LAKERS -at- WARRIORS – 3-14-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:50 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- WARRIORS – 3-14-18 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Those Injuries… Both teams had a chunk of starters out for this one.

Luke slid Isaiah Thomas into the starting lineup as we’re down yet another player at the SF with Kuzma’s injury last night. Thankfully, the Warriors roster was depleted, as well. (If you count having Kevin Durant as depleted.)

Luke ran multiple combinations of players that have never seen time together, trying to dial in a lineup. The Lakers fell back by double digits but they tied it up by halftime, forcing the Warriors into 13 turnovers in the first half.

As the Lakers sent instant double teams to Durant to open the second half, he hit the open men for easy scores. The Lakers were quickly down by double digits again to start the second half. The could never reel them back in with Nick Young going off in the second half for 18 points.

The Lakers fell 117-106.

Hopefully, reinforcements are coming soon. Some of those lineups tonight … not pretty.


Randle -- -- A lot of words between Isaiah and Randle in the third quarter, disagreeing about something on the offensive end. It got much more heated in the timeout. First time we’ve seen anyone yelling at each other. Randle: “It’s great, honestly. We expect a lot out of each other. It’s just communicating, man. We expect a lot of each other. We want to win. We expect to win these games and we expect each other to play at a certain level, so it’s just being teammates. There’s nobody I’d rather go to war with than IT.” Randle would get a bit frustrated in this game and foul out with the 22-10 double-double. Some struggles on the defensive boards for Jules tonight despite that. Of course, we were running small all night (except when we went with Lopez/Zubac), so that didn’t help. Warriors could really pack the paint tonight with our poor perimeter shooting. Randle would still get to his sweet spots where he could attack across the lane or get to his drop step for scores. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 8-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 6-9 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 6 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He attacked left across the lane and scored a layup for the Lakers first score. He attacked right, spun left and scored the layup. He attacked to his right and drew FTs, he made one. He attacked, spun into a couple defenders and was tied up. He attacked, missed, got it back, up-faked and drew contact for FTs, he made one. He pushed the ball up and spotted KCP cutting for a layup. He attacked to his right, got his man backing up and hit the And-1 runner, he made the FT. He dunked on the break. He posted up on the right block, got middle and scored the layup. Second Half: He banked the short one over the help D on the screen-roll. He was picked from behind trying to create off the dribble. He attacked middle, drop-stepped and scored over the double team. He scored a layup in transition when IT found him. He gave up an offensive board, then a dunk shortly later. He was held as he tried to go set a screen and earned FTs, he made just one again. He missed a heave from 50 feet out at the buzzer. He drew FTs in transition (can he make both?), he did. He dribbled into a double team and traveled. A couple fouls, looking frustrated with the refs on not calling a first foul on one of those. He fouled out shortly later with 3 minutes left.

Ball -- -- “Right now he depends a lot on his three,” Luke said of Lonzo’s offense. If he’s not hitting it, he doesn’t have a whole lot of other things he’ll go to offensively. We’ll see an occasional floater or layup, but not much else. With the shot off (1-8 from three), he just looked awful, scoring-wise. He was spraying bricks all over the plays and the D could go under the screens or leave him to help. He had 5 points, 5 assists and steals at the half. He’d hit his only three in the second half. Despite all that, he still had an impact with 11 assists and some active D. He had the score of the night with a one-handed finish at the buzzer by guiding in a KCP airball. He had some issues defending Livingston in the post, but when he can play free safety and roam a bit off ball defensively, he’s very disruptive. Hopefully, he starts knocking down threes again. We needed it tonight and it wasn’t there. "Neither of us came through," Lonzo said of him and KCP no stepping up tonight. I’m probably more disappointed in his freethrow shooting. Honestly, I don’t care if you have a janky stroke on your shot, but if you can’t make freethrows with it, then it’s not working. You’ve got to make a change because eventually we’ll see more hack a Lonzo and things like that. Not a good look for a PG. If he comes back next season with the same struggles from the line, I think it will become a bit of a raw nerve for Laker fans. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-11 shooting (1-8 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 11 assists, 2 steals, 1 block The Action: He kicked to Lopez for the corner jumper. He hit Lopez for a wing three. He was fouled on a three in transition, he made just one FT. He attacked left and missed the layup, but Lopez cleaned it up. His advance pass was picked off. He missed a wing three. He then stripped his man on the other end. He gave up an And-1 to Livingston on a challenge. He nailed his man to the floor, attacked the paint and hit the floater. He got worked in the post again by Livingston. He missed a wing three. Late on the pass to Randle who was open, turnover. He poked a pass loose to get Randle a breakaway score. He knocked another pass to loose on help to get a stop. Wow, great job hustling in the last seconds of the half as KCP airballed a leaner from three, Lonzo guided it in with one hand like a lob at the buzzer. Second Half: He missed a three on a kickout. Wide open and he finally swished a wing three. He missed a quick-fire wing three next time down. He missed a wing three up against the shotclock. He attacked and hit Caruso cutting baseline for a layup. He missed an open three as the D went under the screen. Illegal screen after a pass off. He blocked a big in the post. He iso’d and airballed a three by a couple feet, just awful. Offensive board and he hit Ennis for a layup. He hit KCP for a wing three. He attacked and kicked for a three.

Thomas -- -- “We’ve been trying to get our guys to talk all year long,” Luke said of the yelling between IT and Randle. “I much rather them voice their opinions to each other. Let’s get it out there, talk about it, grow from it,” Luke said. Even though IT did a good job patching it up and he and Randle seemed cool with each other (probably even closer as a result), it’s still not a good look for Isaiah after questions about locker room issues. Both he and Randle were cool afterward, so it’s not an issue…but it’s certainly something that fans will latch onto. “Just two basketball players competing,” Isaiah said. He said if he’s sees something, he’s going to say something and they should do the same. Some good post game comments from our guys tonight, showing a bit more leadership. With Kuzma unable to go tonight with the ankle sprain, the SF position needed to be filled. So, Luke slid Isaiah into the starting lineup and slid his other guards up to fill the hole. IT had 15 points in the first half on 5-10 shooting (4-7 form three). He’d go just 1-4 in the second half. We needed better second halves from both him and Brook tonight and didn’t get that. With two guards in the lineup, we’re swinging the ball side to side a bit and looking for some two-man action. It’s a tough ask for the D to hold the line with both IT out there and KCP in a mismatch with Durant. You need guys who can scramble on be good help defenders in those situations. That’s not IT. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-14 shooting (5-9 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 7 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and no fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He was stripped while rising up for a shot. He pushed up the break, pulled up and swished the three. He changed directions between his legs, attacked, drew the D and fed Williams for the slam. He slithered through the D but missed the layup. He traveled off the three line. He missed a three trailing the break. He sank a three in early offense. He was called for a carry. He sank an And-1 three on a kickout, he made the FT. He attacked off the three line and scored a layup. He swished a pull-up three in transition. He missed a tough three in transition. Bad pass getting caught in the air and not hitting a rolling big, turnover. Second Half: He hit Randle rolling for the score. He missed a three straight away on a kickout. He attacked in transition with speed and hit Randle for a layup. He swished a wing three in transition. He choked a layup at the front of the rim. He was swatted on a drive.

Lopez -- -- He had 15 points on 6-10 shooting, 5 boards and 4 blocks in the first half. Great job challenging shots at the rim, including blocking a dunk attempt by Durant. Loved that rim protection. Excellent first half and we seemed like we were on our way with him stepping up. In the second half, he wasn’t much of a factor. Kind of got lost in the offense with fewer touches. That seemed to be the story of the night. Luke though they ran out of gas a bit. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 8-15 shooting (2-5 form three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a -12. The Action: He missed a long one-hander instead of taking the jumper on the first possession. He sank a corner jumper, foot on the three line. He sank a wing three on a kickout on his next touch. He swatted Zaza’s reverse attempt and saved it to a teammate to ignite the break. Good job changing ends and we found him for the layup. He then got back in transition and swatted the Durant dunk attempt. He cleaned up the Lonzo dribble penetration miss. He missed a tough wing three on an inbounds. He took the post entry pass in the horns sequence, attacked from the elbow and powered in the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a wing three. He sank a turnaround in the paint. He was stripped on a roll to the hoop. He drew FTs on the screen-roll seeking out contact, he made one. Second Half: He missed a layup off a drop step. He gave up a putback to his man. He sank an open wing three. He muscled in a layup over Durant in the post. He bricked a tough turnaround. He missed an open corner three.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Really needed a big game from him tonight, but it wasn’t there. He was 0-4 from three in the first half and would hit a couple in the second half but was never a factor. Struggled to finish at the rim and even had some poor shot selection on a long pull-up. Defensively, he got the Durant assignment to start. That’s tough if you’ve got the size…but undersized that caused us a lot of issues. We would send a lot of doubles and help. Durant would score 16 points in the first half on 7-10 shooting, but with 3 turnovers. In the second half, he’d score just 10, but we gave him so much attention, it destroyed the defense. “Durant kind of had his way with us,” Luke said. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-13 shooting (2-7 form three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: Not close on a wing three off a handoff. He attacked in transition and drew FTs, he made both. He missed an open wing three. He deflected a pass. He missed a wing three. He attacked and was stripped. Bad D allowing his man to cut to the hoop for the easy layup with no challenge. Then he gave up a putback layup next time down. He whipped a pass to KCP cutting for a layup. He missed an open three. Quick attack off the catch to draw contact and earn FTs, he made one. He airballed a leaning three but Lonzo kept running, grabbed it with one hand and guided it in like a lob pass at the buzzer. Second Half: He swiped a perimeter pass to start the half and took it for a layup. He fouled Nick on a three on a closeout. He choked a lefty layup he should have had. He missed a tough sideline jumper trying to beat the clock on an inbounds. Dumb foul on Durant on a deep three, uggh. He attacked left and was rejected easily. He bricked a long pull-up two, not a good look. He sank a wing three on a swing pass, finally. He swished a corner three on a kickout. He knocked a man over and missed an open three.

Caruso -- -- Not a lot of notes for him, but he had a solid two-way game. Some nice cuts off teammate’s drives that allowed him to score with good off-ball reads. Defensively, very active and had moments of disruption as he’d get 3 steals and 1 block. The matchup with the bigger Casspi, though, was a tough one for him. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting to go with 1 board, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: Nice challenge on his man to block a jumper. Second Half: Nice help D read from the weakside to knock a pass away and get a stop. He cut baseline on Lonzo’s drive, took the pass and reversed. Another baseline cut and Ennis found him for the reverse.

Zubac -- -- Some weird lineups briefly with both Lopez and Zubac on the floor. Quiet night again. He got in early in the first half during normal rotations, but Luke only pulled him out for garbage time in the second half. Not good minutes. He looked too soft out there and didn’t have an impact as a result. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards in 6 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He missed a floater in the paint off the two-man game. He took a pass, up-faked McGee, but tried a soft finish and was swatted. Second Half: Good challenge to force a miss. He was fouled on a dunk attempt (not getting off the floor very well), he missed both.

Wear -- -- We had KCP defending Durant, but when he sat someone else had to take over. That was left to Wear and Williams briefly…our 10-day contract guys. We missed Ingram. Quiet night for Wear. Shooters need to put the ball in the hoop. He didn’t tonight with any consistency. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-6 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 3 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He jab stepped and missed a wing three. He missed a long wing jumper off a pinch post. Second Half: He hit IT for a three. He sank a corner three on an inbounds. He attacked and lost the ball. He missed a wing three in transition. He missed a step-back three. He drew FTs and scored.

Williams -- -- He got thrown into the mix early on and had a couple shots blocked in the first half. IT did set him up for a dunk on a drive and dish. What must Deng think? He’s not seeing any time unless we’re down to 4 active players. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board in 8 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: His corner three was blocked. He dunked off the drive and dish from Isaiah. He airballed a tough three trying to beat the buzzer. He attacked to his left and was blocked. Second Half: Nothing to report. XXX

Ennis -- -- He came in for the final two minute of the third quarter and scored twice. He’d later have a 4-point possession in the fourth quarter. Short, but effective minutes tonight. Really, the only bench player to do anything offensively. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-6 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: We found him open under the hoop and he scored as layup over a big in the paint. He attacked and hit the pull-up jumper at the FT line. He attacked and hit Caruso cutting or a layup. He couldn’t finish a layup on a drive. He scored a layup when Lonzo found him off an offensive board. He attacked to his right and drew FTs, he made one. We got his FT miss and Ennis swished a corner three, big 4-point possession. He attacked to his right and scooped in a layup.

Walton -- -- No Kuzma to go with Ingram, Hart and no Brewer anymore. Tough when lose so many players in one spot. And all those guys would be defending Durant for you… The Lakers trailed 14-13 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Caruso in for IT, Williams in for Randle, Lakers up 2… Randle back in for Lopez, Wear in for KCP down 4… Then we brought back IT for Ball. Most of these lineups haven’t seen light of day this season… The Lakers trailed 26-23 after the first quarter… He started the Randle, Wear, Williams, Caruso, IT lineup that finished the quarter… Zubac and Lonzo in shortly later for Randle and Wear, Lakers down 7… Lakers with a foul-prone start to the quarter… Lopez now in for Williams as the Lakers are scoreless. So Zubac and Lopez in at the same time (McGee and Bell, the other bigs)… Lakers down 9 when the timeout came with 7:21 left… Starters back in… They trimmed a double-digit lead to 4 and forced a timeout… The Lakers tied it up 55-55 at the half. Lakers shot a poor 5-19 from three and just 10-16 from the line… Lakers doubling Durant every time down and getting burned with open scores off that. Luke called an angry timeout down 11 only 4 minutes into the third. Just an awful start… Wear and Caruso in for Ball and Randle down 11 with 4 minutes left… Ennis in for IT with 2 minutes left… Randle back in for Lopez… The Lakers trailed 89-82 heading into the fourth… He went with the Randle, Wear, Ball, Caruso, Ennis lineup… Lopez in for Randle, down 10 with 8:20 left… KCP in for Ball… Randle and IT in, Lakers down 10… Ball in for Lopez down 11. KCP at the PF now… Randle fouling out with 3 minutes left down 11. Ball game done now…
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Arbitrary
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 9:53 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!
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Shaber
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:34 pm    Post subject:

Lakers put up a fight. But they are not there yet.
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PG Johnson / Goodrich
SG Bryant / West / Scott
SF Baylor / Worthy / Cooper
PF Mikkelsen / Hairston / McAdoo / Gasol
C Chamberlain / Abdul-Jabbar / O'Neal / Mikan
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:38 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
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tox
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 11:48 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
Schedule loss
Zubac + Lopez twin towers... never again
Speaking of which, Zubac continues to look awful.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 12:49 am    Post subject:

tox wrote:

Speaking of which, Zubac continues to look awful.


Zubac really puzzles me. He had two good games and nothing much noteworthy since. But then, the PGs do not feed him either. Is it because he is not establishing himself properly and does not make himself available? Or do the guards just ignore him? There are only a few passes to the low post anyway (that would be the area for Zubac to operate) and Zubac is mostly busy setting picks near the 3 pt line. That is something he does well and IT gets his shots out of that. So maybe he suffers from the game plan that does not play to his strengths?

Zubac obviously is energized by success on offence. But he does not even get into a position to score. That has changed in recent games. Why?
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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
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 3:35 am    Post subject:

No Ingram, Hart and Kuzma... We fought hard. On to the next one.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 3:56 am    Post subject:

Third game in four nights with a depleted and exhausted lineup. I’m worried about Friday as well. This is unfortunately a likely setup for further injuries.

I wish they wouldn’t have released Brewer. He would really come in handy right now. I also wish they would play Deng. I'd hate for another player to get injured from fatigue when we have a vet who they refuse to play.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 4:03 am    Post subject:

Lakers fought hard in the 1st half but seemed out of sync. Second half they just ran out of steam. Back to back games are tough no matter who you play.
Thanks DB.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 4:18 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 6:08 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. One of those games where missing Kuz, Ingram and Hart hurt. It’s tough to extend these guys with limited depth and it showed.

Casspi probably marks the dates of games against the Lakers - “Save my NBA career tonight.”
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:37 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Great write-up on a frustrating game. Frustrating because of the roster we're left with to play this game. Interesting how ESPN could go on all night about how depleted Golden State is, but little mention that we don't have one single wing on this team. And no NBA quality backup for the positions we're trying to borrow from to fill that 3 position.

This roster is ridiculously depleted in every position but center and point guard.

So yeah we can't play Deng above all else, but we don't pick up a 3 for a 10 day, Williams looks way too slow. Is it worth it to rely solely on Randle bully ball game after game until he goes down too?

Here's hoping we start seeing some players fully healed soon, starting with BI. We could really use Kuz too. Then Hart. I hope we finish the season with our entire roster playing again. 40 wins still isn't out of the question.
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:44 am    Post subject:

Time to see Thomas Bryant. Let JR show more flexibility and start him as SF until BI or Kuz comes back. He can play the point forward and we need to see what Bryant has in the tank
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 11:18 am    Post subject:

Shaber wrote:
Zubac really puzzles me. He had two good games and nothing much noteworthy since. But then, the PGs do not feed him either. Is it because he is not establishing himself properly and does not make himself available? Or do the guards just ignore him? There are only a few passes to the low post anyway (that would be the area for Zubac to operate) and Zubac is mostly busy setting picks near the 3 pt line. That is something he does well and IT gets his shots out of that. So maybe he suffers from the game plan that does not play to his strengths?

Zubac obviously is energized by success on offence. But he does not even get into a position to score. That has changed in recent games. Why?

Especially as short-handed as we are now. We still have a Weapon inside with Zubac, so why not Use it. Punish teams for being small any chance you get.

oldlakerfan wrote:
Time to see Thomas Bryant. Let JR show more flexibility and start him as SF until BI or Kuz comes back. He can play the point forward and we need to see what Bryant has in the tank


I like that, too. Let's see what other advantages we have.
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