LAKERS -at- GRIZZLIES - 12-27-15 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Trashketball… The Lakers are playing like hot garbage, their record – an impressive 5-26.

The Grizzlies just about reached their season scoring average after only three quarters against the Lakers as the blowout was once again in full effect.

“Just too many mental mistakes,” Scott said, saying the effort was there but the team looked like they were “fried.”

Larry Nance brought some excellent energy to the floor as well as his jumpshot for a career night of 17 points and 11 boards. Excellent numbers, especially against the Grizzlies front court.


Kobe -- -- He scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting in the first quarter, his most points in a quarter this season. He sat all the second quarter, similar to how we played him a couple games back. He ran Kobe all third quarter as the lead ballooned. Then sat him for the rest of the night. So two long stints. He had some moments again Barnes and Allen. Defensively, he was nailed to the floor most of the night, which is probably what happens for anyone after 20 seasons in random road games. Kobe is dealing with a knee issue and Scott didn’t want it to stiffen up. “Honestly, I wasn’t going to play tonight,” Kobe said. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-15 shooting (2-8 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a long three at the end of a bad set. He reversed working off the split set with Hibbert finding him. He curled off the handoff from the right wing and scored the layup. He spun and missed the wing jumper. He drained a three off a swing pass. Off target on the behind the back pass to Clarkson under the hoop, turnover. He missed a quick-fire three in early offense. He sank a three in transition. He missed a sideline three and wanted the foul. He attacked from the wing and drew FTs, he made both. He lost his defender on a change of directions and scored the layup down the middle of the lane. Second Half: No D and he gave up a three. He drew FTs on a three over Barnes on the wing, he made two. He missed a deep three. He got Barnes to bite on the up fake on the baseline, leaned in and sank the And-1 jumper, he made the FT. He missed the baseline fade. He hit Nance from the corner with a bounce pass for a dunk. He missed a wing three. He missed a baseline turnaround on iso. He missed a three and again went the wrong direction as we gave up an uncontested dunk in transition while he was going toward the hoop. He kicked to Nance for the wing jumper.

Clarkson -- -- Some foul trouble in this one limited his time early on. Not a good defensive game again, some bad angles and generally unable to get through screens quick enough (no help from our bigs). He had the team-low -28. The Lou, Clarkson, Kobe combo defensively isn’t going to get your team off to a good start. If you are following the three-point shooting problems with JC, it’s now 6 straight games without a make, going 0-15 from beyond the arc. He’s shooting just .190 from three in December. He still seems automatic on those midrange pull-ups. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -28. The Action: He attacked the paint and threw up a wild shot, not close. Good hustle to tip in a Nance miss on the break. He crossed over his man on iso and drew FTs at the rim. He sank a pull-up jumper from the right wing. Quick attack off the high screen and he scored the layup with some nice touch off glass. Then, he got backdoored for a layup. Then he fouled and had to sit with a couple minutes left in the half. He had 8 points and 2 assists. Second Half: He missed an open wing three on a kickout. He sank a wing pull-up jumper working off the screen. He attacked across the lane and missed the runner. He missed a layup on a baseline drive. Bad angle on D and he gave up a layup. He swished a floater on a nice split sequence with Russell, Randle and Clarkson.

Williams -- -- He got rejected badly in this one (along with Nick) trying to throwdown. He was ineffective on both ends. When he’s scoring isn’t going, he’s not giving a lot else. Some more soft D from Lou. If this were Nick, he’d be in the dog house lately with as poorly as he’s defended. He is pretty good at putting in a quality challenge in transition. He got a block on one of those tonight. But in the half court, we’re getting toasted. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-10 shooting (1-6 from three) to go with 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He attacked from the wing and got tapped on a layup that rolled out. He sank a three off the chin series. He lost the ball taking contact on a hedging bigman with no call. He missed a wing three. He was rejected badly at the rim trying to throwdown. He was blocked in the corner on a double team. He missed a long jumper straight away. Second Half: He let his man get behind him to take a pass and score a layup. He airballed a three. He blocked a layup hustling back in transition. He scored a layup off the Nance steal and outlet. He missed a wing three at the end of the quarter.

Hibbert -- -- Meh. A whole lot of nothing from Hibbert in this one. He did get to the line and knock down some FTs, but his impact was minimal and Gasol was able to score on him pretty easily at times. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 0-3 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnove rand 4 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -20. The Action: He missed a wing jumper on the Lakers first possession. He drew FTs on the next possession, trying to hook over Gasol, he made one. He hit Kobe cutting off the split play for the reverse. He missed a layup off the drive and dish from Lou. A pass from Kobe went right through his hands. He had the ball poked loose in the post, turnover. Second Half: He was fouled on the offensive glass for FTs, he made both. He missed an open 16-footer. He drew FTs on a finish attempt and made both.

Nance -- -- “He’s really been working on his game quite a bit and his shot quite a bit,” Kobe said. Career night for Nance. He brought the energy early in this one and his perimeter jumper was splashing. Wish he could have had more time to see if he could get to 20 points. He was quietly the best player on the floor tonight. Love seeing the jumper look automatic. Also loved seeing him impose his energy and athleticism on the game. Those two things right there are key for him. “I loved the way he played tonight,” Scott said. The Stats: He had 17 points on 8-12 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 11 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: Nice looking jumphook from the post out of the triangle (show me that again). He hustled for a loose ball at midcourt, attacked in transition and was tapped on the layup, but Clarkson tipped it in. He slammed back in the Hibbert missed layup. He was short on the 18-footer. He looked fouled trying to finish at the rim and couldn’t get the follow tip. Second Half: He sank a couple of wing jumpers, getting the Lakers first two hoops of the half. He took the bounce pass from Kobe and dunked. Nice anticipation and reach to snag a post entry pass as the perimeter defender. He drained a 17-footer straight away. He drew FTs next time down and made one. He worked the two-man game with Russell from the wing, took the bounce pass, dribbled to the middle and scored. He swiped a pass in the zone and outlet for a score by Lou. He swished a wing jumper on the kickout from Kobe.

Randle -- -- Between Nance and Randle at the PF spot tonight, they combined for 26 points and 24 boards. Although, he sank a three tonight, he struggled a little with the shooting by going just 2-6 from the line. He’s getting by on just energy, instinct and muscle/athleticism on offense right now. It feels like he can get double-doubles without a ton of skill, just imposing all that on the game. His ability to get those types of numbers with relative ease as a “rookie” is a great sign. Curious to see where Randle will be with his development a year from now. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-6 from the line) to go with 13 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He knocked the ball loose from Randolph in the post. He dunked on the first play to start the second quarter, a drive to his right from the left side. He missed a tough jumphook on a poorly spaced play that didn’t allow him to attack across the middle like he wanted. He iso’d, drop-stepped and drew FTs, he made one. He missed a short one on a step-through. Second Half: He sank a wing three on the Huertas kickout. He drew FTs on a drive, he made one. He missed a wild shot on iso, muscled his way to the offensive board and had his shot goaltended. The D sagged and he kicked over to Kelly for the wing three. He drew more FTs and missed both.

Russell -- -- Quiet start, mostly settling for threes. He hasn’t shot as well from three since moving to the bench, his percentage slightly lower at .319, compared to .330 as a starter. His scoring has improved, however, from 13.1 per game on the bench vs. 11.6 as a starter, despite playing about 2 minutes less per game. Russell said they didn’t throw the first punch in either half tonight. Once again, the starters (despite the lineup shuffle) getting killed. Scott said he’s going to finish out the month with the same lineups then make changes. If I had to guess, I think Lou moves back to the bench and Russell starts again. Randle stays on the bench. But who knows? Some moments of chemistry with Nance tonight and that could be explored a little more with the starters. No rebounds from Russell in this one, and the energy seemed a little low. Three Lakers, including Russell, lead the team with 3 assists…the nature of this offense. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-6 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed an early offense three. Turnover trying to thread the needle. He sank a wing three trailing the break. His man sagged off so he drained the long three. He missed a wing three on iso. He worked the dribble on Green on iso, got a step and drew FTs on the drive, he made both. He had 8 points on 2-4 shooting and 1 steal. Second Half: He found Nance for the open jumper off a nice ball reversal sequence. Nice handles (between the legs and behind the back) on a two-man sequence with Nance and he bounced the pass to Nance for the layup. He pushed it out with speed and changed hands to finish with the offhand around the defender. Flat perimeter pass was picked off. His pass to Randle was picked off as the two tried to run a two-man game on the sideline. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He hit Clarkson cutting for the floater in the lane.

Young -- -- Not much from Nick. He sank a three off Lou getting rejected badly. He also hit a jumper at the FT line coming off a screen. Combine that with a few chucks and heaves from around the court and getting badly rejected on the breakaway after a nice defensive play. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-7 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a baseline fade in early offense. He missed a long heave up against the shotclock. He took a blocked shot and drained the three. He swiped a ball, but was blocked trying to stretch back and dunk on the break. Wide right on a pull-up three. He swished a FT jumper coming weak to strong off a screen. Second Half: He up-faked his man and drew FTs on a jumper, he made both. He missed a chuck from three in early offense.

Bass -- -- Not much from Bass in this one as Scott ran the Bass/Randle lineup again as his backups. This works better than the Bass/Nance combo. Plus, Bass seems like he’s doing a better job elevating to get shotblocks for whatever reason than with Nance. Randle is controlling the glass better. We don’t see as many of those consistent second chances that teams were getting with Bass/Nance. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks and no fouls in 15 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed the elbow jumper off the two-man game. He skied and rejected a drive. Second Half: He tipped in a missed Clarkson drive.

Sacre -- -- Scott played him his 10-game block in the rotation and then moved him out of the rotation. Just garbage time and not a lot that was noteworthy tonight. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-1 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards, 1 block and no fouls in 7 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He drew FTs on the offensive glass and made one, got it back and was stripped. He blocked a shot on the other end.

Huertas -- -- More time on the floor trailing big. He didn’t score and his only assist came from Randle’s three. Looked like he should have gotten a couple FTs on one drive. The Stats: HE didn’t score on 0-2 shooting, had 1 board, 1 assist and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He kicked out to Randle for the three. He missed a layup on and got squashed with no call. He missed an awkward looking one-foot jumper.

Kelly -- -- Aggressive garbage time minutes from Kelly again, taking three threes in just 7 minutes. He ran at the SF spot as Randle and a C were on the floor with him. He hit a couple jumpers and drew FTs for his points. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 offensive boards and 1 turnover in 7 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He attacked and missed. He missed a three on a kickout. He overpassed, forcing a shotclock violation. He sank a wing jumper. He was stripped on a drive. He sank a three as the D sagged toward Randle. He missed a corner three. He drew FTs and made both.

Brown -- -- He came in down 25 with 7 minutes left for the garbage time. He made a couple FTs on our final possession and missed everything else prior to that. Not good minutes. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 7 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a floater, got it back and missed a shorter one from the baseline, got it back again and give it to Kelly who hit the jumper. He missed a baseline jumper (could have scored a layup had he just stayed under the hoop). He missed a three on a kickout next time down. He attacked with 12 seconds left and drew FTs, he made both.

Scott -- -- Slow start to the game, but Nance picked up the energy and made things happen. The Lakers trailed 16-11 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Out of that, he brought in Russell for Lou… Bass and Randle in for Hibbert and Nance, Lakers down 6… Good scoring quarter from Kobe… The Lakers trailed 32-23 after the first, just no D… Bass, Randle, Young, Lou, Russell to start the quarter… They cut the lead to 3 to force a timeout… Lakers down 6 when Russell and Randle went to the bench for Hibbert and Clarkson… Randle out for Nance, Lakers down 8… Russell in for Clarkson with a couple minutes left after Clarkson fouled… The Lakers trailed 59-46 at the half. The Lakers shot 36%, the Grizzlies 56%. Just 5 turnovers for the Lakers and only 3 for the Grizzlies… Russell in for Clarkson, Lakers down 19… Transition D just awful all game… The Lakers trailed 92-74 heading into the fourth. How do we give up that many points to the Grizzlies in just three quarters?... He started the Bass, Randle, Young, Clarkson and Russell lineup… Down 25 with 7 minutes left, he brought in Huertas and Brown for Russell and Clarkson… Sacre and Kelly in a moment later… So a Sacre, Randle, Kelly, Brown, Huertas lineup to close... The Lakers shot 38%, the Grizzlies 56%...

[ChefLinda]

Thanks and first.

[22]

Dangit!! Wanted to be first lol

[pio2u]

Thanks DB!

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[deal]

[Lakers#1Team]

[cdg]

Thanks DB.

It's tough supporting this team.

[Omar Little]

[AY2043]

Some of these games make me feel really bad for you DB. Must be painful to actually have to watch and pay attention to the entire thing, let alone having to re-live it all over again by writing up Thoughts and Ratings...

But nevertheless, I think I speak for all of LG when I say thank you for manning up and going through it anyways. You're definitely the kind of person I'd want to be in a foxhole with.

[22]

[mhan00]

I'm at the point where I no longer get angry. I just laugh now. Our team is so bad its just funny.

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[A Mad Chinaman]

As shared previously. KUDOS to your consistent high effort to provide the excellent breakdowns - even if they are awful games

Questions to Ponder
If coaching is the main culprit, if somebody like Pop was coaching - how long would it take this team to execute the system and what would be the results

If the players' effort is the main culprit (as the TWC crew has mentioned regarding numerous games), why would fans still want them on the court to reinforce bad habits

If the system is bad, why are there spurts of excellence - albeit at times against questionable talent (Clippers' 2nd team)?

If DLO "doesn't know the system (Huertas seems to know the system), could he not direct players into P&R situations that is part of Basketball 101

With Lou Williams seemingly going back to the bench and returning to a role that he is more comfortable (being the 6th man), does a DLO/Huertas backcourt deserve a chance

No Answers, Just Questions

[70sdude]

Thanks DB. Whew. Ugly. All signs point increasingly to an intentional tank job. No coach and no pro team can be this bad without trying to be. Byron's mission seems clear: steer at the iceberg and sink the season's ship. Hello lottery !