LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 1/20 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:16 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- CELTICS - 1/20 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Out of Sync... While the Lakers finally had AD and Rondo return, it certainly didn’t help the cause tonight. The Lakers lost every quarter, giving up 30+ points in each quarter on their way to the 139-107 loss against the Celtics.

The first few minutes looked good until AD had to sit with foul trouble. It was pretty much all downhill from there as they couldn’t defend their defensive glass or anything else for that matter. The Lakers gave up 20 second chances on 13 offensive boards in the first half alone, just getting outworked.

The Celtics had dropped a few games heading into this one and played with the required sense of urgency.

“We didn’t bring it the first half,” Vogel said.

Between the second and third quarters, the Lakers were outscored 71-50. While Vogel got on them at the half to bring it, they certainly didn’t answer the call at all in that third quarter.

“We got to be the more aggressive team, the more physical team,” AD said. “That didn’t happen tonight.”

"They beat us in all facets of the game," LeBron said.


LeBron -- -- Some excellent passing to find his bigs for lobs, shooters on kickouts or occasionally Bradley cutting backdoor for layups. We worked him a little in the post and probably could have dome more of that. He didn’t settle for threes like we sometimes see when we lose games. We cut the minutes short as we fell back big, which was really the only plus in this one. Probably could have sat him more as we were down 24 heading into the fourth. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-12 shooting (0-2 form three, 5-5 form the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 13 assists, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a -21.

Davis -- -- I think this was his first action and contact with the team since the injury. He picked up two quick fouls just over 3 minutes into the game and had to sit. He scored just 4 points with 2 boards in the first half. We missed about 20 points from him tonight. Not a lot of impact other than some good challenges at times. He struggled with the fouls and never imposed himself on the game other than some moments to start. He said he felt fine on his return. “Just trying to get back into a rhythm,” he said. He mentioned how the lack of defensive rebounding, didn’t allow them to get out in transition and get easy scores. He didn’t like his lack of aggressiveness. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-7 shooting (3-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -24.

Green -- -- The Lakers were off to a good start when Green sank an And-1 three for a 4-point play early in the game. That was most of his scoring in one moment. Really bad sequence early in the second half where he fouled on a lazy boxout attempt to give up another second chance opportunity (didn’t move his feet). Then he took a bad angle on the subsequent defensive stand and allowed Brown to blow past him for a dunk. (We had just gone small with LeBron at PF, so there is no funneling to a shotblocker back there like usual). The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-6 shooting from three (1-1 from the line) to go with 1 board and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -20.

McGee -- -- Well...good job to start this game challenging shots and anchoring the D. But that D didn’t hold up. The defensive rebounding was an issue. There was one sequence where he gave up back-to-back putback scores not securing the defensive glass against Kanter. Kanter would finish the first half with 18 points on 8-10 shooting and 8 boards. I mean, you can’t make him into a superstar. Yes, there is team rebounding that needs to happen, but McGee got outworked. We can’t give up 6 offensive boards to anyone in a half, no matter how good a rebounder they are. Offensively, McGee had some nice finishes around the rim. He even hit a three in garbage time (he missed a halfcourt heave at the end of a quarter on his other attempt). The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-9 shooting (1-2 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -12.

Bradley -- -- Back facing his former team with a little more fire power behind him. He had some nice moments on backdoor baseline cuts where LeBron found him for layups. Those are the little things that we keep adding to our playbook and chemistry and keep building on. Halfway through the season, we will still be building on top of these reads/chemistry and improve. He gave up some penetration to start the half to Kemba for layups. Some of that was with McGee’s defense getting picked on. So they ended up sitting McGee and going small. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-7 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -14.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- He hit some shots off the bench as soon as he came in, but that was move of offense. Very quiet in the second half. There was a stretch where it seemed like anything that could go wrong did go wrong. He missed LeBron who was wide open under the hoop, throwing the pass off the backboard. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-8 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 block and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -19.

Kuzma -- -- The real question for him is how can he mesh with the team when AD returns. Can he still product decently while his other stars get theirs? No answer on that tonight as we saw limited action for the superstars and some foul trouble. I was not thrilled with the defensive rebounding by Kuzma tonight. When we are getting hammered, he has to make it a point to step up in this regard. Only 2 defensive boards tonight in 23 minutes. There was a play in the first half where McGee got stuck out of position with Kanter sealing him and Kuzma was standing a few feet away. When the shot went up, that’s where he stayed. No effort to crash the glass and help. That’s the dawg in him that really is lacking at times. There were back to-back dunks in transition where he probably could have recognized we needed help and provided some energy. He didn’t and Vogel was so ticked at that unit that he sat everyone, wholesale change. Offensively, not much impact there. He had a nice post up in garbage time where he overpowered his man for an And-1 layup. We don’t see a lot of that from him, but he does have some post basics in his game (including that hook of his). The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-12 shooting (0-2 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 3 boards,1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -13.

Caruso -- -- He shot blanks offensively. His only point came off a freethrow. Really a pretty nothing game from him. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-5 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a -14.

Howard -- -- He was pretty frustrated with the officiating in this game. First, he was fouled more than a couple times himself trying to finish and didn’t get the call. Then, he was whistled for some weak ones defensively. He was the only Laker with double digit rebounds. In his 19 minutes in this blowout, the Lakers were a +3. Seemed to be the only guy playing physical. Even so, some moments where he wasn’t controlling the defensive glass either, not bodying up in one or two of those Celtic highlights you will see tonight. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-5 shooting (1-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards (4 offensive), 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a +3.

Rondo -- -- Back in the mix, but it didn’t help. And I don’t think it really hurt too much other than Vogel not using the right tools at the right time. Some weird lineups with him today. I go over those below in the Vogel section. One thing I was a little disappointed in was our guard rebounding. Normally, Rondo’s great at providing help on the glass, cracking back and getting to those rebounds. But none of our guards did that effectively tonight, and this is an area he usually excels. Our starting backcourt combined for just 2 boards. Our backup trio of Rondo/KCP/Caruso had just 3 combined. Just so much standing around. Rondo, too, which was disappointing. Watching a big go right between Rondo and Dwight as they watched the ball instead of either of them putting a body on a man was just frustrating. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-9 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -12.

Daniels -- -- He sank a three as we went to him in the second half to provide some scoring. On D Tatum immediately smoked him for a three on an iso play that the crowd enjoyed. Daniels would get a nice steal later, but was a nonfactor. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -6.

Cook -- -- He didn’t come in until garbage time and immediately hit a three and drew FTs on a transition layup attempt. Had Rondo not returned, he may have gotten minutes in the thick of the battle. He’s been playing well lately, but wouldn’t have made a difference tonight. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards and no fouls in 5 minutes. He was a -4.

Dudley -- -- With AD back, he was back to the deep bench again, only coming in for garbage time. Nothing to report. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot and had 1 turnover in 5 minutes. He was a -4.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Got to go to an early one. Getting AD back was great to see, but he quickly picked up two fouls after three minutes. The Lakers had gotten off to a strong 8-0 start and their size was evident. After he sat, we then mixed up our rotations when we brought him back and the team seemed really out of sync.

Key Substitution: Some curious substitutions to start the second quarter. We went with a Howard, AD, LeBron, KCP, Rondo unit. Not a great floor spacing unit offensively, and we normally don’t run AD during that stretch. Might be better served to rest Rondo a bit, get another shooter out there, then bring Rondo back with LeBron rests. The second sub during this quarter was to actually go smaller when LeBron/Howard sat. We were struggling to control the defensive glass and that only seemed to get worse with that change. Then we sat Rondo for one of AC/AB. Here again, our rebounding actually gets even worse as Rondo is our best rebounding guard, and we have no real playmaking on the floor. Everything just seemed to be out of sync and the Lakers lost the quarter big to trail by 15 at the half. By the time LeBron came back and we rested AD, the Lakers had fallen back by 11. A 13-3 Celtics run over the 3 or so minutes.

Key Stat: The Celtics offensive rebounding got the Lakers in a big hole. We gave up 13 offensive boards in the first half. That pretty much set the tone that the Lakers weren’t coming to play. Awful game, giving up 139 points to your franchise rival. On the bright side, that should tick off the team for the next couple of weeks.
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akgolf
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 8:19 pm    Post subject:

Ugh.

Thanks DB!
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Klone_dd
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 9:43 pm    Post subject:

Outworked and outplayed. On to the next one.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 20, 2020 11:17 pm    Post subject:

What a sloppy game. You could sense that they thought that they'll be able to just turn it on whenever they felt like it. Poor passing, some of it being downright disrespectful to the game, no rebounding despite the C's employing a midget lineup (with 4 guards and Theis at C), and a stagnant offense. That's a recipe for disaster against a team that can get hot from three. Speaking of - the Celtics (despite the stats - 5th on O, 6th on D) look like a meh team to me, a second round exit waiting to happen.
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danzag
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 3:44 am    Post subject:

Worst loss of the season. AD wasn't ready to come back. Rondo shouldn't see that many minutes, specially when LeBron is on the court.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:35 am    Post subject:

I expected one of these when AD came back.
A lot of roles and rotations change.
Now you add Rondo.
Double whammy.

AD sends Kuz to the bench.
Lebron plays a bit different to adjust to AD.
2nd unit is different with Kuzma.
Rondo has the Rondo effect.

The game started to get out of hand in the 2nd Q with the lineup of AD, Kuzma, Caruso, KCP I believe. AD was not himself. You could tell. The Cs went on a 12-1 run we went down 11, 12 points. Never got back in it after that.

These things happen. I am interested in how we are playing 2 weeks from now, when AD is fully back to himself and the rotations settle in again.


Last edited by wolfpaclaker on Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:36 am; edited 1 time in total
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RI Laker
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:35 am    Post subject:

Horrible on both sides of the court. For the first time of the season, our rim protection was not there and we couldn't snag a board.
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ContagiousInspiration
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:58 am    Post subject:

Hobbled AD and Senor Rondo coming back on same day against our most hated rival (bleep) up our chemistry
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LakerSD
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:05 am    Post subject:

ContagiousInspiration wrote:
Hobbled AD and Senor Rondo coming back on same day against our most hated rival (bleep) up our chemistry


I thought that would be a factor too.

10% integrating AD and Rondo
10% schedule and travel
20% Boston up for the game
60% Wing defender core teams give the Lakers problems.

No one on the team can beat the better wing defenders, including Lebron.
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Laker7
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:03 am    Post subject:

Common theme in all our losses. Poor three point shooting / good three point defense by the opponent along with lower defensive effort.

Three point shooting percentage by loss

L to Toronto 33.3%
L to Dallas 25.9%
L to Indiana 25.8%
L to Milwaukee 34.3%
L to Denver 34.5%
L to Clippers 26.7%
L to Boston 26.9%
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20,000
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:17 am    Post subject:

McGee leading scorer with 18 points.
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ContagiousInspiration
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:23 am    Post subject:

20,000 wrote:
McGee leading scorer with 18 points.


50% from three
https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3452/javale-mcgee
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 9:59 am    Post subject:

Klone_dd wrote:
Outworked and outplayed. On to the next one.


Yes, the only thing this loss did was reinforce that we struggle against good athletic wings. Major roster issue.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 5:44 pm    Post subject:

RI Laker wrote:
Horrible on both sides of the court. For the first time of the season, our rim protection was not there and we couldn't snag a board.


With the exception of the symbolic value of losing to the Celtics, this game meant very little. So many factors contributed to the loss, and it wasn't even surprising.

If we somehow met in a series in the Finals, I don't see how the Celtics would win more than 1 game. Our only potential problems are the Clippers and Bucks, so nothing has changed.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:30 pm    Post subject:

So bad...

Thanks DB
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