SIXERS -at- LAKERS – 1-1-16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Win Streak!… With a victory, one of the two teams tonight would get its first back-to-back win of the season.

The NBA’s two poorest shooting teams sputtered out of the gates with a sleepy 41-40 first half. With Kobe out, Jordan Clarkson stepped up his aggressiveness and led the Lakers with 14 first-half points.

It was the Lakers second unit, however, pushing their speed advantage in the fourth quarter that blew the game open.

The Laker bigs got down court with speed, Lou and Nick were hitting threes and Russell came up with the highlight play of the night with a two-handed, over-his-head, no-looker off a long outlet pass right to Randle for the slam.

With the Randle/Bass unit, the team really needs to press their speed advantage. They did that tonight to take the 93-84 win, their second in a row.

“Give us a parade,” Scott joked. Good job by the team turning steals into their best fastbreak game of the season.


Clarkson -- -- With Kobe out, Clarkson had an aggressive first quarter with 10 points. Some nice off-the-ball moments again in this one. That’s key for both him and Russell as one of them will usually be handling the ball. The two teamed up again as Russell found Clarkson cutting weakside for a score. Hopefully, this is something they show with purpose and frequency. I want to see it every game, then multiple times a game. “That’s just me and D’Angelo talking,” Clarkson said. “Before the game, we watched the film on stuff and that’s just one of the things he kind of told me. It’s crazy, he’s a rookie.” Nice to see the two of them finding their own way. Good job by Scott on getting the team to pick up the pace after the half. They were awfully slow into their sets and needed to push tempo more. “During halftime coach put an emphasis on playing faster and getting up and down,” Clarkson said. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-17 shooting (0-1 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper on our first possession. He was swatted attacking late in an awful offensive set. He picked up his dribble but found Nance cutting backdoor for the dunk. He attacked and was stripped out of bounds. He took the inbounds and missed the jumper. He put the brakes on while driving from the weakside and hit the 10-footer. He attacked left, switched hands and drew FTs at the rim, he made one. He took a pass under the hoop, wheeled around and missed the short floater. He attacked from the corner, elevated, took contact and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He scored a layup cutting weakside while Russell attacked off a screen strongside. He cut weakside, grabbed an interior pass from Bass and quickly threw it in. He missed a pull-up wing jumper. He attacked the paint and finessed in a lefty layup in a crowd. He ran clock, iso’d and drew FTs on the drive, he made both. He had 14 points on 5-11 shooting and 1 assist. Second Half: He missed a pull-up three against the shotclock. He picked up his dribble at the FT line with the shotclock winding down, somehow stepped around his man and threw it in (Kobe-esque escape on that play). He attacked in transition and missed, but Nance was able to throw down the miss because of the dribble penetration. He was blocked on a drive off a jumpball. He got a man to climb up his back when he stepped on the brakes, he made both FTs. He pounded the dribble and missed the pull-up. He was fouled intentionally, he made one FT.

Williams -- -- Great game by Lou. He helped bust the game open in the fourth. But I really liked his work on the fastbreak. Some nice moments in transition, either scoring And-1s himself or setting up Randle with some passes or hitting threes in the second half. The Lakers won the break in the first half 13-4 off a lot of that by Lou. In the second half, he hit Bass beating Okafor down court for a dunk and finished some threes. I swear he has his own ref whistle. He led the team again with 12 attempts from the FT line. He said he thinks the team is doing better playing off each other instead of trying to do it themselves. He led the team in scoring. “Sometimes you can make a lot of shots, you can miss a lot of shots. That’s the life of a shooter,” Lou said. He highlighted Randle’s play in the last few games as a key. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 6-15 shooting (2-7 from three, 10-12 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 37 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He attacked in transition and scored an And-1 layup, he missed the FT, got it back and fed Nance for a foul. Not close on a turnaround fade trying to post up. He attacked, drew contact and a whistle and threw the ball up for FTs, he made both. He missed a wing three, then showed some nice matador defense to let a man blow by him for the layup. He was called for a travel on the probe. Nice touch to Randle streaking down court for the dunk. He threaded a bounce pass to Randle on the break for FTs. He missed a wing three. He missed a baseline fade. He iso’d and drew FTs on the pull-up jumper, he made both. He missed a fading three. He lost a man in transition with a behind-the-back dribble, then scored an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He had 8 points and 2 assists. Second Half: He missed a sideline pull-up jumper. He probed and drew FTs, he made both. He swatted a man from behind. He sank a baseline pull-up jumper. He lost the dribble, turnover. He missed a three. Way short on a pull-up jumper (a fan yelled “Use the glass!” Yep.). He found Bass beating Okafor down court for a dunk. He drew a whistle on Okafor on the perimeter for FTs, he made both. He hit Randle rolling to the hoop for a layup. He sank a sideline three in transition. He drained another wing three in transition to force a timeout. He sank a corner jumper on an inbounds up against the shotclock. He threw a kickout away. He pounded the dribble and missed a long chuck from three, not a great possession. Intentionally fouled, he made both FTs.

Hibbert -- -- I think if you look at the speed by our youth and bigs, that’s the future. Roy doesn’t quite fit with that. He’d be a good role or bench player when you need length to shut down halfcourt guys like Okafor or when the game slows down, but not at his current salary. He made a jumphook for his only FG. He had a couple of blocks using his length without really leaving the floor. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks and 4 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He missed a jumphook off good position out of a triangle post up. He swished a jumphook a little farther out on his next attempt. He smothered Okafor’s post up attempt. He swatted a man without leaving his feet. He missed a 20-footer on a busted offensive sequence. He was blocked a couple of times trying to work the post out of the triangle. He missed a bad elbow fade out of a timeout. Second Half: He lost his man on a spin move (rare we see that) and he was hacked on the dunk attempt, he made one FT.

Nance -- -- A new career high in rebounds with 14 in just 24 minutes. He should have had the double-double (but didn’t get an obvious foul call on a slam attempt). Let’s look at the Laker PF rookie combo numbers: 23 points and 23 boards. Good energy by that duo. We don’t design consistent plays for those two, so they’ve got to impose their energy on the game to make things happen. “He’s been playing really, really well for the past 10 days or two weeks,” Scott said. Happy birthday to Nance. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-7 shooting to go with 14 boards (6 offensive) and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He airballed trying to pick up a loose ball and beat the shotclock in one motion. He backdoored his man, took the bounce pass and dunked. His offensive board led to FTs for Lou. He took a pass on the screen roll, couldn’t quite gather it cleanly and was blocked on the throwdown attempt. Second Half: Nice D on Smith on a switch to force a brick on a drive. He slammed down a missed Clarkson drive in transition. He hit the floor for a loose ball, never really tied up for a jumpball and was ticked the Sixers got the whistle. A missed shot bounced around and landed in Larry’s hands for a dunk on the other end. He couldn’t finish a massive throwdown getting fouled with no call, sheesh. He had a mismatch in early offense and Russell found him for the layup.

Brown -- -- With Kobe resting the sore shoulder (I think we’ll see a lot of rest from him at home games), Brown got the start. Quiet game from him in the first half, but he sank a couple jumpers in the second half, including a three up against the shotclock. “The Boston win also showed us that when we play like we can we’re capable of getting some quality wins,” Brown said. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: Nice reach to poke a ball free and it led to a Laker breakaway. He tried to post up Smith and was way short. Nice challenge on a corner three to force an airball. Second Half: He pushed it up, called his own number and swished the wing jumper off the screen. He sank a wing three on a kickout just before the shotclock expired.

Russell -- -- Not a great game overall from Russell with a slow start in the first half, his jumper off quite a bit throughout the game. That slowed him down. “It was a scrappy game and we kind of got trapped into it,” Russell said of the first half. A couple of things I really liked in this one. First, the highlight pass of the night to Randle for the dunk that had Staples buzzing. That was a pretty, over-the-head, no-looker perfectly timed. “It’s just an instinctive play that I made,” Russell said, joking that he could see the future. The team needed to pick up the pace in the second half and the bench was able to do that and bust it open. Secondly, I love hearing that he and Clarkson were reviewing video on their own before the game and Russell was showing Clarkson where he could cut from the weakside. Not only is he creating his own scores off ball, he’s directing Clarkson for some outside of our set plays. They’re figuring things out and creating chemistry. Just wait until they have several more months under their belts. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-14 shooting to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He put the brakes on to lose his man but was way short on the jumper. He worked the high screen and no-looked to Clarkson cutting weakside for the layup. He attacked and was blocked. He missed a 20-footer up against the shotclock. He stripped his man. He stepped on the sideline off a handoff. He stepped on the sideline again, kind of a bad kickout to him that caused some issues. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. He missed another one next time down from the same spot. He airballed a wing jumper after losing his man. He spun on his man and scored the layup in early offense. He missed a pull-up wing jumper, but regained the possession with a backcourt reach that caused a turnover. Second Half: He hit Bass for the short jumper. He might have blocked Smith’s drive, great challenge anyway. He didn’t hit rim on a pull-up bank, I think. He posted up a smaller man, took the post entry and reversed around the help D. He missed a layup on a drive down the middle. Sweet read on D to step right where the pass was coming, he took it and ignited a break. He threw a pass away on a poorly designed offensive set (just saw where the pass was designed to go a mile away). Not close on a turnaround in the post. He let a man go right around him for a score. Wow, amazing play on the break taking the long outlet from Young to the left of the lane and immediately throwing it over his without looking to Randle trailing the break for the slam. Crowd went insane. He got past his man, sized up Oakfor and blew past him for the layup. He missed the open pull-up from the wing working the high screen against Okafor again. Nice use of the length and he snagged a cross-court pass.

Randle -- -- He and Lou teamed up a couple of times to get Randle some scores in transition. Love seeing him use that speed. That should be how our second unit plays, with speed, pushing tempo at every opportunity. You have no Hibbert or Kobe out there. You’re typically playing Bass at the C spot. Randle changes ends with the best of them and Bass should beat his man down court (he did for a dunk against Okafor on one change of ends). Of course, a lot of the key to transition is getting stops, steals and boards. Randle had a couple steals tonight. “The biggest thing is, we’re playing with a lot of confidence,” Randle said. He said gaining experience is key for them. He had several dunks tonight, just so fast out there. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-10 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He attacked across the lane and somehow didn’t hit rim. He sank a top-of-the-key jumper. He attacked down the middle of the lane and missed the easy one, but drew FTs on the putback attempt, he made one. He missed a 16-footer. He beat everyone down court and dunked off the feed from Lou. He drew FTs on a bounce pass from Lou in transition, he made both. He had 7 points, 5 boards and 2 steals. Second Half: They tried to shade him to his right hand, he attacked with speed that direction and threw down with both hands. He pushed out the break but couldn’t finish under the hoop. He scooped up a loose ball on the perimeter (the Sixer D was now in trouble), he pushed it up court with speed, stepped around a defender and slammed. He let a man go right around him for a score. He powered in a layup on the screen-roll with Lou. He ran the floor, Russell grabbed a long outlet and immediately no-looked over his head right to Randle for the slam, wow.

Young -- -- One of the better defensive players on the floor tonight. He led both teams with 4 steals (tying a career high). He sank a couple of threes, but some of those breakaways began with Nick getting it done on the defensive end. Can’t say enough about that. The Lakers had a season high 29 fastbreak points. The second unit had 10 of the Lakers 11 steals. It’s hard to establish an identity when you’re losing a ton, but it would be nice if Nick and the bench could try to hang their hats on that. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting (2-7 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 turnover and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: Looked like his three was blocked. He picked off a kickout pass. He missed a wide step-back wing jumper (just go straight up when no one is on you). He drained a sideline step-back three. Short on a wing pull-up jumper, but he stole the ball back in the backcourt and was fouled. Second Half: He missed a three. He swished an elbow pull-up jumper. He missed a baseline fade. He sank an open three out of a timeout. Great D on his man, he knocked the ball loose, eventually recovered it and outlet to Russell for the highlight play of the night (the over-the-head, no-looker to Randle for the dunk). He missed a long three. He heaved up a three trying to beat the shotclock, didn’t hit rim. He missed a wide open three. He was picked from behind.

Bass -- -- With Okafor coming off the bench recently, that meant that Bass matched up with him. That’s where you really want length defensively. Okafor was able to take advantage of that for a few scores in the first half, then Hibbert came back in and quickly shut that down. The key with Okafor, however, is that it’s a two-way street. He has to defend, as well. So the Lakers pressed their speed advantage in the second half, Bass and Randle getting down court for dunks helped blow this open. Bass was a little scrappier in the second half on D, but it was never an issue in the half. The Lakers imposed their will on the game and that was that. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He posted up and hit Clarkson cutting weakside for a score. He swatted a drive. He gave up an offensive board on a missed FT. Second Half: He sank the short jumper off the two-man game with Russell. Okafor fell asleep jogging in transition and Bass ran under the hoop for a dunk. He drew FTs when Okafor tried to go for a steal on the perimeter and Bass attacked the rim with speed, he made one FT. He missed a baseline jumper on iso. He swiped a ball blindsiding a guard a few seconds later and it led to a Williams three. He smothered a guard and forced the turnover.

Scott -- -- The Lakers led 11-10 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. He brought in Russell and Randle for Nance and Williams… Offense looking very clunky… Bass in for Hibbert to go against Okafor… Nick in for Brown, Lakers down 1… Both teams shot 33% and were tied 21-21 after the first quarter… Timeout down 5, Hibbert in for Bass… Nance in for Randle, Lakers down 2… Clarkson in for Russell with 4 minutes left, Lakers down 3… Low scoring by both teams. Ish Smith out for the Sixers with foul trouble… Brown in for Young… He brought in Young for Hibbert with 13 seconds left for D, Nance as the mobile C. The Lakers got the stop… The Lakers trailed 41-40. The Lakers shot 31% and only scored 4 points off 10 Sixer turnovers…He brought in Russell for Lou, Lakers up 1… He sat Hibbert for Bass, Lakers down 1… A 7-0 run by the Lakers as Russell was dictating the offense well for a brief stretch and they forced a timeout… Scott sat Nance for Randle out of that (2:49 left in the third)… Some turnovers to close the quarter… The Lakers led 62-60 heading into the fourth… He started the Bass, Randle, Young, Williams, Russell lineup… The Lakers got out in transition early in the fourth for dunks from Randle and Bass and that forced timeouts from the Sixers… Randle and Russell looking poor on D at times. Okafor, too. Rookies… They extended to an 11-point lead on the break… A couple of threes by Williams and the Lakers forced a timeout up by 14… He brought back in Clarkson for Russell out of that… Up 16, he brought in Nance with 3 minutes left for Randle… Ugly game, but nice to see the team playing to some of its strengths to take it... Ish Smith and Isaiah Cannon combined for a poor 5-30 shooting as the starting Sixer guards…

[JerryMagicKobe]

First

[Dr. Laker]

[Goldenwest]

3rd on the 1st

they look like a different team, more hustle with a purpose. Maybe a light has come on

A young Gasol would do wonders for this team, that's what there missing, a serious post up big

[GoldenThroat]

29 fast break points tonight, which I believe is a season high.

That was one of the worst NBA games I've ever seen. It was the two worst teams in the NBA both playing their worst basketball for 3 quarters, then the one that decided to play halfway passable ball ended up with the blowout. If either team plays almost anyone else on an average night it'd be a 30+ point loss.

[GoldenThroat]

[yinoma2001]

Well he's only a teenager for another month or so now.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[Arbitrary]

Awesome. Fun night.

Thanks, DB.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[Baron Von Humongous]

[Shaber]

Two in a row, yayyy!

[pjiddy]

How the hell did he see Randle??

[SweetP]

Two game win streak!
Thanks DB.
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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

[tox]

I actually fell asleep some time at the start of the 3rd tonight. Was just a terrible, terrible game in the first half and the 3rd didn't start off much more interesting either.

It looked basically like D-League ball, the only thing that looked nice to me at all in the first half was Okafor's post game.

That pass from Russell was nice, I wish we had an offense that would let him showcase his creative passing. Seems like we only see it on the break

[All_Star_Laker]

_________________

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Vin]

We won but our half court offense was really awful. Good game by the young guys though.

[ChefLinda]

Back-to-back wins! Thanks, DB.

[Chronicle]

Undefeated this year!
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Kobe

[A Mad Chinaman]

That was a great game between two talented teams in the D League (wondering why people were not asking for Upshaw)!!

Oh, it was a NBA game - lmao

Good scrimmage to give the young players PT to get some experience and work on their timing to execute plays against defenders that are allowing them to utilize their strengths. Hope that the young players will utilize times like this to develop their respective talents

The game displayed that they are better than the 76ers at this time and confirmed that stockpiling lottery draft choices along with just letting them play (ala Clippers) is not the road to building a legitimate title-contending team

[RG73]

[70sdude]

Thanks DB. OK, the guys are inching towards a .225 record. Wheeee !

[Vin]

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[Lakers#1Team]