LAKERS -at- MAGIC - 11-11-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Buzzer Beating… It came down to two shots to win.

The Lakers didn’t hit rim on their iso attempt from Lou Williams. That gave the Magic 1.5 seconds left.

They drained a turnaround jumper at the buzzer, nothing but net, and the Lakers fell once again, 101-99.

Scott wanted Williams to run a high pick and roll, but he waved that off and then missed the wing pull-up jumper badly. Bigger than that miss might have been the Lakers giving up some open looks from three down the stretch. Surprisingly, Metta was involved in two of those big breakdowns.

Better moments from this year’s draftees, Russell looking more aggressive and getting more minutes…Nance looked real good, making everything he shot.


Clarkson -- -- Not a great scoring game from Clarkson, but he did have some very nice moments setting up Hibbert and Bass for dunks after breaking down the D. Some nice probes by him off the dribble. His outside shot wasn’t there, so he needed that. We need to see more of that PG mentality from him. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He missed a wing jumper, but got his own miss and it led to a Russell three. He lost the dribble trying to create. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He called off the play as it was too slow to develop, called for a screen, attacked and whipped a pass under the hoop to Bass for a dunk. He missed a pull-up, got it back and missed a three. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper on an inbounds. He took a pass from Russell and hit the short one on the other side of the rim. He attacked off the three line with speed, drew the D and fed Hibbert for the dunk. Off-the-mark pass on the floppy to Young (who curled) and it went out of bounds. Great job probing next time down and wrapping a pass around a defender to Hibbert for the dunk. He probed the lane, kept his dribble alive, curled back in the lane and scored the layup.

Randle -- -- We could have used the freethrows he missed tonight. Those perimeter shots are just not there. Down the stretch, he had a great spin move into the lane to hit a short one. He tried to attack on iso later and was blocked. The difference between the two was on the score, he used speed and power to his advantage to get his man on his heels. On the second one, he didn’t and paid the price. Earlier in the game, he had a great spin move baseline that was Worthy-like. Defensively, I’d like to see a little more second and third efforts, finishing the play as Scott said. He said he improved on his rotations and mentioned, they didn’t need to rotate on some of those big threes late. “A lot of little things that are coming back to bite us,” Randle said. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-3 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 4 assists, 1 block and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. Quick spin baseline like Worthy and he powered in the layup. He iso’d and kicked to Young for the open three. He fumbled a pass coming weak to strong, recovered and hit the fade in the lane. He attacked in transition and was swatted. Robbed of a nice block on a foul call. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Hibbert for the jumper. He kicked out to Russell for the three. Ticked that he didn’t get a foul call on a push in the back, he took the ball, attacked with speed around Gordon and he scored the And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He missed a step-back three up against the shotclock. He stayed on the screen until he drew contact, then rolled and Williams found him for the open dunk. He iso’d on the wing, attacked right, elevated and hit the jumper in the lane. He drew FTs with 2:28 left and missed both, Lakers down 3. He iso’d on the wing with just over a minute left, shotclock winding down, he attacked, spun into the lane and hit the short one to tie it up. He iso’d and was blocked next time down (he didn’t get the speed or contact that gets his man off balance).

Russell -- -- He came out aggressive, played with a little more speed and looked just a little bit more comfortable. Defensively, he had the Payton assignment for the most part (Payton scored 2 points on 1-13 shooting, but did have 8 assists). Still, solid D. Payton did choke a couple easy ones, but Russell was solid once again on that end, also pulling down 6 boards. Russell was irked with the Lakers inability to secure their defensive glass. “That’s where the game was,” he said. Like Metta, Russell also got lost on a three late in the game. His most minutes of the season with 31 and the numbers edged up with those. “I just try to stay as positive as possible,” Russell said. “When things aren’t going your way, when adversity sets in, you’ve got to be able to show your true character. I’m still rooting for whoever is out there. Whenever that time comes, I’ll just be ready.” The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-15 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He sank a three when Clarkson grabbed a board and found him. He attacked off the high screen with speed and scored a layup. He hit Metta in transition for the three. He spotted Metta with a man on his hip in the paint in early offense for the layup. He missed an easy reverse on a baseline drive. Great job rejecting a shot on help D in transition, then taking it the distance for a layup. He worked off the high screen and missed the pull-up 19-footer. He missed a good look at an elbow jumper. His pass on the two-man game was deflected and swiped. His post entry pass went out of bounds. He missed a three on a kickout. Nice D on Payton’s drive. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He coughed it up trying to thread a pass to a man under the hoop. He had 7 points, 4 boards and 2 assists. Second Half: He sank a tough three on a Randle kickout and the shotclock about to expire. He got tapped on a wing three on a kickout. He attacked in early offense and missed the layup. He scooped up a loose ball and fed Clarkson for the score. He worked off the high screen and swished the FT pull-up in early offense. He missed a wing jumper up against the shotclock. He ballwatched and gave up a three. He attacked from the wing off the early high screen from Hibbert, changed direction with speed to his right hand and scored the layup over the big. He missed a wing jumper on the high screen.

Hibbert -- -- He was right there to challenge the turnaround at the buzzer, but it was a better shot. Certainly, he didn’t play on his man’s hip to deny the easy pass, but there was also a little push off to get separation. “Wish I could have done a better job,” Roy said. The real problem was Williams not hitting rim on a play out of a timeout to try to win the game at the other end just before that. Roy quietly led the Lakers starters in scoring. The team did a goo job integrating him in the offense and setting him up. The Lakers again got killed on the offensive glass in this game. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-8 shooting (5-5 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a lefty hook out of the triangle. He roofed a drive to get a stop. He rejected another drive on help D. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He faced up, attacked baseline and scored a layup. He missed a baseline jumper. He threw an outlet away and it led to a three. Second Half: He swished a baseline jumper off the drive and kick from Randle. He drew FTs on the offensive glass, Lakers first FTs with 9:39 left in the second half, he made both. He ball stopped in the post and had it picked off. He dunked off the drive and dish from Clarkson. He dunked when Clarkson probed, drew the D and wrapped a pass around a defender to him. He scored an And-1 layup off the two-man game with Huertas, he made the FT. He drew FTs on the offensive glass, he made both. Great rotation to reject a shot on a drive.

World Peace -- -- A couple of big defensive breakdowns from Metta in crunch time. He tried to help (when it wasn’t needed) twice, leaving his man wide open and both times he gave up a three. The second one forced a timeout down 3. Those were huge and probably from the last guy you’d expect to make a mental mistake twice on D. That cost the Lakers. “Metta, God bless him,” Scott said, saying he was going for the steal. “That’s probably something that’s not supposed to happen. You’ve got to stay disciplined,” Metta said. Great all-around game from him outside of those two sequences. He was hitting his shot, being his scrappy self on D, bringing good energy and leadership out there. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-7 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He sank a wing three on a kickout from Russell. He missed a three trailing the break next time down. He sealed his man in the paint in transition, took the pass and scored the layup. He was stripped in the paint. He swished a baseline fade on the two-man sequence. He took a pass on the cut and dumped it to Bass for the easy layup. He couldn’t finish a layup in a crowd. He swished the sideline fade off the dribble handoff from Randle. He had 9 points on 4-6 shooting. Second Half: He swiped a post entry pass. He missed a wing three. Bad decision to leave his man and it led to an open three. He helped unnecessarily again and it led to a three.

Williams -- -- He called off the high screen-roll play, iso’d and promptly missed everything at the buzzer, leaving just enough time on the clock for the Magic to win on the other end. That’s 0-2 for Lou with the game on the line. Good job getting to the FT line again. He drew three FTs when we were down five late that were key in the Lakers having a chance. His shot selection on threes leaves a lot to be desired. I know some are meant to draw fouls, but some of the ones he’s missing weren’t that type of play. Just long chucks from three when he’s not knocking them down. That needs to be reeled in until he dials in his range. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 2-8 shooting (0-3 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He missed a three straight away. He wound the clock down, attacked and hit the floater. He drained a fading pull-up from the left side. He missed a long three, why take that? Second Half: He drew contact on the perimeter and drew three FTs, he made two. He attacked from the wing and earned more FTs, he made both. Horrible lob to Nance, out of bounds. He attacked and couldn’t finish the layup. He missed a pull-up on the sideline. Quick attack off the three line and he drew FTs, he made both. He clanked another long three. He hit Randle on the screen-roll for a slam (more please). He attacked the paint and fed Randle for FTs. With 1:53 down 5, he drew a reach on a long three and three FTs, he made all three. He iso’d and didn’t hit rim, otherwise, Hibbert might have had the putback at the buzzer.

Nance -- -- Great game from the rookie. You can tell the extra years of college make him look a lot steadier out there. He didn’t miss a shot, sinking several from the perimeter. “There so keyed in on those guys that sometimes I get lost in the mix. I enjoy that trying to find the cracks and doing all the little things,” Nance said. Humble answer, but he’s put in the work and it’s paying off. The jumper looked automatic. He had some hustle plays, but could probably impose his will on the game more in that manner. “I love the way Larry plays. I love the energy he plays with. I love the calmness he plays with,” Scott said. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-6- shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He took a lob on the break and scored the layup. He sank a wing jumper when Black’s roll sucked the D in and Huertas hit him. He sank a 17-footer off the double high screen. He attacked, pulled up and banked the tough runner. He had 8 points on 4-4 shooting and 2 boards. Second Half: He swished a sideline three with 5 on the shotclock and a couple defenders challenging. He crashed the glass and scored the putback layup.

Young -- -- Nick versus Hezonja. This is a match of two similarly minded guys. Nick won that. I can’t imagine what Lakers fans would be doing to Hezonja if we drafted him with how subpar he’s played so far his rookie season. Nick came out swishing a three on his first touch, picking up where he left off. Another solid two-way game from him. He even drew a charge and was pumped up about that. Too bad we didn’t win, the we could have heard him talk about his lockdown D (he likes to make a big deal every time he takes a charge). The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-7 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He swished the three straight away on the Randle kickout. He missed a three. He curled into the lane off the pass and hit the pull-up jumper. He had to heave up a long three against the shtoclock and missed. He threw a kickout where a Laker was a second earlier, turnover. Second Half: He missed an open wing three. Then he drew a charge on the D end to get it back. He lost the ball trying to go around his man on the break. He swished a pull-up on the baseline. He swished a corner three to start the fourth.

Black -- -- Just 6 minutes for him tonight. He did a good job on the boards during that time. While he didn’t score, he did help the offense with his strong rolls to the hoop that suck the D in. Scott went with Bass the rest of the game. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: Nice block on help D in traffic. He missed a jumphook in the post. He couldn’t finish a drive. Nice roll to the hoop, sucking in the D and it led to an open jumper for Nance. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Huertas -- -- Good minutes from Huertas. He did a good job of organizing the offense and setting up teammates. The D gave him the shot, as usual. He didn’t hesitate and sank a couple jumpers. These are the types of games he needs to string together. No telling when Kobe might return and his minutes are gone. Offensively, the Lakers flow looked much better in this game. It could just be an opponent, but the guards seemed to be getting into the offense much faster and that makes a difference. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 10 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He swiped an inbounds pass to start the second quarter. He ran into Nance and coughed it up. He worked the two-man game with Black, got some space and hit the baseline jumper. He ran the two-man game with Black and hit the open Nance for the jumper. He called for the floppy, waited for the double screen to come, drew the D and fed Nance for the jumper. Second Half: He found Young and Nance for threes. He was called for a travel on the perimeter, bogus call. He swished a wing three on a kickout. He missed a wing three. He set up Hibbert for the And-1 layup.

Bass -- -- At least he spent some minutes at PF tonight with Nance at the C spot. But we still had him out there for small ball lineup and some screwy sub patterns. We didn’t get badly burned, tonight, however. At one point it looked like Scott realized he didn’t have a enough height out there and sat Bass for Hibbert. That recognition was a first. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists and 3 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a turnaround in the post. He scored a layup off the nice interior feed from Metta. He choked a layup he should have had when Russell set him up. Good crash on the defensive glass to fight for a board (more please). He dunked off the drive and dish from Clarkson. Second Half: He missed a drive, but Nance scored the putback. He iso’d and bricked badly trying to throw it over his head. Good challenge on a drive to force a miss. He tied up Hezonja’s drive for a jumpball.

Scott -- -- Russell calling his own number early and the Lakers led 14-12 when the timeout came… He sat Clarkson and Metta for Young and Lou, keeping in Russell… Nance and Black in for Hibbert and Randle… Oladipo out with a concussion… The Lakers trailed 26-25 after the first quarter… Black, Nance, Young, Lou, Huertas… He sat Black for Bass and Young for Metta, Lakers down 2. Nance at the C spot against Frye… Clarkson for Huertas with 6:49 left, score tied... Nance out for Randle, small lineup. Russell in for Lou. So Bass back at C down 1… The Lakers trailed 48-45 at the half. The Lakers didn’t shoot any FTs… Some up and down ball early on… The Lakers trailed by 1 midway through the quarter when the timeout came… He brought in Nance for Randle and Young for Metta… He sat Russell for Lou and Hibbert for Bass, Lakers up 1. Magic with a bigger lineup in there… He sat Bass for Hibbert shortly later. Why no Black? Odd subs, Lakers up 3. Poor close to the quarter… The Lakers trailed 74-70 heading into the fourth… He started the Bass, Nance, Young, Williams, Huertas unit… Tied up, Hibbert back in for Bass with 8 minutes left… Tied up with Russell, Randle and Metta in for Huertas, Nance and Young… The game was tied 99-99 with 25 seconds left. He brought in Young for Randle out of the timeout. Lakers iso’d Williams and didn’t draw iron… Nance in for Young, Clarkson for Russell for D? A turnaround over Hibbert at the buzzer to lose… The Magic made 13-28 from three and had 19-second chance points…

[KeepItRealOrElse]

Foist!

[999]

Second.

Byron lost this game. Nance was hot he should have kept him in there. Scott can be such a dumb ass

[purple8goldvanessa]

first (properly spelled)

[KeepItRealOrElse]

[Lakersneuron]

Thanks DB. Noticed in the first quarter when Russell was being aggressive, Clarkson seemed frustrated.

It is going to be tough finding a balance with those two as they both need the ball in their hands.

Good to see DLO get to the rim.
_________________
"I don’t give a [expletive] what you say. If I go out there and miss game winners, and people say, 'Kobe choked, or Kobe is seven for whatever in pressure situations.' Well, [expletive] you. Because I don’t play for your [expletive] approval."

[Laker's Fan]

The game isn't over until your recap is read DB. Really become a major part of the experience. Cheers.

Thought your quote on Randle was spot on. Need to start seeing those 2nd and 3rd efforts on D. Nance's play was fun to watch. Russell looks like he's learning fast. Nice drives tonight. Would love to see the young guys including Clarkson start to show some Chemistry. There still figuring it out. Good game.

[SweetP]

Thanks DB.
Missed the game, stuck at work. Will watch the replay at 11.
Good to hear Russell and Nance played well.
_________________
“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

[Shaber]

Thanks, DB!

Metta making rookie mistakes... So who's learning from who?
_________________
.

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

[tlim]

We will lose games like there's no tomorrow due to our pathetic rebounding and defense. So many offensive rebounds by the Magic as well as the Heat.

Brutal and demoralizing for the players and fans because even though we shot nearly 50%, and percentage wise, outshot them by nearly 10%, we still lost.

[AllorNothing]

[dino]

though the lakers lost, it was a very competetive game...hopefully most of the rest of remaining games turn out as watchable...

[dino]

black over bass and more minutes for nance and maybe there is less of a rebounding discrepancy...

[epak]

Lou Williams freaking 2nd time you had a chance to take the game winning shot (first one being the Wolves game). 2 tries. 2 failures. Lets go with someone else freaking Byron Scott.

[Andre2K]

Nick has been a blessing this season, I like the fact that he picked up that charge, very good read on defense from him thanks DB
_________________
My Dream Starting 5 next Season

Pg Lonzo
Sg Kawhi
Sf Ingram
Pf Lebron
C Dedmon

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

[cdg]

I wonder if someone had words with Scott regd playing Russell a bit more.
I wouldnt be surprised.

Cos real or not, I dont see this team making the playoffs this season.
So one might as well develop the very young (and promising) players for next season, no?

[Runway8]

I hope someone from the Lakers staff makes a clip of Russell's drive in the 3:30 mark of the 4th quarter, where he used a pick to speed past his man then attacked the rim with his off hand. Show it to him and say.. more of this please! There is not one youtube clip showing him shooting with his off-hand, and it's also listed as his weakness, but that was NOICE as Stu said.

Russell does have some speed, he's just not given the green light in this offense and so he lacks aggression, but it seems like Byron is starting to get the memo or the mandate from upstairs. So hopefully, we can start to see him break out. And why not give him a pick in the last play instead of iso with Lou? If LW is not fouled, then his shot is most certainly a brick.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[cganesh75]

i was at the arena for this game. Good game. Bitter sweet moment for me because this probably was Kobe's last visit to orlando. I was hoping he would play, but he didnt.

Didnt the Lakers have fouls to give at the end of the game? i thought we had atleast 1. they could have used it on anybody as soon as they caught the ball.

[Worthy42]

[Dr. Funkbot]

What is wrong with Byron? Bass got way too many minutes and Black not enough. Enough already, we get it, you like slow short vets over young guys who can actually ball.
_________________
R.I.P. Doc Buss

[GoldenThroat]

We played a team that's a good 2-3 ahead of us in the rebuilding process and played them very competitively in their house. The buzzer beater was a gut punch, but all in all I'm happy with the performance. This is more reflective of what I was expecting from this season.

[jab]

Just a few observations:1) PG with same number of rebounds as starting center 2) Notes To coach Scott: When a guy has it going , go to him. When a guy is just chucking, to the detriment of the team, bench him
3) Randle needs to shoot at least 500 jump shots per day, to be good, he has to drastically improve in that area 4) This season will be worse than last if no changes in coaches or personnel are made