LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS – 1-14-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:58 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS – 1-14-17 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Sleeping In… The Lakers rested Deng and slid Lou into the starting lineup, similar to the preseason games where we tested this without a lot of success. The offense looked like it was back in the preseason, as well, to start the game. The flow was off, the spacing was clunky, players weren’t quite sure what teammates were going to do and the Lakers offense had just 8 points in the first 9 minutes.

The team has shown a consistent inability to deal with roster changes. The first unit typically knows what they are doing. The second unit knows their game. You can swap out a bigman between the lineups, but for the most part all the hybrid units really suffer. The Lakers had 12 turnovers in the first half. Those turnovers turned to transition points and the Lakers were down 58-39 at the half.

That was the lowest first half scoring for the Lakers this season as they apparently slept in for this early start.

So down 19, Luke went to Ingram in the second half ending that experiment. Ingram fits with both starters or bench. The Lakers quickly cut the lead to 11 in under 2 minutes and forced a timeout. (A great quarter by Ingram in that third, by the way.)

The Lakers hurt the cause by missing a ton of freethrows, especially in that third quarter. They left 11 points at the line, going 10-21 today.

The hole they dug themselves in early on proved to be too big. Again, in the fourth while we had one of those hybrid lineups out there as Luke was in the middle of rotations, the Lakers got throttled again, trailing by 17 and forcing a timeout. The game was out of reach. They fell to Clippers 113-97 in a D’Andre Jordan dunkfest.


Russell -- -- Sluggish game from Russell. Some moments against Clipper guards defensively by Russell in the first half (blocking and drawing a clear-out foul against Redick on a drive, using his length well to disrupt Paul from clean passes), but a sluggish half offensively. In the second half, no real impact from Russell like they need. They played much better offensively with Ingram on the floor with him versus Lou, but Russell never really got into the flow. ”He’s been magnificent for us the whole month. Tonight, I didn’t think he had that same bounce in his step for whatever reason,” Luke said. He wanted Russell to be more aggressive. “I’d rather him err on the side of being aggressive,” Luke said, wanting him to take every good look he gets. “He’s 20 years old. There’s ups and downs. You don’t just figure it out in this league and then never have slipups again.” He said it’s part of the process in learning how to bring it consistently. We’ll be hard pressed to win games where he’s scoring 5 points. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-7 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 5 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -19. The Action: He missed a pull-up at the FT line. He missed a baseline pull-up. Nice off ball cut to take a pass, he then slipped an interior pass to Mozgov for the layup. He tried to dribble through a crowd and lost it. He deflected a pass but banged knees in the process and went down. Not close on a floater bank attempt that didn’t hit rim. Poor angle on Paul and he gave up a lob dunk with the getting D collapsed. He grabbed an offensive board and rest the offense. He drew FTs on a jumper and made both. He drew a clear-out foul on Redick as he rejected his drive. He was stripped on the perimeter. He missed a tech FT, way short. He sank a pull-up wing jumper working off a screen. He found Calderon for three. He had 4 points, 4 boards, 3 assists and 2 turnover at the half. Second Half: He missed a pull-up working the two-man game. He hit Ingram for a corner three. He drew FTs on a drive, getting a player pushed into him, he made one. He missed a wing three. He couldn’t finish a reverse on a baseline drive.

Randle -- -- Randle twisted an ankle while giving Nick a high-five in transition. He said he’ll be fine, but he was hobbling pretty good after that. “We’ve got to come in with a better focus,” Randle said. He’s one of the guys that starts with. Luke had some criticisms of his bigs in the start of the game. “We weren’t setting hard screens, we weren’t rolling hard,” Luke said. That’s been a criticism of Randle for a while. He’s great on those screens of DHO’s or kickbacks, but he’s not invested a lot on all the off-ball and on-ball screens outside of that. Luke also didn’t like the tone of the game. Randle’s energy can set that tone probably more than anyone. He’s got to bring it. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: He missed a step-back baseline jumper on iso. He airballed a floater and was called for a travel when he grabbed the miss. He missed a tough turnaround bank. Soft touch on a turnaround in the lane. He missed a jumper. He missed a jumper from the top of the key. He was called for an offensive foul using too much elbow. He swished a tough elbow jumper at the buzzer getting some contact with no call, he was ticked. Second Half: He missed a short one across the lane.

Williams -- -- Probably a good idea to rest Deng on the back to backs on occasion. He looked poor in the previous game and seems to bounce back after some time off. Luke went with Lou in the starting lineup this time instead of Ingram, however, and that put us in the hole as the starters struggled to get into any rhythm. Lou and JC have a way of playing together with quick strikes on both sides of the floor. The starters flow better off ball movement. When Luke changed things up in the second half, we saw better moments from both starters and our bench. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-12 shooting (2-5 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover, 1 steal and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -10. The Action: His pass was picked off for points the other way when he looked unsure whether Mozgov was cutting or popping (Mozgov seemed unsure, too). He attacked Jordan and hit the layup high off glass. He missed a floater over Jordan. He missed a floater at the FT line. He drained a wing three, drifting to his left off the high screen. Nice job tagging the roller then recovering to his own man and we forced the Clippers into a challenged missed jumper. He setup Robinson for FTs on the other end. He was blocked on a drive, dunk the other way. He missed a wide open three. He missed an off-balance floater. Another good challenge on a jumper. He had 5 points on 2-7 shooting. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He wanted a foul on a three at the end of the quarter, getting blocked with no call and he let the ref have it. Another good challenge on a jumper. He swished a three, fading to his left. He drew the reach foul on a three and made all three FTs. He set up Black for FTs on a drive. He missed an off-balance floater.

Young -- -- “It comes with the process of not playing the right way,” Nick said of the Lakers freethrow issues, mentioning the basketball gods don’t approve of the way they were playing the rest of the game. We slid him over the SF spot with Deng out. Nick warmed up in the second half when he was at the SG. Although, Russell threw a pass to him in the second half on the perimeter that Nick just ran by and Russell had to chase it down and recover. Rivers was ticked that nothing was called (although, I think Russell may have only passed it with one hand, so not an issue). Other than that, he was playing much more in rhythm with the team and they had some good moments in that third. Decent job scoring, just hope the rest of his game picks up more, as well. Not a lot of little things done from Nick today. The Stats: He scored 11 points 4-9 shooting (2-5 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 steal and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -17. The Action: He missed a three straight away. He missed a corner three. Nice D chasing Reddick over a screen and forcing a brick on the challenge. He pushed out a steal and scored a layup with his left. He blew past his man but missed a reverse (he should have dumped it to Mozgov who probably would have dunked). Second Half: He drained a three on the catch and shoot off a high screen. He took the outlet and pushed out for a layup. He swished a corner three on a kickout. He drew FTs off the dribble, he made just one. He missed a corner three.

Mozgov -- -- Luke didn’t like the spacing in the starters, specifically mentioning our bigs weren’t setting screens and rolling (which will suck defenders in). Mozgov set screens but wasn’t terribly active after that (he did have some moments, for sure, but we were out of sync). There was a play with him and Lou where it looked like Mozgov wasn’t sure whether he was going to pop or roll and neither was Lou, who then threw it away trying to get it to him. So offensively the starters really struggled out of the gates. Defensively, DeAndre Jordan had a ton of dunks. “It would be nice to foul him once in a while,” Luke said. That’s mostly on the help D because Mozgov has to come over and challenge Paul briefly before trying to recover. Jordan had 24 points and 21 boards on 12-13 shooting, going just 0-1 from the line. So, yeah, the team needed to help out, foul and disrupt those plays and mix things up on D more. Mozgov also had a terrible play where he didn’t hustle in transition (not sure he was even at half court when the score happened), but it was Jordan throwing down a putback dunk after a guard missed the layup on the breakaway. That’s your man beating you down court. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 block and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He hammered a lefty dunk over his man off the drive and dish (nice dive cut). He missed a tip in attempt. He drew a foul on the offensive glass to regain a possession. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Russell in tight quarters (good hands). Illegal screen out of a timeout. He missed a rushed wing jumper up against the shotclock (probably had time to gather himself more). He missed a point-blank tip in. Jordan with a putback dunk in transition, Mozgov wasn’t even close to him (nor any other Laker, but he didn’t hustle back). He blocked a drive. Second Half: He was fouled on a putback dunk after rolling to the hoop, he missed the And-1 FT. He was called for a goaltending and a tech. He faked the turnaround in the post, got Jordan in the air and dunked. He kicked out to Ingram for the open three.

Clarkson -- -- I mentioned in the last one that I thought he was due for a big game. He was looking good with the shot, hitting three threes and mixing in his usual floaters and midrange jumpers. Hopefully, he keeps that going and other guys join him. We’ve got so many young guys that we don’t get the consistency from multiple players. He’s had plenty of ups and downs this season. “We just got to keep continuing to grow together and move the ball,” Clarkson said. He’s been awful at the line lately, but good to see he wasn’t part of the FT problem in this making both his attempts. Hopefully, that issue clears up, as well, for him. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-14 shooting (3-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -11. The Action: He charged in transition. He hit a floater working off the high screen. He missed the short floater instead of trying to go up strong off a baseline cut. He sank a three off a flare cut when his man gambled for a pass and missed. He swished a long pull-up jumper working off the high screen. Crappy kickout pass that a wide open Ingram had to save and we ended up with a bad possession. He missed a pull-up jumper out of a timeout. He drew FTs on a floater across the lane, he made both. He swished a wing jumper working off the screen. He broke his man off the dribble, drew the help and bounced to Black for the layup. Second Half: He forced up an off-balance perimeter jumper and missed. His pass was picked off out of a timeout. He dunked off the Ingram steal. He found Ingram flashing weak to strong for a jumper. Nice pressure in the passing lane to force a turnover. He missed a corner three, not sure if he should draw contact on the shot or not and missing as a result. He swished a floater across the lane. He got contact in the lane and hit the floater, but he missed the And-1 FT. Good boxout on a big forcing a foul call. He missed a tough turnaround against the shotclock. He sank a wing catch-and-shoot three. He pulled a ball out and hit a wing three against Jordan.

Ingram -- -- I mentioned it above (and actually wrote that intro at halftime) but I thought not starting Ingram was a mistake. In his 31 minutes tonight, he was a +2 in a blowout. I was pleasantly surprised when Luke started BI in the second half (glad to see him make the in-game change…but we were in a deep hole). That made for much more enjoyable basketball as Ingram moved the ball well, spaced the floor hitting threes and moved off ball, as well. Luke gave him extended run, sliding him to the PF and keeping in the game for extra minutes in the half. It’s not just the scoring from Ingram. For instance, there was a play where he went cross court to Young for the open three. If that was Lou in the game, he might have kept the ball and looked to create something off the dribble and the ball doesn’t move from side to side. Luke also wanted him to bring the ball up so that Russell can work off ball a little more. Love seeing the confidence from him improving in all aspects of his game right now. “Keep going back and putting more work in so I can be more consistent,” he said. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-8 shooting (2-2 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal and no fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a turnaround in the post. Great bounce pass to Robinson rolling but he choked the layup. He attacked from the wing quickly off the handoff and he scored a layup to start the second quarter. Great pass to Black on the screen roll, but Black was blocked by the help D on the dunk. He got tapped on a drive across the lane. He missed a pull-up jumper. Second Half: He swished a corner three on a kickout. Nice dive but he was blocked from behind (not sure if going off one foot might have helped there). On the subsequent inbounds pass under the hoop he drew FTs on the layup attempt, he made one. He sank a corner three on a kickout. He found Nick across court for a three. He was fouled on a drive in semi-transition, he made both FTs. He swiped a pass on a kickout. He found Black for a tricky layup. He flashed to the ball, got the pass and hit the short jumper in the lane. He had to create with the shotclock low and drew FTs on the pull-up at the elbow, he made one.

Black -- -- It figures the one time someone tries to wrap of Jordan under the hoop that Tarik allows him an And-1 layup, not grabbing both arms. That’s about right for our execution on anything lately. Poor start of the game from Tarik, but he improved as the game went along. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 turnovers, 1 block and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -8. The Action: He was blocked on a throw down attempt. He blocked a drive on help D. He charged on a drive on iso. He was fouled after grabbing an offensive board. He was held on the offensive glass to regain the possession. He scored a layup off the bounce pass from Clarkson. Second Half: He scored a layup with his left off the pass from Ingram. Jordan out muscled him for an offensive board, Black tried to wrap him up and gave and And-1 layup instead. Illegal screen, moving on the handoff. He drew FTs on a drive and dish from Lou, he made both. He scored an And-1 layup on the screen-roll, he missed the FT.

Zubac -- -- He took the post feed from Metta, faked right, spun left and hit the skyhook over Speights in the fourth. “Swing it, Big Fella,” AC Green said after the game. That was one of the better ones I’ve seen from anyone trying to learn that shot. Laker fans are going to love him when he develops the rest of his game and grows. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting in 2:33 of action. He was a +1. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He sank a skyhook over Speights in the post. Good challenge on a jumper on the other end.

Huertas -- -- He came in late in the third as Luke changed up his rotations. Chris Paul started picking on him defensively in the fourth quarter after we cut the lead to 12. There were no good matchup for him defensively, so he should have sat, but didn’t. Even Huertas missed both his FT attempts. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 2 assists and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed an open elbow pull-up jumper. Horrible angle on D and he gave a straight-line layup. He probed in transition and hit the short jumper. Clippers picking on Huertas’s D. He worked the two-man game and hit Black rolling for the And-1 layup. He was swatted badly on a drive. He was fouled in transition and missed both FTs. He probed in early offense and swished the floater.

Robinson -- -- Several possession by Robinson in the first half that should have been scores where we ended up with nothing. Those hurt the second unit and we lost a little ground. Luke took him out of the rotation in the second half, running Ingram at PF instead. Only bringing T-Rob back in for garbage time. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting to go with 3 boards and 1 foul in 9 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He gave up FTs off ball with a foul (ball wasn’t even past half court). He bullied Bass under the rim and scored the layup. He choked an uncontested layup that should have been a dunk. He took the pass from Lou and was fouled on the layup attempt, he missed both FTs. He missed a layup off a quick attack off the dribble. Second Half: He missed a 16-footer.

Calderon -- -- Quiet minutes from him as he’s not an energy guy coming off the bench. This time he got thrown into the battle early instead of garbage time. He hit a couple jumpers in his limited time. The Stats: He scored 5 point son 2-3 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 1 turnover in 6:31. He was a -3. The Action: He missed a wing three on a kickout. His pass was picked off. He swished a wing three on a kickout. Second Half: He sank an elbow jumper.

World Peace -- -- In for garbage time with a couple minutes left. He was the one who fed Zubac in the post for that sweet skyhook. Thank you, Metta. Good seeing him up off the bench trying to fire the team in the third quarter. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and no fouls (what?) in 2:33. He was a +1. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He missed a wing three. He missed a three at the buzzer.

Walton -- Not a fan of his rotations in this game. Lou to start for Deng. Lakers down 16-8 when Clarkson came in for Lou… Timeout with 2:56 left, Lakers down 10 with still on 8 points… He brought in Black, Robinson and Ingram out of that for Mozgov, Randle and Russell… The Lakers trailed 26-15 after the first quarter… Black, Robinson, Ingram, Lou, Clarkson to start the second quarter… Some bad sequences by the Laker bigs on both ends and the lead started to slip further, so Luke called a timeout… Randle back in for Robinson… Lakers down 12 when Russell returned for Williams… Down 15, he brought in Calderon for Clarkson, Mozgov back in for Black… The Lakers trailed 58-39 at the half. The Clippers had a 12-2 advantage in transition points off 12 Laker turnovers… Ingram in the starting lineup for Lou in the second half and the flow was back… The Lakers cut the Clipper lead in half… Clarkson in for Randle and Luke went super small with Ingram at PF down 13… Not making FTs hurting the Laker cause this game. They missed a bundle… Mozgov out for Black, Lakers down 14… Lou in for Young… Huertas in for Russell… The Lakers trailed 84-68 heading into the fourth… He went with Black, Ingram, Clarkson, Lou, Huertas… They trimmed it to 12 and Rivers brought back in his starters early… Paul started picking on Huertas and that was that. Should have gone to a starter on Paul… Late run for Zubac and Metta…
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SweetP
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:09 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB, missed this one entirely.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:16 pm    Post subject:

When the losing gets to me and I get upset, I think of last year and how we were so much worse ... 17 wins all season, with only fleeting hope of a kept pick for all the tanking. We'll, we've already got 15 wins this year and that pick game through and became Ingram. After a deep breath, I can sit back and enjoy the progress of the young core, particularly Ingram's recent stretch. There are so many mediocre teams in the NBA with worse future outlooks than us - I can handle the growing pains for now in the hopes of a chip down the road.
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Andre2K
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:31 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB

I just want to gush about Ingram for his heady play this game. The kid is gonna be special
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:50 pm    Post subject:

I just got home and saw the score. Well heck. I'll still watch the game later. Thanks for the T&R DB!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 5:42 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

I really think there's something to starting Ingram alongside DLO and letting Ingram do some of the ball handling. They both thrive off ball movement, have high IQ's, they both have the length to defend. Ingram taking the ball up some of the time allows DLO to take a more aggressive stance towards scoring, and that in turn could light a fire under him. Clarkson and Williams thrive off of direct attacks, with Deng and Nance alongside them I think they'd get along just fine.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:21 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 7:11 pm    Post subject:

Just watching the game right now, I'am at half time and I'am already done with it. They don't give a (bleep).
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2017 11:28 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

Got a feeling this one is on Luke...
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Lakers depth chart

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C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 5:49 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB

It will be a fun ride watching Luke discover what roles are best for our young talent. It is obvious that finding a leader who can always make an impact in games is missing, though there are many well-intentioned wannabes.

People often say leaders/impactful players can be develop. Most of the time, these characteristics are clearly evident at the very beginning

DLO is a talented shooter and passer whose strengths start with being a consistent "catch-and-shoot" player. Good complimentary player

Randle is a talented energy player that can be a triple threat force. He can one of the stars that periodically kickstart the team

JC is a player that can periodically be a talented fireplug - ala LouWill.

BI is a high potential rookie that can help the team in many ways

Nance is a players whose basketball IQ and maturity is presently sorely missed. Doesn't fill the stat sheets but usually involved in winning moments
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 15, 2017 5:26 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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