MAVS -at- LAKERS – 11-8-16 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Upset Night?… Without Larry Nance, Luke shuffled the lineup, running Calderon, Metta, Robinson and some odd lineup combinations that never came close to replacing the impact of Nance. He could never dial in the right combination. The defense struggled, collapsing with frequency and giving up easy scores. Throw in Barea with his usual job of lighting up the Lakers, and L.A. was on its heels all night, finally falling 109-97.

“They got us tonight,” Luke said.

Was it a step backwards? Sure. But anybody remember when the Lakers were 5-27 last year? It was nearly the end of December. So if they don’t get No. 5, even in game you think they should have, just remember back to 5-27. There’s been a lot of progress this year.

“They’re very well coached and their disciplined,” Luke said of the Mavs.

“We were too soft defensively and gave them too much easy stuff,” Randle said.


Russell -- -- Some foul trouble when he picked up 3 in the span of a few seconds. That limited some of his minutes in the first half, but may have also slowed him down in the second half when he had the hot hand. He picked up his fourth and Luke sat him shortly after. That’s just how the night went. Good job by Russell moving the ball and finding teammates. Defensively, all kinds of trouble covering Barea or whenever he switched. Those switches got our D collapsing and scrambling to help. “It was multiple possessions where I heard the horn go off and they were shooting it and the shot was going in…better offense beats better defense,” Russell said. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting (2-4 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 7 assists, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He found Nick for a couple threes and Randle for a jumper early on. He missed an 18-footer. After sitting he returned and was called for an offensive foul, bumping Barea before pulling up. He picked up a couple more fouls on the other end a few seconds later and went back to the bench. Second Half: Sloppy pass to start the half, just losing the handle really on it. He scored a breakaway layup shortly later, leaking out to take an outlet. He got tapped on a wing jumper off a brush screen. He attacked off a jumpball tapped and hit the And-1 jumper over Barnes, he missed the FT. He sank a pull-up 20-footer off the screen next time down. He pushed out the rebound with speed and bounced to Mozgov for the dunk on the next sequence. He sank a wing three off the high screen. He drained another wing three off the dribble handoff from Randle. He airmailed a cross-court pass, turnover. He missed a wing three out of a timeout. He found Randle for a layup. He missed an iso three at the end of the game.

Randle -- -- It seems like the ball was being fumbled away all night. Just way too many turnovers (and too few assists) by Jules. Those lost possessions hurt. The Lakers couldn’t get the pace of the game in their favor. Randle still managed the double-double, but when he’s flying up and down the court, we look better. “They just made tough shots,” Randle said. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-12 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive), 1 assist, 6 turnovers, 1 steal and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He airballed a runner, not close when he took off to shoot too far away and fading to his right. He sank a flat 19-footer. He muscled his way around his man and drew FTs, he made both FTs. He booted a dribble away out of a timeout. He put back in a missed layup in early offense. He up-faked to lose his man and attacked past him for a dunk. He attacked and was stripped. He missed a fade. He drew FTs on the break with Clarkson. He was blocked on a layup. He missed a layup he should have had. Second Half: He posted up and missed a banked jumphook over the smaller man. Nice help D challenge on a layup. Not close on a shot in a crowd, but he grabbed his own board and slammed it down. He tried to attack without getting control of a rebound and lost it. He was called for a moving screen next time down. He attacked across the lane and hit the lefty runner. He scored a layup taking a pass over a smaller man. He threw a pass away out of the post.

Deng -- -- Again, with Nance out someone needed to step up. Deng has looked marginal all season long. Tonight, when they needed him the most his brought little. He’s playing like he’s about $10 million overpaid right now, to be honest. Whether it’s just early and he needs to work himself into shape or he needs the team to click at a higher level offensively, hard to say. Just too little impact. “He’s got to find a way in 30 minutes to step it up when you know you got a player out,” Worthy said afterward. The criticism is starting to come. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He missed a wing three. He hit Mozgov from the post for a dunk. He missed a forced three against the shotclock. Second Half: He grabbed an offensive board and powered in a layup. He missed an open corner three. He missed a runner across the lane. He threw a pass away, right to the D.

Mozgov -- -- I was wishing for a bit more Mozgov tonight without Nance in there. “It’s tough because you’re trying to develop young guys at the same time,” Luke said. Sometimes you need to lean on him a little more, especially when you’re short-handed. Black gave them little to nothing tonight, Deng has been sub par. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -2. The Action: He dunked off the feed from the post by Deng. Second Half: He missed a runner. He missed a jumphook. Great job getting out on the break and filling the lane for Russell, who found him for a dunk.

Young -- -- Hot hand to start. He had the Lakers first 11 points as we looked for him on the first shot, then Russell found him for threes shortly later. It seemed like the Lakers were getting ready to roll behind him, but we couldn’t get stops. Barnes went off for 31 points against multiple Lakers defenders. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (3-6 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He swished a 20-footer coming off a screen on the weakside to start the Lakers scoring. He swished a wing three in early offense next time down. He was fouled on a three attempt next time down, he made all three FTs. He drained a corner three on the next possession. He sank a wing jumper after limping down court. He missed a wing three in transition. He missed a rushed jumper on an inbounds up against the clock. He swished a corner three on the kickout from Lou. He curled into the lane and hit the 14-footer. Short on a wing jumper. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He drew a charge on Barnes out of a timeout. He got tapped on a three in transition. He dunked off a loose ball scramble.

Clarkson -- -- He was on fire in the first half. His midrange jumper was money. He was breaking down defenders to get in the paint or stop on a dime and hit. I thought we should have played him longer in that first half. He had some bad turnovers in the second half, but was still strong. He played some better D as the game went on, as well. The Lakers could never put the clamps on as a unit. JC was definitely one of the better guys on the floor tonight. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-12 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 steals in 28 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a wing three. He hit a floater in the middle of the zone. He was blocked on a layup. He gave up a dunk on iso. He sank a pull-up wing jumper. He attacked the paint, drew contact on a wild drive and earned FTs, he made both. He attacked off the brush screen and hit the running scoop shot. He swished a pull-up 16-footer working off the high screen. He lost his man on a pull-back dribble and hit the baseline jumper. He pushed out the break and went between his legs to Randle for FTs. Second Half: Bad outlet that hung up in the air too long, throwing it away after a steal. He coughed up another one on a sloppy play. He scooped up the loose ball, pushed out, ball-faked and score the layup. He sank a three on a kickout. He sank a wing three. He attacked and kicked out to Lou for three. He deflected a pass off a man to get a stop (he was pissed when the ref initially didn’t call it right). He iso’d, crossed over Matthews and hit the short floater in the crowd. He missed the short pull-up. He had the ball stripped off him for a turnover.

Williams -- -- The Lakers bench was outscored 54-44 (Seth Curry looking better than Steph Curry on his way to 23). Not an efficient night from Lou with 15 points on 15 shots. There was a stretch late in the game where we had a chance to catch the Mavs one last time and Lou missed a point-blank layup (followed by Nick getting tapped on a three next time down). That was the nail in the coffin. We got some late stops, had our chance and our usually reliable Young/Williams couldn’t hit the big ones late. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-15 shooting (2-8 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed a wing three. He hoisted up a three expecting a whistle that didn’t come, he missed. He hit Black rolling for a layup. He missed a wing three. Change of pace in early offense and he scored a layup around his man. He was blocked on a drive. He sank a turnaround in the post. He kicked out to Nick for three. He swished a wing three on a kickout. Second Half: He missed a good look at a three at the end of the quarter. He attacked and drew FTs in early offense, he made one. He missed a wing jumper, not close. He sank a wing three on the kickout. He attacked in early offense and drew FTs, he made both. He got tapped on a fade. He missed a wing three. Straight line attack to the rim and he choked the layup, uggh. He missed a three.

Ingram -- -- He didn’t have his usual strong stat line in the +/- department as our lineups were in flux and never seemed to get it together. He wasn’t as sleepy as Deng. Hopefully, Ingram grows faster than Deng ages. Our SFs could not hang with Barnes tonight...and as little as Brandon contributed overall, it still looked better than Deng. It would be nice to get him some more looks at jumpers he can step into. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 form three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He attacked, took contact on Bogut, hung and finessed in the layup over him. He attacked the paint and missed the runner badly. He blocked a drive (that looked fumbled) out of bounds. He spun and missed a turnaround. He attacked and hit the runner down the middle of the paint. He deflected a pass off his man using that long wingspan to get stop. He threw a pass away. Second Half: He swished a wing three on a kickout. He didn’t hit rim having to heave up a shot to try to beat the shotclock.

Black -- -- Sleepy minutes from Tarik. The Mavs did rotate Bogut in against the second unit some tonight. The Lakers needed more from Tarik, however, with Nance out. Black was about as MIA as Nance was. The lack of notes says it all. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 15 minutes. He was a +0. The Action: He scored a layup off the screen-roll with Lou. Second Half: He missed a layup on the screen-roll.

Robinson -- -- Brief minutes before Luke sat him. Not much time to do anything. The Stats: He had 1 foul in 2 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half:

Calderon -- -- In games we run minutes for Calderon and Huertas, the Lakers haven’t been as strong. Luke went to Calderon briefly. He had 2 turnovers in his minutes out there (one should have been a kicked ball), but really no impact from Jose. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot, he had 2 turnovers and 1 board in 6 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He threw a pass away on his first touch for a dunk the other way (Luke was pissed it wasn’t called a kicked ball). Second Half: He did not play in the second half.

World Peace -- -- Some minutes as Luke looked to jumpstart the defense. No such luck. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 offensive board and 1 foul in 2:46. He was a -3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Not close on a wide open corner three. He was blocked on a layup. He fouled a shooter.

Walton -- -- Nick with the Lakers first 11 points, forcing a timeout up 11-5 after 2 minutes… They had a 19-14 lead midway through the quarter when the next timeout came… Ingram in for Mozgov… Clarkson and Lou in for Russell and Young, Black in for Randle… The Lakers led 27-25 after the first quarter… He went with the Black, Ingram, Clarkson, Calderon, Lou lineup… He was ticked about a no call from the refs. “In what world [or rule] is that not a kicked ball!” he yelled… Down 2, he called a timeout… Robinson in at PF, Ingram out… Ingram back in for Robinson shortly later, Lakers tied… Lakers up 4 when Black sat for Mozgov. Nick in for Calderon… Russell in for Lou. Randle in for Ingram.… The Lakers had a 10-point lead off a couple threes… Clarkson out after a great stretch with 3:45 left, Lakers up 8… Russell out with 3 fouls for Ingram… An 11-0 Mav run and the Lakers trailed by 4… Too much switching when they didn’t need to and too much doubling and collapsing defensively… The Lakers trailed 58-54 at the half… The Mavs pulled out to double digits… Russell getting pissed and heating it up to trim it back down to 3… Ingram in for Mozgov. Clarkson in for Young… The Lakers down 6, he brought in Metta and went with a Randle, Metta, Ingram, Clarkson, Williams lineup… Metta out for Nick, Lakers down 6 with a minute left… The Lakers trailed 83-77 heading into the fourth… They took a 2-point lead, but gave up a couple scores to Barnes and Luke called a timeout… Metta in… With 5:30 left, he brought in Randle, Young and Russell to go with Ingram and Clarkson, Lakers down 5… Lakers fell back further and Luke called a timeout…

[TDRock]

I was waiting for the write up cos I really didn't pay attention after halftime. Thanks DB

[tox]

Thanks DB

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Upset indeed. Thanks DB.

[Andre2K]

Feels like we gave this one away

Thanks DB
_________________
My Dream Starting 5 next Season

Pg Lonzo
Sg Kawhi
Sf Ingram
Pf Lebron
C Dedmon

Bench: Caruso, Hart, Bullock, Kuzma, McGee etc

[McSassy]

I was at the game...their body language in the second half was just disgusting

At least I got a free hat
_________________
LG -- We know drama.

[Smoothness101]

Well, if they wanted a bad game to go under the radar, this was the perfect night to do it.

[mhan00]

[Arbitrary]

What a night.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Thanks DB

[A Mad Chinaman]

Zone Defense Lesson
Kids were taken to school about how to play various zone defenses designed by a very good coach

[justsomelakerfan]

[Laker's Fan]

DB, you were generous with your commentary tonight.

The kids showed their lack of maturity in this one. It's not so much win/loss. But the way they let the refs get under their skin is a tell of a young team. Funny it came one game after Luke said they were more mature than given credit for. The lack of focus showed up in their offensive decision making and defensive effort.

Good for Luke not to come down on them too hard and to use it as a teaching moment. But by the same token this shouldn't go the way of free pass. Russell's 'good offense beats good defense' and Randle's 'they just made tough shots' is BS. They need to raise their hands as team leaders.
_________________
Austin Reaves keeps his game tight, like Kobe Bryant on game night.

[Chronicle]

Now it's doubly important to win the kings game
_________________
Kobe

[JamezAmp]

Terrible night on and off the court.

[Ujah's Goat]

I haven't seen a recap thread be this collectively deflated in a long time, pick it up guys!!!

Thanks DB!

[Fortysixn2]

Really disappointed. I thought that our core players played very hard and DAL was hitting a ton of shots. To me this loss was on Walton. MWP is something like 0-10 with 4 fouls in 10 minutes this year and Calderon continues to be weak. Without Nance around I understand Robinson needs to play, but there was no need to play either MWP or Calderon and it probably cost us the game.

I also thought that the officiating was weak. Has word gotten around the league to ice williams off of the foul initiating stuff? The last two games he's not getting nearly the amount of calls he's accustomed to.

The turnovers were on our players, but that was a winnable game....when you sub in a PG who can't play D who is averaging more TO's then assists + rebounds per game combined along with a player who hasn't scored all year you lose.

Walton

DLO
Swag
Ingram
Randle
Mosgov

JC + Lou + Deng + Nance + Black off the bench.

That's it. Deng has been hot garbage so far this year, be a leader and make that call!

[anth2000]

Took my family to the game for the first time (wife and three kids). My two boys (ages 8 and 11) were so excited to go. I scored free tickets from work in one of the B suites.

My observations:
Lakers came out hot, primarily Swaggy but were laxidasical at the defensive end. Barea, Curry and Barnes had any shot they wanted. Too many dunks, lay ups and 3-pt shots. I was pissed.

Luke's lineup changes were a little weak. Calderon was rusty and sloppy. Mozgov should have played more minutes. Thought Randle wasn't focused, Russell was sloppy but made some big shots in the second half. Deng was getting toasted by Barnes and the Lakers did a crappy job of guarding the perimeter. Oh, and it seemed a the Mavs were making most of their shots. I thought the Lakers were really sloppy with their passing and not communicating on defense.

Bummed to leave the game with my sons disappointed. Such a winnable game too.

[governator]

Trump is president, Lakers lost, I'm sober

Not a good night

[anth2000]

Exactly...crappy night. I can't believe Trump won. Boy, there are a lot of stupid Americans in this country. Wow.

[Chronicle]

Also they cast johnny depp to play wizard-hitler in the next harry potter movie.

all around awful night.

now obviously one of these is not as bad as the others. but come on... johnny depp???
_________________
Kobe

[Laker7]

Disappointed no Zubac with the lackluster play from Black and MWP.
_________________
Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Inspector Gadget]

Thanks DB, I'm expecting the team to get there act together on this 3 game trip.

[JM]

[10scott10]