Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2022 10:00 pm Post subject: LAKERS -at- WARRIORS - 2-12-22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
Changing the Vibe... The Lakers trailed by as many as 15 in the first half, but rallied in the second quarter as they cut the lead to as few as 2.
Down 65-62 at the half, we put the ball in LeBron’s hands to set the table to start the half. Eventually, he’d look for his own shot and hit a three to pass Kareem in the all-time scoring list (combining regular season and post season points). That would be only one of two shots he made in the second half.
Down a point to start the fourth, it was anyone’s game. The Lakers built a small lead, keeping Warriors scoreless for first 4 minutes.
Three times late in the game, the Warriors would get a fortuitous bounce that would find its way to Klay for a big shot. One was off a deflected pass, the other off a bricked three, another off a missed shot where we gave up the board again and it found him and he hit a skimmed-backboard jumper.
Both LeBron and AD missed layups in the final minute. The Lakers got a stop down 3 with 7.3 seconds left and called a timeout. LeBron was fouled with 2.4 left on a three for three FTs. He missed the first, made the second and would purposely miss the third. The Lakers couldn’t get the miss in time and that was the ball game.
It’s noteworthy that two Lakers coaches (Handy and Vogel) picked up techs in this game. The Lakers lost 117-115.
Those techs, the tough misses that found their way to Klay, missed layups by our stars and the missed FTs -- just a hair too much to overcome on the road in a tough arena.
“Overall, proud of how we played,” Vogel said.
Even though they couldn’t get the win, it was at least a more engaged and focused team. Hopefully, the vibe in the locker room changes after the trade deadline has come and gone.
LeBron -- -- He got his 18th point of the first half on his second three that came off a swing pass from THT. All the work on his perimeter a game has been a big key for him to keep that scoring at a high clip in his older years. He’d get the all-time points mark (regular season plus playoffs) in the third quarter off another three. Russ set a flare, AD hit LeBron on the wing and he knocked down the record-breaking bucket. He’s now at 44,157 combined points. Prior to this game, LeBron talked about being fatigued. He looked it again tonight. He was 2-15 in the second half, 1-10 in the fourth (maybe get AD to do some work for ya?). “He got fouled on a couple of them,” Vogel said. “Very disappointed in that aspect.” It’s possible that Kuminga’s energy and hustle tired him out some. He certainly got outworked in the first half and had to clean that up in the second half. Kuminga hasn’t know an NBA without LeBron in it. Man, hard to survive a 1-10 fourth quarter in a close game. He missed a lot of chippies. Bron had a chance to tie the game when he drew a foul on a three late. You knew he wasn’t knocking down all three. He missed the first and then had to purposely miss the last one. Rough game late and he was a -11. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 9-27 shooting (3-10 from three, 5-9 from the line) to go with 15 boards, 8 assists, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -11.
Davis -- -- We needed more from AD in this one. The Warriors were smaller, he played too small. We got him in the post quite a bit early and he didn’t settle. He looked to attack the paint and saw some success. There were just long stretches where he wasn’t even a focal point or. Last game he had 0 attempts in the fourth and no points. Tonight, just 3 points on 1-3 attempts. Westbrook found him for a dunk on a drive for his one make. He was fouled on an offensive board with over a minute left. Made the first FT for his point, then missed the second. (“I’ve been terrible from the line,” AD said.) The ball found its way back to him off that miss and some pressure by Russ, and AD missed the layup on that. Big miss (he was shoved in the paint some on that and Warriors got away with a lot of that, but you need to finish that at that juncture. Defensively, some perimeter issues when he wouldn’t switch in time off handoffs or splits and the Warriors ate those up for threes. He tightened that up and the Lakers really had some of their better rotations and defense of the season at times. If they can keep that up against some of the lesser passing teams, the basketball gods will reward them. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-13 shooting (0-1 from three, 6-10 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 3 blocks and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -6.
Westbrook -- -- I liked this one from Westbrook. First off, 5 assists with just 1 turnover. That helps our D. Secondly, better shot selection. I don’t think he took a jumper in the first half. He passed up on some open looks to put pressure on the paint and rim. His scores were at the rim in early offense or working out of the post. We should have at least two or three possessions a half for him in the post. But we tend to skip games doing it, which is kind of the M.O. for our offense -- never anything consistent and play calling spotty at best (hey, call your own number for that). But a fairly clean 10-point (4-7), 2-assist, 1 TO first half. In the second half, I think he took three jumpers, one a corner three on a kickout (take those, always…he’s an efficient threat there). He made that one (missed the other two jumpers). Late in the game some sequences where we used him well. We had an ATO slip screen play with Reaves/LeBron that found Russ under the hoop for a layup. He also attacked and found AD for a dunk. We needed more of that from him with LeBron tired/missing at a high clip. Maybe another post up? Another couple more high screens with AD and guys spacing? We ran a nice double stack screen roll on an ATO to get a ballhandler downhill. I’d like to see more of that as a routine play. I hope this is a game to grow on. They seemed focused and engaged. I like that Van Gundy brought up Melo in reference to Westbrook. Here’s a guy who is one of the NBA’s best ever and has had to take on that bench role, doesn’t close games, doesn’t have the ball like he used to. Melo embraced the role, tries his best to compete on the defensive end and the fans have embraced Melo. Guys need to be accountable for their lapses and mistakes. Vogel benching him for a couple of recent games is saying just that. Play right and you play big minutes. Consistently, make the same mental and effort mistakes, you can’t blame the coaches if they’ve seen enough. “I thought that was the most connected we’ve been in a while,” LeBron said of the team after the trade deadline has passed. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-13 shooting (1-2 form three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 5 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +2.
Johnson -- -- The hope at the trade deadline was that we’d pick up someone who could maybe take over Stanley’s role. I think we have guys who can step in for Bradley. But we need another good two-way wing. Stanley picked up two quick fouls and had to sit after 3 minutes after getting the start. He’d get a nice hoop cutting off a LeBron post up to take the pass. Again, I love the off-ball flare screens he sets. We saw Russ set one tonight on that LeBron three. We need our non-shooting threats to do that dirty work to turn that into an advantage for our shooters. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -5.
Bradley -- : -- I remember Baze doing a pretty good job on Curry early this season. Bradley has more continuity with the starters, so he got that assignment. We kept Curry to 1-8 shooting from three really making a concerted effort to protect that three line. That involved a lot of switching. Offensively, he hit a three off an LBJ post kickout and would drain another corner three near the end of the first half. Close game, look at the ones you wish you had back. He choked a layup on an off-ball cut baseline to take a pass. He’d also get called for a bogus foul on Curry attempting a three, who nearly kicked him in the crotch on the kickout. Again, too many little things like that added up. I think we played him a few too many minutes tonight again. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-6 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -6.
Monk -- -- He was in on some of our second half runs (had a +7). Biggest play might have been scoring the And-1 layup in the fourth that came off that Reaves block on Klay. He also had a backdoor And-1 layup, hanging and taking contact. Nice cut baseline, nice bounce from AD. Love seeing that off-ball movement off our superstars. Good things happen when our role players do that. He also had a lob finish on a good read from Russ. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-9 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +7.
Reaves -- -- How good was the rookie tonight? Again, I love when he’s aggressive on offense, good things usually happen. But let’s start on the other end. Defensively in this game, he had guys trying to going at him again and again only to be denied and forced to pass. Multiple times, he leveled off a player and forced the pass. Sure there were a couple of scores on him, but he came up big more often than not. He was on Curry that last offensive possession and didn’t give him anything easy. That gave the Lakers a chance. Curry did get a layup on him in the last minute, but it was a pretty good challenge by Reaves, better shot. A lot of switching by the Lakers and the Warriors thought they could get something easy on him. He blocked Klay earlier on one drive with a great recovery on iso. Klay would later score on him in transition and then talk some trash. Apparently, Reaves said something back to him shortly later. Reaves was mic’d up, lol, but I don’t think they played what was said. Vogel used his challenge in the fourth when Reaves went vertical to get a stop and the refs called a foul on him. That foul was overturned. Fun to watch him get after it. Offensively, early on he had a probe and kick to LeBron for a three. He sank an open three off a THT drive, where THT fell and passed to LeBron and Bron kicked out to Reaves (you better hit that open corner three). He attacked off the three line and hit a floater (an important shot for him since he plays a finesse game). After that Klay trash talking, we saw Reaves attack aggressive off the high screen, shake the defender and score a big layup. Russ was hitting him in the head as they went into the timeout. On the ATO, they ran a slip screen for Reaves and he found Russ for a layup. Next time down, he attacked off the three line for a layup. He’d also hit two big FTs with 1:54 left (cutting to save AD who was trapped in the corner). So, you don’t need to start Reaves, but you should look at the minutes. Are they more than guys like Bradley? Is he closing? I know Vogel wants to be careful with the wear and tear, so don’t expect starter minutes. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-5 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 23 minutes. He was a -3.
Horton-Tucker -- -- He had the team-high +8. Very active defensively, particularly in the paint and on the boards. We really need those young legs and hustle around our stars. We just need to cut down on the errors. I think the switching makes things easier for him. Offensively, the three ball was dropping. He sank a couple of threes in the first half and led the team with 10 points. He’d sink another three off a Monk offensive board. He’d also score a layup off a LeBron airball. He’d also draw some FTs on an inside-out layup. That shooting has been better the last couple games. I hope it keeps up. It makes a big difference. Maybe now the trade deadline has come and gone he can find his game again. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 5-9 shooting (3-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +8.
Ariza -- -- Oof. He went 0-2 from the line, airballed a three and dropped a pass out of bounds. The team’s inability to hit freethrows is very hard to watch. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards and 1 turnover in 16 minutes. He was a +4.
Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Hmmm. Heh. Heh. How about the two techs by the Laker coaches in this game? I know you are trying to defend our players to the refs, but you guys cost us two points in a two-point ball game. There’s a lot of pressure on the coaching staff right now. On the one hand, they want the players to know they have their backs. On the other hand, you just hurt them.
Key Substitution: A couple to focus on. Obviously, Austin Reaves played a great game and was trusted down the stretch. He gave no reason for the coaching staff not to continue that trust. We talk about Austin starting, but he finished with the starters and made a number of huge plays. Secondly, Westbrook obviously has been in the spotlight closing games. He put together an excellent game and Vogel went with him to finish. We even got him a bucket off an ATO where he cut to the low post for a layup off a slip screen play with Reaves/LeBron. I like the sub pattern. And I think it was right that we didn’t play Dwight in this game. You can’t run drop coverage against the Warriors. The couple of times we didn’t stay high on those screens, AD got chewed up for threes. The Warriors would have ate that up with Dwight. On the flip side of that, however, neither AD/LeBron looked like they had a great amount of energy late in the game, so you might have saved some energy, though running Dwight. Also, could have made up for things on the offensive glass? The game was winnable with how we played. See the stat below.
Key Stats: The Lakers shot 22-33 from the line. Both LeBron and AD missed 4 each. Come on, guys. Look at the turnovers in this game. The Lakers had just 8, Warriors only 9. Both teams kept that clean. That’s a pretty big deal for the Lakers.
Coach’s Challenge: Austin went vertical in the restricted area to get a stop and the refs called Reaves for the foul. We challenged won and won the jumpball. The refs were pretty awful on all night (probably consistently awful for both teams, but certainly did not seem it for the Warriors stars versus the Lakers stars...which is why home court is important in the playoffs).
I'd like to see the stat, but I get the feeling this team this year in "close" games with under 2 minutes to go has a really bad record. Failure to execute in those moments separates the good teams from the rest.
Unfortunately this squad falls into the rest. 5 games under .500.
Also I did not see most of this game but the in game thread, your summary, and the box score all demonstrate how small AD played tonight - just unbelievable. If what's happening with him is in between the ears, you have to wonder if he just lost his edge after signing that fat contract. His first season with the team he'd go on a tear after a bad game. Now? He is just as up and down as the team. _________________ "One thing I admire about Kuzma is his unwavering confidence. He truly has no idea that he’s not as good as he thinks." - Killer_Z
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8323 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:23 am Post subject:
Thanks DB.
I want to be encouraged by this game, but I'm not buying it.
LeBron has been playing too many minutes for a while. He seems tired. He was walking the ball upcourt in the fourth quarter, which always hurts us.
We need to keep him to 32-33 minutes a game. All we have to do to accomplish that is sub him out 30 seconds earlier each quarter and then bring him back 30 seconds later. is that really that hard to do?
As you alluded to DB, we need one or two more 2-way frontcourt players. Stanley Johnson plays his role well, but Ariza and Melo are done. We need to find a replacement or two for them (especially Ariza - what a terrible signing).
I want to be encouraged by this game, but I'm not buying it.
LeBron has been playing too many minutes for a while. He seems tired. He was walking the ball upcourt in the fourth quarter, which always hurts us.
We need to keep him to 32-33 minutes a game. All we have to do to accomplish that is sub him out 30 seconds earlier each quarter and then bring him back 30 seconds later. is that really that hard to do?
As you alluded to DB, we need one or two more 2-way frontcourt players. Stanley Johnson plays his role well, but Ariza and Melo are done. We need to find a replacement or two for them (especially Ariza - what a terrible signing).
Melo was badly missed in the last few games. The root cause of this loss was the beginning of the second quarter when the lead went from 6 to 15. The lineup of lebron at 5, Ariza, THT, reaves, Stanley provides no offense. 3 and half none shooters with lebron is not going to work. They could hide melo on defense in certain matchups, but his scoring was missed
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8323 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:32 am Post subject:
mad55557777 wrote:
slavavov wrote:
Thanks DB.
I want to be encouraged by this game, but I'm not buying it.
LeBron has been playing too many minutes for a while. He seems tired. He was walking the ball upcourt in the fourth quarter, which always hurts us.
We need to keep him to 32-33 minutes a game. All we have to do to accomplish that is sub him out 30 seconds earlier each quarter and then bring him back 30 seconds later. is that really that hard to do?
As you alluded to DB, we need one or two more 2-way frontcourt players. Stanley Johnson plays his role well, but Ariza and Melo are done. We need to find a replacement or two for them (especially Ariza - what a terrible signing).
Melo was badly missed in the last few games. The root cause of this loss was the beginning of the second quarter when the lead went from 6 to 15. The lineup of lebron at 5, Ariza, THT, reaves, Stanley provides no offense. 3 and half none shooters with lebron is not going to work. They could hide melo on defense in certain matchups, but his scoring was missed
Melo helps when he gets hot, but when he's not hot he's a liability because he's old, doesn't defend, doesn't pass and has bad shot selection.
I agree we could've used a hot Melo though.
But Ariza is a dead weight. We need a replacement for him who can comfortably play the 4 and maybe the 5. I like Stanley Johnson, but he seems best suited to playing the 3 and not the 4.
I want to be encouraged by this game, but I'm not buying it.
LeBron has been playing too many minutes for a while. He seems tired. He was walking the ball upcourt in the fourth quarter, which always hurts us.
We need to keep him to 32-33 minutes a game. All we have to do to accomplish that is sub him out 30 seconds earlier each quarter and then bring him back 30 seconds later. is that really that hard to do?
As you alluded to DB, we need one or two more 2-way frontcourt players. Stanley Johnson plays his role well, but Ariza and Melo are done. We need to find a replacement or two for them (especially Ariza - what a terrible signing).
Melo was badly missed in the last few games. The root cause of this loss was the beginning of the second quarter when the lead went from 6 to 15. The lineup of lebron at 5, Ariza, THT, reaves, Stanley provides no offense. 3 and half none shooters with lebron is not going to work. They could hide melo on defense in certain matchups, but his scoring was missed
Melo helps when he gets hot, but when he's not hot he's a liability because he's old, doesn't defend, doesn't pass and has bad shot selection.
I agree we could've used a hot Melo though.
But Ariza is a dead weight. We need a replacement for him who can comfortably play the 4 and maybe the 5. I like Stanley Johnson, but he seems best suited to playing the 3 and not the 4.
Yeah, but don’t forget you can’t leave melo open but can leave Ariza or Stanley open, that’s more spacing for lebron. I generally hate the small lineup, especially ones with no shooters, I’d rather go with dwight or give Wayne a shot sometimes
Monk deserved to play over Bradley in the 4th. I can't stand Vogels insistence on low energy offensive pressure around LeBron. AD was doa most of the game....but Monk...tht and reeves played with the appropriate energy offensively and defensively to win the game and only reeves was rewarded for it. Vogel is too scared to make those calls...I think that's why he keeps 2 duds in the starting lineup. It seems like they committed minutes to certain players b4 the game and they stick to it hell or high water.
This one hurt, a ton. 15 of our remaining 25 games are against above .500 teams. We needed this one badly
What a time for Lebron to have his worst game of the season. I knew he was 1-10 in the 4th but didn’t realize he was also 1-5 in the 3rd. Seems like a veteran should find other ways to impact the game. He and AD really disappointed while Reaves continues to be a breath of fresh air.
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35809 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:30 am Post subject:
Wow, didn’t realize LeBron shot 9-27. That’s the worst field goal percentage I’ve ever seen from him. And we still almost pulled it off. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 6399 Location: Past left field
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:37 am Post subject:
AD and Westbrick played small.
LBJ, Reaves, Monk and THT played big.
Missed free throws and missed layups cost the Lakers this game. 11 missed free throws by the Lakers. LBJ, AD and Russ all missed layups in the last two minutes.
Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 6399 Location: Past left field
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 7:40 am Post subject:
Marc J. Spears: The Lakers have now missed 354 free throws this season, trailing only the Rockets (393) for the most in the NBA. @ESPNStatsInfo _________________ Darvin Ham is an idiot!
The thing that bothers me is that this was another "moral victory" loss. With a team full of rookies (and for a team that still has their draft picks), those type of losses are fine, but for a team like this, no one cares that the game was close. You still lost, and all those losses will likely lead to you missing the playoffs in a year that you were expected to contend for a championship.
It just isn't enough spacing and we are constantly relying on James too much and last night it was clear he was out of gas.
Season continues to be a mix bag of guys getting rotational minutes and no solid rotation as it always seems to be different starting lineups and 4-5 bench guys that are never the same.
When you look at the buyout market, it leaves a lot to be desired. For me, we don't need another smallish guard who struggles on the defensive end and can't spot up and shoot. Dragic doesn't move the needle and even though many on here suggest DS coming back would be a good thing, I simply don't see it. Fresher legs sure, but he is still someone who can't spot up.
Trevor Ariza looks spent and those are the type of players we need- tall wings that we simply don't have on the roster.
DeAndre Bembry is the closest thing out there that is likely to be available and Pelinka should be cutting Jordan tomorrow to get the 27-year old signed. He isn't a save all by any means but he would at least be as good as Johnson and probably offer more on the offensive end.
I am dumbfounded how Vogel keeps starting Bradley and giving him so many minutes night end and night out. We need Nunn back in the absolute worse way. Now I am hearing late March? Ugh
Tristan Thompson makes sense only because of the small-ball aspect of things and it doesn't seem Howard is in the plans unless we are facing a dominant center. TT also has his shortcomings but I was surprised to find out that he is only 30 (turns 31 in March)....
I absolutely hate it when we have no shooters on the floor or when we are sacrificing length and defense to get one out there. That being said I think Reaves has proven he needs to be one of the rotation guys. I just wish he shot better from deep and could at least make that a regular option.
It is saying something when you sorely miss Carmelo- who seems to be the ONLY consistent 3-pt shooter on your team. I liked the energy THT brought, but I still think he is similar to RW when it comes to a fit on this team, although that was probably both of their best games of the season last night, which is funny considering RW only had a 17/7/5 line. Monk is over 40% on 3's and makes them like CA does, but hard to get going when you only get 20 minutes PT- which I just don't understand with Vogel...
But, what killed us last night was the two stars. James trying to do too much and AD not taking advantage of his size and doing too little. As well as missing 8 FT's which killed us but they also combined to go 14-40 (35%) from the field. Lakers didn't commit very many turnovers, held them to 31% from three and only had one less make and still lost- and that is 100% because of our two stars.
Still, I never thought it would be as close as it was- and I hope they can build on it.
I still would get Bembry and Thompson (for DJ and Bazemore, since we aren't using either)...and I am still curious how this team would look:
PF Anthony Davis
SF LeBron James
C Tristan Thompson
SG Malik Monk
PG Russell Westbrook
F Carmelo Anthony (6)
G Kendrick Nunn (7)
G Talen Horton-Tucker (8)
G Austin Reaves (9)
F DeAndre Bembry (10)
F Trevor Ariza (11)
C Dwight Howard
G Avery Bradley
Still short IMO, but I would like to see it anyway
Last edited by bkt4208 on Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:33 am; edited 1 time in total
This is a game we should've won.
Our offense is very bad. No ball movement, no easy scores. We couldn't buy a bucket in the 4th when things tightened up.
Missed free throws and missed layups cost the Lakers this game. 11 missed free throws by the Lakers. LBJ, AD and Russ all missed layups in the last two minutes.
how did WB played small???
The only shot attempt for him under 2 minutes was tipping the offense rebound to the backboard of the AD missed free throw, and The. aD and lebron missed easy put backs
Missed free throws and missed layups cost the Lakers this game. 11 missed free throws by the Lakers. LBJ, AD and Russ all missed layups in the last two minutes.
Russ played well. One of his better games by far especially defensively.
AD is the one who needed to bring more on offense.
He’s doing a lot defensively and covering for a lot of the other player’s miscues. But fading away and shooting jumpers while being guarded by bjelica aint it
One thing that's absolutely CRAP with the Lakers: FT shooting.
I can't understand how the (bleep) professional players can't make at least 80% of their FTs. They don't practice it? We have a shooting coach, last time I checked.
Players shouldn't be able to leave practice until they hit 20 straight FTs.
I don't remember the last time we had a team that could consistently hit FTs. Every time we go to the foul line I have shivers down my spine. I know it's going to be (bleep).
Joined: 16 Apr 2001 Posts: 12160 Location: Pasadena, CA
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 10:16 am Post subject:
danzag wrote:
One thing that's absolutely CRAP with the Lakers: FT shooting.
I can't understand how the (bleep) professional players can't make at least 80% of their FTs. They don't practice it? We have a shooting coach, last time I checked.
Players shouldn't be able to leave practice until they hit 20 straight FTs.
I don't remember the last time we had a team that could consistently hit FTs. Every time we go to the foul line I have shivers down my spine. I know it's going to be (bleep).
I keep saying that!!
Where is the Lakers shooting coach??
It’s not Mike Penberthy is it??
Dude is getting paid to just sit on the bench and bring Gatorades to the guys.
Where is the coach that forces these guys to practice?
Piss poor shooting!
I knew Lebron was going to miss because he sucks at free throws.
Joined: 14 Apr 2001 Posts: 144456 Location: The Gold Coast
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 10:24 am Post subject:
This game as much as any shows how pathetic this roster construction is. Where the Lakers were once on the leading cutting edge, they are now floundering. The change that is needed likely won’t be made. Vogel is sacrificing Lebron to save his ass and he will be sacrificed to save Pelinka’s ass. _________________ RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
-- He got his 18th point of the first half on his second three that came off a swing pass from THT. All the work on his perimeter a game has been a big key for him to keep that scoring at a high clip in his older years. He’d get the all-time points mark (regular season plus playoffs) in the third quarter off another three. Russ set a flare, AD hit LeBron on the wing and he knocked down the record-breaking bucket. He’s now at 44,157 combined points. Prior to this game, LeBron talked about being fatigued. He looked it again tonight. He was 2-15 in the second half, 1-10 in the fourth (maybe get AD to do some work for ya?). “He got fouled on a couple of them,” Vogel said. “Very disappointed in that aspect.” It’s possible that Kuminga’s energy and hustle tired him out some. He certainly got outworked in the first half and had to clean that up in the second half. Kuminga hasn’t know an NBA without LeBron in it. Man, hard to survive a 1-10 fourth quarter in a close game. He missed a lot of chippies. Bron had a chance to tie the game when he drew a foul on a three late. You knew he wasn’t knocking down all three. He missed the first and then had to purposely miss the last one. Rough game late and he was a -11. 
-- We needed more from AD in this one. The Warriors were smaller, he played too small. We got him in the post quite a bit early and he didn’t settle. He looked to attack the paint and saw some success. There were just long stretches where he wasn’t even a focal point or. Last game he had 0 attempts in the fourth and no points. Tonight, just 3 points on 1-3 attempts. Westbrook found him for a dunk on a drive for his one make. He was fouled on an offensive board with over a minute left. Made the first FT for his point, then missed the second. (“I’ve been terrible from the line,” AD said.) The ball found its way back to him off that miss and some pressure by Russ, and AD missed the layup on that. Big miss (he was shoved in the paint some on that and Warriors got away with a lot of that, but you need to finish that at that juncture. Defensively, some perimeter issues when he wouldn’t switch in time off handoffs or splits and the Warriors ate those up for threes. He tightened that up and the Lakers really had some of their better rotations and defense of the season at times. If they can keep that up against some of the lesser passing teams, the basketball gods will reward them. 
-- I liked this one from Westbrook. First off, 5 assists with just 1 turnover. That helps our D. Secondly, better shot selection. I don’t think he took a jumper in the first half. He passed up on some open looks to put pressure on the paint and rim. His scores were at the rim in early offense or working out of the post. We should have at least two or three possessions a half for him in the post. But we tend to skip games doing it, which is kind of the M.O. for our offense -- never anything consistent and play calling spotty at best (hey, call your own number for that). But a fairly clean 10-point (4-7), 2-assist, 1 TO first half. In the second half, I think he took three jumpers, one a corner three on a kickout (take those, always…he’s an efficient threat there). He made that one (missed the other two jumpers). Late in the game some sequences where we used him well. We had an ATO slip screen play with Reaves/LeBron that found Russ under the hoop for a layup. He also attacked and found AD for a dunk. We needed more of that from him with LeBron tired/missing at a high clip. Maybe another post up? Another couple more high screens with AD and guys spacing? We ran a nice double stack screen roll on an ATO to get a ballhandler downhill. I’d like to see more of that as a routine play. I hope this is a game to grow on. They seemed focused and engaged. I like that Van Gundy brought up Melo in reference to Westbrook. Here’s a guy who is one of the NBA’s best ever and has had to take on that bench role, doesn’t close games, doesn’t have the ball like he used to. Melo embraced the role, tries his best to compete on the defensive end and the fans have embraced Melo. Guys need to be accountable for their lapses and mistakes. Vogel benching him for a couple of recent games is saying just that. Play right and you play big minutes. Consistently, make the same mental and effort mistakes, you can’t blame the coaches if they’ve seen enough. “I thought that was the most connected we’ve been in a while,” LeBron said of the team after the trade deadline has passed. 
-- The hope at the trade deadline was that we’d pick up someone who could maybe take over Stanley’s role. I think we have guys who can step in for Bradley. But we need another good two-way wing. Stanley picked up two quick fouls and had to sit after 3 minutes after getting the start. He’d get a nice hoop cutting off a LeBron post up to take the pass. Again, I love the off-ball flare screens he sets. We saw Russ set one tonight on that LeBron three. We need our non-shooting threats to do that dirty work to turn that into an advantage for our shooters. 
: -- I remember Baze doing a pretty good job on Curry early this season. Bradley has more continuity with the starters, so he got that assignment. We kept Curry to 1-8 shooting from three really making a concerted effort to protect that three line. That involved a lot of switching. Offensively, he hit a three off an LBJ post kickout and would drain another corner three near the end of the first half. Close game, look at the ones you wish you had back. He choked a layup on an off-ball cut baseline to take a pass. He’d also get called for a bogus foul on Curry attempting a three, who nearly kicked him in the crotch on the kickout. Again, too many little things like that added up. I think we played him a few too many minutes tonight again. 
-- He was in on some of our second half runs (had a +7). Biggest play might have been scoring the And-1 layup in the fourth that came off that Reaves block on Klay. He also had a backdoor And-1 layup, hanging and taking contact. Nice cut baseline, nice bounce from AD. Love seeing that off-ball movement off our superstars. Good things happen when our role players do that. He also had a lob finish on a good read from Russ. 
-- Oof. He went 0-2 from the line, airballed a three and dropped a pass out of bounds. The team’s inability to hit freethrows is very hard to watch. 
-- Key Moment: Hmmm. Heh. Heh. How about the two techs by the Laker coaches in this game? I know you are trying to defend our players to the refs, but you guys cost us two points in a two-point ball game. There’s a lot of pressure on the coaching staff right now. On the one hand, they want the players to know they have their backs. On the other hand, you just hurt them.
