LAKERS -vs- ROCKETS - 9/6 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:09 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -vs- ROCKETS - 9/6 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Game of Runs... The Lakers turned Rocket turnovers into 27 points, getting out in transition and attacking on their way to the 117-109 win to even up the series. Along the way, the Lakers sustained injuries to Waiters and McGee, but ground out the victory.

There’s a bit to unpack from this game as Vogel made a few adjustments.

The first and most obvious adjustment was not playing Dwight Howard. That was not the plan going in. Vogel had a hot hand in Markieff Morris and went with it. To keep Dwight on the floor against the Rockets as our only big out there, we need to trap aggressively and rotate behind him. The Lakers did that, but with Morris as the C. They mixed in aggressive doubles on the ball with their smaller lineups as well as some 3-2 zone.

In the first half, that worked great for a stretch. The Lakers built up a 20+ point lead turning defense into offense. They had some fortunate three shooting (9-17) in the first half, led by those four first quarter threes from Morris. Small ball against James Harden (+8) is difficult to pull off, however. When he returned in the second quarter, the Rockets started to get back into a groove.

When McGee tweaked his ankle early in the second half and our defensive rotations fell apart, Vogel was forced to go smaller earlier than planned...and the Rockets ate it up, scoring 41 points and taking a 2-point lead into the fourth.

“Once you allow a team like that to get going, it’s hard to reel them back in,” LeBron said.

With a minute left in that third quarter, however, Vogel won a key coach’s challenge. A blocking call was overturned and Westbrook was tagged with his fifth foul. This was the break the Lakers needed. The Rockets left Russ on the floor while Harden rested and the Lakers attacked him. Whether it was switches for LeBron, a layup for Morris or an open midrange from Rondo (Playoff Rondo tonight), the Lakers found their rhythm again and scratched out a lead.

“We did a better job in the fourth getting to shooters like we did in the first half,” Vogel said.

Despite the win, I don’t think the Lakers found the key to anything yet. Can they maintain more zone? Seems like those will get beat more over time. Can Playoff Rondo show up again? That’s a very sketchy ask. Can the Lakers shoot 44% from three again? This also seems doubtful. Will the injuries be an issue?

What was better was the more aggressive perimeter D and sharper rotations from our smaller lineups. (We can’t sit back and let the Rockets dictate what they want in those situations with Harden. They were super efficient tonight with him.) Some mixed results protecting the corner threes. Pace was better, as well. Getting stops and turning those into quick buckets. Our use of our bigs improved (AD a little more on the move, but there is a lot of work to be done here). They were better on the boards, but still can improve a lot (protect from those corner crashes where the Rockets got multiple second chances). Lastly, we held Westbrook to 10 points and 7 turnovers.

Better stuff, but the Lakers have a lot of work to dial in the Rockets. The Rockets were apparently 16-0 before this one when they shot 40% or more from three.


LeBron -- -- First off, just how amazing does LeBron look in terms of athleticism? Last year, we didn’t see it as consistent and quite at this level. He had that groin issue which kept him nailed to the floor a little bit. But he’s gotten up for both some massive throwdowns as well as some soaring blocks. He just looks like a beast ou there. We were pushing pace at every opportunity, which favors our team and LeBron especially. We turned turnovers and boards into scores the other way. He had 16 points on 7-10 shooting in the first half. He was just one assist shy of a triple-double tonight. What I really liked was our hunting Westbrook when he had the foul trouble. LeBron attacked that when he could. I want to see if they go after that more in the next one even if Russ isn’t in foul trouble. He had a number of turnovers tonight, but we didn’t get killed on it. The sweetest pass of the night was probably the almost touch pass bounce to Morris for a dunk as LeBron trailed a break. Last game there was a lot made of the non-scoring fourth. He had a couple dunks, drew some FTs and sank a late turnaround in the paint tonight. Defensively, he gave up two of those weakside corner offensive boards. He had another one of those spike shotblocks to help on Westbrook. I feel much better about our single big lineups when LeBron is out there because he can deter drives in multiple ways. The Stats: He scored 28 points on 10-17 shooting (1-5 from three, 7-10 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 9 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 7 turnovers and 3 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +15.

Davis -- -- “We tried to get him the ball to him more on the move and that allowed him to kind of catch and go,” Vogel said. If there’s another tweak the Lakers can make for the next one, it’s doing even more of this for AD. It wasn’t near enough. It’s what we were saying here last time was key. Getting him on the move as the smaller D plays even smaller that way, but also can’t dig in to muscle him. He had 18 points on 8-12 shooting and 7 boards (2 offensive) in the first half. On balance in the post early on. He had a couple finishes at the rim, but a lot of that midrange game for him. If he turn and shoot without someone in his jersey, it’s generally looking automatic. Where it’s tough is when he’s hitting the falling, fading shots. Defensively, we were better and much sharper on our rotations. “Our job is to get it off the rim and push,” AD said. Can someone please, please put a body on the man crashing the glass from the weakside corner? AD gave up a board front that, AC did, LeBron on that. Really, this has to be one of our adjustments in the next game. We gave up 8 offensive boards and had just a +1 advantage on the offensive glass. So be extra aware of the box out and we can have a few more of those pushes. In the half court sets, we finally saw a spin move against the three-quarter fronting instead of trying to make the post entry. That led to an AD dunk. He had just one offensive board in the second half, but it was a big one, grabbing and jamming down a Green airball in the paint. The minutes without LeBron were sketchy (LeBron +15, AD -7 on the night). Not just offensively, but on D, too. I like that we were aggressive on the perimeter. We have to be in those smaller lineups to make them work. We could probably be more aggressive. But the Rockets do a great job of manipulating AD out of a situation where he can easily challenge. The dangerous combo is when Harden is on the ball against our single big lineups. I’m not going to trust we can consistently run a 2-3 zone without the Rockets killing that over time. The Stats: He scored 34 points on 15-24 shooting (1-1 from three, 3-6 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 4 assists, 1 block, 2 turnover and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a -7.

Green -- -- Some of his D in the third quarter was pretty poor. He and McGee gave up open looks on messed up rotations. Green should really know just to take the further perimeter man and let McGee take whomever is closer to the hoop on those. That hurt as the confusion led to open shots and a poor second half start. First half was strong defensively by that group. Offensively, Green sank three threes. Those were huge. It doesn’t seem like much to ask, but I don’t have a ton of confidence that he can consistently bring that. I hope he does because it’s huge for the team. He had a good attempt on a short turnaround from three feet, but only shot it two. Thankfully, Davis made a great crash, grabbed that and scored. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (3-5 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -10.

McGee -- -- He hurt his ankle and was pulled shortly into the first half as we struggled to rotate. That allowed for a series of Rocket threes (Danny Green was in on some bad rotations, as well). In the first half, we bogged down the Rockets offense with our dual big lineup. The Rockets were scoring about a point a minute. With McGee unable to go, the Rockets pounced and went after it all third quarter. McGee is getting an MRI. So stay tuned on that. Offensively, we really do a poor job running sequences that play to our bigs advantages. That will, hopefully, improve. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a -8.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Very quiet night. He had a layup changing ends off a miss where we found him. He sank a corner three when his man went for a steal on an inbounds pass to AD, who then gave it back to KCP for the corner three. But other than that, very quiet. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and no fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -6.

Kuzma -- -- I love the offensive rebounding. He gave the Rockets a little taste of their own medicine with one of those crashes from the corner for a putback jam. He had another tip in earlier. Give me more of that. He didn’t get on the boards like he should in the last game. He figured it out in this one. Offensively, he was efficient sinking his only three, scoring off a cut on one Rondo’s drives (more off-ball movement like this is key). He had a big dunk in the fourth off an up-fake and drive into an open lane. (Give me some faked swing passes to move the D and then go and he might get a couple more.) He also had a dunk as we quickly inbounded off a made basket, threw it ahead and then found him changing ends with speed. Nothing run for him, just hustle and being in the right place and taking what the D is giving. That works well around superstars. He needs to get into vet mode and find more little places where he can make winning plays offensively off the ball. Hopefully, those grow as the series goes along. He had short bad stretch in the fourth, but it didn’t last. Defensively, he wasn’t as torched as the last game. We were scrambling and sending help a lot tonight, not leaving guys on an island. It wouldn’t surprise me if Gordon tries to seek him out more in the next one. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-7 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 6 boards (4 offensive), 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +8.

Caruso -- -- He was in on several transition plays. A couple of those led to highlight reel lobs to LeBron on the break. Here’s where you really, really miss that home court advantage. Like they say, some points are bigger than others. Having LeBron soaring for some massive jams with Staples on their feet can unnerve an opponent. Caruso also had his only score on a layup in transition, as well. Our guards need to be aggressive defensively, force turnovers and get the ball down court. AC did a great job of that tonight. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 offensive board, 4 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +7.

Rondo -- -- “His impact on our team is measured in swag,” Vogel said. Well, we don’t have stats for that so let’s measure it in +/- tonight. He was a +28 in 29 minutes. If that was swag in action, we’ll take it. Playoff Rondo is alive. He was a +17 in the first half with 7 assists. Great job pushing pace and getting a little baseline penetration, as well, to set up scores. He’d finish with 9 assists with just 1 turnover. Big difference from the last game. The three shooting was poor, making just 1-5, but it was a nice quarter ending three as we were sticking it to the Rockets. Defensively, we were zoning up, Rondo was often at the nail, plugging the paint and calling out the D to zone or man. No one was left on an island and we were rotating well for a stretch where we built a big lead. He took the challenge with a lot of ball pressure on Harden at times in the second half. He ended the night with 5 steals (including picking Harden on iso for a layup). He also had a couple of very key, open midrange jumpers in the fourth. One when we were killing Russ, another that kind of iced the game late. “He comes in, he pushes the tempo, he gets guys involved,” LeBron said. That’s the key positive to his game against the Rockets. We need that tempo to be continually pushed. Hopefully, he shed the rust. I’m not optimistic that this kind of game was sustainable. The Rockets will leave him open to bog things down. Rondo will look for ways to counter that, which could be setting screens, even some dribble penetration instead of taking the three, or just where he positions himself. We saw him cutting at times off ball to occupy the D. Those help keep them honest. Offensively, I want to see us attack more from the wing screens with our guards. Rondo and AC both had good sequences with that. The Stats: The Action: Zone up defensively on HArden at nail, reached to help on Harden’s drive against AD, they forced brick and got KCP in trans. Baseiln drive, found Kuzma for score in paint. SWiped bad cross court pass zoning weakside, led to trnas score. Attack and kick to Morris for a three. Left open at the buzzer, LeBron hit him for an open three and he nailed it. Miss corner three. /// Miss open three. Miss drive. Pick in backcourt for a layup against Harden. Miss ion three in early offense. Overturned block call and he got FTs he made one. Got westbrook hit jumper waiting for screen., Found Green far corner for three. Huge open jumper. Playoff ROndo.

Morris -- -- “The plan was to go with Dwight,” Vogel said. He rode the hot hand and switched things up when Morris started sinking threes and guys were finding him. He was kind of the difference maker for us early as he got that three ball going. He strung several makes in a row that had the Rocket staggered. The perimeter scoring got a little contagious in that first half as the Lakers shot 9-17 from three in the first 24 minutes. We probably can’t expect that to hold up, but it was the difference early. Also some props for attacking Westbrook for a layup in the fourth when we were getting after that as a team. He played both C and PF tonight. Defensively, when Harden sits, the C works better. It would be nice if this wasn’t a one-game thing, but the start of a little hot streak. We need it. Look for Dwight to likely return in the next one. Interesting to see how this plays out. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-8 shooting (4-5 from three) to go with 5 boards and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a +15.

Waiters -- -- It looked like he was a part of the rotation but left with a groin injury. I was really hoping to see him give us some guard penetration like we saw from the OKC guards in the last one. He played just 3 minutes, however. We can use guys who can beat that first defender on iso and get the D scrambling. Hopefully, it’s something minor and he will be available. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three in 3 minutes. He was a -2.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Lots of big moments in this game. Game 2 should be the game where you are fine tuning off your initial adjustments. We made none in the last game. So it was interesting to see how we’d change things up in that first quarter. In this one, we saw the double bigman unit lockdown early but struggle with little purpose on offense. Then we saw Morris come in when AD got hurt and sat. He’d sink four threes in the first quarter to stagger the Rockets. That got us off to a good start. But the Rockets reeled the Lakers in during that third quarter with a long run of their own. Then, Rondo was called for a blocking foul at midcourt that looked like a charge on Westbrook. Vogel challenged it and got Westbrook’s fifth foul out of it. Huge. The Lakers then spent the next several minutes between quarters attacking Russ to flip the game on its head. We had momentum early, the Rockets took it back, and right here, the Lakers snatched it back from them. It was a fortunate turn of events and the Lakers pressed the advantage. We can’t rely on that in the next game, but I wouldn’t mind them hunting that match up more to see if they can get him in foul trouble again.

Key Substitution: Morris coming and staying in for Dwight in the first half was an in-the-moment decision in this one. Morris had it going and threw the Lakers first punches of the game. The key sub might be Rondo, though, and that could be a story of this series -- which is frightening. He had one of his best two-way games of the year and was the +28. At one point, I was questioning my sanity wanting him in the game, but we played better with him out there and he looked more like young Rondo. Hopefully...hopefully...he gets more and more dialed in as the series goes along. But I need to see it again to get onboard with big minutes.

Key Stat: This was a battle of wills. Who could impose their style the most? The Rockets went 2-12 in the fourth quarter from three to finish 22-53 (41.5%). They missed some open ones, too, in that fourth. Maybe they were tired. On the Lakers side, they had a 20-6 advantage on the break (27 total points off turnovers). The Lakers points in the paint advantage was 54-26. Good numbers. The Lakers can still do much better on the glass. Only a +6 advantage.

Coach’s Challenge: The Rockets used theirs in the first quarter on a charge LeBron took that would erase and And-1 layup for Harden. The gamble here early is one less foul on Harden, one more on LeBron and 3-points. Unsuccessful challenge. Vogel used his with a minute left in the third when Rondo stopped in front of Westbrook at midcourt and was called for a block. It would be Westbrook’s fourth (fifth) foul and saved FTs. They called a loose ball foul and freethrows for Rondo. Successful challenge.


Last edited by DancingBarry on Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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unleasHell
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:16 pm    Post subject:

Now, this game was more like the Lakers we know and love...!
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:56 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:01 am    Post subject:

Thx, DB! I couldn't watch it (too nervous).
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:27 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

If Javelle can't go, who starts: Kieff or Kuz? I'm leaning Kief.

Lakers have the perfect setup so far. Defending Dame/CJ prepared them for Harden/Russ. This Rockets team has a lot of small ball firepower and will prepare them for Kawhi/Pandemic P too.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 4:28 am    Post subject:

When we dropped the lead in the 3rd. Really felt that this kinda loss can be series determining.

Big turn of events to begin the 4th. You saw a switch in Lebron, like he went into another gear. We began pushing the ball more off stops. Houston can not set up to help on the size mismatch if we get to post fast. And they have no idea how to defend Lebron coming in at full speed.

Liked how we are switching from man to zone, giving Houston different defenses.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 4:48 am    Post subject:

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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 5:06 am    Post subject:

Double Harden to force the ball out of his hands and make Russ and the rest beat you. That’s how you beat the Rockets.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 5:17 am    Post subject:

Terrific write up DB, thanks!
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 6:54 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

What's the point of doubling Harden?
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 7:19 am    Post subject:

Playoff Rondo. Praying he has the same impact as Playoff Horry and Playoff MWP. Amen.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:03 am    Post subject:

Imo the way to beat Houston is to continue to give them different looks and confuse them on the defensive coverage.

Mixing it up on Harden with single coverage, double coverage, etc. forces him to have to react more and guess what’s coming. Same applies to Russ and others. Of course the Lakers will get burned a couple of times, but like D’antoni mentioned too many turnovers for the rockets.

The rockets want to do the same things over, over and over. The Lakers different looks will force them into risky plays and bad reads because they can’t help it. Then frustration will set in combined with tired legs on 3s.

OKC was *this* close to eliminating that POS brand of basketball.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:31 am    Post subject:

This is a bit simplified but these first two games really made a case that this series could go as Rondo and Westbrook go. To what extent you can make them play to their weaknesses or make bad decisions will be interesting to watch. We really won those minutes when Harden sat and Russ was supposed to be the man last night.

And conversely, the Rockets won those minutes when LeBron sat. We need to switch up our approach a little more drastically when LeBron sits. Obviously we lose a lot on O, but defensively it’s way too easy for Harden without LeBron and all those shooters around Harden.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:35 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Good to see the Lakers get a W. More please!
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:36 am    Post subject:

The more Westbrook plays, the better.

With him on the floor, we have to force him to penetrate as most of his turnovers came in the paint with lots of traffic. He can't make the defense collapse and then pass out to shooters. Or we can let him shoot, but I'm guessing he'll choose not to do that consistently.

With him on the bench, we have to mix it up with some zone, some single coverage on Harden, blitzing Harden from different angles. They'll still score, but we have to take care of the misses by rebounding. Our rotations were great in the first half, not so in the 3rd quarter. They also missed some open looks in the 4th, but our defense picked up the intensity.

It's just frustrating playing against the Rockets. There were some possessions where we played good defense and rotated well for 22 seconds, but their last pass resulted in an open three.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:46 am    Post subject:

Westbrook might have been the Lakers' third most valuable player on the floor last night.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:06 pm    Post subject:

Random stat: Rondo had 8 of the Lakers 20 deflections last night (5 of their 15 in the previous game). That’s double the next best player on either team in the first two games.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:00 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
Teams that make at least 22 3-pointers in a non-OT game are 57-4 all-time (93.4% winning percentage)

two of those losses are the #Rockets this postseason


https://twitter.com/fastbreakbreak/status/1302819318992908290?s=21

Interesting.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 5:47 am    Post subject:

Wilt wrote:
The more Westbrook plays, the better.

With him on the floor, we have to force him to penetrate as most of his turnovers came in the paint with lots of traffic. He can't make the defense collapse and then pass out to shooters. Or we can let him shoot, but I'm guessing he'll choose not to do that consistently.

With him on the bench, we have to mix it up with some zone, some single coverage on Harden, blitzing Harden from different angles. They'll still score, but we have to take care of the misses by rebounding. Our rotations were great in the first half, not so in the 3rd quarter. They also missed some open looks in the 4th, but our defense picked up the intensity.

It's just frustrating playing against the Rockets. There were some possessions where we played good defense and rotated well for 22 seconds, but their last pass resulted in an open three.

With the Rockets you just have to understand/accept they will make 3 pointers despite good defense, and the way to go is just stay focused on your game plan on both ends regardless of what they do.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 11:46 am    Post subject:

I'll take the win but IMO this is not the way to beat the Rockets...small ball...that team has been playing small ball all year now we have adapt to them? To me this is just like I believe it was 2007 or 2008...The Suns coached by D'Antoni..they had Nash, Marion, Stoudemire, Richardson etc. They played small ball...spread you out and shoot 3's or drive. But Phil said "let them adapt to us" He punished them with Bynum, Gasol and Odom. We destroyed them...I remember Nash saying "We're not getting any taller."

I would play Dwight, AD and Bron and punish them inside...they're going to shoot 3's no matter what...As long as we stay discipline...don't run at their shooters just close out, hand up and don't jump. Maybe I'm completely wrong..but the experts here that really study and break down film...Isn't this series and style similar to that? Just curious on our thoughts.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 1:46 pm    Post subject:

Honestly, Gordon is the only puzzle we really need to solve. Anyone think Green can find enough effort in the tank to make life hard for him?
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 1:47 pm    Post subject:

King Randle - I think the big key with playing small vs. big is our issues with Harden. He just destroys our smaller lineups. Or double teams right now don't seem to help much, either. The best lineups defensively against him have been the double bigs. The small ball stuff worked extremely well when he was off the floor.

Offensively, using bigger lineups can be a little tricky, but nothing we shouldn't be able to handle. For some reason, we are not throwing a lot of lobs over the top of the D even though they are there. Hopefully, that starts to change.

Also, we need more movement under the glass. The Rockets are excellent at boxing out but that's hard to do when we're on the move. And conversely, we need to give up less offensive boards. I think the box out stats on NBA.com had us at 3 box outs vs. 15 or so for the Rockets. So we need to work on playing big better than we are at the moment.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 1:50 pm    Post subject:

LakersRGolden wrote:
Honestly, Gordon is the only puzzle we really need to solve. Anyone think Green can find enough effort in the tank to make life hard for him?


A good chunk of his offense is started by Harden and ball movement which leads to wide open threes. We need to cut those down, so it's not just on one person defensively. The iso drives certainly need to be defended better. But if we could sharpen our rotations to reduce the open threes that would move the needle a lot.
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