LAKERS -at- BULLS - 1/23/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 9:15 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- BULLS - 1/23/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

9-0 Now On The Road... The Lakers allowed just 33 points in the first half. The defensive rotations were sharp, drawing charges or getting in decent challenges. Combine that with Chicago missing their good looks and the Lakers were up by 30 at the half.

They would score just 38 points themselves in the second half as the attention waned.

Credit the bench to pushing the lead back by holding the Bulls scoreless for the first several minutes of the fourth quarter. That helped maintain order and they could keep their starters rested. The Lakers won 101-90 and it wasn’t that close.

Anthony Davis led the effort with 37 points on 14-21 shooting in just 28 minutes.

They extended to 9-0 on the road.


LeBron -- -- Quite a few turnovers in this one. Some of it was sloppy ball handling as his attention came and went with the ease at which the Lakers were handling the Bulls. A little more rim attacking in this one, particularly in transition and he was annoyed at some misses and no calls. He also worked the post to try to get penetration that way, although he does now settle for the fades. He sank a turnaround in the post, which has become a go to move with more frequency (15-33 on those post-up turnarounds prior to this game). No threes tonight. Big game for AD in his hometown. Hopefully, we get a bit one from LeBron in his in the next one. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 6-16 shooting (0-2 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 6 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a +9.

Davis -- -- He had 13 of the Lakers first 16 points and assisted on the other bucket. He finished the first quarter with 15 points on 7-8 shooting. We looked for him on the first bucket, a curl to score a short one using his body well. He dunked off an off-ball cut when Schröder found him, a couple dunks off an interior feed an outlet from LeBron. His other scores were some nice work in the post (fake middle, dropstep into a layup and then another turnaround jumper). The assist was the second time in the last two games we saw a high-side defender try to dig on AD and LeBron cut off that for the dunk. You are really asking for trouble if you send that help from there. If you rotate help on LeBron, then he’ll just find three shooters easily. So help on AD should be something that leaves weak side defenders open typically and he’ll need to make that read (or we cut like the Nuggets will with Jokic in the post). We haven’t seen a lot of the three ball from AD lately. We got a couple of pick and pops with Schröder that AD knocked down for three in the first half. He ended up with 26 points on 10-12 shooting in the first half. The second half, he and LeBron would take it a bit easy. AD did have a couple of helpful scores at the end of the third quarter to slow the Bulls down as they had chipped away at the lead. We also saw that spin for the lob pass and he drew FTs. I think that’s the third time it’s been run this season. Definitely not a consistent weapon without Rajon. The Stats: He scored 37 points on 14-21 shooting (2-3 from three, 7-9 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +5.

Schröder -- -- He was one of the guys in on taking a charge tonight. He had a great weakside rotation, settled in and got the stop. Love seeing teams try to setup our smalls on the backline and we beat them to the spot to draw charges like that. The team is putting together some good stretches of playing on a string defensively. We kept the Bulls guard to some inefficient scoring. Offensively, the three ball wasn’t there again. He worked the pick and pop to AD for a couple of threes, however. Schröder did manufacture three FTs with some trickery at the top of the arc, stopping to take some contact. He’d get to the rim a couple times for scores. One it was early offense and he noticed there was no help D behind his man, that’s his play and he took it for the score. The other was a switch where he changed directions and speeds and blew past the bigger defender. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +12.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- His first three, he wanted the foul call and didn’t get, so he missed. With how he’s shooting, you got to believe him. He knocked down his second three, the net barely moved. The third one he missed and it didn’t look like he got his footwork right for that one. He’d score a lefty layup over a crowd on another drive for his only other points. We saw KCP on the throwing enf of a pass to a streaking LeBron for a breakaway score. That’s almost always the reverse. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +13.

Gasol -- -- He had 3 blocks tonight. I know one of those he didn’t leave his feet, might have been more. Just really good hands to get to the challenge early. He also draw a charge on some transition D. So again, he’s not spiking the ball out of bounds, but he is putting up some resistance in the paint. Vogel was pleased with the team’s D in this one. Offensively, he missed both shots from three that he took and didn’t score. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting from three to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and 3 blocks in 19 minutes. He was a +11.

Harrell -- -- Really appreciate the effort from him on nights like this. The team had such a short turnaround this season that getting someone who can bring the energy night in and night out and produce offensively really helps keep our stars minutes down in games like this. Defensively, much better job challenging shots. He also drew another charge. He got called for a blocking foul inside the restricted area. That’s when he needs to decide to go vertical is when he knows he’s not going to be able to get outside that restricted circle. Offensively, really liked seeing the guard screen from AC that Trezz attacked off the dribble with for an easy score at the rim. When we invert things like that with our mobile bigs, it causes a lot of issues for opponents. The jumper wasn’t falling in this one but he still managed double figures. The team was calling his number on some set plays, which is nice to see, as well. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-6 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +0.

Kuzma -- -- Not much of a game from Kuz. He rushed and forced some things. He did have a nice drive and lob to Trezz for a dunk. He’d hit an elbow jumper off a Paul Pierce like bump to create space. Next time down, though, he’d airball a step-back three. A lot of crashing on the offensive glass with little results (he did foul and give up FTs on that). Just a poor outing on offense. Defensively, we managed those smaller lineups well. I’m not confident with Kuz at PF, but he’s been focused on the boards and shotblocking, so maybe the minutes will look better on that end. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +9.

Caruso -- -- He didn’t get into the game until 9 minutes left in the second quarter. Again, Matthews got that first rotation. His defense in that first half was lockdown level. He shut LaVine down on a couple of drives, foring a long challenged fade on one and drawing a charge on another. He sat after that charge, though, in the first half as it was some hard contact with the floor. (He’d play in the second half.) Offensively, he sank a three on a kickout in the first half. That three put him for a moment as the NBA three-point shooting leader. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +1.

Horton-Tucker -- -- We went smaller in this one, sitting Morris and getting more guard action. That put Kuzma/Harrell as a very small back line. LBJ would get in there at PF, as well. In any event, that’s how Vogel stole the minutes for our guards. THT scored a couple of And-1s in the first half. One he spun through the D and reversed for the And-1 (might have gotten away with a travel). The second And-1 he took a pass trailing the break, drew contact, hung and scored at the rim. In the fourth, he attacked and muscled in a layup. So most of the action was going to the rim and not settling. A couple sloppy passes for turnovers. Glad we got him some minutes in his home town. Hopefully, Vogel can string some games together for him while we rotate out some other guys. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-6 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +3.

Matthews -- -- Good fourth quarter in this one. Nice job catching a man on the fly by in the corner to earn three FTs early in the fourth. Lakers needed to manufacture some offense. Shortly later, he’d attack and hit a floater against the shotclock. A little bit of offense at a key juncture in the game, so not a lot of scoring, but they were important. He’d also get a steal on a poke against a big man in the post to get a stop. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 1 steal in 19 minutes. He was a +8.

Cook -- -- He came in for a couple minutes of garbage time. Should have been a quarter’s worth, but our attention span wasn’t there tonight. He sank a short one in the paint. Then pounded the dribble into the ground and into a shotclock turnover on another play. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 board in 3 minutes. He was a -8.

McKinnie -- -- Garbage time run. Nothing to report. The Stats: He didn’t shoot or score and had 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a -8.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: The Lakers were up 14 in the third quarter, meaning they were losing the third by 16 points. Just a ho-hum effort as they had their 30-point halftime lead. Vogel called a timeout with a minute left, upset at the team after giving up another score after another poor offensive trip down the court. The lead would be trimmed to 12 before the Lakers extended it to 17 to close that quarter. To start the fourth quarter, we went all bench. The defense picked up. They had a stretch with back-to-back great rotations that resulted in a miss at the buzzer and another shotclock violation. So, we rotated out the starters and the bench energy with Harrell, Kuzma, Matthews, AC and THT restored order, keeping the Bulls scoreless for the first 4+ minutes of the fourth.

Key Substitution: Let’s go with the sitting of Morris. We saw a little of that late in that last game to run some three guard lineups. This allows Vogel to get run for Wes and also THT. It puts a lot of pressure on Harrell at C, but really our PF to play big.

Key Stats: That 33 points they held the Bulls to in the first half was strong. The Bulls were 0-10 from three in the half (0-13 before finally hitting one), some open looks there. But the Lakers did a good job drawing charges or challenging with frequency. The Lakers drew 6 charges and lead the league in that stat.

Coach’s Challenge: AD was whistled for his third foul of the first half, challenging a shot in the paint. He looked like he used his length well and the offensive player stuck out an off arm. The call was overturned.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 9:18 pm    Post subject:

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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 9:59 pm    Post subject:

Nice win against a Bulls team that has been pretty competitive. Not a pretty a second half, hopefully they clean up those games where it is not necessarily a lack of focus, but the other team starts playing better and the Lakers have to kick it to another gear (which they have, and then some). It's almost like the Lakers seemed surprise their opponent will keep fighting at times.

With that said, 13-4, back to having best record in the Association. Monday's game should be interesting as the Cavs have that new look with alot of big bodies, and of course back to back wins vs. the Nets.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:09 pm    Post subject:

The third quarter was a little annoying with the foot pedal being let off but loved that Vogel just letting the bench close in the 4th.

They locked down the Bulls starters into submission lol
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:21 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

I stopped watching after the 1st half. Game was a blowout but I guess the Lakers got lazy in the 2nd half and gave up a lot of their lead.

Main thing is to win and stay healthy.

On to the next game.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 23, 2021 10:32 pm    Post subject:

Game was boring overall, especially the second half.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:30 am    Post subject:

RhodyRay wrote:
Thanks DB.

I stopped watching after the 1st half. Game was a blowout but I guess the Lakers got lazy in the 2nd half and gave up a lot of their lead.

Main thing is to win and stay healthy.

On to the next game.


Bingo.

Thanks, DB!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:59 am    Post subject:

Love how the commentators call him KC3...
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:14 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:25 am    Post subject:

As you mentioned, Lebron gets a bit lost in these blowout games. There's locked in Lebron, then there's 3rd quarter "I'm chasing Kareem" Lebron.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 8:11 am    Post subject:

The most poetic sentence I read was: "the team is putting together some good stretches of playing on a string defensively." Playing on a string? Is watching outstanding defensive play like watching and hearing melodious music being played? Yeah, it is. It's beautiful to watch.

We have the offensive firepower to compete with anyone, but defense is where we'll succeed or fail come playoff time. I appreciate the work of Coach Vogel and his staff to keep us true to our identity.

We appreciate you too, DB Thanks so much!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 9:00 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!

Love to see that shut down defense show up. Music indeed.
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deal
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 10:11 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB !!!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 10:17 am    Post subject:

The view from from Bulls side. Some interesting thoughts from Donovan and players.

https://www.nba.com/bulls/gameday/bulls-come-out-flat-against-lakers-fall-101-90-home
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:22 am    Post subject:

LakerSD wrote:
The view from from Bulls side. Some interesting thoughts from Donovan and players.

https://www.nba.com/bulls/gameday/bulls-come-out-flat-against-lakers-fall-101-90-home


This part is kinda interesting as to what the writer thinks about us ..
Quote:

The Lakers, 13-4, aren't a great team; they have two great players. They started Marc Gasol at center. He was scoreless in 19 minutes and looked worse than that. Their bench isn't better than the Bulls, though Garrett Temple had a rare poor game.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 11:31 am    Post subject:

ThePageDude wrote:
LakerSD wrote:
The view from from Bulls side. Some interesting thoughts from Donovan and players.

https://www.nba.com/bulls/gameday/bulls-come-out-flat-against-lakers-fall-101-90-home


This part is kinda interesting as to what the writer thinks about us ..
Quote:

The Lakers, 13-4, aren't a great team; they have two great players. They started Marc Gasol at center. He was scoreless in 19 minutes and looked worse than that. Their bench isn't better than the Bulls, though Garrett Temple had a rare poor game.




I glazed over that one. Sam is getting up there in age...he is also probably thinking AD scored 37 and that’s why they won. Well ok this game it was AD, but other games it’s been Harrell or Schroder. This is first time a Lebron team is basically ok if he sits. The Lakers can also get by without Lebron and AD for stretches of games.

The Lakers are a great team. If they aren’t, then I don’t know who is in the NBA.

The issue is their lack of focus which we hope is just boredom, because I can see how rest of the league can think “they aren’t that great” when they see something like the 3rd quarter.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:23 pm    Post subject:

It’s a weird statement by Sam. It’s like the same thing could have been said of the Threepeat Lakers at the time. They aren’t a great team they just have two great players in Shaq and Kobe. Um, okay.

Pointing to Gasol is like pointing to McGee with the starters last season. He’s just eating minutes for now. He’s not out there when it comes to closing games unlike the other four starters who we see who come back in the fourth.

They are a great team, the question is simply how great? If you can repeat, you go down as one of the all time greats. They’ve got a legit chance at that.
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lordtrapula
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:50 pm    Post subject:

Lmao LeBron didn't even play particularly well and the Lakers still pummelled the Bulls.

The team defense was a tour de force.

IDK what that writer means this not being a great team

It's funny the last game Lakers won with their improved shooting and in this game, they won with a stout defense.

It's good to see LA can win in a variety of ways still.
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