LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 1/30 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:43 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 1/30 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Nothing Like Winning in Boston... This game probably makes or breaks this roadtrip. Not just because it’s the Celtics...but, you know, yeah, it’s the Celtics.

Even so, they’re a quality team, and this would be a quality road win.

The Lakers tightened up their rotations, sitting Matthews and Morris. They added AD back in the mix after resting him against the Pistons and got to it.

Boston sent doubles to our stars consistently and the Lakers needed their shooters to step up. They struggled a bit, but scratched out a 3-point lead at the half.

After a bad stretch by Bron to close the third quarter, the Lakers trailed by 7 heading into the fourth. In their third game in four nights, the Lakers would need to get their second wind.

They came out strong in the first couple minutes and put together an 8-0 run. Credit some feisty D and the three ball finding its target.

The Lakers pulled out to a 7-point lead with 1:40 left after Dennis Schröder made an And-1 layup against a mismatch. They missed their next couple of shots and LeBron fumbled a dribble out of bounds with 39 seconds left. The Celtics scored a quick one to cut it to 1. Timeout Lakers with 32 seconds left.

L.A. tried to run a similar play that gave them a late score in Philly for AD. Boston was ready for it, disrupting the action. They transitioned to AD in the mid post. The double came as he was going up and stripped him at the elbow.

A scrambled ensued. Caruso prevented a layup and nearly came up with a steal. The Celtics got the ball to Kemba for a jumper with 2 seconds left. It missed. Theis tried to swim past Harrell for a putback, nearly got it, but the Celtics would come up short.

Somehow that Schröder And-1 was just enough for the Lakers because they didn’t score the rest of the way but still won 96-95.


LeBron -- -- Loved seeing the Lakers in the first half running the Boston Roll as the team calls it. We haven’t run it that much this season, but you saw them pull it out specifically in this one after an ATO. LeBron/Trezz ran the two man game. LeBron put his man in jail. Trezz rolled then screened/sealed his defender to give LeBron a clear path to the rim for a layup. They ran it again next time down but not as cleanly, and LeBron missed the 7-footer. Boston, of course, ran that themselves in this one and burned us, too. He had 10 points and 2 assists in the first half. He had a bad sequence at the end of the third quarter where Boston got a lead. He threw a behind-the-back pass away, it led to a dunk. He missed a three. Then he turned it over on another pass trying to hit Harrell. So the Celtics pulled out to an 8-point lead just like that. He’d start the fourth strong getting some scores. Late in the game, we saw him get sloppy and lose a dribble on the sideline with 39 seconds left. So 5 turnovers in this one, but he was still a +11. He was key to those second units. LeBron and our bench guys, no starters. Late in the game, I want to highlight that Schröder game winner. Dennis had a mismatch, gave it up, but asked for it back. LeBron gave it to him and Schröder blew past the big for the key score. Schröder can be a clutch scorer. He was great in those situations last year. I’m glad we leaned on him and maybe that will help boost the trust from the Laker stars and the confidence from Dennis. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 7-17 shooting (4-11 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 7 assists,1 block, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +11.

Davis -- -- “We damn sure weren’t losing three in a row,” AD said. Good start in this game on the glass. He had 6 boards in the first 5 minutes (including 3 on the offensive end). He was making the smaller lineup pay. He had 12 points and 8 rebounds in that first 12 minutes. He just used his size well around the rim or was able to get that midrange shot to drop. We also found him for a corner three. There were a lot of doubles coming for him tonight. At first, they were sending them from the post entry passer and that made for easy looks for AD to just kick it back out. Later, they’d send them from other parts on the floor and AD and the team wasn’t reading that well. They adjusted a little at half time, but our shooters weren’t consistent. Late in the game, a couple notable moments on a key offensive set. First, we tried to run that corner sequence again to get a screen for AD to come off that and curl to the rim. The Celtics countered that by putting a body on AD to slow him from cutting. That turned it into a post play for him. On that final sequence, again you saw the double team. This came from the closest man on a help and AD was stripped. He had Schröder waiting for the three ball. He’s still struggling from the line. He needs to get in the gym and fix that. Health-wise, he looked good. He took an elbow right to the groin by Brown that dropped him in the fourth. That looked painful. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 11-25 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-7 from the line) to go with 14 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and no fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -10.

Schröder -- -- First off, game winner for Schröder. It came at the 1:40 mark, lol. But that And-1 attack against a mismatch was a bigtime bucket. Had AD not turned the ball over on that last play, I would have really loved to see Schröder take a shot at that open look. He was ready and waiting as the double came to AD. Switching gears for a second, people certainly focus on his offensive dry spells, but defensively he’s been pretty consistently strong at the point of attack. If Kemba hits that last one, people are probably on Dennis. At the very least, they’d be on him for a dumb perimeter foul after he made that And-1 layup. That gave up instant FTs to Kemba. But he drove Kemba off the potential three on that last play, recovered okay to the pull up and got the miss. Kemba finished with 4 points on 1-12 shooting. So you take those numbers any day of the week. Offensively, strong first quarter with 6 points, but 5 assists. He had a kickout to LBJ for a three and a swing pass to AD for a three. He also hit LeBron on the back cut for a dunk. Some good ball movement early and then he was also blowing by guys for layups or drawing FTs. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-8 shooting (1-5 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 7 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -5.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Oof. Law of averages catching up with KCP. He had some good looks tonight but could not knock them down. The Lakers went bigger down the stretch to close this game as Harrell stayed in and KCP was the odd man out. Bigger lineup without him. And his donut offensively made the decision for Vogel, I think. Quietly, KCP not being able to knock down his threes really hurt the Lakers in this one. We were getting doubles in the post for LeBron and AD. That left shooters open from predictable spots. To start the second half, we got the ball to AD in the post. We waited for the double which came from KCP’s man at the top of the key. He had a great look at the three and couldn’t make them pay. That makes it real tough on our superstars if the role players aren’t able to fulfill their role. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-4 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -4.

Gasol -- -- He missed both his attempts from three tonight and made one FT for his only point. No offense run through him for passing plays. He got burned by the Boston Roll a couple as they sealed him off. Boston made our bigs look bad last year on that play. Really bad. Some moments defensively where he got in on some good challenges at the rim or even a fade by Tatum on a jumper. But just eating minutes right now to save AD. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-2 shooting from three (1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +1.

Harrell -- -- Interesting rotation change from Vogel. He let Trezz finish out there. I don’t know if that was the plan or not from the getgo as they had GAsol close the first half. He nearly got burned on that putback attempt at the end of the game. Of course, if he’s not in there at that moment, who is dealing with Theis on that final play? Got to give Trezz a little of the credit for the team shutting down Kemba tonight. He had a couple great challenges on him and helped hold the line with the rim protection. He played a little bigger tonight and we need more of that. Some good hands, as well. He did a great job denying Tatum’s attempt to split the double, using that long reach to knock the ball loose and ignite a Laker break. Harrell’s last score in this game was off bad pass from Tatum to the middle of the paint that he and Bron teamed up for a dunk for Trezz. Some moments of chemistry with THT developing in this game. There were a couple of plays where THT set up Trezz for easy scores. You still saw Harrell snapping at THT during a deadball. Harrell hit a couple of jumpers on iso tonight. That’s a big shot and change in his game if that’s consistent like he seems to be. But it’s especially great to have in your back pocket when the shotclock is low and you need someone to bail out the offense. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 8-10 shooting to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 2 steals, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +0.

Kuzma -- -- Quality outing from Kuzma, popping back onto the bench. He had 8 points in the first half on a couple of threes in five attempts as well as a tip in to clean up THT dribble penetration. He’d sink a three on a pitch out from LeBron to start the fourth. That was a key stretch of ball for the Lakers had they dug themselves into a hole. He’d also get in on a couple stops on back to back plays defensively. Those were key minutes. The Stats: He scored 11 on 4-8 shooting (3-7 from three) to go with 6 boards and no fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +1.

Caruso -- -- “Alex just flies from the corner out of nowhere to get ahead of the play,” Vogel said of Caruso saving the game off that AD turnover. Just hustle and he nearly had the steal, too. Little things like that, winning basketball, that will never show up in the box score other than the final score or the +/- type of stats. Glad to see us purposely go back to the AC/THT backcourt and we did it early in this one. The cost came on no minutes for Morris and Matthews, but just 7 minutes in that first half. Those minutes were a +6. Defensively, we put him on Tatum to start. That’s a tough matchup, for sure. There was a great sequence where I was thinking about our AC/THT guard combo and happy it was out there in the first half when THT used that long reach on a dig down to knock a ball loose and then AC dove to the floor to tap the loose ball away from the Celtics to get a stop. Just love the potential between those two. Just a couple points and one assist. That one assist was a great read by AC to come to the middle of the paint to relieve pressure on Bron and then throw a touch pass to Harrell for a score. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-2 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +14.

Horton-Tucker -- -- Vogel switched his rotations up, sitting Morris and Matthews to get THT 23 minutes. He was a -3 and had some highs and lows out there, but I think you’ve got to try to get him these minutes to learn. As mentioned in Harrell’s writeup, some good chemistry with those two in this one. I loved seeing the LeBron/THT two-man game to get the ball to THT to attack with a man advantage. We’d run this for Rondo at times pretty often and haven’t explored that. One of those things you lose with Rondo gone and need to build up that team playbook again with other guys to replace that. So we saw a two-man action with LBJ turn into attacks for THT, who then setup Trezz. THT scored on a layup in transition, using those long arms to finish. He’d miss a drive, but Kuzma would clean that up, so still a positive play. He’d attack, spin and bank in a short one. Then, probably the most impressive play, he attack Tatum, bumped him off and scored a layup. Such a savvy play for a young guy and we’ve seen him use that body well with frequency. On the negative side, he took some more wrath from Harrell. He got a little anger from LeBron when he chucked a deep three on a handoff. Keep playing him. Young pups learn quick when they get nipped at by their elders. Defensively, some good moments using that long reach to dig down on help. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -3.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: After a poor close to the third quarter, where the Lakers fell back by 8 before a LeBron FT cut it to 7, the Lakers trailed going into the fourth. If they keep up that floundering play, you could see the game disappear quickly. The Lakers were coming off three games in four days, so you knew they’d have to push through a wall to start the fourth. They did that. Some excellent defense to start the fourth. Harrell, LeBron, Kuzma, THT, AC lineup. Kuz was key in this stretch with a three running off LeBron to take a pitch out and hit. Then, he got in a couple good defensive moments to help on the other end. LeBron sank a three, as well. But they quickly evened things up and flipped the momentum. “I think we just had great defensive energy,” Vogel said of that stretch.

Key Substitution: Love seeing us go back to the AC/THT backcourt. They had some real momentum right before Wes came back. We broke that up to get him minutes. Tonight, we saw Wes and Keiff. Wes probably should take the night off even if playing well due to old legs and three games in four nights. But Vogel said he was going to mix it up after losing two straight and take it game by game. He brought in THT early during the first subs with 5:05 in the first quarter. So we didn’t see AC join him for quite a few minutes. “We wanted to look at what a shorter rotation would look like,” Vogel said.

Key Stats: The Celtics had 7 of their 15 turnovers in the fourth. The Lakers 1 turnover (AD in the final seconds) in that quarter nearly cost them. But you could see the defense pick up the intensity to start that fourth. The Lakers held the Celtics to 17 points in the fourth.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:45 pm    Post subject:

BONUS:

I wasn't sure if I could cover this one, so Wolf stepped up, too, so we got double the coverage. Thank you, wolfpacklaker!

wolfpaclaker wrote:


STARTERS: Gasol-AD-Bron-KCP-Schroder

C:Gasol Gasol challenged shots quite well around the basket in the 1st stint he played. Still low involvement in the offense. His defensive rotations were solid. We had him sliding into the 3 point spot up role quite a bit. Defensively in the 1st half solid effort all around. 2nd half the defense inside was similar but we saw a little bit of what happens when you have a non-scoring 5 out there. Open plays, open looks, not being converted. Easy to defend us. Gasol finished the game with 1 point, 1 rebounds and was a +1.

F/C: AD We came out with a paint touches mindset and AD got the ball quite a bit. Good high percentage shots over Celtics smalls. AD was getting hacked around the basket, not getting many calls. AD had a rhythm established early with some post work against Tatum, Brown, or whichever small wing the Celtics put on him. Quite aggressive work by him. Defensively some slow covers to a 3 point shooter, but very good rebounding and challenging around the basket in the 1st half. 2nd half, AD continued to attack in the mid-post area in the 2nd half. FT issues remain. Kept being aggressive to get the ball. Tried to get as many good looks as possible. He seemed to lose some of his energy later in the game, and we were running a lot of ISO action for him. Cold finish after a very strong start on offense. Last few plays of the game, it almost felt like AD was going to be part of every Laker possession, in a bad way. Still, he said after the game he is going to get back to being the old AD. We saw a lot more post work this game. AD finished the game with 27 points, 14 boards, 2 steals and was a -10.

F-G: Bron A little more of a facilitator in this one to start, which I like. Pretty solid start, but had a bad moment where he got frustrated with the calls and not getting back on D. Then followed that play with a turnover. Big play to end the 1st half where he drove into the Celtics defense, scored a layup and a foul for a 3 point play. 2nd half, Bron had a lot of issues keeping control of the ball. TOs and bad timed passes. 4th Q Bron switched gears, got much more intense on D, and more dancey on his moves. Still, more 3 point shooting than driving-posting that I would like, but may have to do with AD-Trez closing out tonights game with him. Also a 5 TOs, some of them just very low IQ plays, that are not typical of Bron at all. Overall, huge part of the reasonj we won, as he played a strong 4th Q (especially that run where AD-Dennis were on the bench). Bron finished the game with 21 points 7 assists 7 boards (4-11 3 point shooting) 5 TOs and was a +11.

G-F: KCP KCPs mojo continued to be off, and a pretty weak 1st half. Missed some of his looks early and then later in the 1st half had a wide open 3 from the corner and he looked out of it. 2nd half, missed a wide open 3 at the wing, meaning he was still MIA. Has been so lousy that even lost his spot as closer with AD-Bron-Caruso. Frank went with Dennis-Trez to close out instead. KCP finished with 0 points with 0-4 shooting and was a -4.

G: Dennis - Good defensive energy in this game right from the start. On offense had 2 nice plays in the 1st half, a kick out pass to Bron for a spot up 3. And an aggressive driving layup. More facilitating mode than aggressive in the 1st half. He was willing to give that ball right away to AD in the post, which I liked. Defensively in the 1st half was able to switch onto Tatum, which is a huge compliment to Dennis, that he is able to defend much bigger wings like that. 2nd half, hit a wide open spot up 3. Had issues getting the ball to AD or Trez via pass, both were turnovers. It is a bit worrisome for me that everytime we run a Dennis-AD (no Bron) Trez lineup it seems like nothing good comes out of it. Outside those non-Bron moments, Dennis was a stud in this one. Finished out the game with some big plays - and And 1 drive with a few min left. Challenged Brown on the last shot of the game. What we need now is to figure out a way to make that non-Bron minutes with Dennis work to our advantage, otherwise we should just rely on THT- Caruso in those minutes. Dennis finished with 12 points, 7 assists and was a -5.

F: Kuzma One of the first guys in, and he did an excellent job of hitting shots that were open and available for him in the 1st half. Got a tip in finish and continued to be showing a knack for rebounding more. 1st half was good. 2nd half hit a nice spot up 3 again from a kick out, but missed some later on. Good minutes from Kuz, tonight. Important too, as KCP was off. Kuz finished with 11 points 6 boards and was a +1.

G: THT Liked seeing that he was one of the first guys in. We went with THT when Bron was out, and it helped us gain another ballhandler who attacks the basket, vs Wesley who is just a spot up shooter. Lots of positive things from THT in the 1st half. Drives to the basket, some reverse layups. He is also setting up Trez quite a bit, something Trez really needs. 2nd half THT brought the same energy and got similar dribble penetration. Its really nice when you have someone like THT who can fake the 3, and make those drives. He showed a couple of really good drive to the basket, stop, wait and then lay the ball in, in different ways. This kid is a legit stud, we just have to develop him right. The vets do have to tell him to slow down at times or the right play, but he is so assertive, I love it. He was also part of that 4th Q lineup that got the game back in the 4th. THT finished with 6 points 4 rebounds and was a -3.

G: Caruso Came in as one of the last reserves in, did not do a whole lot on offense, but defensively was rock solid. 2nd half great pass to Trez after a sharp cut. Lakers fell behind 8, but behind a Lebron led 2nd unit, helped the Lakers back into it. Now that Rondo is gone, I think Caruso may be our highest IQ bench player. Some of the small things he does, like running (sprinting) back on the last play of the game. AD even gave Caruso the credit for saving the game by not allowing that layup. Huge play. And then some cuts and timely passes, and the usual elite D. No surprise Alex led the team with +14. Alex finished with 2 points 3 boards and was a +14.

C: Trez Celtics were pushing him backwards on D, and getting some shots off that I did not like seeing. However then we began to use him in the post on some paint touches and it began to change his energy and effectiveness. A good 1st half on offense. Bron and THT set him up with some finishes in movement. He also created some shots for himself in the paint. 2nd half came in earlier for Gasol (around 6 min into the 3rd) and we saw a lot of poor defensive coverages and even less spacing for AD-Bron. Lakers dropped the lead, and went down by 7. 4th Q with a Lebron led 2nd unit got some nice action going when the defensive attention focused on the ballhandler, leaving Trez open. Defensively, also seemed to be a bit more active with small ball Trez-Kuz-Bron-THT-Caruso lineups. Active on the glass on offense. Trez was down on himself on one defensive play and Frank yelled at him to encourage him (as if to tell him, keep doing that it will work as the defensive effort on that play was high, the Cs just scored). Trez is emotional, and needs to stay in control. He played some very good switches onto smalls defensive sequences where he did not allow them to get a layup inside. This may have been the first game where we finished with Trez-Dennis and the OGs from last year (AD-Bron-Caruso). Not a great game, but a very great finish by Trez. Trez finished with 16 boards 5 boards 3 blocks 2 steals and was a +0.

1st half summary: Lakers defensively were very active on D and looked focused. There was a lot of paint touches and deliberation to our offense. Defensively we caught some breaks, Celtics looked like they missed some open 3s. Thought we should be up more than 3. Lakers continued to have issues with getting offense going without Bron carrying the 2nd unit. 52-49 Lakers.

2nd half summary: Lakers started the half off soft, on offense. Then got their paint touches going but Cs went with some zone. Lakers have issues with Gasol when he can not score or be effective as an option to shoot. Then when Trez comes in, the spacing does not get better even though Trez is willing to be aggressive (and we lose some D). Lakers fell down 8.
4th Q starts off with a Trez-Kuz-Bron-THT-Caruso lineup. They swing momentum of the game back to the Lakers. Really, that was the game changer there. A lot of activity increased and Trez got going with that group. Alex is this teams 3rd MVP. Dennis came back in, and finished strong as well.

Coaching:

Frank made some rotation changes. 1) He went with shorter rotation, no Kieff or Wesley. Trusted his ballhandlers more, who could get more active on D and more ball inside (As Kieff-Wes are mostly just spot up shooters). 2) More paint touches. Frank talked about it pregame he said, and that is what the team did. AD was used much more the way we are used to. 3) First time we see Frank close out with Trez-AD-Bron-Dennis-Caruso. Nice to see the 4 most talented scorers on the team finally play some important closing minutes together.
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jonnybravo
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:48 pm    Post subject:

First! Sloppy win but much needed. Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 9:52 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:01 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB, and BUCK FOSTON!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:14 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Another AAA summary.

I'm very happy about the W cuz my gut said its an L, an easy one to call with various issues with the Lakers seemingly all cropping up at the same time. However, they won it, but barely...I suppose making up for losing the philly last second shot by watching the Celtics miss this one.

Now, what is becoming more and more glaring is this, from each game this season, at least since the Milwaukee game it started to become more obvious:

1. The team has stretches, usually 2-4 minutes or so, and can be at various times in a game, where they completely and utterly meltdown on both ends. This is usually not because the opposing team is playing great D, its usually unforced turnovers and then bad rotations and communications on defense. It's like they can go from playing awe inspiring basketball / A+ level, to a big "F" for a span, in no time. Tonight that occurred at the 4 minute mark in the 3rd, and offensively, with less than 2 minutes in the fourth. It just seems the focus leaves at times.

2. The interior defense is suspect. Currently lakers in bottom third of league in points in the paint defense(last year were top 10). I'm pretty much just about sold that we should get an additional big. Tonight, Celtics dropped a 60 burger vs the Lakers in the paint.

3. Vog is personally pissing me off with his refusal to play AC more than 20 minutes. Does he think AC will suddenly turn into a pumpkin if he plays him 30? He plays terrific with LBJ. Works well with THT. Hell, he probably works well with just about anyone. He is just that guy that as a roleplayer puts his imprint on many things. He is sorta like the value Bruce Bowen had for the Spurs. You know Bowen never averaged 10+ a year, but he was invaluable to those great defensive spurs teams.

4. THT > Wes at this point. Not sure what happened to Wes, but he is playing worse than DG did towards end of the year last year (and he was playing iffy). THT needs more play. He may make mistakes, but he is the better talent IMO.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:33 pm    Post subject:

AC/THT need more minutes. That should come at the expense mostly of KCP/Wes (and a few minutes from Dennis).
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 10:42 pm    Post subject:

It amazes me to think how many Lakers fans don't know about these write-ups. Pure gold. Really appreciate the effort!
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:22 pm    Post subject:

ugly finish to the game. Leprechauns tried to steal it, but AC's hustle blunted that.

I don't think we've seen the AC-THT-LBJ-Kuz-Trez lineup before. Pretty spry, lengthy and active group. They were a +6 to start the 2nd Q, and a +7 to start the 4th. Looks like Vogel was waiting to spring that group out.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 30, 2021 11:22 pm    Post subject:

Great write up. THT looks 20 at times, but you can see what a stud he will be in 3-4 years. Gotta get those minutes in.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 12:41 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB and Wolf!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 1:23 am    Post subject:

A nail-bitter in Boston going our way on the 3rd game in 4 nights? Thank you very much for making my weekend.

Thanks for the write-ups. DB and wolf!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 2:19 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Excellent writeup and insights on an excellent outcome! Wolf than you as well! Always good to beat Boston in Boston. Caruso/THT played well together again, GREAT hustle by AC at the end with the game on the line!

AC/THT/LBJ/Kuz/Trez. Interesting combo when AD's resting.

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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 5:36 am    Post subject:

Thanks for great write ups DB and Wolf.

1. Starters were oof. ZERO points from KCP and Gasol. That's gonna have to change if the Lakers want to continue winning.

3. As DB mentioned, Lakers bench outscored Celtics bench 35-15. That is HUGE!

3. THT/AC may have only scored 8 points but were a combined plus 11 and the entire bench was a plus 12. Lebron and AD were a combined plus 1.

4. Lakers gave up three offensive rebounds in the last 5 minutes. Got to box out.

5. Refs were letting a lot of contact go. I am surprised it did not get ugly last night. AC and LBJ were complaining a lot.
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BigE32
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 5:46 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! We need to do a better job of closing out games. It always feels good to defeat the Celtics especially in Boston.
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akgolf
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:01 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB and Wolf!
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danzag
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:49 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB and Wolf!

BUCK FOSTON
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:51 am    Post subject:

Laker7 wrote:
Thanks for great write ups DC and Wolf.

1. Starters were oof. ZERO points from KCP and Gasol. That's gonna have to change if the Lakers want to continue winning.

3. As DB mentioned, Lakers bench outscored Celtics bench 35-15. That is HUGE!

3. THT/AC may have only scored 8 points but were a combined plus 11 and the entire bench was a plus 12. Lebron and AD were a combined plus 1.

4. Lakers gave up three offensive rebounds in the last 5 minutes. Got to box out.

5. Refs were letting a lot of contact go. I am surprised it did not get ugly last night. AC and LBJ were complaining a lot.

1. While KCP and Gasol struggled, the starters did a good job defensively. They also did a very good job of getting AD the ball in the post and mid-wing area, where he played like the best big in ball. No more of that soft perimeter stuff. This was something Vogel schemed it seems as he told his team pregame to get back to high # of paint touches. But yes, KCP and Gasol gave nothing on offense, but did do solid on D. Gasol is a real liability as when he does not shoot, the team is effectively playing 4 on 5. Doubles are much harder to come by when we have a scoring threat.

2. The bench was a boost, Kuz was big, THT, Trez and Caruso all played very well. 4 man bench vs 6 guys helped I think. But the main concern remains with the bench. Our AD-Dennis + 3 bench players lineups stink, while the Lebron + 4 bench players lineups do ok. I just do not know what the exact reason is, but this needs to be resolved by playoffs.

3, 4, 5 Yep, Spot on, Laker7.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 6:57 am    Post subject:

yinoma2001 wrote:
AC/THT need more minutes. That should come at the expense mostly of KCP/Wes (and a few minutes from Dennis).

Yes. We need to figure out a way to get that AD led 2nd unit lineups effective. The AD-Schroder lineups + 3 bench players are failing. The Lebron + 4 bench players lineups are doing well.

We came back in this game with the Trez-Kuz-Bron-THT-Caruso lineup. For whatever reason, the 2nd unit does not do well with AD-Dennis.

Kieff and Wesley to me are valuable guys around AD-Bron lineups. They are spot up shooters that are physical on D. Gonna be valuable in playoffs. On 2nd units though, where it is just Bron or AD, or just Bron, you want some guys that can handle the ball a bit more and do some creating. That is why the THT-Caruso lineup is good.

Also, Dennis-Caruso is a very productive backcourt. I think our most potent lineup at some point may be AD-Bron-THT-Caruso-Dennis. We will need THT to gain some experience before we trust him that much, but he has a lot of skills that we need.
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Halflife
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 7:50 am    Post subject:

We are elite defensively . IMO best out of all contenders
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leking006
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:53 am    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
yinoma2001 wrote:
AC/THT need more minutes. That should come at the expense mostly of KCP/Wes (and a few minutes from Dennis).

Yes. We need to figure out a way to get that AD led 2nd unit lineups effective. The AD-Schroder lineups + 3 bench players are failing. The Lebron + 4 bench players lineups are doing well.

We came back in this game with the Trez-Kuz-Bron-THT-Caruso lineup. For whatever reason, the 2nd unit does not do well with AD-Dennis.

Kieff and Wesley to me are valuable guys around AD-Bron lineups. They are spot up shooters that are physical on D. Gonna be valuable in playoffs. On 2nd units though, where it is just Bron or AD, or just Bron, you want some guys that can handle the ball a bit more and do some creating. That is why the THT-Caruso lineup is good.

Also, Dennis-Caruso is a very productive backcourt. I think our most potent lineup at some point may be AD-Bron-THT-Caruso-Dennis. We will need THT to gain some experience before we trust him that much, but he has a lot of skills that we need.


Yup, I think THT has a potential to guard opponents SF because of his long arms.
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TDRock
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:14 am    Post subject:

Yay Winning! Always beat the Celtics!

Thanks DB (and all)
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LakerDYnasty72
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 9:39 am    Post subject:

Halflife wrote:
We are elite defensively . IMO best out of all contenders


Being elite defensively starts with AD at the 5, LeBron at the 4, AC at the 2, THT or DS at the 1, and if he's really feelin' it that night, Kuz at the 3.

Gasol is situational at best. The one whom we were really hoping could add to our defense, or even take it another notch up was Matthews. Hasn't worked out that way yet.

We have the foundation for a very good defensive team because of Davis, the ace in the deck.

Thanks DB!
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 10:35 am    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
yinoma2001 wrote:
AC/THT need more minutes. That should come at the expense mostly of KCP/Wes (and a few minutes from Dennis).

Yes. We need to figure out a way to get that AD led 2nd unit lineups effective. The AD-Schroder lineups + 3 bench players are failing. The Lebron + 4 bench players lineups are doing well.

We came back in this game with the Trez-Kuz-Bron-THT-Caruso lineup. For whatever reason, the 2nd unit does not do well with AD-Dennis.



The AD/Schroder combo where LBJ is out, they have very minimal chemistry developed. The only plays I can think of are a simple pick and pop and that post handoff play on the left side, which Schroder used to run with Adams. We tend to just dump it in the post and stand around. And Dennis’s post passing probably limits some actions we might consider.

The THT/AC combo I think I read had a 77.7 defensive rating in 45 minutes or so. You don’t need to have great offensive chemistry when you’re able to do that. You will be successful. Those guys are disruptive and do a great job getting to loose balls or defensive boards.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 11:27 am    Post subject:

Also, regarding this point I agree with:

Quote:
Gasol is a real liability as when he does not shoot, the team is effectively playing 4 on 5. Doubles are much harder to come by when we have a scoring threat.


Ultimately, I think it will get down to Kieff playing a big role. In the playoffs we will likely limit Gasol, who teams will really try to expose on both ends. Harrell becomes problematic in his own ways and may get limited. Not as much as Howard/McGee last season, though. So there will be times when we need to go big but also want that space on offense. If teams can leave Gasol because he’s a reluctant shooter, then that’s where Morris slides in and AD takes the 5. We saw that in fourth quarters in the playoffs last year. That’s where Morris’s real value is. Not as a PF with Harrell, but with AD to go 5 out with someone who the D respects more as a three shooting threat.

More then than not we will try to go small with three guards I think to close but when we want size ultimately think it’s AD/Morris.
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