LAKERS -at- KINGS - 4/2 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:24 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- KINGS - 4/2 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

King Me... Earlier in the day, the Lakers announced that the first game with fans back will be against the Celtics in a couple of weeks. Does this mean we will hang the 17th banner with the Celtics watching? (Please, make it so.)

After that news, the Lakers hit the court against the Kings. Strong opening to the game as the Lakers starters pushed out to a 13-point lead. The Kings reeled them in as we transitioned to the bench in that quarter.

But as the Laker three shooting picked up, they found early separation again. The Lakers scored 65 points in the first half, helped by 14 from Kieff and KCP, who hit all four of his threes.

L.A. would win all four quarters and cruise to the 115-94 win in this one as they hit 17-33 threes. Kyle Kuzma led the team with 30 points in an excellent all-around effort.

Win the games you should. The Lakers did that tonight.


Schröder -- -- Quietly effective tonight. He hit some threes, got into the midrange for a couple scored and got points off turnovers. He had a couple steals he took coast to coast for scores. One on a post feed he stepped around to steal. Another snagging an inbounds pass while guarding the inbounder. First game in a while it felt like we didn’t “need” Dennis to lead the way. The Lakers were scoring at a high clip from all over. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 7-13 shooting (3-4 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 8 assists, 4 steals, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +4.

Kuzma -- -- Huge night. Best player on the floor tonight. Really nice all-around game. Want threes? Drives? Passes to set up teammates? All the triple-threat skills were going. Kings coaching staff has seen some high scoring nights from Kuz in the past. He put on a show again for them tonight. On D, there were possessions on switches where he was able to stay tight on guards and cause problems. The Laker defense really did an excellent job taking out Fox and Hield (they were a combined 8-31). It was nice to see the scoring look easy again for Kuz. Everything looked tough for him to start this season, even his freethrow shooting. (Stu brought it up tonight, but Kuz changed this up previously...he’s shooting the ball from the line with much higher arc.) Vogel said a major point of emphasis was reading the D better. “When he reads the defense better, he gets cleaner looks, knocks a few down and then he starts feeling it,” Vogel said. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 11-18 shooting (4-7 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a +29.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Vogel told him he needed to be more aggressive. Hot first half, going 4-4 from three. When he gets those quick catch and shoot ones to drop, you know he’s feeling confident...and confidence is critical for him. He wasn’t as successful with the shot in the second half. He was, however, also going after boards tonight. That pushed him to a rare double-double. A couple miscues on D, but they cleaned that up. Good outing from KCP after not showing in the last one. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-11 shooting (4-7 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +23.

Gasol -- -- “He dominated the game tonight with 5 points,” Vogel said. A 28-minute outing for Gasol and we were +20 while he was on the floor. “We did a pretty good job communicating and listening,” he said. He mentioned they had multiple guys talking throughout. Even though he was a bit turnover prone in the first quarter, once he sat the game quickly changed in the Kings favor. The Lakers had a 13-point lead and it was cut to 2 by the end of the quarter while he sat. That little stretch was really the only time this game felt like it was going south. Once the bench got comfortable, they pushed that lead back to 12 and held them there. Really nice job of being disruptive in the middle of the paint. It won’t show in any stats but he altered shots, smothered players and broke up plays. He had the 5 turnovers as his passing was off the mark at times, but he did have 6 assists including that feed to AC cutting down the lane for a dunk. Rough having to listen to all the questions coming to him from reporters after this one. “I’m committed to this team. It’s a hard pill to swallow because I know I’m going to be out of the lineup,” Gasol said. More: “Things get thrown at you and you have to adapt as quick as possible, and as you can imagine, it is what it is.” The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 9 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +20.

Morris -- -- His best offensive half of the season with 14 points on 6-9 shooting to open this game. He wouldn’t score in the second half, but he got the team off to a good start. I mentioned in the last game how he seems to get a missed freethrow offensive board at least once per game. He did it again tonight. It was in the middle of a flurry of action by him on both ends in the first few minutes as he helped push us out to a 10-4 lead. He had a lob layup, a layup in transition off a feed from Kuzma and a turnaround in the post to score 6 of those first 10 Laker points. He sank a wide open three on the break. He’d hit another three on a kickout to the corner. And he’d sink an elbow jumper near the end of the half. Good half of ball. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-13 shooting (2-6 from three) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists and 1 foul in 32 minutes. He was a +8.

Harrell -- -- Really quiet night, more so in the second half. He had 9 boards in the first half, including 4 offensive. He didn’t score a point and only grabbed one board in the second half. Nice to see we could blow a team out with other guys stepping up. He cleaned up a THT miss with a putback jam. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-7 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive) and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a +3.

Caruso -- -- He put Harkless on a poster in the fourth quarter. He gave up the ball to Gasol, cut down the lane to take the return pass and hammered over the challenge attempt. Combine that with knocking down both threes and that’s all you really want from him on offense. Finish at the rim, hit your threes. Good D at they bottled up Fox tonight good. Fox scored 12 points on 5-20 shooting. Some stifling moments from AC on him, but with any guard coverage, it takes a team. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-4 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +9.

Horton-Tucker -- -- He had a garbage time hammer over a defender and flexed afterward. He stretched out and threw down. He’s been trying that unsuccessfully, but finally caught someone tonight. Better to see, though, was the 0 turnovers to go with his 15 points (probably should be 12 since he banked in a three). Very much under control, however. He’d hit a short jumphook off an attack. He’d snake a screen to get to his strong hand and score a layup. He attacked from the corner and reversed next time down. He slithered through the D at the end of the quarter for a layup. Defensively, 4 steals. A good read or two in there, as well, breaking up a lob. Really happy to see the strong bounce back tonight to keep that confidence up. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-12 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 4 steal and no fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +9.

Matthews -- -- He attacked for a drive in the second quarter and slid back into the basket stanchion and hit his neck. He was down for a while and went to the locker room as soon as he could get to his feet. Aggressive while he was out there, but he did not return. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board and no fouls in 5 minutes. He was a -3.

McKinnie -- -- He came in late in the first for Wes who went down the injury. He’d draw a couple FTs on a quick attack off the catch and he’d cut to take a pass and score a layup. Good little stretch there in the heat of the action. Nice read on D for a garbage time steal. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-2 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and 1 foul in 9 minutes. He was a +7.

Cacok -- -- He came in with 3 minutes left to close out for some garbage time run. He was blocked on a finish attempt, fouled on another for FTs. Then he’d attack from the wing for an And-1 layup. (He’d miss, get his rebound and miss a dunk...he’d hustle back to block a layup, though.) The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (2-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 block and 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a -2.

Antetokounmpo -- -- He’d draw a foul on a drive in garbage time and miss both FTs. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting from the line to go with 1 board in 3 minutes. He was a -2.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: After a poor close to the first quarter, the team bounced back early in the second quarter. That was the only stretch of ball where it didn’t look like the team was trying to punch the opponent in the mouth tonight. The Trezz, Kuzma, McKinnie, KCP, THT lineup was able to seize momentum back early in that second quarter and we kept the Kings at arms distance the rest of the way.

Key Substitution: Let’s give THT some love tonight. He had an awful, awful game last time out. Tonight, very much under control. No turnovers and he scored at a high clip. The Kings are the Kings, but hopefully KCP found some comfort after looking at the game film with the coaches.

Key Stats: The Kings 3PT defense is poor, so you were hoping the Lakers would have a good shooting night. They knocked down 17-33 from three (52%). Credit also to the D holding the Kings to just 94.
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 9:32 pm    Post subject:

DB--another great write up. Noting that the Lakers could be hanging the 17th banner while the Celtics watch was a nice catch!

Hanging the 18th banner in October 2021 while the Cetlics watch would be a lot of fun too. This would be just be a fun annual tradition.


Last edited by Annihilator on Sat Apr 03, 2021 3:49 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 10:58 pm    Post subject:

Another great summary DB.

Nice, solid win. The hot 3 shooting was nice to see - so rare this season.

Next game will likely not be so pleasant. Will watch and hope for some good luck for the team.
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 02, 2021 11:51 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

Hanging the 17th banner in front of the Celtics, yes please!
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 4:06 am    Post subject:

Man love seeing that play from Gasol and Kuz.

Arguably with Drummond in play. The Lakers will get a better Gasol in less minutes who can go all out.

Again, theoretically what’s amazing about this time, is the starting lineup we have right now should and could in theory be our 2nd unit!

Gasol Kieff Kuz Dennis - all could be a 2nd unit, with Caruso. Then, Bron subs in for Dennis, and carries the 2nd unit. AD comes in as well. What Vogel was doing before the Bron injury is stagger Dennis/Bron with the 2nd unit. So essentially our current starting 5 has gotten a ton of reps in with Gasol, Kieff, Kuz, Caruso and Dennis/Bron.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 4:45 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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pointfour
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:02 am    Post subject:

Thanks for the write up, DB!

The Drummond signing is a great value move that you have to make if the opportunity presents itself.

But I really hope Gasol does not fall out of the rotation. +20 tonight. Like you said DB, a lot of what he does will not show up in the counting stats. However, the team defense is still there, he's still disruptive on the interior. And the offense just flows so much better with him on the court. Vogel's earned the benefit of the doubt from me, but don't forget the best net rating in the league with Gasol in the starting 5 before all the injuries.

Also, kudos to Kuz. Kid kept working despite the multiple role changes over the years. But it's really come together for him this year in terms of rebounding, defense, making the right reads on offense/ defense, passing, cutting. It's not often I see a player make such huge strides defensively.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 6:26 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

Quote:
Win the games you should. The Lakers did that tonight.


Bingo!
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 9:57 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

Great game all around. Glad to see our role players stepping up
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poppies
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 10:02 am    Post subject:

Sad I missed this one live, seemed dope from the highlights. I wish the three fell this consistently all the time, we'd be unstoppable.
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lurklurk
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 03, 2021 5:45 pm    Post subject:

poppies wrote:
Sad I missed this one live, seemed dope from the highlights. I wish the three fell this consistently all the time, we'd be unstoppable.

You can check out the replays bro. I rarely see games live due to my sched, but i make sure not to check any news before i see the replay. There are some websites that stream old games. 👍🏻
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 04, 2021 12:54 pm    Post subject:

Long time since I’ve peeked in here. Love to read DB’s game summary. Hoping the team can stay afloat until AD and LeBron come back.
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2021 12:02 am    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
Man love seeing that play from Gasol and Kuz.

Arguably with Drummond in play. The Lakers will get a better Gasol in less minutes who can go all out.

Again, theoretically what’s amazing about this time, is the starting lineup we have right now should and could in theory be our 2nd unit!

Gasol Kieff Kuz Dennis - all could be a 2nd unit, with Caruso. Then, Bron subs in for Dennis, and carries the 2nd unit. AD comes in as well. What Vogel was doing before the Bron injury is stagger Dennis/Bron with the 2nd unit. So essentially our current starting 5 has gotten a ton of reps in with Gasol, Kieff, Kuz, Caruso and Dennis/Bron.
As Big Games James shared, Gasol losing his place in the starting lineup might make the fire in him burn even brighter (translation: aggressive)

Probably need THT or Harrell in there because KCP/Kuz (inconsistent)/Matthews/Gasol/AC are in consistent in creating on their own or making shots.

Lakers have a deep roster where Vogel will always be trying to find minute for players - good problem, especially this season

This version of the Lakers need to have their defense create offsense via steals and breakouts
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