HAWKS -at- LAKERS – 3-4-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Uuuugly… That was awful.

They looked every bit like the second-worst team in the league in the 106-77 loss to the visiting Hawks.

Without Clarkson, Williams and Kobe available and both Russell and Young stone cold, the Lakers offense suffered badly. They could not score.

“It was just one of those nights going in where we knew it was going to be very tough for us,” Scott said.

Defensively, they were outscored 27-2 on the fastbreak. Just no effort there.

On the bright side, the Suns won and the Lakers gained a little bit more room in the tank standings.


Russell -- -- His poorest game since returning to the starting lineup. He was missing shots he’s been making lately. Just cold. “Just one of those nights for me. Same shots, same flow,” he said. He tried to get to the rim a little more when the shot wasn’t falling, but it didn’t make much difference, he struggled to finish around the rim at times as the paint was packed. With no one shooting well from the perimeter, packing the paint made it easy for the Hawks. I think he probably wished he could sit out this blowout, but got the fourth quarter run. “He’s going to have his ups and downs,” Scott said, defending Russell. Again, sluggish on D, especially in transition. He was not hustling back. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-16 shooting (1-6 from three) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -26. The Action: He drained an open three on a kickout from Hibbert. He hit Brown for the elbow jumper. He missed the pull-up at the FT line after losing his man with a behind-the-back dribble. He stepped on the sideline on a double team. He missed a wing three. He hit Randle for the 20-footer. He pulled up and missed the wing 16-footer. Sweet bounce pass to Bass under the hoop for the reverse jam. Short on a wing three. He missed a layup on a drive. Slow to get back in transition the last two plays. He was called for a double-dribble. He missed a midrange pull-up way short. He had 3 points on 1-7 shooting and 3 assists. Second Half: Nice recovery attempt to force a brick on D. He backed it out and missed a chuck from three. He finished a lob when his man tried fronting him. He lost the dribble off someone’s foot. He attacked the rim and was called for a clear-out foul. He missed a scoop in the lane. He missed a rushed, open sideline three. He missed a reverse. He shielded a defender with his body off the screen, then bounced off that for a layup around a help defender. He missed a wing three. He was blocked on a layup in transition. Nice feed to Randle cutting across the lane. He fumbled a dribble away bringing it up court. He hit Bass rolling for FTs. He tried to fake behind his back and was blocked on the layup.

Randle -- -- He was the only who showed up out of the starters in the first half. He had 11 points, the other four combined for 7. Randle had his perimeter shot going early. He was short on a jumper and then adjusted, making sure to get more legs and follow through into it. He knocked down a few during a stretch. Then started missing again, including a bad airball late in garbage time. “I’m just trying to build on it every game and take it to the next level,” Randle said. Good job with his usual double-double (26 now this season). The Stats: He scored 16 points on 7-14 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and no foul in 28 minutes. He was a -20. The Action: He bricked badly trying to iso in the post on the Lakers first possession. He clanked the 18-footer when he had Russell open for the three (make the extra pass). He scored a layup off the drive and dish from Hibbert. He swished a 20-footer on the kickout from Russell. He jumped the passing lane for a steal and took it the distance for the dunk (more, please). He sank a three from the top of the arc on his next attempt. Short on a wing three. He sank an open 17-footer. He scored 11 points on 5-8 shooting to go with 7 boards. Second Half: He missed a 17-footer. He attacked the paint but wasn’t close trying to finish with his right. Low position and he just overpowered Milsap for an And-1, he made the FT. He attacked and missed a runner. He hit a short fade across the lane. He airballed a wing jumper by about two feet.

Young -- -- With all the injuries Nick got into the starting lineup. “My first time starting under Byron Scott,” Nick said. So he had to switch gears. It went something like this in the first half: Clank, clank, clank, clank, clank. He sank a three early in the second half for his lone make in 9 attempts. With him and Russell clanking badly, forget about it. Lakers had no chance. “Just couldn’t not down shots,” Nick said. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-9 shooting (1-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a short jumper from the right wing. He missed a three at the top of the arc. He missed the wing three in transition. He missed a turnaround jumper. He missed a baseline jumper. He was 0-5 in the first half. Second Half: He let a man fly by and hit the three. He drew FT and made both. He missed a three out of the motion weak. He missed a chuck from three. He set up Kelly for a layup.

Hibbert -- -- He was almost a steadying force offensively for the team with some post scores and jumpers. They might have leaned up him a little more as they weren’t getting much from anyone else. The team stayed with the Hawks while he was on the floor tonight. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-4 from the line) to gow tih 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He grabbed an offensive board in front of the rim and kicked back out to Russell for the three. He missed a jumper off a slow spin move. He hit a jumphook working the post. He attacked baseline and hit Randle for the layup. He fell down and then threw the perimeter pass away for a dunk. He had 7 points on 3-7 shooting and 3 assists on a team-high 17 minutes in the first half. Second Half: He sank an 18-footer to start the half. Nice rim run and he drew FTs, he made none. He drew FTs on a turnaround attempt, he made both. He hit a lefty hook across the lane.

Brown -- -- He had the most minutes of anyone tonight, but among the fewest notes. “I want to see him develop on the offensive end, being a little more aggressive, being a little more assertive,” Scott said. He hopes that develops over the last 20 games. The Lakers three shooting was an awful 18% tonight, and Brown shot about that making 1 of his 5 attempts. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-6 shooting (1-5 form three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a -23. The Action: He swished an elbow jumper curling to the ball. He missed a wing catch-and-shoot three. He missed a wing three. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He drew FTs trying to finish at the rim on a cut. He missed a wing three. He swished a corner three.

Nance -- -- Good to see him trying to finish strong around the rim, but he was also aggressive at taking the jumper. You want to see him doing a lot of both. Good job on the offensive boards with 5, although Scott mentioned they might have wanted a few less of those and a lot more getting back in transition from the team. Decent numbers from our two first-year bigs tonight. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (5 offensive), 1 assist and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He was called for a tech on a defensive board scrum. He posted up and hit Huertas cutting weakside for the layup. He attacked the paint and couldn’t finish the soaring throwdown over a defender. He faced up on the wing, swung through to get a step past his man and posterized him (should have been an And-1). Second Half: He missed a 17-footer. He hit a sideline jumper on a kickout. He was way short on a 16-footer. He attacked across the lane and bounce in a runner. He was fouled before an inbounds pass came in and made both FTs. He missed a putback attempt. His putback was rejected.

Bass -- -- He was working hard throughout the blowout. He and Metta playing pretty physical whenever they were under the hoop. I love how he powers up and throws down over guys when he can gather himself around the rim. Hope we can see Randle pick up some of that. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting (4-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards and 1 foul in 25 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He jammed off the great bounce pass from Russell. He drew FTs on the setup from Huertas. He gathered himself under the rim on a pass and powered down a slam over a defender. He was blocked on a dunk attempt and wanted the foul. He faced up in the post and swished the short jumper over the challenge. He attacked from the elbow and missed the short one over his man. He dunked off the drive and dish from Huertas. Second Half: He iso’d and forced up a bad brick up against the shotclock. He drew FTs under the hoop, he made both. He couldn’t finish a layup off a nice setup from Huertas. He was mugged under the hoop on a screen-roll for FTs.

Black -- -- Some late garbage time run. Should have been in their sooner when we were getting our butts kicked. Just a minutes to grab some boards, but the game was over, so these weren’t quality minutes at all. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 4 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a layup, got it back and was fouled, he missed both. He missed an open 18-footer (you’re open for a reason). He was picked not protecting the ball on the perimeter. He faced up, attacked baseline and reversed.

Huertas -- -- A lot of minutes for Huertas with our guard injuries and he got to double-digit scoring in double-digit attempts. His three shooting is pretty ugly looking at times, a shotput set shot. He was reluctant to take wide open ones for stretches and still got off six threes. The Hawks didn’t have to guard the perimeter tonight. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-11 shooting (1-6 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -23. The Action: He set up Bass for FTs on an interior feed. He cut off ball and Nance found him for the layup. He missed a wing three. He probed to his left next time down and hit the baseline jumper. He missed a rushed wing shotput from three. His man blew past him for a layup. He swished an open three from the top of the arc. He hit Randle for the open jumper. Turnover trying to make the post entry to Randle out of a timeout. He attacked the paint and wrapped a no-looker to Bass for a dunk. He badly airballed an open three. He was blocked on a reverse. Second Half: He missed the short pull-up jumper. He drew a tech and made it. Way short on a three straight away. He bricked an open wing three badly. He iso’d and hooked it high off the glass and in over a defender.

World Peace -- -- With all the injuries we had a Metta World Peace sighting. I suppose they could be giving some guys some 10-day contracts for tryouts. Hopefully, Metta is at least talking a lot and imparting some knowledge out there. He certainly wasn’t scoring, shooting blanks all night. At least he did dump a few guys to the ground. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-5 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 3 offensive boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a layup reaching back under the hoop. He missed a wing three. He missed a wing three but tied up a man on the offensive board. He missed a corner three. Second Half: He threw a pass away. He was blocked on a jumper. He posted up and kicked to Nance for the jumper. He knocked a ball loose from a guard to ignite a break.

Kelly -- -- He came in with 3 minutes left of garbage time to score a hoop. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting in 3 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He scored a layup off the bounce pass from Nick.

Scott -- -- One of the many things you worry about with Scott is how he will install the new offense. He’s run it in the past with his other teams and in the summer league, but like his other sets (the triangle, for example), he runs them as set plays versus true read and react offenses. So we’ll have to watch where they go with this… With all the injuries, Scott had to shuffle the lineup and his rotations. He started both Brown and Young and brought Metta in off the bench… The Lakers trailed 12-9 when Huertas came in for Nick midway through the first quarter… Randle sat with 9 points for Nance, Brown for Metta, Hibbert for Bass, Lakers down 5… The Lakers trailed 16-19 after the first quarter… He started a Bass, Nance, Peace, Young, Huertas unit… Shotclock violation on the first possession… He sat Nance and Metta for Brown and Randle, down 5 midway through the quarter… He brought in Russell for Nick… The Lakers trailed by 11 when Scott called the timeout… Horrible close on both ends… The Lakers trailed 54-36 at the half. The Lakers shot 3-17 from three. They gave up 14 points on the break, just slow to get back… Transition D just awful… Huertas in for Russell, Lakers down 17… Metta in for Young… Nance and Bass in for Randle and Hibbert… The Lakers trailed 74-59 heading into the fourth… He started the Bass, Nance, Metta, Brown, Huertas lineup… Russell in for Brown after a minute… Randle in for Nance… Black in for Bass with 4 minutes left… Kelly in late…

[pio2u]

THANKS DB

[SweetP]

Finally home early enough to see a whole game. Unfortunately it was this game!

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

[Laker's Fan]

Getting close to locking up the two seed.
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Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[tox]

Thanks DB!

Caught the first 20 min which were OK enough, then went to shoot some hoops myself. Guess I didn't miss out on much. to DLO's statline

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[A Mad Chinaman]

Another lesson learn for DLO

Huertsas was trying to move the ball around and make an impact on the game - at least in the first half.

Swag not making basketball makes one wonder why he was on the floor

Still waiting for the young players to at least think about playing D during any games

Glad that Bass and MWP displayed a physicalness and toughness that will be required from the young players if they want to be on a title-contending team

[H0B0]

THX DB. GO LAKERS

[Lakers#1Team]

Thanks DB!

[LakerLanny]