KINGS -vs- LAKERS – 10-4-16 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

A New Hope… Yep. A guy name Luke brings a New Hope to the Laker universe.

For the first time in two decades, the Lakers go to war without Kobe Bryant. There will be no replacing him, but it certainly would be nice to match his five rings over the next 20 years. The Lakers enter this season without those championship aspirations. They’ve got a lot of kids on the roster and need to work on those baby steps first.

These first several games will probably be especially clunky on offense as we build up our sets, but also focus a lot more effort on defense.

There were some noticeable trends in the Lakers 103-84 preseason win over the Kings. The ball and player movement on offense is already much improved over last season. Even if they haven’t got it together on that end yet, it shows Luke’s approach to the game on offense. The Lakers worked their horns, motion weak and pistol plays with regularity. It was choppy and clunky and early on, and no one played to their strengths offensively, unless you count Lou Williams, who got to the freethrow line on a number of occasions like only he can. The team shot a poor 34% and 2-13 from three in the first half.

They did show promise, however, and that came on the defensive end where we saw some very good rotations and help on D (Black, Mozgov, Nance and Russell looked very strong in those team defensive reads). Good things will happen if they keep that up, and that was Luke’s focus both before and after the game.

“We’re going to continue to work on defense,” Luke said. “That’s, in my opinion, where we’re really going to make a lot of progress.”

The game turned in the Lakers favor in the second half tonight when the bench, led by Tarik Black, went on a 23-1 run between the third and fourth quarters. The energy by the second unit had the Kings on their heels and turned defense into offense.

“We’re going to work hard,” Black said. “We’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to make a lot of mistakes. It’s a brand new offense, and it’s a tricky offense to learn. It takes a lot of trust, a lot of chemistry to play in.”

They gave their coach a flash of the kind of D they are capable of playing. “We can now pull the tape and show them what it looks like,” Luke said.

Not a bad accomplishment in what is usually a throw away game. They’ve got a lot of work to do and will take a lot of lumps in the process, so enjoy the ride as we start the 2016-17 season.


Russell -- -- “I feel like it can only get better from this point,” Russell said, mentioning that they need to work on their counters offensively. Poor offensive game from Russell with some sloppy turnovers and never really getting the chemistry flowing. We’ll see things improve as they clean up the execution, but the focus right now is on D, where they’ve put in a lot of time and that showed. Some excellent and disruptive help D reads by Russell on that end in the first half. That really seemed to be where the Lakers showed their best flashes. When you’ve got guys with length like Russell, Ingram, Nance and Mozgov that can anticipate the rotations, the potential is there. Loved seeing Russell pumped up by one sequence between him, Nance and Mozgov that forced a shotclock violation. He also had some very nice man D sequences, swiping the ball (3 steals) and getting out on the break. Offensively, no post ups, no putting his man in jail to hit the 15-footer. Those are his bread and butter. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-8 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He missed a wing three from the left side on his first attempt. He was called for a moving screen out of the motion weak and then picked up his second foul a few seconds later on the other end trying to block a shot. Low pass into Deng’s knees along the baseline, turnover (good idea, bad execution). He kicked out to Deng in transition for a three on the next trip down. He probed to the middle of the floor off the pistol sequence and swished the 12-footer in the lane. He missed an elbow jumper on a kickout. Nice weakside rotation to challenge a layup and get a stop. He lost the handle on a drive, turnover. Another great rotation on D and he forced Cousins into a travel. He swiped the ball from his man and took it for a score (looked like an And-1…Harden would have been at the line because that was a similar kind of finish he gets whistles on). He found Mozgov on the score off the two-man game. He dribbled into congestion, turnover. He missed a floater off the double drag screen. He missed a baseline jumper after taking a step in off the three line. He missed a pull-up 20-footer at the end of the half. He had 4 points on 2-7 shooting and 2 assists with 4 turnovers. Second Half: Turnover expecting a whistle on a drive and not getting one, seemed kind of obvious. He swiped a pass with his length all over his man. He missed a wing three. He hit Deng filling a lane in transition for FTs. He probed across the lane in transition and dumped a bounce pass to Randle for the And-1.

Randle -- -- There are a lot of aspects to Randle’s game we want to see grow: setting solid picks, hitting the jumper (not rushing his shot), and how well his team D reads improve. He was a bit of a train wreck in this one with the turnovers, fumbles and fouls. He did finally get the Lakers their first score of the game with a jumper, but he never got into pushing out the break or hitting the offensive glass, which should always produce offensive opportunities for him. He’s got his work cut out for him with Nance pressuring for that starting role. Defensively, he had issues with Cousins whenever the two would find themselves matched up. Mozgov was defensing Cousins, but the switches were tough for Julius to handle. There was a pretty big difference between Nance and him on D with the rotations. He said he wants to play physical on D. His strength is that footspeed on D when they switch. That was there some tonight. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: Bad pass off the motion weak to start the game, but he helped get back on D and get the stop. He got the Lakers first hoop off a 17-footer straight away in semi-transition. Sloppy play on the perimeter, turnover and FTs the other way. He missed an elbow jumper. He gave up a dunk to Cousin in the post. He was blocked on a step-back from behind. He missed a three as the D sagged. Second Half: Offensive foul as he tried to cut. He tipped in a miss. He gambled for a steal and picked up his fifth. He fumbled away a perimeter pass. He choked a highlight reel play off the Ingram block, Russell pass from the floor and Ingram bounce pass to Randle in stride on the break, who then promptly fumbled it out of bounds. He scored an And-1 layup off the secondary break when Russell hit him, he missed the FT.

Deng -- -- Quiet, steady game from Deng. He scored on a couple of catch and shoots as well as cleaning up some garbage. Nothing spectacular on either end as he played the fewest minutes of the starters. The Stats:He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 turnover and no fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He missed a corner three in early offense. He swished a wing three in transition on a Russell kickout. He scooped up some garbage and scored a layup. He missed a forced wing jumper. He had 5 points in 10 minutes. Second Half: He missed a pull-up sideline jumper. He sank a corner jumper off the Mozgov kickout. He drew FTs filling a lane on the break, he made one.

Mozgov -- -- Really liked the game from Mozgov tonight. Our offense was clunky, but he did a good job moving the ball and finding opportunities down low. We’ll get a lot more fluid offensively, but there was a little chemistry with Deng. Just a great job defensively at times tonight. His length and size combined well with quick, smart reads to really be disruptive. The chemistry with Nance on that end was superb. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He forced Cousins to throw it away on a baseline drive he smothered. He missed a baseline jumper. He kicked out cross court from the post and hit Clarkson for the corner three (very nice read). He reset the offense after grabbing a missed jumper. Low position and Ingram found him for the jumphook. He worked the screen-roll, was patient after getting the pass and hit the jumphook over his man. Another nice challenge on his man on iso to get a stop. He had 4 points on 2-3 shooting and 4 boards. Second Half: He missed a short one. Extra pass to Deng in the corner for the three. He drew FTs on the two-man game with Lou, he made both.

Williams -- -- Lou with a start in this one. “I thought it was at least for the first game important to get some more experience out there with the starting group,” Luke said. Lou was really the only thing that worked with that first unit, just being able to manufacture points when nothing else was going is always a needed skill. He couldn’t hit the three, going 0-4, but scored 11 times from the line. Luke has a couple of SGs that aren’t known for their D. He’s got to keep them focused on that from the start. The carrot is minutes, the stick is getting yanked and held accountable. Let’s see if we can keep the focus on that end throughout the year. I thought for the most part, Lou’s foul drawing was within the flow of the offense. There was one or two ball stops as he tried to read that foul situation, but he was pretty smooth with it tonight. Defensively, Afflalo likes to post up even regular sized SGs, so with Lou, that was a tough matchup when that happened. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 2-7 shooting (0-4 from three, 11-12 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul. He was a +0. The Action: He pumped and missed a wing three. He baited his man into a foul in early offense and earned two FTs, he made both. He missed a corner jumper. He suckered his man into foul 30 feet from the hoop in early offense, he made two of the three FTs. He drew FTs in transition and made both. He got a flip-in to drop in early offense. He missed a wing three. He scored 8 points on 1-4 shooting (6-7 from the line). He was a +1. Second Half: He missed a long three. He drew FTs on an attack to his left, he made both. He missed a three on a kickout. Nice feed on the two-man game to Mozgov for the FTs. He drew another reach on the perimeter and chucked it for three FTs, he made all three. He attacked off the three line and hit the floater. Sloppy drive and kick, turnover.

Clarkson -- -- “Jordan’s not being moved to the second unit,” Luke said. “This is how we’re trying this first game.” He also said, “The lineups you see tonight will probably be different than the ones you see Friday,” Luke said. He also said he felt like it was a good mix of vets and young guys with the starters but also wanted to get minutes for a second unit that was “explosive.” For Clarkson, it’s all about that defense. Everyone knows how explosive he can be offensively. Becoming a two-way player is what’s going to elevate him. (It should also be easier to elevate without those BScott ankle weights he’s been wearing the last two years, as well.) Good job getting into the paint and collapsing the D offensively. He was one of the few guys to do that. Defensively, I saw some better second efforts to improve his angle on D and not get caught a step out of position (which was something that consistently happened to him last year). Offensively, he’ll probably be our most consistent scorer. Loved seeing him get up for that weekside lob, but also the lob pass he made to Tarik working off the pistol sequence in the first half. Can’t wait to see the sets start to click with consistency. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-9 shooting (2-6 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He drained a corner three on a great kickout from Mozgov. He missed a three from the top of the arc. He drew FTs creating off the dribble to get into the paint, he made both. He cut baseline on the weakside and Huertas lobbed to him for the dunk. He lobbed to Black for the dunk off the pistol sequence from the left side. Close on a running three at the buzzer. He attacked the paint and missed the drive, but Black cleaned it up easily. He missed the wing three on the kickout. He swiped the ball under the hoop to save a bucket. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs, he missed both. He had 7 points on 2-6 shooting and 4 boards. He was a -13 in the first half. Second Half: Great job getting into a passing lane to deflect a pass, but he gave it right back by stepping on the sideline on the other end. He ball faked off the three line, attacked the paint and scored the layup. Another passing lane deflection, but he couldn’t recover. He missed a sideline three in transition. He iso’d with the clock low and drained the wing three.

Ingram -- -- I’ve got low expectations for Ingram offensively right now. I think he’s going to feel things out and quietly go about business on that end. It will come with time. Defensively, my expectations are higher. That showed tonight. The length and his natural ability to make team D reads should come to play on a nightly basis, but we’ll need to see how teams try to exploit him. The strength will be a factor at times, but he was a positive force on D in this one, very disruptive and with some nice second efforts. For a rookie to be making a positive impact on D like that? It just makes me more optimistic about his future on that end of the floor. “If I don’t get it on the offensive end, try to get it on the defensive end,” he said. He and Nance combined for 5 blocks. If you like D, he’s going to be fun to watch. “He had some mental lapses on defense that we will be sure to point out to him on the film session, but he also had some really impressive plays, deflections and blocks,” Luke said. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-5 shooting (0-4 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls. He was a +20. The Action: He gave up an And-1 to Gay in the low post. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He missed a sideline three on a kickout. He stepped on the sideline on a kickout. He missed a wing three short. He couldn’t finish a dunk over Cousins (should have had that). He was 0-4 in the first half in 14 minutes. Second Half: Great second effort to block a perimeter shot, he then hit Randle with an excellent bounce pass that Julius fumbled out of bounds to blow the assist. He rejected Casspi at the front of the rim as he tried to post up on him. He was fouled on a pull-up 20-footer on the other end, he made his first NBA preseason points after sinking both. He airballed a half-court heave at the buzzer. He smothered his man on a defensive recovery to force a turnover that turned into a breakaway. He blindsided a big, stripping the ball for a turnover. He drew FTs on an off-ball cut, he missed both.

Nance -- -- Larry was balling all summer. That confidence carried over to the start of this preseason as he’s been very decisive on both ends. Remember when he was hesitating all the time last year? That’s a thing of the past. All the little things in the stat sheet tonight (3 blocks, 2 steals, 2 assists) have a big impact, but there’s no stat for making the proper help D reads and making a big impact in that regard by just being in the right place at the right time to muck up an opponent’s offense. The Mozgov/Nance combo looks very strong on D. That stuck out to me when they were on the floor together. A lot of length and great help D with those two. Going big with our length (vs. small ball) will probably be our lockdown unit. “I love when we can switch one through four defensively,” Nance said. Offensively, he sank a three, but he did struggle a little from the line and was frustrated with that. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +20. The Action: Nice challenge on a close out to the corner. Multiple switches on the perimeter before getting a miss off a nice challenge. He couldn’t finish a lob over a man on the weakside (love that we are making this a focus already). He took a pass in transition, slammed on the brakes to lose the defender and scored at the front of the rim. He missed a layup on the break (didn’t try to finish strong). He finished a soaring layup around a defender on the break. Great help rotation to end up forcing a shotclock violation. Second Half: He drew FTs trying to get post position in early offense, he missed both. Nice bounce pass to Black who was fouled on a dunk attempt he should have finished. He blocked a jumphook (or forced an airball with the smothering D). On the other end, he was fouled on a mismatch in the post, he made one FT. He blocked a three on a close out. He drained a three off the pick and pop with Calderon. He was held on backdoor cut and drew FTs, he made one. He crashed the glass for an offensive board and set up Robinson on an interior feed for FTs. He spotted Robinson open for a layup. He rejected a perimeter shot.

Zubac -- -- Some late game action for him. He didn’t score, but did swat a shot, showing some good ability to get up and down the floor for that one. He had a few moments like that in the summer, as well, running the floor. I imagine he’ll get more minutes as we mix up our rotations. I want to see him tested. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 block and 1 turnover in 5 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He blocked a shot getting back in transition. He missed a lefty skyhook. He missed a short jumphook in the middle of the lane. He was called for a travel getting pushed off his pivot a little in the post.

Calderon -- -- We went with Huertas in the first half and Calderon in the second half. Both did a pretty good job organizing the offense. Calderon, however, had the +26 on the night as that unit caught fire in the 11 minutes he was out there. He showed the shooting touch, hitting a couple of jumpers. The horns sets they were running had a lot of potential as our bigs are mobile and he can hit from the perimeter if teams get caught up helping them. They worked on those quite a bit. He had a steadying influence on the floor tonight. Defensively, no major issues in this one as Sacramento was stone cold while he was on the floor. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists and no turnovers in 11 minutes. He was a +26. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He sank a deep three straight away. He sank an open 18-footer off a horns sequence. He hit Nance on the pick and pop for three. He got tapped on a wing three.

Brown -- -- Well, he’s 1 for 1 this preseason in showing he actually can shoot. He knocked down everything he took, scoring 10 points in just 7 minutes. He’s got to do that with consistency to win a spot in the rotation. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-4 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 1 turnover in 7 minutes. He was a +9. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He drained a wing three on his first touch. He up-faked, stepped in from the corner and swished the jumper on his next touch. He iso’d and sank a pull-up from the right side. He drained a quick-fire wing three.

Black -- -- The front office was irked that Tarik didn’t get minutes last year. He opened the preseason tonight trying to make that case for them. His 16 minutes were of the game changer variety. He was hustling on both ends and making things happening. “Just working hard, working through the mistakes and yes, I’m going to mess up. I fell on the ground on one play, but just continue to go hard and get better,” Tarik said. I don’t imagine he’ll consistently bring these kinds of 15-5 games, but it certainly had a dramatic impact in turning the tables in this game. He was explosive around the rim on offensive and had some fastbreak igniting plays on defense. Give us more of that, please, and our bench will cause a lot of problems for teams. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-5 shooting (5-8 from the line) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +20. The Action: He was called for clearing Cousins out with an off arm on a post entry pass. Massive dunk off the lob from Clarkson as they worked the three-man pistol action from the left side. He drew FTs on a screen-roll (bad foul by the Kings on that one), he made one. He tipped in the dribble penetration miss by Clarkson. He was stripped as he turned to pass. He had 5 points, 4 boards and 2 turnovers. Second Half: Nance found him on an interior feed and Tarik blew the And-1 dunk, he made both FTs. He erased a layup on one end and cleaned up a missed jumper on the other. Quick first step from the right elbow to score an And-1 with his left, he made the FT. He deflected an inbounds pass, chased down the loose ball and took it the distance for the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He was fouled from behind getting out on the break again, he missed both FTs.

Huertas -- -- Some good energy off the bench, although I can do without the Sasha-like fouls 75 feet from the hoop or the miscommunication on D that gives up layups. That was a little too reminiscent of last season. He had one of the plays of the game with a nice lob to Clarkson weakside for the slam. The team has been making a consistent effort in practice to cut from the weakside, so hopefully this is something we see with some regularity during the season. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 7 minutes. He was a +0. The Action: He hit Nance trailing the break for a score. He lobbed to Clarkson cutting weakside for the slam. Miscommunication with Ingram and they gave up a layup. Sasha-like foul 75 feet from the hoop to give up FTs with 47 seconds left, uggh. He missed a tough runner in a crowd. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Jianlian -- -- A short stint in the first half during part of our scoring dry spell. Not much to write about in this one other than you can certainly see that he should give us a little floor spacing when he’s out there. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting in 3 minutes to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: Way short on a slow developing wing jumper on the two-man sequence. Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

Robinson -- -- You’ve got to like the effort he puts in. He pulled down 8 points and 7 boards in 7 minutes. Strong start. Some good chemistry between Nance, who spotted him a couple of times in the right place under the hoop. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-3 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards and 1 foul in 7 minutes. He was a +10. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He drew FTs on the interior feed by Nance, he made one. Left alone in transition and Nance found him for a layup. He pushed it up, built up speed in the offensive zone and scored a layup. He grabbed an offensive board and scored a layup. He crashed the glass and drew FTs on a putback attempt, he made one.

Jacobs -- -- Nothing to report. Luke going to the deep bench adds another 30 minutes to my write-up trying to get everyone accounted for. Uggh. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 5 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He was blocked on a drive. He lost a dribble out of bounds.

Wear -- -- He sank a three on his first attempt as the Lakers were finishing their second half stomping of the Kings. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting from three to go with 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He did not play in the half. Second Half: He drained a wing three on a kickout. He missed a baseline jumper. XXX

Walton -- -- A lot of optimism surrounding Luke and the young squad as they start the new era. With Kobe gone (and Scott, too), there’s a clean break and the team can openly embrace “rebuilding.” Luke probably has a good two-year grace period before fans get a little cranky with him (they’ll take out frustrations on the players, I’m guessing). They just want to see progress. If he can get that out of the squad, get the team competitive, fans will be happy. And, of course, if he doesn’t, he can always tell himself they’re just yelling “Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke.”… Judging by the summer league, some of the practices and what we’ve seen the Warriors running, Luke has them heading in the right direction with the X’s and O’s… But it’s also a two-way game. Prior to the game, he was asked what he was most looking at tonight. “How we defend,” Luke said… The Lakers trailed 15-9 after a slow start. Some good signs early, however, on both ends… Ingram in for Deng, Clarkson for Lou… Black and Nance in for Randle and Mozgov, Lakers down 8 with 5 minutes left… Lakers running motion weak, pistol, horns… Huertas in for Russell, Lakers down 8… The Lakers trailed 31-21 after the first quarter… He started the same Black, Nance, Ingram, Clarkson, Huertas lineup… Mozgov and Lou back in for Clarkson and Black after a minute, Lakers down 10… Russell in for Huertas, Lakers down 8… Randle and Deng in for Nance and Ingram, down 5… Clarkson, Yi, Ingram and Nance in with Russell. Offense went dry. A 12-0 run by Sacramento to finish the half… The Lakers trailed 52-39 at the end of the half. The Lakers shot a poor 34%, making just 2-13 from three. They had 10 turnovers. The Kings shot 46%, going just 2-6 from three… Quick timeout by Luke after a scoreless, weak defending first minute and a half… He brought in Ingram and Black for Mozgov and Deng down 13 with 5 minutes left… Down 13, Clarkson in for Lou with 4:35 left… Down 11, 30 seconds later, Calderon in for Russell… Nance in for Randle… Great energy by the second unit. They cut it to 6 and forced a timeout with over a minute left… The Lakers trailed 69-64 heading into the fourth… Same group to start the fourth… They took the 70-69 lead off a Calderon three and a Black And-1 layup… A 23-1 stretch by the Lakers flipped the game on its head… Lakers up 9 with Robinson in for Black and Brown in for Clarkson… Zubac, Wear, Jacobs, Robinson, Brown lineup up by 15 to close… “Walking out there next to BShaw was a pretty special feeling tonight,” Luke said… The Lakers shot 6-13 from three in the second half…

[mhan00]

A win! A glorious win!

[FloppyDiskz]

woo hoo! Thoughts and Ratings are back!

[OregonLakerGuy]

Seeing DB's thoughts and ratings for a new season is how I know the long and boring offseason is over. As always, thanks DB.

[City_Dawg]

Welcome Back
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*sighs*

!...

[Yumyumcha]

Its just a pre-season game but really did miss these round ups. Thanks DB!

[Arbitrary]

I hope we get more Star Wars references.

[Fortysixn2]

Lakers game day isn't complete without your write up, thx. Although I've only been a member for a little while I've been lurking for years and have enjoyed them.

[Do it Mitch!]

Very entertaining first game. Thx DB, nice breakdown as always

[Shaber]

A new start, a new season. New reasons to write and read the T&R.

Thanks!
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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

[tox]

Thanks DB! Missed reading these

[nash]

Thanks

I was missing it

[lewis]

liked the effort in this one. You could see they were actually trying on defense

We got back in the game when our second unit was playing against their 3rd unit, so the win can be a bit misleading, but it's nice to get one.

[TooCool]

Hope you had a terrific summer DB! Thanks for the write up!
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[angrypuppy]

Great Star Wars reference, DB.

Where were they hiding that Anthony Brown, The Machine II (in 3D)?

[Purp 32]

Thanks, DB!

[yinoma2001]

DB in mid-season form. Great writeup.
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From 2-10 to the Western Conference Finals

[pio2u]

THX DB!

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!! Great to start a new era with a win! Great to see some solid defense out there. That D also helped the offense start humming. I don't care if it's Sacramento's third unit or Golden State's first unit, understanding team defense and maintaining solid rotations really does matter. Several Lakers looked pretty promising for a first preseason game.

Really encouraged about Mosgov, Nance, Black and Ingram on defense, and for that matter DLO is getting better as well. I didn't note it watching the game but good to read that Clarkson is improving on a couple fundamentals as well. Add Deng to the list of players who understand how to defend.

I was not impressed with Randle though. If he can't make a defensive read or rotate properly when everyone else around him is starting to figure this out... I gotta remember it's only a first preseason game, but it's clear this team is getting some real coaching on defense and I hope it filters in for Randle soon.

Williams - still looks like a one-trick pony. Very good at that one trick, but Afflallo just abused him out there, and I question whether standing at the free throw line a lot is beneficial to his teammates getting into an offensive flow, even if he is scoring a lot of points per possession.

[AFireInside619]

Welcome back DB! Thanks You!

[Tanlentueux]

[Dr. Funkbot]

AB3 shooting lights out!
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R.I.P. Doc Buss

[sonic the laker]

[LakerEric]

Nance, Calderon, Black, and Brown = Strong

Mozgov, Deng, Clarkson = Solid

Williams (despite FTs), Russell, Ingram = Disappointing

Randle = Sheer frustration

Thank you DB
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Do you believe it now, Trinity? - Morpheous

[22]

That opening line was gold DB! Gold!