the first score, however. Defensively, he put in a feisty effort against Hayward. It looked like he got whistled for a couple of questionable fouls down the stretch and he eventually fouled out. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-12 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 6 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He forced up a brick from the top of the key to start the game. He missed a wing three. He chucked and bricked a 20-foot pull-up. He cut baseline as the Lakers worked the two-man game strong side, Black took the pass and found Wes for the dunk. He slammed off the bullet feed from Clarkson. Second Half: He missed a wing three to start the half. He missed a pull-up at the FT line next time down. He missed a 17-footer on the next possession, sheesh. He attacked Gobert, hung and scored the layup over him. He reached and gave up penetration and a score. He was undercut on the break for FTs, he made one. He gave up a soft And-1 foul to Hayward on the break. He swished a corner three on the other end. Back in and he rattled down a wing jumper a few seconds later. He nearly banked in a 20-footer trying to beat the shotclock.

Lin -- -- “I came in sideways today,” Lin said, mentioning he got hit in practice. Back spasms made him a game-time decision. He sometimes has a little Steve Nash in his game…tonight with the back, he looked stiff like Nash. His one score was a Nash-like couple of pump fakes to lose defenders and hit the short jumper in the paint. It seemed like he loosened up a little, and he credited the Lakers training staff for being able to even get on the floor tonight. He had 3 steals as head of the snake defensively in the first half. Not much else. “They got us to play their game and we have to find a way to play ours. A lot of that falls on me and JC,” Lin said. They couldn’t get the tempo in their favor. He plays his game tonight, the Lakers probably win. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-8 shooting to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He curled into the lane and missed the pull-up. Nice hands to strip a man on help D under the hoop, he pushed it out and hit Boozer for the layup. Nice interior feed to Davis who scored. He probed the lane under control, pumped once to lose one man, twice to lose Gobert and then hit the short one. He threw a pass away in the lane trying to thread the needle. He attacked and couldn’t finish. He missed a step-back 17-footer up against the shotclock. He stripped his man with a reach and ignited the break. He missed a leaning jumper in the middle of the lane. He may have knocked another ball loose on the perimeter to ignite the break. He had 3 steals in the first half. Second Half: He missed a layup on a quick drive off the high post pass. Bad perimeter pass, And-1 for the Jazz on the break. He attacked, took contact, got under control as the defender went flying and missed the 15-footer badly. He missed a high arching wing jumper.

Boozer -- -- The second unit was struggling a bit this game, but Boozer gave them an outlet to just dump the ball into someone to create. He had some issues in the first half against D-Leaguer, Cooley. He had a sweet post move for an And-1 late in the game. They should rest Boozer and Lin in the next game. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-9 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He scored a layup on the break when Lin found him. He missed a 17-footer. He was called for an offensive foul, knocking an arm away as he tried to post up. He attacked and lost the ball. He scored a layup on the break. Second Half: He attacked from the elbow, reversed directions on a pivot and hit the short jumper. He swished a 16-footer. He was blocked from behind on a drive. He fed Davis between defenders for the slam. He faced up, spun and missed badly in the post. He faked a pass baseline, then faked to the middle before spinning back baseline for the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a baseline fallaway.

Davis -- -- Some feisty minutes from Davis. He even picked up a tech after he threw down a dunk. He led the Lakers on the offensive glass with 4, including a couple of putback tips. The freethrow shooting continues to be awful. He missed both tonight to put him at 50% for the season from the line. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 8 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He reversed over Gobert off the interior feed from Lin. He was nailed to the floor by Booker’s spin move and gave up the layup. He drew FTs on a finish attempt around the rim, he missed both. He tipped in a missed layup by Black. Second Half: Boozer hit him with a jump pass and Davis picked up a tech after his throw down over a defender. He missed a layup, attacking to his left with speed. He tipped in a missed jumper between a couple of Jazz bigmen. He was rejected on a throwdown attempt.

Brown -- -- He hit a big three midway through the fourth quarter when left open in early offense. He sank two of the Lakers 3 threes they made tonight. Some good moments defensively. Was it all enough to get another 10-day contract? He said Mitch will re-sign him on Saturday. He made 11-19 shots in his games, including 3-7 from three. I’d have been surprised if he didn’t get that second 10-day, but I suppose they could have checked out someone else, too. As a Mizzou grad, I don’t mind seeing Clarkson and Brown out there…and even Quin Snyder doing a good job coaching the Jazz. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (2-2 form three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He drained a long wing three on a kickout with a man on. He was shoved on a floater to draw FTs, he made one. He missed a tough wing jumper on an inbounds with barely any time on the clock. He curled into the lane and threw a pass away. Second Half: Wild drive that was blocked out of bounds (or his pass swatted). Left open and he swished a sideline three to regain the lead. He attacked and was stripped on a drive. He tied up a man on the other end to get a jumpball. He took an inbounds and quickly hit Tarik for the soaring dunk.

Kelly -- -- The shots he usually takes are pretty good looks. He may be rushing things sometimes or shooting way too flat. Regardless, they just don’t fall with any consistency. The one he did make, looked poised and not as flat as all the ones he usually misses. Defensively, the Jazz tried to attack him and I think were a little surprised that he seems to more than hold his own at times on that end of the floor. They matched up Wes with Hayward, so Kelly’s minutes were limited. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He was stripped on a drive. He missed a good look at an elbow jumper. He was blocked out of bounds on a jumper. He missed a layup on a curl, but Black slammed it back down. Second Half: He sank a long wing jumper, just beating the shotclock.

Scott -- -- Gobert making his presence known on the D end to start the game. The Lakers played even with them, leading 10-9 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… He brought in Lin for Ellington and Boozer for Black… Clarkson out, Brown in. Lakers down 15-12 with 3 minutes left… Davis in… Kelly in for Wes, Lakers down 1 with 2:24… The Lakers trailed 18-16 after the first quarter… They trailed by 7 when the timeout came after 3 minutes… He brought in Black for Boozer a minute later, Lakers down 9… Hill and Ellington in for Brown and Davis, midway through the quarter, Lakers down 8… Lin and Kelly out at the 5-minute mark for Clarkson and Johnson. Kelly was tank-a-licious… The Lakers cut it to 3 and forced a timeout with 3 minutes left… They tied it up to force another timeout on the 10-1 run… The Jazz went 0-10 to close the half… The Lakers led 36-33 at the half. Crazy low score. The Lakers had a 10-4 advantage on the break… The Lakers led 45-43 when the timeout came with 5 minute left. He brought in Boozer for Hill, Lin for Ellington out of that… Lakers down 3 when Clarkson sat for Brown… The Lakers trailed 58-55 heading into the fourth, wow. He brought in Kelly to run at SF with the rest of the usual bench… He sat Kelly at the 7-minute mark for Wes… The Jazz still without second chance points when the timeout came with 6 minutes left, Lakers up by 2. Clarkson came back in for Lin out of that… He sat Davis and Boozer for Hill and Black, Lakers up 1… Brown out for Ellington with 3+ minutes left, Lakers down 3… Timeout with 1:35 left down 5, Scott went to Hill to attack across the lane and he was stripped. Big possession… Utah up by 7 with 40 seconds left and they miss two FTs, then foul immediately to give the Lakers two FTs… No second chance points for the Jazz…

[SweetP]

Thanks DB.
Black and Clarkson doing some nice things out there even in a loss.
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[KobeBryantCliffordBrown]

My God Man. How Do you do it?
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“It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.”
― James Baldwin, Collected Essays

[Megaton]

Tarik Black deserves the game ball tonight.

Love that he actually got minutes too. I think the Lakers can keep this guy as a nice solid spark off the bench for quite a while. He does things that Jordan Hill should have been doing years ago.

Clarkson and Black...bright spots of this season. Two keepers to go along with Randle and hopefully the top 5 pick!

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Rawr]

Tarik Black and Clarkson were fantastic tonight.
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You are either in or on your way to the NBA Finals.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Lakersneuron]

[Laker's Fan]

the animation and toughness of Randle, Clarkson and Black are going to be fun to watch next year. They will need spacing from other guys, but all three can board, break and have a little nasty in them.
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Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[A Mad Chinaman]

they wanted to see if JHill can be a "go-to" person but the answer was no. BScott is still looking for anybody that he can depend on at the end of games

Clarkson was barking at JHill - a definitely good sign - wish JLin would do that since he seems to be have a good grasp of the game (if his post-game Interviews are any indication

ED/Black really pounded the boards with bad intentions

DB has always been The Man!!

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[DShotMaker1824]

Thanks DB!!! Missed the game so this really helped.
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"Through the legs to the left, through the legs to the right, we don't run them Laker plays, we just Kobe fadeaway..."

[angrypuppy]

Thanks DB.

73 points is nothing to sneeze at. I bet this Lakers team could make it to the Sweet 16.
_________________
We are stardust
Billion year old carbon
We are golden
Caught in the devil's bargain
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden

-Joni Mitchell

[Lakers#1Team]

[fiendishoc]

On the bright side the defense is looking better these days. They still make mistakes but fewer of them, and the positioning plus closeouts are generally much improved over the ridiculous stuff they were doing before.

[RCS926]

[bws94]

Thanks DB. They played a Utah-paced game. Clarkson and Black played well.