RAPTORS -at- LAKERS – 1-1-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:19 pm    Post subject: RAPTORS -at- LAKERS – 1-1-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Hard to Stop the Bleeding Tonight… These are the ones on the schedule that you chalk up for a loss (unlike the last one). The Lakers weren’t going to win this game. Sure, anything could happen, but the Raptors are too consistent and healthy for crazy to occur.

With that, you go back to the goal at the start of the season, which is just to be competitive in games and see the team grow.

Luke got that from the squad tonight for most of the first three quarters. The Lakers had a 12-point lead at one point, lost it, but battled until the lid got blown off by a Raptor 22-5 run. The start of the fourth quarter, they fell apart on both ends (little to nothing from both Williams and Clarkson all game).

But Russell and Randle fought back in the fourth, trimming the once 19-point lead down to 6 with a few minutes left. Just too much of the Raptors All Star guards in this one with Lowry going for 41 and DeRozan for 31, and the Lakers fell 123-114.

“I thought our guys played really well for most of that game,” Luke said, “but that’s all it takes in this league when you’re an up and coming team is a couple bad segments here or there that can really take the chances away from you to win the game.”


Russell -- -- These are the games we’ll see with more and more consistency as his career goes along. His opponents tonight had the same issues when they were young. Russell had a good mix of scoring and passing (some great passes, actually, very clean with no turnovers). In the fourth, he tried to rally the team back from the hole they were in with 14 points in the quarter. He and Randle had some great stretches in that final quarter. Good to hear that Russell called Metta for some late-night workouts as he was getting ticked with how he and the team were playing. Hopefully, we get a few more like this and his critics can zip it for a while. “We all got to be up and engaged,” Russell said defensively of covering Lowry coming off screens. He didn’t get a lot of help in that regard as our bigs have issues. Russell also has to be engaged and aware on situations when he’s not using screens. Some breakdowns by Russell in that regard defensively, but yes our team D needs to do a much better job with PGs. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 9-18 shooting (6-12 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He missed a floater in the lane on our first possession. He swiped a pass under the hoop on some good D and then hit Nick for a transition three. Nice bounce pass to Mozgov for FTs at the rim. He swished a deep three when his man gave him some space. He quickly pushed up an inbounds and found Nick cross court for the three. He forced a turnover on an inbounds to get a stop. He missed a wing pull-up. He missed a pull-up three in transition (wished he gathered himself a little more). He attacked from the wing and drew FTs on the drive, he made both. He missed a rushed three on iso. He split defenders and drew FTs on the drive, he made both. Way short on too deep of a three. Nice brush screen on Mozgov’s man and it led to a dunk for his big. He got a straight line drive to the rim and scored the layup. He had 9 points on 2-7 shooting. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He pulled up off the high screen and hit the FT leaner. He missed a short jumper off a good pushout. He swished a wing three popping out for the catch and shoot. He missed a wing three in transition on a kickout. He swished a three in early offense. He swished another three on a post kickout from Deng. Herky-jerky drive and he hit the pull-up 14-footer. He sank a big three out of a timeout to cut it to 6. Nice bounce pass to Randle in the paint for a dunk. He sank a three off the elevator play. He up-faked and drew FTs standing on the three line, he missed both (I think the second one purposely). He missed a transition three.

Randle -- -- Again, Randle had one of those stretches on D in the fourth, where he just takes apart an opponent with his energy. They’re rare, but they’re flashes that you want to see from your youngster. “I got to be more consistent with it throughout the game. Those are the type of things I can do a lot. Obviously, it takes a lot of effort and energy and you get tired, but the more I do it, the more consistent I do it, the longer stretches I will be able to do it,” Randle said. Exactly. Again, I’d like Luke to put him into more pressure situations on the perimeter to trap and disrupt the screen-rolls just to activate him defensively and get him going. I love the quote above from him. It seems there’s some awareness about building that part of his game. His athleticism and speed are just too tough to handle when he’s pressuring on D. Good things happen for him and for the team. A lot of freethrows early on for Randle tonight, helping get the Lakers in the bonus early and shooting 19 first half FTs (highest half for the Lakers this season). Randle had 7 points in that first half, but all on FTs. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 3-10 shooting (9-10 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 6 assists, 2 turnovers, 3 steals, 2 blocks and 4 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He attacked to his left and was blocked at the rim. Wild possession, nearly losing the dribble a couple of times, but he recovered, attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He shook his man on the dribble and drew FTs on the drive left, he made both. He muscled his way across the lane on the dribble to earn more FTs, he made one. He threw a pass into Russell’s legs, turnover. He was stripped on a drive for a dunk the other way. He drew FTs on the putback attempt, he made both. He missed a jumphook in the post. He spotted Young in the corner for three. He missed a tough floater on iso. Second Half: He iso’d, up-faked his man on the jumper, leaned in and drew contact for more FTs, he made both. He setup Nick off the DHO for three. He attacked right, but missed badly bringing it back to his left. Good job getting down to dig out a loose ball under the hoop to get a stop. He missed a fade in the lane. He missed a drive, throwing up a floater instead of attacking hard. He swiped an inbounds pass and took it for a dunk. Aggressive D again on the perimeter to knock a ball away and take it the distance for a layup. He rejected a layup after chasing a guard out of the lane, then recovering to his man. He dunked off the pocket pass from Russell. Nice screen on the elevator play to free up Russell for the three.

Deng -- -- He picked up DeRozan in the second half with Nick getting 3 fouls. I thought he had some good moments defensively whenever those two were going head to head. Might have been nice had he started off there as DeRozan lit us up early on. Offensively, Deng had an offensive putback for his only score. He looked a little rushed on the shot tonight. I hate seeing us give him the ball in the post for a long turnaround jumper. When he’s got a smaller man on him, I’d rather see us set something up where he can seal someone under the hoop and make it a little easier on him when he’s got a smaller man hiding on him. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He missed a wing three off a handoff. Nice challenge on iso D on the other end to get a stop. He missed a wing three. He grabbed a missed three in transition and put it back in. Extra pass in the paint to Mozgov for a layup. Second Half: Nice challenge on DeRozan’s jumper to get a miss. He missed a wing three. He airballed a step-back in the post on iso. He was blocked on a dunk to wreck a great pass from Russell.

Mozgov -- -- The Raptors were picking on him a bit. Again, we get to switching and bad things happen. If we don’t do that, we give up midrange to some midrange shooters in this one as he plugs the paint. So that’s our M.O. and we got picked apart. Vets got to show up better than this. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-6 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover, 1 steal, 1 block and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He missed a jumphook after several dribbles. He missed a lefty reverse. He drew FTs at the rim on the bounce pass from Russell, he made both. Good help D on the baseline to force a turnover. He regained possession drawing a foul on the offensive glass. He threw an outlet away. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Deng. Good challenge on a guard on a drive. He missed a point-blank layup. He popped out off a Russell screen, up-faked the closing defender at the elbow, attacked and dunked. He picked up one of those wimpy techs only given out in this era’s game on some contact on a drive. Second Half: He missed a FT jumper, rushing it a bit.

Young -- -- He just broke Nick Van Exel’s record for threes over an 8-game stretch. He drained some early threes to get the Lakers going offensively and finished 7-9 from three tonight. He’s killing it from three this year. “He’s letting them come in the flow of the game,” Luke said. In the past, he’s tried to iso, pound the dribble and launch. In our offense, it’s quick strikes – catch and shoots, working off dribble handoffs or taking a dribble left before firing. “It’s a blessing they’re going in,” Nick said, mentioning he didn’t want to jinx himself. Luke has helped him resurrect his career. I could have used a few more minutes from both Russell and Young tonight with how badly our bench guards were playing. They each had 30, but 33-34 could have made this a little more interesting. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 8-14 shooting (7-9 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 turnovers, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He swished a wing three in transition. He threw a lob away, stuck with it to swipe the ball from behind, then drilled the three. He missed a wing three on iso. He swished a wing three in transition as Russell pushed up an inbounds quickly. He missed a sideline three moving to his left. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He drained a corner three off the kickout. He pushed out the break and lost the handle in a crowd. He missed a wing jumper and wanted the foul. He had 12 points on 4-8 shooting. Second Half: He sank a pull-up at the top of the key. He sank a catch-and-shoot sideline three coming off the screens. He sank a wing three off the handoff from Randle. He drew a charge on D beating his man to the spot in transition. He spun and missed a wild drive in semi-transition (Luke got on him for that one). He was fouled from three as Russell drew defenders on the loop and went to Nick on the opposite side, he made all three. He drew a moving screen call to get a stop. Unaware of the shotclock and he didn’t get one off with 2:22 left down 8. He sank a three coming off a wing screen to catch a pass. He missed a three on a kickout from Randle.

Clarkson -- -- It wasn’t so much as an ugly game from JC as just an ineffective one. He did nothing on offense except provide opportunities for our bigs to bail us out with offensive boards. Better effort than Lou on D, but many when both Clarkson and Lou aren’t scoring, the second unit is not going to last against a team like the Raptors. At least Clarkson didn’t force things again and again like Lou. That at least contained the suckage tonight. Definitely couldn’t wait for Russell and Young to return in this one. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and no fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: Nice post entry to Black in transition to earn FTs. Short on the lob to Black but he dunked after fighting for it. He didn’t hit rim on a wing three. He knocked over a couple of Raptors on a drive in semi transition and scored the And-1, he missed the FT. He poked a handoff off a man out of a timeout to get a stop. He was tripped with no call. Second Half: He missed a point-blank layup in transition. Wild runner across the lane out of a timeout and he missed. He missed a corner three.

Williams -- -- He was awful tonight. I don’t think it was Toronto knowing his game, it was just bad decisions by Lou again and again. He sucked some of the energy and life from the second unit and provided no resistance on the defensive end. When he doesn’t have it going offensively (which is rare), you’ve got to limit the minutes. I couldn’t wait for him to get back to the bench tonight. It just wasn’t there at all. He got swatted a number of times on drives to the line. He sank a couple of threes but we lost the game in that early fourth quarter with our bench. He even missed both FTs he took. Usually when he’s not shooting well he can draw FTs and still put up efficient numbers. No tonight. Killed us. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting (2-4 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 1 assist and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He curled around the D and scored a layup before going down. He was blocked on a drive, got it back and missed a corner three. He missed a three in transition. He swished a wing three in transition, holding the follow through. He attacked the paint and couldn’t finish the floater, taking contact. He was swatted on a drive. Second Half: Bad D giving up an easy layup in early offense. He missed a short runner on the other end. He crossed over and took a knee to the leg to draw FTs, he missed both. He sank a corner three on a kickout. He was easily swatted on a drive. He attacked the paint and was swatted again.

Ingram -- -- Finally…Finally Brandon Ingram went strong on a drive and hammered over someone. He’s got the length and athleticism, but just never puts that all together for a finish at the rim. He did in the third quarter tonight after crossing over DeRozan on the wing and taking it hard to the rim for the throwdown. “I saw an opening, so I just took it,” Ingram said. He was looking more aggressive on the drive tonight. The flashes are there, but it’s going to be a while. Certainly, the finishing around the rim has improved as the season has gone along. The three shooting, however, is MIA. He is slumping badly. Another 0-3 tonight as the confidence from beyond the arc is gone. He’ll need an offseason to work on his shot, but it certainly has nowhere to go but up right now. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +0. The Action: Quick drive to his right off the pass in transition and he scored a layup around the D. He saved a ball in the corner to help get a stop. He missed a wide open corner three. He airballed a chuck from three put in a bad position on a kickout. Second Half: He crossed over DeRozan on the wing, attacked with speed, elevated and hammered. Another blow by from the wing, getting low on the dribble and he just missed the And-1 layup, he made both FTs. He missed an elbow pull-up jumper. He broke down the D off the dribble and hit Robinson for a dunk. He missed a tough turnaround. He missed a good look a three on a kickout.

Black -- -- Back on the court and playing at full speed. He had 8 boards in his first 7 minutes. That was the best stretch for the bench tonight. Not quite the impact in the second half, but Luke said Black’s ankle was hurting him at halftime. He and Robinson certainly had chemistry on the offensive glass, but the D is where they need to tighten the screws more. The two had a bad breakdown with a little over 8 minutes left that led to an uncontested dunk and a timeout by Luke. Good to see Tariq back. We missed him. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-6 shooting (5-5 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive) and 3 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: Strong roll to the hoop and he drew FTs, he made both. Rim run to seal his man and he drew FTs on the post entry, he made both. He battled for a lob pass, pulled it in and then dunked. He grabbed a missed three, tried to elevate and had it knocked loose but Robinson cleaned it up. He recovered a tough lob pass, tried to score on iso, missed, got it back, missed, but Robinson cleaned it up. Second Half: He powered in an And-1 jumphook off the feed from Robinson, he made the FT. He spun and missed a jumphook.

Robinson -- -- He had the Nance rotation minutes in this one. He’s not going to replace Nance who can help hold up our poor defending guards. “I thought they were great,” Luke said. Ultimately, that may torpedo his minutes, but he can impose his will on the glass (7 offensive boards tonight). He and Black had a combined 12 points and 12 boards (6 offensive) in their 7 minutes of action in the first half. That was the best stint of the second unit tonight. I think Robinson tried to do a little too much in the second half offensively and that got him into trouble on a couple of occasions, but he still had his moments on that end. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-9 shooting to go with 9 boards (7 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He battled for a missed three and scored the putback. He grabbed a loose ball from Tariq and scored the layup. Black missed a couple shots, but Robinson cleaned up the second one with the putback. He missed a jumphook off a spin. Second Half: He crashed the glass and tipped in the Randle missed jumper. He iso’d on the baseline, attacked with speed, muscled his man backward and powered in the layup. He tried to take it coast to coast and lost the handle, turnover. He found Black in the paint for the And-1. He attacked and missed a short one. He battled for a board and kicked it out to Lou for the three. He forced a guard into a travel under the paint. He dunked off the drive and dish from Ingram, but he and Black got lost defensively and gave up the dunk on the other end.

Walton -- -- The Lakers led 18-17 midway through the quarter. Nick and Russell hitting threes early… Black in for Mozgov with 5:35… Lakers down 3 when Ingram, Robinson, Williams came in… Clarkson in for Young… Good minutes by Black/Robinson frontcourt, a lot of energy on the offensive glass and they dominated... The Lakers led 33-27 after the first… When Black sat for Randle after a minute and a half of the third, the Lakers had a 9-point lead (he had 6 points and 8 boards in 7:12 of action)… The Raptors called a timeout with the Lakers up 42-30 a few seconds later… Mozgov in for Robinson, same lead… Ingram finally out for Young. Timeout shortly later with the Lakers up only 5... Full starters back in out of that… The lead was trimmed to 2, but they pushed it back to 7 to force a timeout… The Raptors tied it up, picking on Mozgov on switches… The Lakers trailed 58-57 heading into the half. The Lakers made 17-19 from the line and had 9 offensive boards… Deng on DeRozan to start the second half… Nick hitting from the perimeter to start the half again and the Lakers led by 5, forcing a timeout… He brought in Robinson for Mozgov out of that… Lakers up 1 when Lou, Ingram and Clarkson came in… Lakers up 1 when Black came in for Randle with over 3 minutes left… The Lakers trailed 85-83 heading into the fourth… This is where things fell apart. Quick timeout by Luke as they quickly fell back by 9 after just a little over a minute… Down 13, he brought in Randle and Russell for Lou (who was horrible) and Robinson with 8 minutes to go… Down by 19, the Lakers started to rally behind some defensive energy by Randle (two steals and a block) and they cut it to single digits… Down 9 with 3 minutes left, Luke called a timeout. They drew up a three for Russell off a brush screen from Nick and they cut it to 6… Down 7, interesting play as Russell missed a FT, Randle had lined up at the three line, came crashing in to pull down the miss and he kicked it out to Nick (who missed the three). See if we revisit that play some time with a game on the line… “We lost to a really good team tonight,” Luke said…
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Dylandogg
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:21 pm    Post subject:

first?

I thought it was a great game. Starting to see some things coming around. Loved Ingram's aggression.


Last edited by Dylandogg on Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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LakerLanny
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:22 pm    Post subject:

Happy New Year DB!
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Gimme_the_rock
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:23 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!!!
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 10:27 pm    Post subject:

LakerLanny wrote:
Happy New Year DB!


Happy New Year, Lanny!

And everyone else, too.
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justsomelakerfan
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 11:23 pm    Post subject:

DAMN IT I missed a great game. Thank you for the recap
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SweetP
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 01, 2017 11:33 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
I enjoyed this game mostly, lots of good stretches against a good team. Some lapses and not everyone showed up (Lou and JC) but some nice play by Black and Robinson and multiple flashes of skill and talent from the kids. Hoping they start putting all together more as the season goes on.

And glad to see Russell get some extra minutes in also.
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:51 am    Post subject:

Hopefully the youngsters will embrace the lessons being handed to them

As Big James stated, the team doesn't know how to win games - at this time. Knowing how to win doesn't guarantee victories every time . .

The consecutive "one and outs" in the second half was deadly

When opposing teams amp up their intensity and execution, the team doesn't have the experience to respond

Hopefully they will learn soon
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tox
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 12:54 am    Post subject:

Happy New Year everyone, and thanks for the breakdown DB!
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sonic the laker
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 7:06 am    Post subject:

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!

Even though we lost, the effort was there, which I loved, and is something I hope the team gets back to, and builds off of, going forward. Thanks as always, DB!!


ZOOM!!!!!
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 02, 2017 8:51 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Missed the game; appreciate the recap. Good to see that Russell and Randle amped it up and that the Lakers aren't quitting in spite of the losses. I still think they're going to turn this thing around. Get better soon Gary Lance!!
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