HAWKS -at- LAKERS - 12-4-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Winning Streak Over… “It looked like we just ran out of gas,” Scott said.

The Lakers were trailing by 4 points late in the game, then things went south fast. Multiple turnovers, points the other way and they were buried, losing to the Hawks 100-87.

The theme of too old, too young and too poorly coached all came to play with a turnover-prone, tired looking close to the game (all while Jordan Clarkson watched from the bench).

The Lakers struggled to get points early in this game. In the second half, they came out with better activity defensively in the third quarter, forcing 10 Hawks turnovers and getting some easy buckets. When they don’t get bogged down in their halfcourt sets, they play much better.

The win streak ends at one game.

We will miss you, win streak.


Kobe -- -- He put the guns in the holsters after draining back-to-back threes in the third quarter to cut the lead to 7. “We had to muster up a lot of energy to get back in the game,” Kobe said. They flatlined late in the game after cutting it to 4 at one point. He had the 20% three shooting, going again. Just not an efficient game with the poor 4-19 and a very poor finish. He did have some nice moments making the extra pass. Clarkson, meanwhile, was 5-8 in this one with 6 fewer minutes. Kobe had pretty good energy out there, some nice rotations that for steals and blocks. Still, a few less minutes, please. It will preserve him better for a full season and give our youth a little more opportunity. Asked if he wanted to coach, he shook his head, “Nope…nope…” Pretty adamant about not going that route. He did mention if he was involved with the NBA it would maybe be in ownership. As part of the Kobe tribute in the ATL, the Atlanta Zoo named their Black Mamba snake, Kobe, this week. “That stuff is pretty darn cool,” he said. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-19 shooting (2-10 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 foul sin 35 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He blocked a ball off Thabo for a stop. He missed an iso wing jumper on the first possession. He missed a wing three on a skip pass. He missed a runner. Nice extra pass to Russell who swished the three. Nice rotation under the hoop to block another shot and help Roy out. He missed a flat turnaround jumper on the baseline. He iso’d and whipped a pass to Nance under the hoop for the reverse. He was fouled on a wing three, he made two FTs for his first scores. He missed a wing three. He posted up, took a pass over a fronting defender and scored the layup. He missed a super long three. He had 4 points on 1-7 shooting. Second Half: Nice read on the high-low feed to Russell out of the triangle. He missed a pull up at the top of the key. Way short on a turnaround. He buried a three a few seconds later in early offense. He swiped a ball on the weakside and then drained a three over defenders on the next possession, forcing a Hawks timeout. He missed a long three next time down out of the timeout. He missed a forced wing three on iso. Great read on a rotation to pick off a pass. He slithered his way through a couple defenders and drew FTs, he made both. He missed an open wing three a step behind the line. Extra pass to Lou in the corner in transition for a three. He worked his way to the left elbow, pulled up and sank the jumper. He was blocked out of bounds. He aiballed on an inbounds play. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He missed a wing three. He threw a pass right to the Hawks.

Clarkson -- -- “I thought Clarkson should have been in the game,” Worthy said afterward, some rare open disagreement with his Showtime counterpart. Yeah, Scott played Kobe too much, Clarkson too little. Despite his 3-3 shooting from three, he wasn’t in there to close. I loved seeing Russell kickout to him for good looks. Clarkson’s spot up three shooting is essential to having these two develop chemistry. He’s really elevated that part of his game this season. Right now, I’m surprised when Kobe makes a three and surprised when Clarkson doesn’t. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting (3-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He missed a floater on iso. He sank a sideline jumper off the inbounds pass. Back in after a long break and he quickly missed a jumper. He was stripped in the paint. Second Half: He buried the wing three on the kickout from Russell. He missed a wing pull-up next time down. He got picked pushing the ball up court in transition, dunk the other way. He swished a sideline three on the catch and shoot. He sank another sideline three. He attacked to his right, put the brakes on and hit the pull-up. Looked like he blocked a shot from behind.

Randle -- -- “The whole energy was better in the second half, we just didn’t close it out,” Randle said, summarizing the game pretty well. He said he’s trying to figure out what part of his game works best for the team. He needed the jumper tonight to really open things up for him. Defenders were sagging off and there was plenty of size in the paint. I didn’t think he got a lot of love from the refs tonight. He’s big and fast and they are certainly giving him the rookie treatment at times. That -27 in 28 minutes? Ouch. Scott played with the rotations and Randle was in and out quite a bit. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-12 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -27. The Action: He missed a drive and a follow tip. He missed an open wing jumper. He wanted a foul on a turnaround that he airballed. He battled for an offensive board and powered in a layup around defenders. He missed a drive across the lane. He skied for a defensive board and went down hard, but tapped it away from a Hawk. Second Half: He drew a clear-out foul on his man on D. He was blocked in the paint, the ball got back to Russell, who hit Randle with about 1.5 on the clock and he scored the windmill layup through traffic to beat the shotclock buzzer. He missed a drive and a follow tip. Smothering D on Millsap’s iso post attempt to force a brick out of a timeout. He pushed the ball up court, slowed down, crossed over to lose the defender and scored the layup. He was stripped trying to elevate. Bad angle on D and he gave up a lane and foul. He threw a pass away. He was hacked with a few seconds left for FTs, he made both.

Russell -- -- His first career double-double. He was aggressive offensively, hitting four threes, getting into the paint, even backing down a man in the post. A nice range of skills. He had the Mudiay-like turnover numbers, however, with 7. “One of those games you don’t see too often from him,” Scott said of Russell’s turnovers. For some reason, he was firing passes over people’s heads quite a bit, almost unforced turnovers. “It’s the ball’s fault,” Russell joked afterward, shaking his head. Defensively, he needed to use his length a little better to compensate for speedy PGs, just take a half step back. All in all, this is the type of game you’d like to see regardless of stats. Let him make mistakes, but be aggressive. The thing about making mistakes is it’s easy to learn from them. Guys were in his ear a ton, Metta, Lou, Kobe. There was a play I wish he could have finished on. He froze the D with his behind the back fake but missed the layup. That was a highlight reel play waiting to happen, but was a letdown on the finish. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-16 shooting (4-7 from three) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal, 7 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -21. The Action: He missed a putback. He overthrew a pass to Kobe, turnover. He missed a wing jumper. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He swished a three on an extra pass from Kobe. He had the crowd buzzing when he fooled a defender with the behind-the-back fake, but he wasn’t close on the layup finish, unfortunately. He fired a bullet Nance wasn’t able to catch, turnover. He missed a long three up against the shotclock. He sank a sideline three on kickout. He whipped a pass off the dribble to Nance for a layup. He had 6 points, 4 boards and 2 assists at the half. Second Half: Nice find on a cross-court feed to Clarkson for the three (run this more, please). He swished a three coming off the pindown to take a pass. He set a screen for Kobe on the weakside of the triangle, cut down low and took the high-low feed from Kobe for the layup. He missed a three, we got it back to him in the paint, he missed, and missed the follow tip. He was stripped trying to create against the shotclock. He dribbled into the post, backed down the PG and swished the jumphook over him (that was impressive for a rook). He fired a pass too high over Kobe’s head. He sank a three on a kickout straight away. He backed Korver down and missed the fallaway (Nance cleaned it up). He swiped the ball, pushed it out and it led to a Williams three. He pass was picked off out of a timeout. He threw a pass out of bounds thinking Williams was rolling but it was the ref. He set up Randle for FTs.

Hibbert -- -- The team was looking sluggish tonight and I through Roy had some especially stuck-in-mud moments around the rim. In the second half, Scott went more with his smaller units. Offensively, he had the Lakers first points of the game on a slam. That was 4 and half minutes into the game, unfortunately. Just not a good start to the game. It was all iso or dump in the post. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: Not close on a post up. He overpassed instead of taking the easy one in the paint. He grabbed an offensive board and slammed it down for the Lakers first score after 4+ minutes. He had a ball poked free from him in the post. He missed an open 17-footer off the two-man game. He missed a hook short across the lane. He rejected a drive on help D. He threw an outlet away. Poor D not bodying up his man and he scored a layup. He grabbed an offensive board and was hacked, he made one FT. Weak interior feed for a turnover instead of trying to power it in over smaller defenders. Second Half: He roofed a man on help D and controlled it. He hit a sweeping lefty hook around a defender.

Williams -- -- He kept the Lakers close in the first quarter, scoring 10 points, when the team was going through the motions offensively. Williams, Clarkson and Russell were all sinking threes tonight. Take away Kobe’s three shooting and the Lakers were 11-17 from behind the arc. Lou has struggled a little this season from three, but next year I suspect this trio will have some pretty nice shooting nights. No minutes again for Nick in this game. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-13 shooting (3-6 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He measured and sank a deep wing three. He swished a wing three on a catch-and-shoot. He was stripped on a drive. He was stripped again. He drew a whistle in early offense on the wing pull-up, he made both FTs. He got past his man on a hesitation move and swished the short one. He missed a three to start the quarter. He fired a bullet to Bass for a dunk under the hoop. He missed a short one on a drive. He rejected a layup in transition. He missed an open three on a kickout. He had 10 points on 3-7 shooting at the half. Second Half: He swiped the ball in transition and it led to a Laker three. He got the defender on his back, sealed him and hit the short one in the paint. He missed a layup trying to get past a big on the high screen. He sank a baseline fade driving to his left, impossible to defend. He missed a three. He drew FTs on a long perimeter jumper, he made one. He sank a corner three on the extra pass from Kobe in transition.

Nance -- -- He was a +14 when in the game. We brought him in earlier in the rotations to run more with the starters. He did a good job getting to the boards and making himself available at times for scores. Not a lot else offensively, especially in our sets. Again, nothing run specifically for him. I’m not sure the purpose of the rotation change tonight. It might be to see how Nance looks with that starting unit or it could be to get Randle more time on the floor when Roy is off it. I didn’t pay close attention to the Hawks rotations. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 7 boards, 1 steal and no fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +14. The Action: Good hands on the bullet feed from Kobe in the paint for a reverse. He powered in layup off the bullet feed from Russell. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper. He was stripped on a clunky fastbreak sequence. He took an offensive board away from a man from behind and dunked.

World Peace -- -- Back down to where I think his minutes should be, around 12-13 a game. Just enough time to give the team some energy and spark. Metta is shooting a respectable .361 from three so far this year. That’s better than his career .341 mark. He sank one tonight for his only points. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 13 minutes. He was +2. The Action: He missed a corner jumper. He swished a two-for-one three from the sideline. He pushed up the break with speed and lost the handle out of bounds. Second Half: He didn’t hit anything on a turnaround.

Bass -- -- A little more time next to Randle in this game and more minutes than Hibbert had with 25 tonight, Brandon’s most in a game this season. In four of the past five years, he’s averaged double digits in scoring. This season, he’s scoring half his usual amount, only getting into double digits twice this season. That’s almost half of what he normally produces. The same tonight with just 4 points. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a short turnaround in the post. He dunked off the bullet feed from Williams (every Laker touched the ball on that passing sequence). Second Half: He missed a wide open wing jumper. He blocked a drive. He got tapped on an FT jumper off the two-man game. He skied for a putback dunk.

Scott -- -- The Lakers quickly fell back 7-0 on some poorly designed offensive sets to start. Very iso oriented… The Lakers trailed 10-5 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… He sat Russell and Randle for Nance and Lou. This probably means Randle comes back earlier with the second unit… The Lakers were down 5 when Metta came in for Kobe with 3:44, Bass in for Hibbert… Williams bringing the Lakers back with 10 points in the quarter… The Lakers trailed 23-19 after the first… He started the Bass, Nance, Kobe, Williams, Russell unit… Randle in for Nance after a couple of minutes… Hibbert for Bass a few seconds later, Lakers down 6… They trailed by 13 as the clunky offense went dry and Scott called a timeout… Another timeout trailing 44-28. Ugly to watch… He sat Williams for Clarkson… Metta in for Kobe with over 3 minutes left… He then sat Randle and Hibbert, weird rotations, bringing back Bass and Nance late… The Lakers trailed 52-36 at the half. No easy ones for the Lakers, just clunky halfcourt sets as we couldn’t force turnovers… Nance in for Randle early… Lou in for Russell, Lakers down 13… They cut it to 7 on a couple Kobe threes, forcing a timeout. He brought back in Randle to go with Bass… Metta in for Kobe, down 10… The Lakers forced 10 turnovers on the Hawks in the quarter to get some easier buckets… They trailed 72-66 heading into the fourth… He started a Randle, Bass, Metta, Lou, Russell lineup… Kobe back in for Metta with 10:31 left, Lakers down 9… He sat Randle shortly later for Nance… They cut the lead to 4 behind a three off a steal and forced a timeout. The Lakers are at their best when they can get out of their halfcourt sets… The lead went back up to 8 and Scott called a timeout… Several straight possession throwing the ball away down the stretch killed them…

[Yumyumcha]

First and thanks DB

[Megaton]

Thanks DB.
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Darvin Scam: https://media.tenor.com/images/3c15249955860a4b16b59e8ae035fb75/tenor.gif

[A Mad Chinaman]

DLO getting 30+ minutes
Swag getting 0 minutes
Kobe playing the most minutes
Clarkson played less than DLO
Bass playing more than Hibbert

Curious stats

[GoldenThroat]

[SweetP]

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

[Shaber]

They did not run out of gas. They run out of experience. The little they have.

Can't afford all these turnovers. And can't afford keeping most efficient player on the bench at crunch time.

Scott is coaching this team to lose.
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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

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[AllorNothing]

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS.

[Arbitrary]

[Vin]

[jab]

I know I keep harping on it! But OMG!! Point guard 10 rebs, starting center 5. Double the output. There's been a lot of criticism of Bass, Williams and Hibbert. But Hibbert's rebounding is beyond pathetic. He makes Shaq look like Bill Russell as a rebounder.

[A Mad Chinaman]

[Shaber]

[Lakers#1Team]

THANKS DB!