LAKERS -at- PELICANS - 3/23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:55 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- PELICANS - 3/23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

No Fire Power, No D... The Lakers lack of fire power is taking its toll.

The team scored 4 points over a nearly 8-minute stretch into the second quarter tonight and fell behind big. They had two field goals in nearly 12 minutes between the first two quarters. They even missed 5 straight freethrows during this stretch.

The game was pretty much over then, but the Pelicans were going to run up the numbers over some soft Laker interior D. The Lakers gave up 43 points in the third as Ingram just rose up over smaller defenders and hit easy looks again and again. And anyone who attacked the paint would generally come up successful.

Even when the Lakers chipped away at the lead, they just never seemed close to competing in this one, and they fell 128-111.

With the trade deadline approaching, perhaps some changes will be in the mix, but they really need to get healthy quick ... or somehow steal a game here and there.


Schröder -- -- We might be able to survive with Schröder and LeBron or Schröder and AD. But missing both? We’re in a bit of trouble if we can’t get stops and go in scoring droughts. He did most of his work getting to the line in this one for 10-12 shooting. I think he wanted a few more FTs, as well. Some decent passing to set up his bigs. The stats won’t show it as Trezz drew a lot of FTs off some of those. (Those two combined for 24 of the Lakers 30 freethrow attempts.) He probably had our best pass of the night, going between his legs on the pocket pass to Trezz on one of those freethrow-drawing sequences. The Stats: He scored 15 points 2-10 shooting (1-2 from three, 10-12 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals and 1 foul in 35 minutes. He was a -6.

Kuzma -- -- Good job on D in some aspects, both on switches and on grabbing boards in the first quarter. Dealing with Ingram shooting over him wasn’t pretty. Having to switch on an occasional big was also a problem at times. He had 7 boards by the half. Offensively, he was moving the ball pretty well with 6 assists in the first half. A little wild with the handle and a pass or two, but overall he was at least helping give some life to the offense while his shot wasn’t falling. In the second half, he started to hit from three and on a floater, but the passing effectiveness disappeared. He threw a pocket pass into Trezz’s shins. He wants to get better at these things, so I don’t mind suffering through some rough moments as he explores it in games where we need guys to elevate their games. It would have been nice seeing him get a triple-double, but he was flirting with a quadruple double as the turnovers were piling up. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-14 shooting (4-8 from three) to go with 10 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 6 turnovers and 4 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -16.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- What I would have liked to see tonight was some fastbreak points from KCP as we turned stops into transition. We didn’t get stops and so we had very few transition opportunities. Games like these where we don’t have enough star power for him to play off of in the halfcourt, he’s just not going to look effective. Not that he’s looked terribly effective when LBJ and AD have been playing this year. But if we’re not running some set plays where he can keep it simple, you can probably forget about decent numbers. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-7 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 3 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -11.

Morris -- :-- Matching up against Zion in this one. That gave him a -20 in the first half. We just couldn’t handle Zion, especially anytime someone switched off him. If the Pelicans were able to get anywhere deep in the paint, it was over. We had no resistance at all. Offensively, good seeing him knock down the three ball. Dennis had a nice find in the second half on a pick and pop. Come playoff time, we will likely be seeing Morris spacing the floor for LeBron and Schröder, so any kind of chemistry they can develop during this stretch helps. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-14 shooting (3-8 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 3 foul sin 27 minutes. He was a -24.

Cacok -- -- He got the start as we are down a front court. A couple good plays to start the game defending a lob and finishing a lob, then he quickly made a number of “uggh” plays -- fouling on a defensive freethrow rebound, losing the handle on an inbounds pass, giving up a putback score. We were giving up scores at a high rate so Vogel quickly called timeout after a few minutes and brought in Trezz. The Pelicans are a big team and Cacok is undersized. This will be a challenge for him trying to crack the league. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 foul sin 13 minutes. He was a -2.

Harrell -- -- Off the bench, but starters minutes. Great job getting to the FT line early and often. He had 9 FTs in his first shift. He was the only big who could hang with the Pelican big men. The finishing wasn’t always there in this one, although he did have a nice twisting finish around a couple of defenders in the second half. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 5-10 shooting (8-12 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 34 minutes. He was a -18.

Caruso -- -- He got his outside shot going late in the third and early fourth, sinking a couple of threes and a jumper. Good to see the shot starting to fall. He tried to take out some of the scorer’s tables on a steal attempt in the backcourt. The tables didn’t budget despite AC flying into them on the sideline. Even down 24, he was diving for loose balls. He can only play one way. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-5 shooting (2-2 from the three, 2-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -13.

Horton-Tucker -- -- He had the -17 in 8 minutes in the first half. Our offense stalled out badly and he wasn’t much involved then. He didn’t help either with a rookie-ish moment. He took and missed a long three (several feet behind the line) with 15 seconds left on the shotclock. You are 0-for-last-15. What are you doing? In the second half, he’d swish an open catch and shoot wing three. A much easier look that teams are willing to give him for now. He jumped a passing lane in garbage time and take the steal for another score. Really not impact in this one. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -11.

Matthews -- -- Four threes! He swished a couple of wing threes early on and then got a nice bounce on another when we were in desperate need of some offense. He’d swish another in garbage time. Defensively, Ingram could just shoot over him with ease again and again whenever those two matched up. That’s where we miss that taller wing defender, but even more so when LBJ isn’t able to go. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting (4-8 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +1.

McKinnie -- -- Not much going on in this one. He had a brief stint in the first half when the game was still, kind of, a game. He would sink a corner three on a swing pass in garbage time. He’d knock down a corner three on our final possession. I strangely feel more confident in his three ball than KCP right now. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from three) to go with 1 board and 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a +5.

Antetokounmpo -- -- Garbage minutes. I would have been curious to see him go up against Ingram for a little bit, but he only came in for garbage time where he stole a ball, then dribbled it right back into a turnover a few seconds later. He’d get a score on a nice feed from THT. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 block and 1 turnover in 3 minutes. He was a +10.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: The stretch of ball to start the fourth where the Lakers just could not score. We even missed 4 straight freethrows. Ugly.

Key Substitution: Starting Cacok. We were cooked already before it started.

Key Stats: We lost the points in the paint 62-32. The Pelicans largest lead was that gap, 30 points.
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CandyCanes
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:26 pm    Post subject:

First.
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mhan00
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:27 pm    Post subject:

I’m sorry I watched this game. Did Vogel not watch the Pels at all? Why were they getting easy looks off of a single pass inside to start the game? You double and triple off of everyone not named Ingram into the paint and dare everyone else to shoot.
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DrDent
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2021 8:33 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB, not a fun summary to write up I imagine.

Team shot 18-37 from 3 yet still lost. That's one of their best games from 3 in a looong time. That was about the only positive tonight.

The rest was a complete and utter disaster. The team looked completely overwhelmed. I understand the need to let Jones go (at least for now), but without him, or any other big, the interior defense is awful. Pels just kept eating at that Krispy Kreme defense all night.

How sad was it our announcers were getting pumped about the timeout the Pels called in the 4th when the team got back within...18 points

One glaring and uncomfortable reality is this. Let's say LBJ and AD are, together, out another 18-20 games. There is a real possibility the team loses 2/3 of those games. Those standings start becoming more eye popping. Because of that, hopefully the team can nab something of value out of the buyout bin.
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PenG_
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:16 am    Post subject:

Hindsight is 20/20, but I'm surprised we were only 6 pt underdogs to start this game. Too many Lakers fans throwing dumb money at a game in which we didn't have a center to start against Zion/Adams.

One of our best shooting nights of the season results in a blow out. I guess that's a positive and negative.
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danzag
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:20 am    Post subject:

Ouch.
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akgolf
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:32 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2021 10:41 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. I turned this one off, which I rarely do for Laker games but I appreciate you sticking in out.
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