LAKERS -at- MAVS - 4/24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:35 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- MAVS - 4/24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Sad-urday Basketball... The Lakers lived and died by the three early in this game. When it was hitting, they pulled out to a big lead. When they missed three after three, the Mavs reeled them in.

Early on, the Lakers had trapped Luka on the sideline and forced him into turnovers. Once he started working the middle of the floor late in the third, they started messing up coverages, and he easily picked apart the help rotations for scores. What was once a 17-point lead was now evened up heading into the fourth.

The Lakers started the fourth missing several threes again. Both teams went scoreless for the first few minutes. Then THT and Schröder got to the rim for dunks to help get the scoring going. That was short-lived.

The Laker offense would find the lane clogged as we brought Drummond back in and the offense really dried up. Meanwhile, Luka went back to work against our rotating D, picking it part for easy scores. The Lakers never tried going smaller and switching. With the new lineups and lack of continuity, they fell apart. They trailed by 4 when the timeout came.

Out of that, Vogel tried to go to a zone to shake things up. The Lakers got burned for a wide open three to trail by 7. Luka would put the nail in the coffin with a deep three next time down. It was a 25-6 run to close the game for Dallas.

Really poor execution on both ends. They definitely missed LeBron orchestrating the offense like Luka does to manipulate the defense. But there is really no excuse for barely executing an NBA offense. They fell 108-93 after scoring just 14 points in the fourth and 35 in the second half.

“Just too perimeter oriented,” Vogel said.


Davis -- -- He had a moment early in this game when he had 10 of his 12 first half points in the second quarter. Outside of that stretch, he was mostly garbage. That three ball was off the mark early on as he struggled to get his legs into some of his shots, but that didn’t stop him from chucking them. He went 0-6 from three. He faded as the game went along as we extended his minutes. That’s expected. We got to work him back into game shape. Midway through the third quarter he was battling on the offensive glass and came out limping and grabbing his calf. Laker fans everywhere held their breath. It looked like he took a knee to the back of his leg. He played after that with no issue. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-19 shooting (0-6 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and no foul in 28 minutes. He was a -19.

Schröder -- -- A double-double, but you can really see the difference in this game between a guy who is a floor general (Luka) and a guy who isn’t (Dennis). He had 12 points on 5-10 shooting in the first half, hitting a couple of threes, a jumper and a couple layups off give and go sequences with his bigs (one on a backdoor cut after a pass for Gasol to find him, the other off that high post handoff along the left side of the floor in early offense). He also had 6 assists with just 1 turnover in the first half. He’d get to 10 assists in the second half, good job on some kickout to Kuzma on inside-out sequences for threes. The offense really started to get perimeter oriented as the game went along and we didn’t seek consistent penetration. As a result, the Mavs chipped away at the Lakers lead early in the third. Dennis had a brief moment of getting to the rim for a dunk, then coming up for a steal on the other end to get the Lakers out on the break for a score. But outside of that 30-second stretch, we really faded badly as a team. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 7-18 shooting (2-8 from three) to go with 4 boards, 10 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -27.

Drummond -- -- “We didn’t put enough pressure on the rim,” Vogel said after this one. You can do that in multiple ways as a big. But we make it difficult when we can’t spread the floor for our guards. Really wish we didn’t run Drummond to close the game. The offense was stifled down the stretch with the paint clogged. What you want to see with our size is some offensive boards. He had none tonight. Defensively, the hedges were turned into traps early on tonight. That resulted in some turnovers as our length harassed Luka. His hands and length make that more of a defensive advantage as we scramble behind him or zone up to make the passes difficult. But once Luka stayed away from the trouble spots on the floor and had open court to pass around us, the defense would end up in no man’s land. We’d get torched and Drummond was a problem. He picked up a double tech with a Mav midway through third when he didn’t take kindly to getting hit from behind on the defensive glass. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting to go with 12 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -19.

Kuzma -- -- Four of his 5 makes were from three tonight. You could see him early on missing a three trailing the break as his footwork was off. He’d then swish a three on a kickout where he was able to just catch and fire. The next time he got the ball on the move, he traveled trying to get his feet right. The Lakers made 12-45 from three. We lived and died by it. I like seeing Kuzma the passer where he helps get the ball popping. Not a lot of that in this game. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting (4-9 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -23.

McLemore -- -- Some more of that three and foul ball from Ben. He slid into the starting lineup for KCP and they didn’t skip a beat in that first quarter as McLemore drained 4 of his 6 makes from three in this game. I’d say he’s finding his shot within our offense, but I think he finds his shot anywhere. He’d struggle with the fouls, though, and that would have him in and out of the lineup. His one bucket inside the arc was getting out in transition for a layup off that Schröder steal in the fourth. Good having another designated sniper. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 7-12 shooting (6-10 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 block and 5 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +0.

Gasol -- -- “We need to keep all three centers sharp,” Vogel said. Gasol came in to run as the backup C to close out the first quarter instead of Trezz. You’ve got guards who want to get to the rim, so I don’t see why we play with this a little more. Of course, our guards have to go to the rim to take advantage of a 5-out offense. We really played more side to side in this game than north and south. Vogel wanted penetration and didn’t get it. We weren’t even looking to see if we could establish Gasol as a floor spacer, either. Still, at the end of the night he was a +4 and Drummond was a -19. “It’s going to take a lot of buying in,” he said of the C spot having to share minutes and sit some games. The Stats: He scored 1 points on 1-2 shooting from the line to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +4.

Caruso -- -- He was a +12 in the first half despite fouling on a three at the end of the half. In the second half, a -11. The offense just struggled without playmaking. At times, they’d switch and kind of dare AC to create against a mismatch. He was able to get to the line. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 2 turnover and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a +1.

Horton-Tucker -- -- He hit a step-back wing jumper on iso early on. In the fourth, he split defenders on a crossover and dunked. Not a lot of offense. He did find McLemore for a corner three. His other assist was while in the post, drawing a double team and hitting Wes cutting. This might have been a game to put the ball in his hands a little more. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +1.

Morris -- -- Everyone on the bench was in the positive on the +/- despite the team shooting poorly. The entire bench was 0-12 from three tonight. Really, it was Morris’s poor shooting that really hurt the bench. He missed all 6 attempts from three on his way to a 2-11 shooting night. He’d also give a point back picking up a tech on another no call. Defensively, he was caught in no man’s land on rotations quite a bit. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-11 shooting (0-6 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +4.

Matthews -- -- With KCP out, everyone slid up a spot in the rotation -- McLemore to starters and Wes to backup. Note McLemore seems to be pretty firmly taking over Wes’s minutes/role lately. With the first quarter he had tonight, he continued to make his case over Wes. Wes scored on a nice cut off ball. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board and no fouls in 6 minutes. He was a +3.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: The whole second half was a drag as they were dominated on both ends. There was a stretch where they finally tried to switch up their defense against Luka by going to a zone and immediately saw the game get out of reach after giving up a wide open three. Really no answers defensively as they got picked apart on the screen rolls with their bigger lineups. Playoffs, we go small ball with AD at the C spot most likely and probably LeBron at PF if we faced them. Offensively, LeBron will hunt for Luka on D and make him work/get the defense scrambling.

Key Substitution: Gasol took over the second unit C spot for Trezz in this game. We didn’t try to run both on the floor where Gasol plays the PF on offense and the C on defense. We really lacked playmaking from our guard spot with those units tonight. I think they may have been more used to running some two-man action with Trezz and then struggled to switch gears with Gasol back in the mix. Vogel is trying to keep the centers sharp by getting minutes. It will likely depend more on bringing LeBron back to pull it all together no matter who’s in there.

Key Stats: The Lakers got blown out despite an 18-9 advantage in turnovers. The Lakers shot 12-45 from three (26.7%) getting caught in a perimeter oriented game despite having their big lineup out there.
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DrDent
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:52 pm    Post subject:

First
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:55 pm    Post subject:

Kcp was missed
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:01 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

What completely befuddled me was being outrebounded 51-36. That is unacceptable with the size we played.

Considering how the Lakers were playing in the 4th, it was probably the first time DB I agree with you on Dre shoulda been pulled. While he and AD were making the Mavs look silly in the first half...in that 4th, down the stretch? I would have desperately changed something. I dont know if your suggestion would have been it, but getting clowned by Powell over and over was not enjoyable.

We've seen some games that made us collectively shake our collective heads...this one? I mean, just wow. Luka and Powell were ripping the Lakers new ones...btw...2 games in a row with those PnRs and lobs.

I will say this, however, to balance out my agreement with you - It's hard to gauge this one from a 50k foot level. AD was 1-10 in the second half, 5-19 overall, yet at 3:30 only down by 2. Despite the messiness a regular game from AD may have pulled it out...e.g. coulda been one of those heart palpitating finishes where teams just keep scoring back n forth to finish a close game. But with our only star on the floor still not in game shape, and the other team having mini LBJ? Yea...

BTW, we really missed LBJ in a game like this one. He would have dove right into the teeth of that Mavs D and gotten some scores.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:36 pm    Post subject:

BTW, I think the Lakers were something like 4-23 from 3 in the second half
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:05 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB, that one was a hard one to watch.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 12:16 am    Post subject:

Kuzma -23.
Schroeder -27..
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 12:35 am    Post subject:

Hopefully a good learning game for Schoeder. Learning to capitalize on the strengths he has on the court and to exploit them with certain players on the court. Changes/Counters that he bring in future games will be key in his role as the primary ball-handler.

Usually the team makes good halfime adjustments, but not this time

These games are forced to be preseason games in trying to incorporate AD, AD2, Gasol and others into a set rotation.

The inconsistent shooting of Kuz to McLemore to TNT to Kiev, without being able to capitalize on our bigs - recipe for disaster. Great need for AD to gobble up boards since that is his primary advantage over Gasol.
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cathy78
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 3:35 am    Post subject:

This looked out of sync.
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Laker7
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:02 am    Post subject:

Worst second half of the year. Dallas had a layup drill going on in the fourth and with two bigs (AD and AD2) the Lakers could not get the ball into the paint to save their lives.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:16 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB.

This game was just painful to watch.
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 9:38 am    Post subject:

The most brutal part of the game to me was watching Drummond trap Luka abovbe the trey line in the second half only to see his man Powell dive into the lane for an uncontested layup time after time after time.

I don't even fully blame AD2 for that since he isn't athletic enough to show and recover. I blame Vogel. After one, maybe two examples of that play being run, he should've put Davis on Powell so that the play could be defended more competently.

By the time Vogel DID notice by having Drummond drop down below the FT line to defend the paint, it was already the second half of the fourth quarter and too little too late.

Other noticeable issues include Morris having a bad game all around (though he's allowed a couple after his extended run of good games), and our insistence at over shooting the three. We're big, they're not (with Porzingis out)... pound the ball down low!!!
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