PACERS -at- LAKERS - 11-29-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

The Last Run… His tour of duty in the purple and gold armor will come to an end this season. Kobe Bryant finally made official his retirement.

You never know now, an injury could make any game his last. Let’s hope not, but try to enjoy the moments when they come.

He started the game stone cold, like the rest of the team. The Lakers did not make a field goal until halfway through the first quarter and by halftime, Kobe was just 2-15. In the second half, they rallied behind Nick Young, who scored 22 points in the half. Strong moments from Randle, Metta and Clarkson, as well.

And then it was time for some late-game, vintage Kobe. He rose up and sank a huge three with over a minute left. With 12 seconds left, he buried a tough turnaround three off an inbounds to cut the lead to just 1 point. A brilliant moment with the fans at Staples on their feet roaring.

That was all the magic he had left on the court. He badly missed a tough three a few seconds later and that was that. The Lakers fell 107-103 to the Pacers.

If they are to win games, they’ve got to start them better. The continued collective ineptitude to start games put the Lakers in a hole once more, and they spent the rest of the game battling out of it only to fall short.

After the game, Kobe had some very nondual, philosophical moments talking about the finality of his NBA career.

“I see the beauty in not being able to blow past defenders anymore. I see the beauty in getting up in the morning and being in pain because I knew all the hard work it took to get to this point. I’m not sad about it, I’m very appreciative of what I’ve had.”

He talked about the first signs that influenced his decision.

“Sitting in meditation for me, my mind starts drifting. It always drifted toward basketball. Always. It doesn’t do that for me now. It does that sometimes. It doesn’t do that all the time, and for me that was the first indicator that this game is something that I can’t obsess over for much longer.”

He reminisced about what it meant to be a Laker.

“The fact that I’m talked about in company of Magic and Cap. I’ve made it. That’s enough for me. I was a Laker diehard growing up,” Kobe said.

“How many kids can say growing up, you turn pro that you’re going to play for your favorite team in the world and spend your entire career there? It’s been a dream.”

It has, indeed. Thank you, Kobe.


Kobe -- -- “Finally, I just had to accept the fact that I don’t want to do this anymore and I’m okay with that. Once I accepted that, it became time to let everybody know,” Kobe said, very much at peace with his decision. So great to see him hit those two big threes. He didn’t have one more in him, unfortunately. I’m glad Scott went to him one more time, even if he didn’t make it just because it was his night tonight with the announcement today. “I tried to go to the well another time to see if it was possible for him to do it again,” Scott said. Kobe missed badly and that was all she wrote. I mentioned after the Golden State game that Kobe should announce his retirement. Make it official. There was so much disrespect for him with how he started the season and how badly that game went. The tone would change with an official announcement and people could turn out to see him one last time and pay tribute. Regardless of how he plays, they’ll be glad they went. Enjoy every moment, good and bad, because they are all we have left. The end of an incredible era now has a date. Tonight, he shot just 2-15 for the first half, missing multiple shots to start the game before finally scoring a layup on some great footwork in the post to lose two defenders. Later, he sank those two huge threes. Those were vintage moments we’ve seen over the years as he destroyed the league. It’s stunning how good he was. How easy he made all these hard shots look. I hope he’ll have plenty of vintage moments left in him. “My main focus is for him to finish the season standing up,” Scott said. He should keep those minutes in check and go lighter than what he’s done so far and hopefully, Kobe will make it. “I really can’t thank the fans enough, man,” Kobe said. “It’s been such a motivator for me and such catalyst for everything I’ve accomplished. Just so much respect and love for them.” The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-20 shooting (2-7 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a 35-footer trying to beat the shotclock. He missed a wing three on his next touch. He missed an elbow jumper. He attacked baseline and couldn’t finish the reverse. He attacked and dumped it to Roy for FTs. He airballed a three straight away. He missed a fade working across the lane. Sweet up and under off some great footwork between two defenders and he scored the layup. He missed a hook over a big on a drive. He missed a pull-up jumper from the right side. He missed a baseline turnaround. He pumpfaked a defender and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a pumping baseline jumper. He swished an open wing jumper. He was blocked on a three. He airballed the baseline turnaround but Hibbert slammed it down (could have been a pass, but I don’t think so). He missed a wing jumper. He got screened when he should have been rotating to get between that man and the rim and Kobe’s man scored a layup at the end of the half. He had 6 points on 2-15 shooting in the first half. Second Half: Nice trap on the sideline to knock a ball loose, then he found Hibbert open under the hoop for a dunk. Short on a pull-up three in early offense. Not close on a wing jumper. After a horrid set where we wasted clock, he got the ball back, iso’d and drew FTs on a turnaround with the shotclock about to expire, he made one. Out of a timeout, he threw a jump pass right out of bounds, uggh. He sank a big three with over a minute left to cut it to 6. Monster turnaround three by Kobe off the inbounds with 12 seconds left to bring a roar from Staples and cut it to 1, just buried it. He airballed a long drifting turnaround three with 7 seconds left, tougher shot.

Clarkson -- -- “I go back to my first game as a rookie,” Clarkson said of Kobe. “I think we played the Houston Rockets. He told me before the game, no matter how many minutes I play, try to fill up every column I can. Rebounds, steals, assists, just go out there and compete and leave all your energy on the floor and just try to do whatever you can to help the team win.” He stuffed the stat sheet tonight with 22 points, 10 boards and 6 assists. Down the stretch, I loved the fight in Jordan. He played poised and with purpose. If he got some of Kobe to rub off on him, then these final two years of Kobe’s career will leave a lasting mark. He got to play point with Nick out there hitting and tried to set him up. I think Nick probably makes things a little easier for them than Kobe, who is not hitting and struggling to find his way. Clarkson was the only Laker able to do anything offensively in the first half, scoring 12 points on just 5 attempts. He did a much better job of consistently imposing himself on the game. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-15 shooting (2-4 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He attacked baseline and dumped it to Randle for FTs. He missed a three in early offense. He pushed out the break and drew the foul, he made both FTs. He swished an open wing three for the Lakers first field goal nearly 7 minutes in. He choked a layup after a great move to get to the rim. He attacked in transition with speed for FTs, he made both. He probed the lane scored the short one after getting hit in the eye with no call, popping a contact out. He swished an open corner three on the kickout from Russell. He had 12 points on 3-5 shooting and 5 boards in the half. Second Half: He sank an 18-footer off the handoff from Hibbert on an inbounds give and go. He missed an elbow jumper. He attacked and kicked to Young in the corner for a three. He attacked to his right and swished the baseline floater. He missed a layup in transition, but Nance tipped it in. He missed a three, short. He attacked and kicked to Bass for the jumper. He probed and hit the pull-up 12-footer. He attacked off the double high screen and was tied up. He attacked and fed Bass for the dunk. He swished the wing pull-up jumper. He missed a big wing jumper. He swished a floater when Kobe found him cutting off the faked handoff.

Randle -- -- “For me it’s sad because that was my hero growing up. I tried to do everything like him. He’s my idol. For me, it’s said,” Randle said. Asked about what he learned, he said, “So much, man. So much.” He mentioned Kobe’s mentality is what he’ll take most. Randle nearly brought the house down with a coast to coast dunk that helped punctuate a Laker rally. It was a choppy game for him, but he did well battling on the glass. That can always be there for him, no matter what the offense is like. And, again, hitting the boards will also give him opportunities to bring the ball up court and create some offense. Randle played center down the stretch. I’d love to see how he might look as our backup C at times, if they could stagger the substitutions. At PF tonight, he had to play against Miles quite a bit. We didn’t do a great job of getting him some good looks in the paint where he could overpower him. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-11 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He was fouled on the drive and dish from Clarkson, he made both FTs. He missed a turnaround in the post, settling against the smaller man. He swatted Miles out of bounds when he tried to drive on him. He attacked in transition and was stripped. He missed a quick-fire 16-footer. Not close on a 19-footer from the wing. He stripped a ball off a man. He missed a reverse he should have had on a drive. Second Half: No anticipation to put a body on the man rolling to the hoop and we gave up an easy score. He lost the handle in the lane, fought for it and threw it up and in. He posted up and hit the fade in the middle of the lane. He battled to maintain possession, then attacked the paint and was fouled on the layup, he made one FT. He tried to take Miles off the dribble and charged (post him up, please). Bad pass in the backcourt and it led to a Pacer three. He missed a short turnaround in the paint while working out of the post. He pushed a rebound up court, froze the D on the hesitation dribble and slammed to force a timeout. He attacked and was blocked not trying to finish with his off hand. He was stripped in the paint. He traveled on a drive. He battled for an offensive board, pivoted around defenders and scored the layup. He kicked out to an open Metta for three.

Russell -- -- He couldn’t connect from three in this game, missing all four he attempted, but he was able to scratch out a few points, including hitting another pretty floater in the lane. With Young hot, Clarkson playing well, Scott went with the hot hands and rightly so in this one. They nearly pulled off the comeback. Scott needs to go with those hot hands a little more than he usually does. Plus, you also had to go with Kobe tonight with the announcement despite his poor shooting. He nearly came up big, as well. Good job by Russell on the boards. Offensively, I’d like to see more of that two-man game with Nance when they are out there together. I’d love to see some chemistry develop there, plus we need more guys rolling to the hoop with some speed. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-11 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a long three when the first play busted. He forced a pass instead of taking the baseline jumper and threw it away. He fired a bad pass to Clarkson next time down in transition and it went right out of bounds. He missed a wing three. He missed the 19-footer off the two-man game. He probed, faked behind his back then whipped it to Nance for the layup. He pushed out the break with speed, pulled up and hit the elbow jumper. He attacked baseline, took contact and missed the layup, but follow tipped it in. He spotted Clarkson in the far corner for a three. He missed a wing three out of a timeout. He had an 8-second violation, not aware of the clock, crowd didn’t like that one with 20 seconds left. He had 4 points on 2-7 shooting, 5 boards and 3 assists. Second Half: He swished a wing jumper off the Hibbert screen. He missed a 17-footer off the two-man game in early offense. He attacked off the screen by Nance, faked the pass and swished the floater (more please, nice to see him with a mobile big rolling to the hoop). He missed a pull-up three in early offense.

Hibbert -- -- Facing his old team tonight, we couldn’t pull off the win and we also went with Randle at C to close the game. Ouch. Decent game from Roy. He had a couple of blocks and was a little more active on the boards. His hands sometimes are a little frustrating, offensively. It seemed like he and Randle were bobbling the ball quite a bit tonight. Nearly a double-double, he probably would have had it if he closed. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-3 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a wing jumper. He drew FTs on Kobe’s drive and dish, he made both. He rejected George’s drive. He drew FTs battling on the glass, he made one. He blocked a jumper. Great job calling timeout as he hit the floor for a loose ball. He slammed down the Kobe turnaround before it came down to possibly hit rim. He had 5 points and 7 boards (3 offensive) in the first half. Second Half: He dunked when Kobe whipped a bullet feed to him under the hoop for the dunk. He fumbled a dribble away in the paint. He drew FTs on the screen-roll with Kobe.

Young -- -- Nick caught fire in the second half, sinking three after three. That helped spark the Lakers back to life in the game once they started getting stops. His first stint on the floor was a little bit of a chuck session, where he’s taking more of those forced, off-balance shots. In the second half, Clarkson found him for a catch-and-shoot corner three, a good look, well balanced on the shot. He sank that and got rolling. He’s very tough to defend when he’s on and the Pacers got lit up for 22 points in the second half. “We just dug deep inside and started playing. It was emotional hearing that,” he said of Kobe’s retirement announcement. “It’s like it’s really happening.” He said they went back to Kobe with confidence for that final three. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-17 shooting (6-14 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a wing three out of a timeout. He missed a chuck from three in early offense. He missed another chuck from three, horrible. Second Half: He swished the corner three on the drive and kick from Clarkson. He tracked down an offensive board, dribbled it to the sideline and rattled in the three. He swished the wing three, a heatcheck on his next touch. Four in a row? Nope, he missed. He sank a quick-fire corner three on his next one, though. He missed a long one next time down. He missed an off-balance 18-footer. He sank a 17-footer to start the fourth. He knocked down a wing bank shot. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs, he missed both, ouch (could have cut it to 11). He sank a step-back three to cut it to 9. Nice challenge on rotation at the rim to get a missed layup. He missed a three. He missed an open corner three on a kickout. He swished a three off a handoff from Clarkson to cut it to 5. He missed a three at the buzzer.

Nance -- -- When the Lakers were struggling to score early, Nance got in on that inaction, stealing a pass, taking it the distance, then fumbling away the finish. That should have been a soaring dunk, but the inability to score was contagious apparently. Some good moments anticipating passes again on the defensive end, but I really liked that he was active with the shotblocking. That’s been missing from his game so far this season. Don’t stop doing that. He tracks guys really well and is fast in transition D. He just needs to impose that athleticism on the game and the minutes will follow. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a wing jumper up against the shotclock. He missed an open jumper from the top of the key. He rejected a drive on help D in transition. He traveled on a baseline drive on the other end. Great anticipation to jump a passing lane, then he choked the finish, just lost the ball at the rim, unbelievable. He scored a layup off the Russell drive and dish. He missed a tip in. Second Half: Two tips and he got the Clarkson missed layup to go down. He rejected a shot badly off glass in transition, nice hustle back. He fouled on a loose ball with 0.6 left in the quarter on the other end of the court.

World Peace -- -- We ran him at some PF with the Pacers placing small there. Some good defensive moments by Metta, using his hands to disrupt the Pacers on multiple occasions. Offensively, again an adventure. You just don’t really know what’s going to happen. He and Kobe combined for just 6-30 shooting, but both came up huge in that final minute. Metta cut the lead to 2 points when Randle kicked out to him for the clutch three. The old guys nearly recovered this game and stole a W. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-10 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals and 6 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: Brilliant D on the perimeter to strip his man after a couple pesky reaches from behind. He missed an 18-footer. He missed an open three. He probed and missed the flip in attempt at the rim. More good D to help force a shotclock violation. He missed a three. He attacked an airballed the drive. He missed a tip in attempt. Second Half: He rumbled down court on the break and missed badly. Way off on an open three. He probed, fell and drew a foul, he made both FTs. He forced an over-and-back turnover on a reach around midcourt. He attacked off the three line and flipped in a layup with his left at the last second. Huge three by Metta to cut it to 2 when Kobe hit Randle and he kicked out to a wide open Metta.

Bass -- -- The Lakers played a lot of both Bass and Randle at center with some success today. Good job hitting his jumper in this one. He also finished strong with a couple of dunks. He was able to hold on to a pass from Clarkson on the screen-roll on one play for a dunk in crunch time. I’d love to see more of that screen-roll action from our bigs and guards. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-5 shooting to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He slammed down an offensive board. He sank a pull-up baseline jumper on iso. Second Half: Nice job stepping out and challenging Ellis to force a turnover on a drive. He sank the wing jumper on the Clarkson kickout. He rolled to the hoop, gathered the Clarkson pass and dunked.

Scott -- -- The Lakers trailed 13-6 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. Lakers were 0-10 shooting, only points were off FTs… He sat Randle for Metta and Russell for Young out of that timeout… Bass and Nance in for Hibbert and Kobe… The Lakers shot 2-20 in the first quarter… They trailed 28-12 after the first quarter… He started a Bass, Nance, Metta, Young, Russell unit… He brought in Kobe for Young, Lakers down 16 after 3 minutes… Hibbert and Randle in for Bass and Nance, Lakers down 14… He sat Metta for Clarkson… They cut the lead down 7 with scores by Russell, Clarkson and Kobe… Metta in for Randle out of a timeout when we were on a run, weird to mess with the lineup that is finally showing some life… The lead went back up after that… The Lakers trailed 48-35 at the half. The Lakers shot 22% with just 4 assists. They were 2-15 from three… Down 18, he sat Russell for Young… They trailed 67-46 when the timeout came midway through the third quarter… He sat Kobe for Metta, Lakers down 18… Nance in for Randle… Nick Young catching fire and sinking three after three to trim the lead a little… Bass in for Hibbert… The Lakers trailed 80-65 heading into the fourth quarter… He started the Bass, Nance, Kobe, Young, Russell lineup… Randle in for Nance, Lakers down 13… Russell out for Clarkson., Lakers down 13… Metta in for Kobe, Lakers down 12… They cut it to 9 on a Young three (had he made two FTs and Kobe one of his, it would have been 6)… They cut it to 6 on a Randle dunk in transition to force a timeout… They went to the hack-a-Mahinmi down 6 and got two misses (then trimmed it to 4), did it again and he made both easily, did it again and he made both easily again… Kobe in for Bass… Timeout down by 8 with 2:46 left… They cut it to 5 with 47 seconds left and the ball. They couldn’t get a two-for-one shot off, but did hit the three with under 24 seconds left to cut it to 2. They had to foul now… Metta fouled out having to take an intentional foul on George… Down 4 with 22 second left, he called a timeout… Scott went with Bass for Metta… After an amazing turnaround three by Kobe to cut it to 1, they fouled, trailed by 3 after the FTs and called their last timeout with 10 seconds left… Kobe airballed the three straight away on the inbounds… The Lakers made 9-18 from three in the second half…

[Tony Almeida]

First.

Thanks for all that you do, DB. The world class writeups during even the dumpster fire of a season...you the real MVP.

[DancingBarry]

TA, so glad you dropped by tonight, my friend. Epic "first"

[SweetP]

Thanks DB.
It was expected yet still so bittersweet. It was great to see some vintage Kobe shots, hope we get to see many more this season.
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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

[Arbitrary]

Thanks, DB.

[fiendishoc]

I saw some good and bad things from the offense tonight.

The bad

After a couple games of running mostly triangle with the starters in the 1st quarter and a horns heavy offense last game, the Princeton made its ugly return. The Princeton based sets predictably achieved little other than running time off the clock until the inevitable post iso. Other times they went directly into the post iso, trying to take advantage of the Pacers' small lineup, but couldn't get anything there either. The Lakers missed their first 10 or so shots.

The good

I saw a concerted effort to roll to the basket by the bigs tonight, especially from Randle, who rarely does it. This improves the spacing of the offense, sucking in the help defenders from the weak side, and also creating more room for the ball handler to drive. Clarkson had it going in the fourth out of the PnR partially because of this.



You can see here that with Randle rolling to the basket, Clarkson's man is forced to go tag him in the lane, freeing Clarkson for the skip pass from Russell and the open three. Many of us have been calling for this since the offseason. FINALLY!

Favorite moment

I wasn't on board with the 20 shots, but I was thrilled for Kobe when he hit that three to bring them within two. His daughters were courtside and you could see the joy on their faces. Just a thrilling moment, for old times sake.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Omar Little]

Fwiw, that's why you want Russell running the initial pick and roll. That skip pass is not something clarkson would see. Russell has an extra zone of vision.

[KeepItRealOrElse]

Laker coaching staff was shouting out "ROLL" to Randle when he was the screener, a few times tonight (I truly think he needs that reminder)
First game he's done it more than once. Kudos to the staff, 10 games late but, eh..

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[DShotMaker1824]

Thanks DB.
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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..."

[ChefLinda]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

[DancingBarry]

[Cutheon]

Great job DB, per usual. Just one thing to add

Pacer Jerseys --

[A Mad Chinaman]