LAKERS -at- KINGS - 10-30-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

132-114. Embarrassing, Byron… The personalities of the two coaches were on display. Karl’s team was pushing the tempo and scoring with ease in transition. The Lakers were plodding along in Scott’s offense, getting beat with ill-advised lineups and ill-advised shots. They gave up 74 points in the first half.

The tone was set in the first 4 minutes when the Lakers had 4 turnovers. This is a case of the offense making it tough on the D.

A team with Roy Hibbert in there should not look this bad on D. But it’s certainly easy to score when you can get layups in transition because everyone else on the floor is continually trailing the action or failing to wall off defenders.

When the Lakers had their best moments of this game, they scrapped the offense and looked for quick attacks off high screens. To kill the momentum of a decent third quarter, Scott put in the Bass/Kelly lineup. They promptly gave up two offensive boards on the first two defensive stands and 5 points. So much for that.

Want to develop rookies? Nope. We ran the vets deep into the fourth. Russell played just 23 minutes. Randle just 16 with some foul trouble, but didn’t get back in the game after the third. Anthony Brown got in for 4 minutes late. Clarkson didn’t see the fourth.

“We just sucked, simple as that,” Scott said. Asked why they came out flat, giving up 40 points in the first quarter, he said, “I wish I did, I would have solved it.”

“It doesn’t come down to X’s and O’s,” he said. “You’ve got to man up.”


Kobe -- -- He missed his last 8 shots in the previous game and his first 4 in this one (all threes). His first 6 shots in the half were all threes. Kobe. What are you doing? “I think all of us right now are just forcing it,” Scott said. He mentioned the team worked on moving the ball on the offense in practice and that didn’t carry over. Take away the three’s and Kobe shot 4-4. The Lakers shot 5-21 from three in the first half. Crazy numbers. He was a little under the weather prior to the game. Perhaps combined with the leg injury, he’s kind of taking it easy on his body. He passed Shaq to move into No. 5 all time on FGs made in this one. Not a good first two games for Kobe. Really, the last 4-5 quarters. He said they needed to put bodies on bodies and box out better, that they need to just get back to the fundamentals and basics defensively. He said he’s giving Russell freedom to call the plays and run the offense to help him develop. Hopefully, Kobe’s game starts to mesh a little better out there sooner rather than later. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-12 shooting (1-8 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He spotted Russell under the hoop and hit him with a pass from the corner for the easy layup. He missed a three on a switch. He missed a wing three in transition next time down. He missed his third three in a row (layup the other way). He finally attacked off the three line and drew FTs in the lane, he made one. He missed another wing three. He finally sank a sideline three on his fifth attempt. He missed another wing three in transition (layup the other way). Trapped on the sideline, turnover. Ahead of the pack on the break, picked, turnover. He grabbed an offensive board and banked in the short one. He made a tech FT. Not close on another wing three. He sank an elbow jumper out of a timeout, working off a brush screen. He was picked by Cousins on the perimeter and tied up for a jumpball. He grabbed an offensive board and scored the short one in the paint. He had 11 points on 4-10 shooting (1-7 from three) and 3 turnovers. Second Half: Not close on a wing three. He scored a short floater off the Euro-step. He airballed a pull-up in the lane.

Clarkson -- -- Offensively, a good game from Clarkson. He was one of the few that punched back. Defensively, he was guilty like everyone else at playing soft. He didn’t play the fourth, despite the 22 points in the first three quarters. He’s only a second-year player and any minutes to work on his game are valuable. He should have been in there, and we should have used that time to help teach on D. “Offensive will be a hundred times easier if we get stops,” Clarkson said. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 10-15 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: Sloppy pass on the floppy for a turnover. He missed an open corner three. He attacked from the wing off the two-man game with Kobe and scored a layup. He sank an open three off the drive and kick from Russell. He got Cousins on a switch, blew past him and scored the layup that was goaltended. He swished a long jumper off the high screen. He attacked and wasn’t close on a forced attempt in transition. He missed a quick-fire wing jumper. He attacked, Euro-stepped down the lane and scored with his left. He found Bass in the lane for FTs after getting trapped on the sideline. He missed a step-back jumper. He had 11 points on 5-9 shooting and no assists. Second Half: He swiped an inbounds pass under the hoop and took it all the way for the uncontested dunk. He was called for a travel picking up his dribble. He hit a pull-up from the right side. He probed in early offense and reversed on the switch. He sank a three on a kickout from Williams. He called for the early offense screen and hit the elbow pull-up jumper. Not close on a layup at the end of the quarter.

Randle -- -- That perimeter shot was trouble for him tonight. It even stretched onto the FT line, where he had issues. This, of course, will be the issue for him until he gets his jumper down. The D simply sagged off him, packed the lane and bogged things down. It’s expected and it will continue until he matures his game. It will come like it did for other hardworking players at his position. He got a couple of offensive fouls, picking up his fifth foul early in the third quarter and sat for the rest of the game. (Should have come back later to clock minutes.) Defensively, he and our young guys take some very bad angles in transition. We’re giving up too many easy ones when some simple fundamentals on D would limit a few of these. Lots of up and down for our young guys this year. “Young guys are going to have to learn quickly,” Hibbert said. Randle said the game was over from the start when they got torched in the first quarter. “There’s no formula to getting back on defense,” Randle said. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (1-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -27. The Action: He iso’d, up-faked to get WCS on his toes, then attacked and banked in the short one. He telegraphed a perimeter pass and had it picked off for a score the other way. He missed a sideline jumper off the inbounds pass. He missed a step-back 18-footer from the wing. He attacked no space and was stripped. He got a switch in the post and drew FTs, he made one. Second Half: Aggressive attack to his left and he drew FTs, he missed both. He missed a layup on the two-man game with Russell, should have had that one. He was called for a charge trying to post up Rondo, who went down easy. He missed a wide open 18-footer. Poor D flushing Rondo baseline and giving up the layup. He picked up another offensive foul using the off arm on a drive (five fouls just 5 minutes into the second half).

Russell -- -- Better game from Russell, who still should have played more minutes. Sigh. “It’s all about opportunity,” Russell said. “The window of opportunity is just smaller with the great players around so you just have take advantage of your time and opportunity.” How are we not getting him back into the game in a blowout? Scott moved Russell back to handle more PG duties after the opening game. (Wish we’d run more screen-roll…) He said when they ran the offense it was “real stagnant.” He looked more confident out there and I think that’s really a big issue for him these first few games. Hopefully, he can build off this and start to transfer more and more of his game to the next level. Shooting-wise, when Russell is able to take a little time and follow through on his jumper, it looks much better and drops with more consistency. When he’s rushed, he jabs or punches it with no follow through. It’s not quite the same stroke. Defensively, he has to pick his spots when he goes for offensive boards. Too many of our guards got caught in no-man’s land when the ball started changing ends. “They threw the first punch and we struggled to respond,” Russell said. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls The Action: He scored a layup for the Lakers first score when Kobe spotted him cutting under the hoop. He attacked in early offense, drew the D under the hoop and whipped it out to Clarkson for the open three. He crowded Rondo and gave up a layup on the other end. He drained a wide open three when his man went under the screen in early offense. He missed a bank from the left side, tough angle that far out. Nice job stripping a ball loose from Cousins on a dig on help D. He missed a wing three. Way short on another longer three. He missed an elbow jumper in transition. He was called for a carry in the backcourt on a spin. He had 5 points on 2-6 shooting and 1 assist in 12 minutes. Second Half: Great pass to Hibbert on the two-man game, but he missed the dunk. He sank a wing three on a swing pass the next time down. Nice dish to Kelly in the paint in early offense, he shoveled it to Roy for the dunk. He smothered Rondo’s drive and forced a pass out of bounds. He sank a long jumper getting space on a behind-the-back dribble. Good leak out when we stole the ball and he scored the uncontested layup. He drew FTs against a perimeter double team, he made one. Nice extra pass to Brown in the corner for the three. He missed a three in transition, punching it again on the follow through.

Hibbert -- -- He had 5 blocks trying to hold the line. Cousins finished with 21 on 5-15 shooting. He had some energetic moments on D in that third. He can do that when he’s able to get set on D and anchor. When it’s fast paced, that’s tough. He still had a block in transition hustling back. He needs to get more vocal with the guys when they’re getting torched like this. Fire them up. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He threw a pass away on the first set of the game, not close to Kobe. He missed a layup in transition (layup the other way). He gathered, then slammed back in a missed three. Second Half: He couldn’t finish a dunk off a great pass from Russell. He stripped Cousins on a drive. He dunked off the Russell-to-Kelly-to-Roy quick passing sequence in early offense. Good hustle back in transition and he blocked a shot. Nice battle on the defensive glass and he drew FTs, he made both. He drew more FTs drawing attention to some contact on the perimeter, he made both. A couple great blocks to erase layups.

Williams -- -- He struggled with his shot and came out flat to start the game. Better second half both scoring and finding teammates. Like everyone he had some bad moments in transition D, not matching up and giving up an easy one. There’s no reason he should have played more than Russell. He’s a vet and doesn’t needs the minutes in a blowout. Save the wear and tear and get valuable minutes for the youngings. In each of the last two games, he’s been down on the defensive glass battling on a mismatch to try to keep the opponent off the boards in those small lineups. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-9 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with4 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He threw a pass away in a crowd in the paint. He pumped and missed a three short. He served it up for WCS and was promptly swatted. He missed a three. He fouled a man on a jumper. He missed a three in transition. He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting. Second Half: He manufactured FTs in early offense on a jumper, he made both. He sank a pull-up from the wing in early offense. He kicked out to Clarkson for the three. A late whistle cost him three FTs as he was about to shoot on a reach but then tried to pass it, then heard the whistle. He scored a layup in transition, attacking before the D got set. He didn’t match up in transition and we gave up a layup. He missed a runner in transition trying to draw a foul. He was called for a push off. He got it back pressuring the passing lane on the other end to swipe it and score a layup. He missed a three out of a timeout.

Bass -- -- Man, that was ugly. We can’t keep going with the small Kelly/Bass lineup. It’s certainly not doing Bass any favors. Our interior is just way too soft with that unit. The Lakers got outrebounded 16-8 on the offensive glass. It’s a rally killer that is affecting the entire bench. I want to say this is the fifth game of the lineup, might be sixth. Scott may go with that 10 games of stupidity thing he does before changing it. So hopefully we don’t have to wait until game 10 of the regular season, but can also count those preseason flops, as well, with this lineup. I would have rather seen Nance out there tonight in the blowout, but his buried at the moment. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-4 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: Bad angle in transition and he gave up points at the rim. No help for Kelly and we gave up several boards before the Kings scored on the possession. He was fouled when Clarkson found him in the paint, he made both FTs. He couldn’t secure a defensive board as a big tipped it away from him from behind and then scored. He powered in a short one working off the two-man game with Huertas. He fouled Gay on an And-1 three. He missed a putback attempt. Second Half: Outrebounded by a big and it led to a layup. He attacked and was stripped on a drive. He attacked again and lost it, layup the other way. He dunked off the nice drive and dish from Nick. He drew FTs on the feed from Huertas, he made both. He got tapped on a sideline jumper.

Black -- -- He came in for the final couple minutes of the first half when we had foul trouble and then late in the game for some garbage time with Sacre. At least it may have shown Scott will go with Black before Sacre right now if we have foul issues. Not much else to take away from Black’s limited time. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 board and 3 fouls in 7 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He couldn’t finish over a big but Sacre grabbed it and dunked.

Young -- -- He led the bench with 17 points and the team with 3 steals. Both good numbers, but I actually liked the 3 assists. That showed a more well-rounded offensive game from him and makes him and the team better. More of that, please. He and Lou combined for 8 assists. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-11 shooting (3-7 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He got tapped on a three from the top of the arc. He sank an And-1 wing jumper, he made the FT. He drained a wing three at the buzzer (should have been an And-1). Poor perimeter D and it led to a dunk. He got undercut on a three (Casspi has the nerve to complain that he got hit in the head with Nick’s elbow on the shot), he made all three FTs. He got tapped on a sideline three. He hit Huertas for the open three. He had 9 points on 2-5 shooting. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Kelly for the short jumper. He scooped up the loose ball, pushed it out and hit the elbow pull-up. Tough 18-footer and he missed. He sank a wing three in transition. He missed a wing three. He attacked and hit Bass for the dunk. He sank a corner three in transition. He missed a three out of a rare set offense sequence in the half.

Huertas -- -- Funny/sad moment of the night for the bench was probably when Sacre faked the pass to Huertas who was wide open and then Sacre proceeded to brick badly from 18 feet. Huertas was holding his hands up like, WTH? Then got lost in transition D again. I’m surprised he’s also looking as poor as everyone else in transition D. At his age, he should know better on some of these poor sequences. Defensively, he seemed a little more active in the half court stands then the first game. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He ran a sideline pick and roll and set Bass up for the score. He drained an open wing three when Nick found him. He missed a floater short by a foot. He missed a short wing jumper. Second Half: He missed a three with the shotclock winding down. He hit Nick cross court in transition for a three. He didn’t get back in transition and gave up a dunk (I would say rookie mistake, but he should know better). He hit Bass rolling to the hoop for FTs. He hit Kelly for the open three. He got caught again in transition not getting back after Sacre ball-faked to him and bricked (Huertas was in a little disbelief).

Kelly -- -- I feel sorry for him on the defensive when he’s out there with Bass. Kelly is battling and putting in the effort while Bass is blending in with the guards. Kelly had 3 blocks, putting in a good, but hopeless effort. They’re just under siege. WCS took it to him a little on iso late in the game. Offensively, Kelly has looked a little flat in these first two, but he still came away with a surprising 10 points in this one. Quietly filling in a stat sheet. Last year, this would have been 2 points and 1 board. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a wing three, short. He didn’t take the open three, attacked the crowd and was easily stripped for a dunk the other way, horrible decision. He swatted a shot to ignite a break. He missed a wing three, short. He scored easily in the post when his man went for the steal. He measured and missed a wide open three. Nice help D to rotate and knock a pass loose to ignite the break. Second Half: He took a pass in early offense and drew FTs on the spin, he made one. He attacked to his left and was blocked. He took the kickout, let a man fly by and moved in for the shorter baseline jumper. Nice strip as the big turned in the lane to try to go up. He tried to post up and had it poked away from behind. He dunked when no one covered him in transition. He gave up a layup to WCS on the post. He made a three on the other end (finally) to get it back. Another post score for WCS again on the next defensive stand.

A. Brown -- -- Good to see him get a few minutes. But did Nick really need to be on the floor that long tonight? Give the young guys some run. Brown hit a three and drew some FTs and had a nice defensive play knocking a ball free on the sideline. Just 4 minutes but able to make an impact. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-2 shooting from three (2-2 from the line) and was a +3 in 4 minutes. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He drew FTs getting hit on the perimeter, he made both. He stripped his man on the sideline and it led to an easy score for Russell in transition. He sank a corner three off the extra pass from Russell. He missed a corner three.

Sacre -- -- He announced his presence by getting badly rejected on a soft finish attempt right after entering the game. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and no fouls in 4 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He was rejected badly on a soft finish attempt. He grabbed the Black miss and dunked. He couldn’t hold a pass in transition. He ball-faked Huertas, who was wide open, took the 18-footer himself and completely bricked (score the other way).

Scott -- -- The Lakers fell behind 12-4 after 4 minutes and called a timeout. Some simple high pick and roll would probably make things much easier on them as the Kings were overplaying passing lanes and pressuring the standstill passers. The Lakers had 4 turnovers in that stretch… A 14-0 Kings run before the Lakers scored… Transition D by the Lakers is horrible… He brought in Bass for Hibbert… Down 14, he sat Russell for Williams… Transition D is so bad it’s ridiculous… They went to a zone… Randle picked up his second and sat with Kobe for Young and Kelly with 5 minutes left down 15… Kelly and Bass for WCS and Cousins… The Lakers trailed 40-24 after the first quarter. Wow… They went with a Bass, Kelly, Young, Williams, Huertas lineup in a zone on D… So many offensive boards for scores against this small lineup… Down by 21, he brought back in Kobe and Hibbert for Young (only guy playing well) and Bass (killing me)… Russell back in for Huertas… Down 19 when Clarkson came in for Williams… The Lakers trimmed the lead down some before Hibbert had to sit with 3 fouls. Back in with Bass… That didn’t last long. Down 16, he sat Bass for Black… The Lakers trailed 74-50 at the half. The Kings had a 19-3 advantage on the fastbreak. The Lakers shot 5-21 from three… Randle with 5 fouls after picking up a couple on the offensive end and he had to sit early on… The lead hovered in the 30-point range… He brought in Young and Williams for Kobe and Russell down 24 with 4:40 left… They trimmed it to 18 when the timeout came with 2:05 left in the quarter, Lakers making 7 of their last 9… Better third quarter by the Lakers… The Lakers trailed 102-83 heading into the fourth… He started the ridiculous Bass, Kelly, Young, Williams, Huertas lineup… First defensive stand, Bass gives up an offensive board from behind and the Kings score a layup… Another offensive board next time down and an And-1 layup. That buried them for good… Why aren’t you playing the young guys?... Another two offensive boards and a putback as we can’t handle the size with this lineup… Finally with 4 minutes left and he brings back Russell, Sacre, Black, Brown to go with Huertas. No Randle I guess for the rest of the night…

[Honeybadger81]

first

[SweetP]

Thanks, not much of a game for the Lakers.
_________________
“There is always light if only we're brave enough to see it, if only we're brave enough to be it.” --Amanda Gorman

[mhan00]

Brutal game. Just brutal.

[Andre2K]

Randle was a -27 ouch❗️
Scott should bring him off the bench, he doesn't fit with the starters.
_________________
My Dream Starting 5 next Season

Pg Lonzo
Sg Kawhi
Sf Ingram
Pf Lebron
C Dedmon

Bench: Caruso, Hart, Bullock, Kuzma, McGee etc

[Miracle]

Caught the game today...yeah that was pretty ugly.

[jonnybravo]

You could probably save yourself the time DB and just write:

"Scott's a moron" after every game until he's gone.

[TDRock]

So there's that. My only want for this season was to see some FUN basketball again with our newly acquired talent. Honestly I don't know what to think right now... But we still have 80 games to go I suppose...

Thanks DB.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[freethrow]

[Nobody]

He's reaching Phil's level of not ever calling timeouts. Except Phil knew what he was doing and knew the players would respond. Horrible.

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Missed the game - thanks for the recap DB. That had to be frustrating, but excellent recap.

Was the Byron Scott "Kelly is a 3" delusion only 10 games last year? Seems it was more than half the season. I fear he's going to showcase Bass as his secret small-ball weapon at 5 for much more than 10 games. I fear he's going to stick with it all season. 'Cause an opposing coach will never gameplan for that one...

Hope the fight hasn't been taken out of this team already, getting rolled from the start because they know it's futile to swim against the BS tide of poor decisions.

It's hard to swallow knowing before any given game that Scott's going to trot out a lineup that has no chance of holding its own down low, and even with a loss all but guaranteed he's going to go with his vets instead of developing a cohesive young core.

[LakersRGolden]

Bass's biggest contribution = fouling enough to get Black into the Game.

Kelly looked good. Almost adequate at Center. Above average at PF next to Hibbert.

Russell looked better on the offensive side. Bigs still looking lost when Russell passes through the double to the Big at the elbow.

Opposing guards are going to kill us until we get a big that can at least extend the corner on PnR's. Right now, they're not even in the camera frame.

Where's the PnR's on our side?

When will Randle do his first ball reversal?

Am I crazy thinking this would be our best defensive lineup?
Russell/Young/Brown/Kelly/Hibbert

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Dilla_]

Thanks DB for the post! Surely Byron can't keeping playing Bass/Kelly at the same time it's clearly not working.

[cdg]

[A Mad Chinaman]

There's bad and there's BAD

Mychal, on the radio, was saying there was still a chance to win a game if they were down by 12 points with 6 minutes left - could this be a reason . .

[Annihilator]

[lakersken80]

[Chronicle]

[Vin]

So disapointed with Kobe. He's playing some dumb basketball out there.

[wolfpaclaker]

I'm hoping this game will make Byron and the staff realize they need to change lineups.

Hibbert, Kelly, Young, Bryant and Russell. That lineup will share the ball and make plays off one another creating. You will also get more effort once that happens.

Bring in a bench mob of Bass/Black, Randle, Brown, Clarkson, Lou.

Finish/Close with your best 5 of that night.

Instead I feel our FO and coaching staff is stressing player development so much that they're not seeing that young players will develop even more if they have to earn minutes and are in the right roles.

[Lakers#1Team]

[GoldenThroat]

My favorite play of the game was when Clarkson drove and kicked it out to Randle, who immediately swung it to Russell, who knocked down a wide open 3. Touched on a concern that I have about each player. Clarkson seeing the court when he attacks the basket, the ball not sticking in Randle's hands, and Russell knocking down a GD three.

[The Thief]

Is it just me or was Kobe purposely only shooting 3's to try and prove a point. I think his goal was to shoot around the same amount thinking he could make about half and then say "see it's not a problem of me shooting 3's my timing was just off". Unfortunately all he's proving is his ego has far surpassed his abilty. His shot selection is worse than J.R. Smith's. He should have been yanked out of the game after he started 0-2. That kind of selfishness is going to kill team chemistry.