LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS – 4-5-19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:00 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS – 4-5-19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

C.A.R.U.S.O… Claims Adjuster Running Unstoppable Sick Offense is now activated.

By day he inspects property, interviews witnesses, investigates insurance claims and fills out paperwork. By night, he yanks off the tie, pops the buttons on his dress shirt and reveals the purple and gold Laker jersey he wears with pride.

Against all odds, he’s sparked some life into a lifeless team the last few weeks. Sure they've lost games, but he’s been the only thing entertaining as the Lakers sit their starters in this final stretch of tank ball.

April 5, 2019, was the biggest night of Alex Caruso’s career.

Yesterday, he had the follow jam highlight play of the game on national television. Tonight, he followed that with 32 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block on the Clippers.

“I told Lance walking into the half he needed to tune up the guitar for me,” Caruso said.

In the second half, the three ball was on fire. He took it to the Clippers in the fourth quarter with haymaker after haymaker from three. (He would finish 5-7 from three after the night was over.) Then, he delivered the knockout blows with back-to-back drives in the final minute for scores to take the 122-117 win.

They put the ball in his hands to close the game and AC killed it. Big night for the kid on the last days of his two-way contract.


Caruso -- -- Amazing game and it shouldn’t surprise anyone. He’s been leading up to it. Strong first half from Caruso, looking like a baller. He led the Lakers with 16 points on 4-9 shooting (7-7 from the line) to go with 5 boards and 4 assists. Combine that with some equally strong D on Lou Williams in the first half when they were matched up and you’ve got the makings of a rotation player, not a third stringer (let alone a G-Leaguer). He was playing Lou well to protect the jumper going left and expecting the drive, going right. In the second half, he added the clutch element to his game. He sank a series of threes in the fourth quarter, just on fire, to stagger the Clippers. Then, he closed the deal. Two huge drives for scores in the final minute to slam the door shut. Yes, he looks like a middle-aged, white-collar desk jockey sometimes (before the game, my wife walked by the TV and said "How old is he?"). Yes, he looks 35, but he's 25. And the young G-Leaguer, the middle-aged Kid. Just. Balled. Out. Tonight. Crushed it. The Lakers need to see if they can get him to sign the restricted deal, then hook him up with a contract this offseason. We need bargain players to build our depth (especially if we pull off the team’s free agency plans). Fun night for him and his family. He was strumming the guitar off those threes (James Worthy called it a banjo, lol). Dude, that layup with 24 seconds left high off the glass over the help D? So good. Well done, AC. Well done. “Caruso was big time,” Luke said. Yes, he was. He's earned that NBA payday. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 10-19 shooting (5-7 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He stripped Zu and it led a breakaway dunk for McGee. He attacked the paint in control, hung and scored the short one. Smart play waiting instead of taking the open three in transition and he hit Williams trailing for the dunk instead. Superb anticipation jumping off a big he was defending in the post to get into a separate passing lane in the paint to swipe the ball and ignite the break, which he scored a lefty reverse layup on. He drew FTs next time down and made both. Good pressure D on Williams forcing him to throw it away. Bonga swiped a ball at midcourt and found Caruso for three (bald Eagle pose after Caruso made the three). He got tapped on a 30-footer at the buzzer. He attacked and missed a layup not using the glass. He got tapped on a short runner, going high off the glass. His pass at the top of the arc was easily picked off for a score (had Muscala open a little earlier in the paint against Lou). First step to get past his man, he attacked and muscled in the And-1 layup, he made the FT. He missed a pull-up jumper trying to create against the shotclock. Fouled in transition, he made both FTs. He stepped in front of a big cutting and took the charge (nice job). He was blocked on a drive on the other end. Pocket pass to Williams for the jumphook. He sealed his man in the paint and was fouled on the pull-up from behind, he made both FTs. Second Half: He missed a midrange pull-up. He went behind his back to Rondo and it went out of bounds. He swiped a kickout and outlet to Moe for FTs. He hit Muscala on the break for FTs. He missed a floater. He stepped in front of a man and forced a turnover trying to take a charge. He drained a three straight away. Help rotation to block a big. He missed a turnaround corner heave from three trying to beat the buzzer at the quarter (would have been crazy if that fell). He worked behind a screen in early offense and swished the three. He sank a three on a kickout (LeBron all the way onto the floor on that one). He took a handoff and buried another three. Off the mark on a kickout as he took contact with no call on the drive. He attacked down the middle of the lane and scored a layup with 47 seconds left. He iso’d and attacked strong to his right with the clock low and scooped in the layup high off the glass with 24 seconds left.

Rondo -- -- A tale of two halves for Rondo. He had the team-worst -13 in the first half. How’d he do that? Well, you combine careless turnovers with missed layups and jumpers along with some ineffective D and you’ve got some solid Rondo crap ball. His finishing was horrible, the offense sputtering. Then things changed in the fourth. He gave the Lakers some punch to start the quarter when he hit two threes and scored a layup. That allowed the Lakers to edge out to a small lead after some great play by the bench to end the third with a run. He’d nail another three shortly later. When he’s a well-rounded threat offensively, then the defense is less of a problem (especially when you can hide him like we did). In the second half he was a +6. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-16 shooting (3-5 form three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 12 assists, 6 turnovers and 2 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a -7. The Action: He attacked off a hesi and scored an And-1 layup, he missed the FT. He hit McGee trailing the break for the jam. Push off on an inbounds to turn it over. He couldn’t finish a tough layup around Zu. Dribble penetration miss but McGee dunked it in. He lost the handle right out of bounds, unforced turnover. He attacked off the high screen and scored a layup. He attacked and blew the layup (got to finish those). He gave up middle and it led to a dunk. He choked another layup. He missed an open corner jumper. He threw an advance pass away. Second Half: He missed a floater. He missed a wide open three straight away. Nice bounce to McGee for the dunk at the front of the rim. He hit Kenny cutting backdoor for a layup. He got middle than just threw the ball at the rim, brick, sheesh. He spun, fired and hit a three as the shotclock went off. He drained another three with the D sagging way off. He attacked to his right and one-handed in the drive. Long pass off the inbounds to McGee for the dunk. He hit KCP for the corner three. Early offense step-back three, feeling it. He gave up a dunk on the other end. He missed a floater. He attacked and fell for a turnover. He whipped a skip pass to Kenny for three. He missed a stepback. He iso’d and missed a deep three with the offense stalled.

McGee -- -- He had 12 points in 12 minutes in the first half with a series of dunks and drives. He also rejected a couple of shots at the rim, as well. Some slick finishes off the move. He posterized Zubac on one dunk over him. The bigs in general tonight (outside of Moe) were very active on both ends. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 9-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He missed a jumphook over Zu to start the game. He missed a wing three with the clock low. Breakaway dunk changing ends off a Laker steal. Another slam trailing the break. With Zu lost on D thinking a shot was up, he took the pass and scored over him. He cleaned up Rondo’s dribble penetration. He scooped up a loose ball, palmed it on the drive and was fouled at the rim for FTs, he missed both. He took a pass at the top of the arc, attacked and scooped the layup around Zu. He posted up a smaller man on a switch, spun and dunked. He missed an 18-footer on the secondary break (not a good look). He rejected a two-handed finish attempt at the rim. Second Half: He rejected a drive. He hammered over Zu off the bounce pass from Rondo. He was stripped in the post. He shoveled in a layup trailing the break. He leaked out on a challenge and we found him for the breakaway dunk.

Wagner -- -- His weak D was on display a bit tonight. Quick foul trouble unable to handle bigs in the post to start the game had him sitting. Luke quickly sat him in the second half, as well. He was outplayed by the other backup bigs, so Luke limited the minutes. He got all his points on FTs, one of his bigger strengths. Work on that muscle strength this summer, Moe. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 0-3 shooting (5-5 from the line) to go with 1 steal, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He attacked spun, wasn’t close, stole it back and blew the layup. He was fouled on a sideline three, he made all three FTs. He tried to create off the dribble and was stripped easily. Second Half: He airballed a rainbow three. He drew FTs changing ends off the Caruso steal, he made both.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- A little bit of chucking at times (I mean, post-up turnarounds?), but he sank some big shots for the Lakers, as well. He’s sink 5-14 from three. The midrange shot wasn’t there throughout the night. The defensive intensity would come and go. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 9-25 shooting (5-14 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 foul in 40 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He attacked and scored a lefty layup. He attacked in early offense and hit McGee trailing for the dunk. He missed an open wing three. He missed a face-up three. He missed a wing three. He attacked and hit a floater (should have been an And-1). He got tapped on a 15-foot jumper. Nice anticipation jumping into a passing lane to swipe the ball, push it up and get fouled with no call (his miss was cleaned up). He swished a corner three in transition. He missed a pull-up at the FT line. He attacked baseline and couldn’t finish. Second Half: Unforced error and he was tied up, well done (he at least won the jumpball). He was blocked on a layup. He hit a floater over Zu on a drive from the wing. He missed a midrange pull-up. He swished a three on the break straight away. He missed a fading three. Nice backdoor cut and Rondo found him for the layup. He missed a corner three. He posted up and missed a turnaround, surely that wasn’t the designed ATO play. He was blocked on a three. He found McGee on the secondary break for the layup. He swished a corner three. Bad closeout on the other end to give up a score. He swished a three at the top of the arc off the skip pass. He missed a three just beating the shotclock out of a timeout. He missed a step-back three trying to avoid a fly by. He was fouled with 10 seconds left for FTs, he made both.

Williams -- -- He scored 10 points on 3-4 shooting in his 12 first half minutes. That was most of his offense. He showed off that nice lefty jumphook. You can see him try to get to that shot after taking passes. Teams that scout him a little will sit on that, but he’s playing to his strengths until they do. Nice job from the FT line, as well. That’s looked much improved from earlier this season. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-6 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal,1 block and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +0. The Action: He took the pass from Caruso on the secondary break and dunked. Rim run to seal his man in transition and draw FTs, he made both. He grabbed an offensive board and found Muscala open for a layup. He blocked a drive. He took the pocket pass, spun and scored the jumphook. He took the pocket pass, got back to his left and hit the jumphook. He scooped up a loose ball and was fouled on the dunk attempt, he made both FTs. He stripped a man on a drive and missed a 70-footer at the buzzer. Second Half: He scored a layup on the break. He was blocked on a floater.

Muscala -- -- Not huge numbers, but he worked it out today. Reasonable first half scoring a couple of buckets and blocking a couple shots. At least he had some positive contributions. He did give up a bad turnover for a score, but I’ll take the better D. He did have a couple of threes that were erased by fouls just a beat before the shot. So this could have easily been a 15-point game and that would have been more reflected of how it felt. Defensively, he was disruptive, challenging shots multiple times on the same possessions. He was rotating as needed. Good effort tonight. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: He threw a pass into the backcourt for a Clippers score. He rejected a man from behind and it led to a Laker three. He missed a wing three, then gave up FTs in transition. He swatted Lou’s drive on help D. He missed a corner three. He scored a layup off the interior feed from Williams. He cleaned up a KCP missed drive on the break. He attacked from the wing and was rejected on the layup (didn’t use his body, showed the ball). Second Half: He deflected an inbounds pass to force a shotclock violation. Great challenge at the rim, he stayed after it and blocked a reverse a beat later. He drew FTs on the break when Caruso found him, he made both. Nice help D to smother a post attempt and control the board. He sank a wing three. He missed a layup on the break (try to dunk that).

Bonga -- -- He was thrown in the mix early in this one. His passing instincts are very good. Just need to get more confidence in the three ball and some feeling for what he wants to do when he’s dribbling the ball. Still, he has come a long, long, long way from this summer when we threw him out there and he was an instant turnover. Good to see them give him a little more meaningful minutes tonight. He’s a project. So was Caruso. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He was fouled in early offense pinning his man in the paint to take a pass, he made one FT. He stole a pass at midcourt and it led to a Caruso three. He blocked a shot in the paint. Second Half: He missed an open corner three. He was blocked on a baseline drive. He airballed a short one in the paint up against the clock.

Jones -- -- He got some great run today as Luke threw him into the mix early and let him stay out there and close with the others. What stands out with him, of course, is his nose for the ball on the boards. He had 4 offensive boards (hitting Caruso for a big three off one of those) and finished the night with double digits on the glass. Those little hustle plays add up. When you’re looking for guys to compete on these temporary contracts, that’s what you want to see. Be aggressive, get after it. He got a little too excited on a dunk off a cut with 2 minutes left was called for a tech. “At the G level I would have got away with that for sure,” Jones said. Jemerrio’s interview after the game was hilarious. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +8. The Action: He airballed a FT pull-up jumper by a couple of feet. He attacked, changed directions and drew FTs just beating the shotclock, he made one. He forced a turnover knocking a pass down and it led to a three by Kenny. He threw an inbounds pass away after a made basket. Second Half: He ate up a drive in transition with a smothering rejection. He grabbed an airball and reversed to beat the shotlcock. He iso’d and missed a wild attempt. He got a piece of a shot on the other end. Offensive board and it led to a Caruso three as he kicked it out. He dunked and pulled up on the rim out of a timeout for a tech with 2:14 left.

Walton -- -- Moe out after four minutes with foul issues. Muscala in down 2… Down 2 when the timeout came midway through the quarter… Bonga in for Caruso out of that… Williams in for McGee, tied up… Rondo out for Caruso, Lakers down 6 after a series of bogus FTs… Excellent D in the passing lanes by the Lakers late in the quarter. Not sure if that has been planned but multiple players doing it. Additionally, they are trapping Lou at times… The Lakers led 35-30 after the first quarter… Muscala, Williams, Bonga, Jones, Caruso lineup to start the second quarter… They quickly lost the lead after a couple of minutes to trail by 1. Luke brought in Rondo, Moe and McGee returned (Jones and Caruso still in)… Caruso out for KCP, Lakers up 1… Up 3, he subbed out McGee to go super small (Williams on Zu)… Muscala in for Jones shortly later, Lakers up 1… They quickly trailed by 7 and Luke called a timeout with 1:35 left… The Lakers trailed 67-61 at the half… Zubac opening up the half strong so Luke burned a timeout after the 6-0 run… Muscala in for Moe… The Lakers cut the lead back to 3 to force a timeout… Turnover and bricks and Luke called a timeout down 9 again. Please sit Rondo… He went with Williams, Muscala, Bonga, KCP, Caruso… Strong work by unit to go on a run. Clippers with only 19 points in the quarter… The Lakers trailed 86-84 heading into the fourth… Luke went with the McGee, Muscala, KCP, Jones, Rondo lineup to start the fourth… The Lakers led 96-93 with 7:48 left (Rondo hitting two threes and a layup)… Refs really keeping the Clippers in this one with some odd calls all game… Muscala and McGee out for Wililams and Caruso. Weird, but Jones plays bigger than he looks. Lakers up 2… They took a 6-point lead off a couple of threes to force a timeout… Caruso exploding to extend a 10-point lead with the three ball… Timeout with the lead trimmed to 5… Caruso with drives on iso down the stretch to close…
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Baron Von Humongous
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:14 pm    Post subject:

First
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TooMuchMajicBuss
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:36 pm    Post subject:

I'm in shock. I've always liked that balding accountant. But... He was downright accrual to the Clippers...

Thanks DB for another great recap!


... total shock...
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ContagiousInspiration
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 05, 2019 10:43 pm    Post subject:

Is this legit quote

Quote:
I told Lance walking into the half he needed to tune up the guitar for me,” Caruso said.


If not.. that is VOLT!

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ReaListik
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 12:36 am    Post subject:

Lol Caruso
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 4:41 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!

Had no idea Caruso can ball like that... what a pleasant surprise.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 5:15 am    Post subject:

B-b-b-b-but the media experts told me that the Clippers are so much better than the Lakers

I'll be (bleep) livid if we don't re-sign Caruso.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 5:46 am    Post subject:

I’m in shock.

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 8:37 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Yes, what a stupendous display put on by the great Caruso. Hopefully, at the very least, say your goodbyes to Rondo, we have our new full-time PG backup next year.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 9:13 am    Post subject:

Yay Winning!

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 10:39 am    Post subject:

Props to Jones and Caruso holding Lou to 4-12 shooting and 18 points. He’s seemed borderline unstoppable against our D previously. They locked in and Lou never got into his comfort zones with any regulatory. Some good trapping help as well to mix it up. Not bad for a couple of G-League guys.
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 06, 2019 10:45 am    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
Props to Jones and Caruso holding Lou to 4-12 shooting and 18 points. He’s seemed borderline unstoppable against our D previously. They locked in and Lou never got into his comfort zones with any regulatory. Some good trapping help as well to mix it up. Not bad for a couple of G-League guys.


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