LAKERS -at- NUGGETS – 3-9-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:53 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS – 3-9-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Unable to Close Tonight… Soft defensive first quarter inside and out from the Lakers as they gave up 37 points and fell behind by 9. Just no fight in the dog early on. They would rally, though.

Both teams were knocking down their threes. The Nuggets sank 11 threes in the first half, and the Lakers hit 8 themselves to only trail by 3.

Midway through the fourth, the Lakers took a 3-point lead off KCP three (he’d sink five tonight). A series of turnovers would cost them.

Down 6, they cut it back to a few possessions later. They had a chance to tie it, but IT missed a layup he should have had. Lonzo had another chance to tie it with a three and couldn’t connect. Lonzo would get another shot blocked and then turn the ball over and that was that. It was much closer than the final score, but the Lakers fell 125-116.

“Our turnovers killed us tonight. We had 16 turnovers for 30 points against a good team,” Luke said.

The game was there in the final minute for them. Just a few too many miscues in that fourth.


Ball -- -- Not a good close to the game by Lonzo. He had a great tip in of a Lopez miss, then had a chance to tied it up but missed a three with a minute left. Follow that up with getting blocked on a drive shortly later, then a turnover and those two possessions buried us for good. I do like some of the energy he was playing with at the end of the game. As he becomes more polished, you could see where he’d be imposing will. He’s rookie and just not quite there yet. He had 9 points on 4-8 shooting and 3 assists in the first half. He would make just 1-8 threes tonight, missing two in the final minute. The three stats include a couple running, deep pull-up threes at the end of quarters (so more like a 1-6 type of impact). Good job with the offensive boards. A little turnover prone on offense, especially in that fourth. Defensively, he had 4 steals and was close on a couple more. I’m looking forward to when he gets a little stronger to be able to defend drives a little better. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-16 shooting (1-8 form three) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 8 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He hit Lopez on the rim run for the score. He missed a three on a kickout. Bad read on the two-man game, turnover, three the other way. He got a three to crawl in after a couple bounces. He worked the two-man game and hit the short floater. He missed a three on a kickout. Great job changing ends as a rebound was tapped out, we got and found Lonzo for the dunk. He grabbed a board and put it in before coming down. He missed a challenged floater in the lane. He pushed it up and kicked to KCP for a corner three. He swiped an outlet and missed a deep three at the halftime buzzer. Second Half: He missed a three on a kickout. He swatted a man from behind in transition. He iso’d on a big and swished a step-back from the top of the key. He then swiped a ball with a great weakside read of the pass over fronting D and ignited the break for a score. He dished on the break and then tipped in the Laker miss. He missed a deep three pushing up the break at the buzzer. He lost the ball on a pushout, taking contact with no call. He set up Lopez for an open jumper at the FT line on the two-man game. He crashed the glass and tipped in the Lopez miss, huge play with just over a minute left. But he would miss a big three with a minute left trying to tie it up. He attacked in transition and was blocked out of bounds. He threw a pass away with 20 seconds left. He missed a tough turnaround three at the end of the game.

Randle -- -- He had a couple of plays with the ball in his hands driving down the lane that were impressive. Changes of speed and direction, under control and finishing with ease. He’s tough to handle in those situations and is only going to get better. He struggled a little to finish around the rim tonight, missing some chippies or getting swarmed unable to finish. He had 10 points on 3-8 shooting in the first half. He made 3-4 in the second half. He didn’t finish this game, either, as the Nuggets went on a little run right after he entered in the fourth. Too many turnovers by Jules and those final two before he sat were painful. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-12 shooting (6-9 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He hit a jumphook off a great passing sequence to start the game. He was blocked in the post, but we got it back. He couldn’t finish a layup when we got it back to him shortly later on that possession. He jammed off the drive and dish from Kuzma. He missed a jumphook in the post and Luke picked up a tech on the no call. He faced up from the right wing, attacked right and drew FTs, he made both. He grabbed a rebound, pushed it up, exploded to his left like LeBron and scored the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He drew FTs getting hacked under the hoop, he made one. Quick step baseline, he was hit and missed the floater with no call. He missed a jumphook. Second Half: He was stripped and wanted the foul. He spun baseline and drew FTs, he made one. He bullied Millsap under the rim and scored the layup over him. He couldn’t finish a layup at the front of the rim after a nice duck in to take a pass. He kicked to Kuzma for a three. He changed ends quickly off the Lonzo steal, took the outlet and reversed. He attacked a big strong and drew FTs, he made one. He pushed up the break, changed directions/speeds and scored a layup around the defender, so good. He attacked, stepped on a foot and charged, lucky he didn’t sprain an ankle. He threw a kickout into the feet of Lopez, turnover.

Lopez -- -- Another big game where got into the paint for a number of scores. He missed in a few threes in this one, as well, and ended up with the big numbers. He led the Lakers with 13 points on 5-9 shooting to go with 4 boards in the first half. He’d go 7-9 in the second half. Some foul trouble as he picked up his fourth foul with 7:34 left in the third quarter. He still ended up with decent minutes and avoided fouling out. Down the stretch, he had a big offensive board (5 boards tonight) for a dunk and also a nice pick and pop. That helped us stay close. He’s brought out that midrange bank shot in the last few games. He hit a couple tonight. Defensively, I wish we did a better job of not automatically switching everything and protecting the three line more. “I don’t think I was good enough defensively. They got a lot of good looks,” he said. The Stats: He scored 29 points on 12-18 shooting (3-7 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 5 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -18. The Action: He hit a jumphook on iso. He shed his man with a bump, then hit the jumphook. Rim run to take a post pass and he hit an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He blocked a three on a rotation. He drew FTs on a layup attempt, he made both. He faced up and banked from the wing. He up-faked and lost the dribble on the drive. He missed a jumphook in the post. He missed a tough fade from the elbow. He squared up and sank a sideline three on a kickout. He missed a wing three. Second Half: He drained a corner three on a kickout. He faced up and banked from the wing again. He swatted Jokic’s drive. He posted up and scored a layup attacking across the middle. He sank a corner three on a kickout. He worked the post, got contact and hit the jumphook in the middle of the paint. He missed a wing three. He grabbed an offensive board and dunked. Next time down, he hit the open jumper from the FT line on the pick and pop. He missed a three. Down 3 with 34 seconds left, he couldn’t get a jumpball at midcourt.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- He three point shooting lately has been pretty insane. January he shot .456 from three. February was .451. So far in March it’s at .556. He went 5-10 from three tonight. He seems to miss more on those threes where he curls at the top of the arc. That was a staple early in the season. Now, it’s a lot more catch and shoot opportunities where he’s squared up for a good, on-balance look. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-11 shooting (5-10 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He missed a wing three out of a timeout. He lost the ball on the perimeter, turnover. He drained a step-back wing three. He drew FTs at midcourt pushing the ball up, he made both. He sank a corner three on a kickout. Second Half: He drained a three on a kickout. He missed a wing three in transition. He missed a three on the curl. He attacked, spun, missed the layup, got it back and pulled it out to swish the corner three. Out of a timeout he drained a three from the other corner, looked automatic. He missed a three straight away. He missed a wing three.

Kuzma -- -- Very measured offensive game from Kuzma. Loved the shot selection tonight as a result. He sank a couple of threes (nearly three, but had a toe on the line for one). He also had a great follow up on one of his missed threes to score again and then another layup at high speed. When he was going offensively, the team seemed to find their mojo. If you look at the starters +/-, he was the only positive with a +1 and you’d have a few others with -14 to -18. That starting unit when together just struggled tonight. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-10 shooting (2-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He swatted a big in the post. He hit Randle on the drive and dish for a dunk. Horrible outlet picked off for a dunk. Great help D to knock a pass away in the paint. He swished a wing three. He posted up next time down and drew FTs, he made both. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to the corner for Lopez to hit a three. He sank a wing three on a kickout next time down. He sank a corner jumper, with a toe on the three line on a kickout. He missed a corner three, knew it was short, followed his shot to get the miss back and score the layup. He missed a layup on the break but we tipped it in. He missed a long wing jumper on a two-for-one (should have taken the three a second earlier). Great post D to get a stop on one end and then he blew past defenders on the other for a layup. He attacked and had the ball knocked away.

Thomas -- -- He missed a huge layup with 2 minutes left that would have tied things up and continue a Laker run. That was a painful miss. He didn’t have his shot tonight, missing a couple of threes that were forced a bit. But also missing some wide open ones in the paint that he needs to be automatic on. He was also in on a couple wild passes. He needs to keep his dribble alive more to cut down on some of these. “Our biggest thing was our turnovers,” he said of the loss. It seemed like reporters after the game suspected the Murray trash talking was toward IT for some reason, but Isaiah said, “I didn’t hear him” multiple times. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-13 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: Nice post entry to Lopez to set up FTs. He froze his man with a hesitation dribble and scored a layup. Wild pass after picking up his dribble, turnover. He missed an open floater from about 5 feet out. He got lost on D, then gave up an unnecessary And-1 foul. He attacked from the wing and reversed with a little hang time. He kicked out to Ennis for the three. He kicked out to Wear for a three. Second Half: He blew past a defender and flipped in the layup over the help D. He bricked a pull-up three, challenged well. He missed a scoop layup attempt. He missed an open pull-up at the FT line (got to hit those). He missed a runner from about 12 feet out, again open. Third time was the charm on that possession as he came off a screen, took the inbounds and swished the baseline jumper (maybe that will get him going). He attacked threw a kickout out of bounds (too high). He took a board, pushed it out and scored the layup. He got middle but bricked the pull-up. He attacked out of a timeout and kicked to KCP for the corner three. He missed a three, hesitating too long as he tried to look a defender off and got challenged. He attacked off the three line and missed a reverse (thought he had the regular layup there).

Wear -- -- His shot was a bit flat tonight, not giving himself a chance on a couple attempts. He’d hit a three and dunk on the break for his scores. A nice block out of bounds, too, on help D. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 blocks and 2 fouls in 9 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a flat FT jumper. He dunked on the breakaway with Ennis shortly later. Great help D to reject a man out of bounds as he was posting up Ennis. He missed a wing three on a kickout. Great job cracking back to get a loose ball in the paint and a stop. He drained a wing three on a kickout. Second Half: He missed a three, way flat.

Zubac -- -- Better second half than his first half where he got rejected a couple times on one possession and airballed a hook shot. He seemed more determined in the second half and was effective on the offensive glass. No chemistry going with the guards tonight. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 1 block and 2 fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He rejected his man as he tried to take him on iso in the post. He was then rejected twice himself on the other end at the rim (and, of course, Denver scored on both of those last two sequences). He airballed a hook shot (imagine he was fouled or something on that). Second Half: He kept the offensive boards alive and we finally scored on our third shot of a possession (nice screen by Zu to set up that score, too).

Ennis -- -- He had a good second quarter, sinking a couple of threes and hitting a midrange jumper to help reel the Nuggets in. Luke went back to him later in the second quarter and integrated him more into action in this one. Anytime he was trying to attack or create off the dribble, it’s usually not a good thing. He did very little of that tonight but it was damaging. He took some of the shine off his game with three turnovers coming off those situations. The scoring was great, though, and he had an excellent block on a bigger player trying to post him up. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-3 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 1 offensive board, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +13. The Action: He picked up a loose ball and hit a wing jumper. He scooped up a turnover, pushed it out and went behind his back to Wear for the dunk. The D sagged off him so he drained the three. He sank another wing three on a kickout. He probed and threw it to the Nuggets, three the other way. He kicked out to Lopez for a three. Second Half: Wow, he switched onto a bigger man, then blocked his turnaround in the post. He attacked a crowd and threw it away. He charged next time down on a spin (as I’m yelling give it up, sigh).

Walton -- – Luke was pissed at the end of this one with Murray once again… Lakers struggling to defend the three line and the post on switches… Lakers down 4 when IT came in for KCP… KCP in for Kuzma… Kuzma in for Randle and Zubac in for Lopez, Lakers down 4 with 1:38 left… Ennis in… Awful close to the quarter, as well… The Lakers trailed 37-28 after the first… He started the Zubac, Wear, Kuzma, Ennis, IT lineup… Julius in for Zubac, who was getting worked a bit on both ends… This unit cut the lead down to 1 (Ennis with 8 points, Wear with 3 of the Lakers 13-1 run)… Out of the Denver timeout off that run, the Lakers went back to their starters with Isaiah instead of Kuzma… They quickly fell back by 10 points again, giving up a 9-0 run… Ennis and Kuzma in for Randle and IT out of that… They trimmed it back down to stay close… The Lakers trailed 65-62 at the half… They fell back by 8 and Luke called a timeout after we gave up yet another three. Lopez picked up his fourth foul a minute earlier… Same unit out of that timeout and Lopez hit a three… IT in for Lopez with 5:24, so Luke gambled, got 5 points and no additional fouls from Lopez… The Lakers went on a run to take the lead (8-0 Laker run)… Ennis in for KCP up by 1… Zubac in for Randle with the Lakers up 2 with 42 seconds left… The Lakers led 96-94 heading into the fourth… He started a Zubac, Wear, KCP, Ennis, IT lineup… Lopez in for Zubac… Lonzo back in with 7:31 for Ennis, Lakers down 1… Timeout with 5 minutes left. Long rest for Randle but he returned for IT… Down 6, Randle back out a couple minutes later after a timeout. Not finishing this one again… They cut it to 2 with chances to tie… Down 3 with 34 seconds left. Nuggets ball after a review. We fouled and that was that… Luke irate about something Murray did. He said it was trash talking with the Nuggets taking control of the game. “(Bleep), him!” he said pointing down toward the Nuggets bench. Need Randle to take a hard foul or set a hard screen on him next game, please…
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TooMuchMajicBuss
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:54 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Hope we get em next time.
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Lakers#1Team
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 9:56 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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OregonLakerGuy
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 12:04 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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oldlakerfan
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 2:43 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 3:03 am    Post subject: Re: LAKERS -at- NUGGETS – 3-9-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

DancingBarry wrote:
Need Randle to take a hard foul or set a hard screen on him next game, please…
Ball sending Murray to a STOUT screen set by Randle to give him a taste of some solid wood.

Next time Murray drives into the paint, Lopez/Randle will give him a clean but solid block of his shot
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KobeStark
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 4:17 am    Post subject:

Best way to shut Murray up is to WIN! By a LOT!
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deal
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 4:33 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB !
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danzag
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 6:58 am    Post subject:

Denver is just one of those games. Just like Portland.
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Laker7
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 10, 2018 7:06 am    Post subject:

Too many turnovers late. Every time we made a run it was because we limited turnovers.
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