TWOLVES -at- LAKERS - 4-10-15 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Rookie Rumble… The Lakers second rounder and a couple of undrafted rookies vs. the TWolves trio first rounders. Clarkson, Brown and Black vs. Wiggins, LaVine and Payne. A cellar dweller battle tonight, but at least the rookies provided some excitement.

They all showed well. For the Lakers Clarkson had 18 points, 9 assists and 4 steals. Black had 18 points and 10 boards. Brown finished with 21 points and 7 assists. Wiggins, of course, was a beast with 29 points, 10 boards and 6 assists. The Laker trio won the night 106-98.

“Just showing everyone that we’re NBA players,” Black said. “Coming from a second round guy, a guy that went undrafted and a guy that just got called up from the D-League. That’s special.”

The ball was moving well and guys were knocking down shots. The Lakers had 18 assists on 21 makes in the first half. They would have a season high 35 assists (on 41 makes) by the time the game ended.

“I thought the first quarter we moved the ball about as well as we have moved it all season long, and I think a lot of that was Ryan,” Scott said, mentioning the team was playing without an agenda. Kelly had a season high 21 points and 7 assists in his best game of the year.


Clarkson -- -- He started 5-5 but struggled a little bit after that. Still, the stat sheet was stuffed: 18 points, 9 assists, 6 boards, 4 steals. That’s being active. He always seems to be making the extra effort out there. “We were just moving the ball, getting into the paint, playing with each other,” Clarkson said. Asked what he wanted to do in the final games, “Just win them,” he said. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-18 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 9 assists, 4 steals, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 40 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He sank a three off a swing pass. He lobbed to Black on the break for the throwdown. He swiped a pass on D, but fumbled a bad pass to Jabari on the break that we couldn’t finish on. He attacked in early offense and kicked to Kelly for three. He swished a pull-up sideline jumper. He attacked the rim hard, hung and powered in the layup. He slammed taking the lob from Buycks on the break. He blew past his man, attacked down the lane and flipped in a backhand layup. He missed a wing three up against the shotclock. He dug out a bad pass in the paint for another steal. He had 11 points on 5-6 shooting, 3 assists and 3 steals. Second Half: He bullied his way to FTs attacking a crowd in the paint, he made one. His kickout somehow got through the D and Kelly hit a three, lucky pass. He probed the lane and missed a layup, but Black jammed it back down easily. He hit the top of the backboard on a corner chuck trying to beat the expiring shotclock. He swiped a bad pass, pushed it up and threw it away. He dunked on the bustout a few seconds later taking a long outlet. He was forced into a tough runner up against the shotclock and missed. He missed a runner. He sank an elbow jumper on the kickout. He lost the handle and threw it away on a drive. He attacked baseline, missed, got it back, missed but Davis jammed it down. He pushed out the ball with speed, attacked the D and went behind his back to Brown for the layup. He missed a pull-up 16-footer. He couldn’t finish a layup working off the high screen. He spotted Black open under the hoop for a dunk. He took an interior feed and scored a layup.

Black -- -- Dunk…dunk…dunk…dunk… He had a career high 18 points to go with the 10 boards. Even though it’s the TWolves, he outplayed his much more highly touted rookie opponent, Adreian Payne. With the ball moving well and finding open men, that usually meant good things for Black when he was open. Easy finishes. “All I do is just jump and put it in the rim,” he said of the passing. He did have a very nice lob throwdown from Clarkson. Tarik can get up. “You know he’s going to play hard. There’s still certain things that we want him to get better at,” Scott said, mentioning the areas we brought up previously – the post game and the 15-17 foot jump shot. With Kobe setting the tone and guys like Clarkson and Randle who have the work ethic, Tarik should be in good hands improving his game. Just got to hit it hard this summer. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-9 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He drew FTs and made one. He took a feed from Wes, spun in the middle of the paint and hit the jumphook in a crowd. He slammed off the screen-roll with Brown. He one-handed down a lob from Clarkson on the break. He faced up on an inside pivot at the elbow, attacked right and drew FTs at the rim. He pushed up the ball and hit Brown filling the lane for FTs. He lost the ball on a drive. He had 8 points on 3-3 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He follow jammed down a missed layup from Clarkson. He froze his man with a fake, attacked from the elbow and scored a layup. He fumbled a post entry pass away. He scored a layup intercepting a kickout that Wes tried to throw to Brown. He dunked when Clarkson found him wide open. He dunked off the drive and dish from Kelly next time down. He found Clarkson cutting for a layup.

Brown -- -- Aggressive game from Jabari. He was attacking the rim and getting to the line (needed to do a better job making those FTs). He was really seeking contact at times, however, which was good to see. The 12 FTAs show that aggressive mentality. He and Clarkson had a couple nice sequences finding each other in transition for scores (Jabari with a long outlet to Clarkson for a dunk, Clarkson with a behind-the-back feed at high speed to Brown). “Ball movement is infectious,” Jabari said. Brown didn’t have the three ball going tonight, missing all four he took. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-14 shooting (0-4 from three, 8-12 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 7 assists, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He pulled up in transition and missed the 18-footer. Nice two-man game to set up Black for the throwdown. He couldn’t finish on a fumbled pass from Clarkson on the break. He missed a three. His pass was picked off in the paint. He attacked in transition a few seconds later and spun up and in an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a wing three. He took an outlet and pushed it up for the quick score. He turned the corner, attacked and scored the layup. He couldn’t finish a reverse, got a bad pass back from Wes and threw it away trying to save it. He attacked the lane to his left and was held for FTs, he made one. He pounded the dribble and missed a long wing jumper, poor possession. He scooped up a fumbled pass on the wing and scored an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He took hard contact on the break, he made both FTs. He had 12 points on 4-10 shooting to go with 5 assists. Second Half: He outlet to Clarkson for the breakaway dunk. He missed a three. He sank a baseline catch and shoot off the inbounds. He took the behind-the-back pass from Clarkson on the break for the layup. Aggressive attack in early offense and he drew FTs, he made one. Aggressive attack baseline and he drew more FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three. He attacked, spun and lost the handle, turnover. He was intentionally fouled and made one FT.

Kelly -- -- Season-high scoring night and his best all-around game of the year. He was on fire from three. The shot was looking soft and slower than some of those flat bullets that hit the back of the rim when he’s struggling. He’s got to have nights like this with a little more regularity. Not the high scoring, but hitting when open, being a threat to knock down shots. Good work as always moving the ball. “The offense was clicking,” Kelly said as he tallied 7 assists. Some nice moments off the dribble, including a game-opening dunk and breaking the press late in the game. He really needs to work on that post game. When he gets a mismatch I don’t want to see turnaround fades from 15 feet out. They usually miss and just don’t take advantage of his length. Asked if he would be used at the SF again, Scott said probably not. “He’s a natural four,” he said. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-12 shooting (5-6 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +15. The Action: He pumpfaked off the three line, attacked and threw down off a couple huge steps to start the game. He missed a wild drive next time down. He swung a pass to the more open Clarkson for three. He sank the sideline three on the kickout. He swished an open sideline three on the kickout from Clarkson. He dribbled into a crowd and was picked off, layup the other way. He missed a step-back jumper from the top of the key. He attacked from the top of the key and got a soft bounce on the runner to drop. He had 10 points on 4-6 shooting. Second Half: He measured and drained a sideline three on a kickout. He sank a wing three on a kickout from Clarkson. He sank a wing three on a quick inside-out swing passing sequence. He missed a turnaround fade in the post. He attacked the paint and found Clarkson for the open elbow jumper (Kelly Clarkson connection!). He missed a wing three. He attacked off the three line, attacked and drew contact for FTs, he made both. He settled for another fallaway trying to back down a smaller man and missing badly. He probed off the dribble and hit Black for the dunk.

Johnson -- -- He picked up his fifth foul at the end of the third quarter, but he still managed to clock a team-high 42 minutes and avoid fouling out. With no Nick Young and no Kobe, Wes was really the only option to throw on Wiggins as our SF is depleted. Wiggins enjoyed himself tonight. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers shore up this spot in the offseason. While Wes is a cheap fill in, he’s not a solution. With Wes getting 10, all five Lakers starters got into double digits tonight. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (2-8 from three) to go with 8 boards, 4 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 42 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a wing three from the right side. He missed a three from the other wing. He took his eyes off a pass and it bounced off his hands for a transition score the other way. Sloppy interior feed to Black, turnover, Tarik wanted the lob. He missed a turnaround on iso. He sank a 21-footer from the wing. He missed a three off a handoff. Second Half: He swished a three from the top of the arc on the catch and shoot. He swished another long one from the left corner next time down when the shotclock was about to expire. He missed a wing three. He missed an open sideline three. He missed a corner three. He sank a turnaround in the post.

Davis -- -- He was not integrated into the offense very well despite all the ball movement, but he still brings the effort. He was pulling down boards and battling in the paint, doing the garbage man work. To finish the night with 9 boards in 18 minutes shows he’s working. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 1 block and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He missed a layup, got it back and scored. He took a pass, fumbled it and scored a layup. He follow slammed a Clarkson layup miss. He was blocked trying to power up. He blocked and controlled a post attempt. He got away with a charge in the post, missed and then drew FTs.

Buycks -- -- “We looked to create for each other,” Dwight said, he finished with 6 assists and let the game flow pretty well vs. forcing it. He said he just wants to go out there play free, play solid and get the wins. That’s a decent description of how it went for him tonight. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 6 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He sank a sideline jumper up against the shotclock. He lobbed to Clarkson on the break for the dunk. He hit Sacre for the wide open baseline jumper. He missed a long pull-up wing jumper. Sloppy perimeter pass and it was picked off for a score. He created from the top of the key, attacked left and missed a short hanging attempt. Second Half: He missed a drive. He missed a wing three.

Sacre -- -- A rare lefty jumphook from Sacre tonight. Put that in the highlight reel. Some better moments on the glass tonight, finishing with 5 boards in just 13 minutes. He was active at trying to impose himself on that end. That’s exactly what he needs to do. He just needs to make it a habit versus how often he just fades from imposing himself in that area. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-2 form th eline) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He gathered a slow post entry pass and hit the jumphook. He missed a 16-footer straight away. He swished an open baseline jumper next time down. He missed a jumphook in the middle of the lane. Second Half: Nice challenge on a layup and he controlled the board after the miss. He missed a jumphook, short. He hit a lefty jumphook just beating the shotclock. He pulled down a FT miss and drew FTs himself, he made one. He missed a jumphook on the repost. He charged before making an interior feed.

Scott -- -- We can finally win again and not feel bad about it. The Lakers are pretty much locked in at fourth worst record… The Lakers got out to an early 18-12 lead when the timeout came, behind some Kelly scoring and Clarkson orchestration… He brought in Buyck for Brown out of that timeout. Clarkson starting to score now… They stretched it out to 10 when the timeout came… The Lakers led 30-21 after the first quarter… He started a Sacre, Davis, Johnson, Brown, Buycks lineup… The lead was cut to 2 when Scott called a timeout less than 3 minutes later… He brought in Kelly for Davis out of that… Starters all back in midway through the quarter… Brown’s turn to score now… The Lakers led 52-47 at the half… Up 16, he sat Brown for Buycks midway through the quarter… Wes in foul trouble so Brown came back in at the SF spot… The Lakers led 80-71 heading into the fourth… He started a Davis, Kelly, Brown, Buycks, Clarkson unit… He brought in Sacre for Kelly… Wes back in for Clarkson… Up 12, he brought back in Kelly and Black for Davis and Sacre midway through the quarter… Clarkson back in for Buycks… The lead was trimmed to 6, but the Laker held on…

[dcarter4kobe]

1st?
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"He's a Zen master, so he can speak to you, and he doesn't need a microphone; you can hear him in your head, 'Ron, don't shoot, don't shoot.' Whatever, pow, three. I love the Zen, though."

[SweetP]

Winning is fun again and watching our young guys play is fun too.

Thx!
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“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[A Mad Chinaman]

It was an interesting preseason game!

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Chronicle]

What other point guards are there that rebound as aggressively as Clarkson? Really like that aspect of his game!
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Kobe

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks again DB - as always!

I liked Black's comments; in closing out a crappy season it's good to see some solidarity and pride in himself and his fellow rookies.

[Rawr]

'Ball movement is infectious."

Jabari has been here for only a very short time and I already like him more than almost every other young guard outside of Clarkson and Bazemore that we've had in a long time.
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You are either in or on your way to the NBA Finals.

[catman2u]

I hate to say it but the only reason we one was because Kelly shot 5-6 from downtown. If he shoots his usual 1-7, Lakers lose. Lakers need better offensive schemes, better coaching.

[DancingBarry]

Kelly on fire + Timberwolves trainwreck = win

[LakerLanny]

I like Payne, but Black did outplay him.

What I like about Black most are his hands (really good for a big guy) and the fact that he is one of those players who plays to his strengths.

Everyone complains about him being undersized but there have been a lot of strong undersized guys who have dominated in the NBA...Dantley, Barkley, Millsap, etc.

I am not saying he is a long term starter on a title team, but certainly he is a productive big coming off the bench who we could lock up on the cheap right now if we were smart.

Black's touches to dunks ratio is to my liking, the guy knows how to go to the basket strong and can catch tough passes in traffic. He also isn't afraid to grab a rebound once in a while unlike say Ryan Kelly.
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Love, Laker Lanny