LAKERS -at- BULLS – 2-21-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:30 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- BULLS – 2-21-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Bulled Over… The Lakers were down 19 with 12 minutes left, a familiar position this season. The game got away from them in the previous 5 minutes of play.

That didn’t deter them. The second unit with Clarkson running the show battled back to trim the lead to just 3 points. It was as close as they would get, however, as the Lakers fell in another high-scoring game, 126-115 to the Bulls.

“We just lost our composure,” Scott said of the last few minutes of the third.

Defensively, the Lakers struggled defending the three line and in transition. The Bulls shot an impressive 12-18 from three (also made most of their FTs, going 25-26). Add that to the 20 points they scored in transition and they simple couldn’t keep up with the pace.

The Lakers only created 8 turnovers (which they actually turned into 15 points).

In a high scoring game like this, you hate to pick on something offensively, but wow…Laker freethrow shooting. They missed 10 freethrows tonight. Got to hit your freethrows on the road.

We just can’t keep up with teams scoring 30 points every quarter. We’re going to have a dry spell or two … and that will be that.


Kobe -- -- Last game in Chicago against his buddy, Pau. “We’re like brothers, man,” Kobe said. The Bulls had a video with Pau introducing Kobe. This is the last time the two shared the court. As for the game, Kobe had a flurry of scores in the third quarter where he just went to work in the post against Dunleavy. The Lakers fell behind, however. After Kobe sat, they continued to fall further. The second unit dug them out of it, Scott let them play and Kobe sat for a long time during that stretch. Scott eventually brought him back with 3:07 left down 7. I’ve got to think that’s hard to warm up for him after such a long time on the bench. Scott wanted Kobe to have one final moment in Chicago. The Lakers couldn’t get over the hump in those final few minutes, unfortunately. Defensively, he was chasing three shooters all night and unable to make an impact on that. They were very efficient. The finger injury didn’t seem to slow Kobe down tonight, although he had a couple bobbles with the dribble. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-20 shooting (1-7 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a 19-footer to start the game. He swished a three popping out behind a screen. He fouled a three shooter. He missed a three in transition. He attacked baseline and knocked down the short floater next time down. He missed a wing jumper on iso. He missed a sideline three. He missed a 17-footer from the left side. He lobbed to Clarkson on the inbounds for the score. He sank a wing three off the dribble handoff (they changed it to a two). He iso’d, attacked right and was fouled on the pull-up, he made one FT. He missed a wing three. A little Lou Williams-like action, firing it up off a reach near the three line, he made both of the FTs. He missed the fading corner jumper. He had 10 points on 3-11 shooting. Second Half: He backed his man down out of the triangle and swished the turnaround from a steep angle. Again working the post and hit the turnaround a little further out next time down. Back in the post and he banked in the fallaway from the wing. He sank a pull-up standing on the three line next time down on the iso. He missed a three next time down. He had to chuck from three up against the shotclock, he missed but Roy dunked it back in. Not close on a rushed three out of a timeout. He hit a turnaround creating against the shotclock. Back in off a long rest and he drew a foul on a three from the left wing, he made two FTs. He missed a jumper on iso.

Clarkson -- -- He helped chip the Lakers back into striking distance in the fourth. Working off the high screens, he sank some threes, got into the paint for more scores and helped the Lakers chip back into this one. Slow start for Jordan, but he still finished with 20 points, 9 boards and 4 assists. Great numbers. He was getting after it on that offensive glass. Some issues defensively with walling off Rose in early offense. It seemed like he wasn’t quite ready for the speed and early offense attacks there (neither was the rest of the team to help wall him off in those situations). “We got these last 20+ games to really put it together and see what we can cook up,” Clarkson said of playing alongside the young guys more. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-16 shooting (2-5 form three, 4-6 from the line to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He scored a layup on the break with Russell. He missed a floater on a drive but got his own miss. He attacked off the screen and kicked it back to Hibbert for the jumper. He attacked and couldn’t finish over Pau. He attacked the paint, bodied the defender on the drive and scored the layup. He missed a step-back elbow jumper trying to iso late in the shotclock. He missed a sideline three out of a timeout. He took an inbounds from Kobe over the defender and put it in without coming down. He iso’d on a mismatch and missed the pull-up jumper. He took an inbounds pass and missed another jumper from the same spot 15 feet from the hoop. He lost the handle on the drive, turnover. He fired it to Russell in transition for the three. He had 6 points on 3-9 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He missed a three on a kickout. He sank a baseline pull-up attacking to his left. He swished the pull-up from midrange (that shot hasn’t been dropping this game). He probed off the screen, kept Rose behind him and drew FTs going up for the shot, he made one. He sank a pull-up three off the high screen. He nailed another three off the high screen next time down. Great effort on D to slap a ball inbounds before he fell out of bounds, he then chased it down to the corner, established himself inbounds and recovered it. On the other end, he attacked off the high screen and drew FTs in the paint, he made both. He shoveled an interior feed to Bass for the And-1 layup. He airballed the big three midway through the quarter. He chased down a missed three from Lou and found Nick for three. He was blocked on a pull-up jumper, but Rose when through Clarkson’s arm and onto his head, he made one FT. Great effort to tie Pau up under the hoop. He attacked and missed a drive.

Russell -- -- He finally got the start in place of Lou. “It was just time,” Scott said. So we got some quality minutes with Russell, Randle and Clarkson on the floor until Clarkson sat midway through the quarters. He found a pretty good balance of getting his own shot and finding teammates. The Lakers were pretty aggressive getting into the paint in this game. Russell had a very nice finish with his right hand in there. I know that was a concern for some people before the season, but some of his better finishes this year have been with that off hand. Good to see him sink both of his threes. Quality minutes for Russell as he also got to finish this game. “Growth, maturity. Each month he seems to get better,” Scott said. He liked Russell’s game on both ends of the floor tonight. He said the young guys should get 30+ minutes to close the season. He said he told Randle to stay aggressive pushing the ball up. We saw a lot of that. “I kept preaching, let’s grow together,” Russell said. That’s what we want to see. “I just want to keep proving that I deserve to start,” he said, wanting to build trust with his coach. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-13 shooting (2-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He missed a pull-up jumper working off the screen in early offense. Hit his Clarkson on the break for the layup. He found Kobe popping out behind a screen for a three. He probed on the wing in early offense and hit the pull-up jumper. He worked off the high screen, attacked to his right and scooped in the pretty off-hand layup around and under Pau’s challenge. He pulled out the dribble after a probe and hit the wing jumper. Excellent challenge fighting through the high screens to force the miss. He backed his man down the middle of the lane, great footwork to step around him and score with his right. He collapsed the D off the high screen with Bass and kicked to Randle, who attacked for the layup. He was called for a carry on an early offense drive. He sank a wing three in transition. He had 11 points on 5-8 shooting and 4 assists. Second Half: He posted up Brooks, took it across the lane, drew contact and FTs, he made one. Quick advance pass to Lou for the corner three. He attacked with speed and bounced it back to Randle through a crowd for the layup. He was blocked on the layup attempt trying to finish with his right. His pass was picked off trying to get it to Hibbert on the two-man game (Hibbert doesn’t move off those screens, so there was no angle to go back to him). He was blocked in the lane, recovered it, backed it out to iso against the shotclock and he drained the big three. He missed a pull-up jumper. He attacked and missed a runner.

Randle -- -- He was aggressive taking it into the paint for scores. “Just took what the defense gave me,” Randle said. Well not quite, no confidence in taking the jumper (although he tried a three). He just attacked, overpowered defenders that weren’t too lengthy and scored with consistency. Love that aggressive. Love seeing our young guys get the minutes. “If he plays 30 minutes, he’s a walking double-double,” Scott said. He picked up his rebounding a little bit in the second half. If there’s a loose rebound near him, he’s got some great, quick hands. The ball seems like it’s his more often than not. He had a little foul trouble late in the third, but that didn’t slow him down from helping lead the team in scoring with Kobe and of course leading on the boards. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 10-19 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 12 boards (4 offensive), 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He faced up at the elbow, dribbled once, spun and hit the step back. He missed a pull-up jumper in the lane in transition next time down. He missed a floater, slamming on the brakes to avoid a charge in transition. He attacked to his right with the clock low, spun back to his left and muscled in a layup. He iso’d on the wing out of a timeout, attacked strong to his left across the lane, hung and scored the layup. Good job to battle for an offensive board, but not close on the wild shot attempt (length bothering him there). He worked the post, faked up twice, then went under for the layup. He missed a runner in the lane up against the shotclock. Beastly possession battling on the defensive glass multiple times until he recovered it, he pushed it up slowly, measured his man, attacked, spun and hit the And-1 over him at the rim, he made the FT. He missed a wing three on an inbounds. Quick attack off the kick from Russell and beasted his way to a layup. He iso’d, attacked down the middle of the lane and scored easily over the smaller defender. He scored 15 points on 7-12 shooting to go with 4 boards. Second Half: He airballed the step-back jumper over a smaller defender. He missed a drive left, got it back off the tip from Roy and scored on his second attempt. He scored a layup, diving off the Russell drive and taking the pass. He attacked to his right and drew FTs, he made one. Bad angle pass, picked off for a dunk (he didn’t want to shoot the open jumper). He grabbed an offensive board and couldn’t get the putback score. He attacked down the lane, spun and scored the layup.

Hibbert -- -- He struggled with foul trouble early on. That limited his minutes in the first half as Scott was going with him to close that half out. Instead, we went with Bass to close. In the second half, the Bass/Nance unit helped get the Lakers back into it. Again, at some point we also need to get Black some minutes. Not sure when Scott will go full-in with the young guys. Russell said he wanted to get the ball to Roy a little more in the post to reward him. He had a size advantage there tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 3 boards, 1 block and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He sank a 16-footer off the drive and kick from Clarkson. Low position in early offense and he hit the short jumphook over Pau. Second Half: He was blocked on a jumper he had to take to beat the shotclock. He grabbed the Kobe miss and dunked. He kept an offensive board alive to Randle who scored the layup. He missed a jumphook over a smaller man.

Williams -- -- Kind of knew it might be a slow night for Lou when he baited a defender into a foul on the three, but only made one FT. He struggled from both the FT line and making those fades of his from the left side. I think not hitting those fading jumpers from the left side probably slowed his aggression just a little. Still an efficient 11 points off the bench. He’ll throttle that up more, I think. Russell looked very good in Lou’s spot in the lineup. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-6 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-7 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 25 minutes. He had a +/- of 0. The Action: He suckered Pau into the foul on the reach behind the three line, he made just one of the three. He split a double and scored the layup down the middle of the lane. Nice recovery to force his man into a brick on a jumper. He lost the ball out of bounds and didn’t like the call. He swiped a pass on a great defensive rotation sequence between Lou, Nance and Bass. Second Half: He sank a corner three on the quick advance from Russell. He missed a wing jumper. He baited a defender into a reach on the long jumper for FTs, he made one. He drew a double on the two-man game and jump passed to Bass for the dunk. He missed a fade from the left side. He pushed a dribble between defenders, attacked the lane and scored the layup. He attacked right, drew contact and drew the whistle, he made both FTs. He missed a wing three.

Nance -- -- He couldn’t knock down his two wide open jumpers (and passed up taking another). Meanwhile, Portis was lighting it up from three. “I’m still a step or two slow on defense, but that’s something I’m going to work out with the team,” Nance said. He was part of that unit that helped in the fourth quarter comeback. Our defense seemed to finally warm up a little with him out there. I still want to see some Randle/Nance time. I’m probably going to be saying this a lot. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +11. The Action: He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He stripped his man, pushed it out and scored the layup over the smaller D (came down a little awkwardly). Second Half: He missed the open wing jumper. He left his feet to challenge three and his man dunked on the drive. He battled on the offensive glass and drew FTs on the putback attempt, he made one.

Young -- -- His shot wasn’t falling. He made just one three tonight. It was a big one in the middle of our rally. He was not pleased with the refs tonight. They called him for an offensive foul on a three for kicking his leg out. That was a balance correct on a turnaround three at the end of a quarter. You can’t call an offensive foul on that. Then later, he thought they should have blown a whistle and he got the T. At some point, Anthony Brown needs to get some run. Nothing against Nick, who I think has put in a good effort on both ends of the floor for most of the season. Brown just needs the minutes more, and if we want him to play a role next season, get those mistakes out now. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: He missed a corner three. He was called for an offensive foul kicking out his leg (come on, ref, dumb call). He missed a three straight away. Second Half: He missed a three and picked up a tech, wanting the foul. He gave up a layup trailing his man off the screen. He up-faked, moved to his left and sank the big sideline three. He drew a second defender, made the extra pass to Bass in the lane and he was sent to the FT line. He was blocked on a drive right.

Bass -- -- Some excellent D late in the second quarter. The Bulls tried to pick on him with Pau in the post and I think that upped his intensity level and he became very disruptive. In the fourth, the Lakers were able to go on a run behind some Clarkson scoring and getting stops. Scrappy game from Bass. He’s gotten his second wind it seems after that All Star break. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-5 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +7. The Action: He iso’d in the post and hit the And-1 jumphook, he made the FT. He was fouled on a reverse attempt, he made both FTs. He was called for a travel under the hoop. He sank a baseline jumper up against the shotclock. Nice perimeter challenge on Rose to force a brick. Great recovery on Pau in the post to get a piece of it (he looked beat), then he popped out onto another player and blocked the short jumper to ignite the break. Looked like he deflected the ball off Rose who tried to crossover, turnover. He had 7 points and 5 boards. Second Half: He dunked off the two-man game with Lou. Nice help recovery to roof a man and block a layup out of bounds. He took the interior feed from Clarkson and scored the And-1 layup before getting wacked in the head, he missed the FT. He took a pass from Nick in the lane and was hacked, he made both FTs. He missed a tough layup in a crowd.

Scott -- -- Russell in the starting lineup. Back and forth and they were tied 15-15 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Clarkson out and Lou in out of that timeout… Nick and Bass in for Kobe and Hibbert… Good start by Randle and Russell (both with 8 points in the quarter)… The Lakers were down 3 when the timeout came with a couple minutes left… Nance in for Randle… The Lakers trailed 31-30 after the first. Good job by the starters not falling behind early again. They’ve scored well the last couple of games. He started the Bass, Nance, Young, Williams, Clarkson unit… Portis left open from three, and the Lakers fell back by 9 after 3 minutes. Timeout… Kobe in for Nick… They trimmed the 9-point lead down 2 with a 7-0 run… Randle in for Nance, Lakers down 1… Hibbert in for Bass shortly later… Russell in for Lou with 5 minutes left, Lakers down 5… Bass back in shortly later when Hibbert picked up his third foul thanks to Clarkson’s poor D… Bass picking up the energy defensively… The Lakers trailed 62-58 at the half… Lakers getting burned in transition. Timeout, down 8. Lots of Kobe iso scores in the post… Lou in for Clarkson, Lakers down 10 with 5 minutes left… They trimmed the lead down to 4 and force a timeout… Timeout again as they slipped back to trail by 12. Three’s and transition scores hurting them… Nance in for Randle… The Lakers trailed 98-81 heading into the fourth… He started the Bass, Nance, Young, Williams, Clarkson unit again… Clarkson coming alive while working off the high screens, and the Lakers trimmed the lead to 6 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… They cut it to 3 with 5:25 left… Russell in for Lou with the Lakers down 5 with 5 minutes left… Down 3 when Randle came in for Nance 15 seconds later… Kobe in for Young with 3 minutes left down 7… Lakers were just too far down to start the quarter… Lakers made 7-21 from three, 22-33 from the line. The Bulls were 13-19 from three, 25-26 from the line…
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Lakersneuron
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:32 pm    Post subject:

first!

6 years here and another 3 lurking and i finally got one

thanks for the write up DB!
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H0B0
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:41 pm    Post subject:

THX DB. GO LAKERS.
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SweetP
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:02 pm    Post subject:

Thx DB
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OregonLakerGuy
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:13 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:15 pm    Post subject:

Lakersneuron wrote:
first!

6 years here and another 3 lurking and i finally got one

thanks for the write up DB!



Ha ha.
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pio2u
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 10:07 pm    Post subject:

THANKS "LANCING" BARRY!
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ssiknick833
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 10:14 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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Lakers#1Team
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 10:16 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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Megaton
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 10:47 pm    Post subject:

Great tank game. The young core did great, and a good close loss.
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 21, 2016 11:15 pm    Post subject:

Maybe the Lakers could seek ways to identify who will produce during crunch time - consistency

Could a full court press lineup consist of
DLO
Brown
JC
Nance/Bass
Randle/Black

They can switch on everything and have the quickness in the backcourt

They might even have rim protectors in Bass/Nance/Black (though undersized)
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