LAKERS -vs- JAZZ - 10-25-13 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Ready Or Not, Here It Comes… Last preseason, the Lakers not only failed to win, they didn’t look close to getting W’s.

They’ve looked better so far, but they may end up starting the season in similar fashion with Kobe out and the Clippers, Warriors and Spurs lined up to start the season.

Tonight, they entertained the weak Jazz team again, and once again they fell behind before pulling ahead and controlling the game for a 111-106 win. They leaned on their bench to pull them ahead. They’ll lean on their depth all season. It will win games for them.

“When you come in, you’re going to be called on to go 100 percent,” D’Antoni said. He’s going to run deep rotations. Success will depend on players making the most of their time.

The Lakers waived Marcus Landry, the obvious choice as he was a three shooter, who just couldn’t knock them down this preseason. They’ll got to battle with these 15.

In the words of former boxing ref, Mills Lane … Let’s get it on.


Gasol -- -- The Lakers seemed to fade away from the post game for long stretches. You could see the coaching staff try to set some looks up out of timeouts to get the ball into Pau’s hands a little more down low. He had very little chemistry going with his PFs out there, as well. He and Kaman have played the best together and the offense is less three-heavy when they are on the floor. It will take time. Despite that, Pau put up that near triple-double type of pace to his game. We need Pau and those starters to consistently bring the energy. Without Kobe we’re lacking that intensity. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 5-13 shooting (6-6 from the line) to go with 8 boards (3 offensive), 7 assists, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He vacated the post to settle for a long jumper and missed. He spun away from the double team and hit the lefty hook. He sank a top-of-the-key jumper. He missed a wing jumper. He turned the ball over trying to high-low to Johnson (no chemistry between those two yet). He missed an open baseline jumper. He found Blake for a wing three. He missed a 5-footer off a great feed by Blake. He swished a wing jumper. He sank an elbow jumper off the two-man game with Nash. He drew FTs working the post out of a timeout, he made both. He threw a pass away for a dunk the other way. He scored 10 points on 4-9 shooting to go with 3 assists. Second Half: Into Pau in the post to start the half, he hit the turnaround. He missed a top-of-the-key jumper. He missed an early offense 19-footer (no please). He blocked his man across the lane, then got blocked in the paint on the other end. Horrible pass trying to hit Williams, turnover (looked unsure). After tapping out an offensive board, he got it back in the high post and found Nash on a great slip screen for a layup (roles reversed on that one). He grabbed a Nash miss and drew FTs, he made both. He threw a bounce pass a little behind Williams cutting, turnover (almost some chemistry). He was fouled on a turnaround in the post, he made both FTs.

Nash -- -- “My game feels okay. My neck is bothering me, but I needed to get the minutes,” Nash said. He pushed through a little pain and elevated his game just a bit more to get ready for the regular season. Expect him to pick up another notch when the games start to count. Hopefully, the neck issue goes away before something new mucks things up. Thankfully, Farmar has elevated his game behind Nash, so we may not have to lean on Nash as much and keep the mileage manageable. Nash’s game tonight was full of heady, vet savvy ball. From off-ball cuts to making players run up his back to spotting cutters no one else see’s, it was all there. We just need more and more of that. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-5 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He worked the two-man game to Pau for the jumper. He swished a wing three off the two-man game with Pau. He missed a tough lefty runner. He was short on a jumper trying to create at the top of the key. He hit Pau on the two-man game for a jumper. He was called for a charge in transition on a spin move. He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting to go with 2 assists. Second Half: Horrible transition D and he gave up a layup. Sweet slip screen and Pau found him in the lane for a layup. He got his man on his hip, put on the brakes a little and drew FTs, he made both. He missed a DFish special, toe on the three line in transition. He held Blake’s man on a screen and was called for the foul. He worked off the high screen and hit Williams under the hoop for the And-1. He attacked the paint and no-looked over his shoulder to Williams for the layup.

Young -- -- Nice, smooth, quiet game from Nick. He put together an efficient 16 points without dominating the ball or disrupting the offense. He bailed out the offense on a couple of possessions with his ability to create something out of nothing. Without Kobe, we’ve got to have a player who can do that. For the starters, it’s Young and sometimes Nash. For the second unit it’s Farmar and sometimes, Xavier. Got to have those guys. The starter’s numbers were kept under 30 in this one. With the depth of this team, we’ll likely see that for probably everyone but, perhaps, Pau for the time being. “This preseason feels like we’ve been playing almost 82 games,” Young said. The guys are still recovering from that trip to China. The Stats: He scored 16 points on 6-10 shooting (2-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He swished a step-back wing jumper to bail out the offense against the shotclock. He sank a three off the Blake kickout. He missed an open wing three. He missed a corner three. He missed the face-up baseline jumper. He swished a wing three in early offense. He attacked the paint and was held for FTs, he made both. He scored 10 points on 3-6 shooting (2-4 from three). Second Half: He iso’d and hit the baseline jumper with the shotclock low. He had a step on his man in transition and Blake found him with a perfect feed for a layup. He missed a corner three. He stepped on the baseline after taking a handoff. Turnover down the lane next time down on a drive. He sank a wing jumper on iso in a mismatch.

Williams -- -- He had an awful first half, making just one three on seven attempts and playing soft on D. He mixed it up better in the second half, not always settling for the long three. We’ve got to have more of that and more general hustle plays. His minutes will likely be shorter than the other starters, so he needs to make sure he keeps that motor running and making an impact with the garbage man work. There’s still no chemistry between him and Pau, but hopefully it’s just a matter of learning to play with each other. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-11 shooting (2-9 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a +2. The Action: He drained a three from the corner on a 5-out set. He barely hit rim from the same spot on the next trip down. He missed a corner three on a kickout. He swiped a loose ball in the backcourt. He missed a wing three on a kickout. He missed a wing three. He missed a corner three. He had 3 points on 1-7 shooting. He led the team with a -15. Second Half: He measured a corner three on a kickout and sank that one. He was blocked on a three next time down. Great rejection point blank at the rim on a dunk attempt. Nash found him freed up under the hoop for the And-1, he made the FT. He cut off Nash’s drive, took the no-looker and scored the layup.

Blake -- -- “I kind of seen it in his eyes today,” Young said of Blake’s smoking shooting. Blake didn’t miss a shot, including sinking all five threes he took (not counting another one that got whistled off by an illegal screen). He helped spark the first unit as they opened the second half with that shooting. They needed it after a sluggish first half. He had his hands full again with the Hayward matchup. This is why Kobe respected him. Blake didn’t back down and gave it everything he had, even if he was at a big disadvantage at the SG spot. I guess we will see Blake at SG to start the season, although you could easily slide Johnson into the starting unit at SF and Young down to SG, or give Xavier a look, too. The starters really need some extra defensive impact out there and Wes would give them that. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-7 shooting (5-5 from three) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +6. The Action: He drew the D and found Young for three. He swished a wing three on a kickout from Pau. He drained another three next trip down when his man went under the screen. He stepped out of bounds pushing off. Second Half: He squared up and sank a wing jumper. He worked off the screen and sank a wing jumper from the other side. He swished a jumper from the same spot on his next trip down. He threw a perfect half-court pass over the transition D to hit Young just a step ahead of his man (forcing a timeout). Heat check catch-and-shoot, pop-up three from the corner and he swished it. Extra hot heat check pushing it up in transition with 13 on the clock in the quarter, he didn’t care, rose up and drilled the wing three.

Farmar -- -- “I think Jordan is really going to take off this year, so it could be a breakout year for him,” Nash said, adding that he really believes in Farmar. “I want to help him as much as I can to fulfill that potential,” Nash said. If we can just get Nash to download some of his game to Farmar, we’re going to be very happy. Obviously, Farmar has become a bit more mature in his game, but Nash can help him elevate his game to a much higher level. Can’t wait to see that second unit come in and punch some teams in the nose. With the athletic roster out there getting defensive stops and steals, the second unit behind Farmar’s floor general work has looked very strong. They’re going to be game changers. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-8 shooting (2-3 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed an open wing three on a kickout. He fumbled an inbounds pass and stepped out of bounds to lose possession. Change of speed cut off Johnson’s post, he took the pass and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He swiped a poor inbounds pass, pushed it out and hit the transition three. Perfect bounce pass to Johnson on the break for an And-1 layup. He had 6 points on 2-3 shooting, 3 assists and 1 steal. Second Half: He pushed out the break and hit Xavier for the layup. He drained a wing three, popping out behind a three and taking a pass. He attacked and missed a layup (should have gone over his shoulder to Hill for a dunk). He found Hill for a score off the screen-roll. He froze his man with a hesitation move, but blew the finish. He threw a bounce pass away on the two-man game. Great feed to Meeks cutting baseline (no assist because Meeks blew it before Hill put it down). With the shotclock low, he attacked the paint and scored a layup.

Hill -- -- Hill had probably the highlight play of the night, getting a little payback on Gobert with a dropstep and quick explosion for the throwdown. That got the Sacre Seal of Approval along with the rest of the bench. Some excellent activity on the offensive glass to keep the ball alive. He just needed a counterpart to help a little more and they might have come up with a few more possessions based on all that effort. (Johnson should be able to get in there with him when those two are paired as they’ve been.) Curious to see what happens to Hill’s role when Kaman’s health throws him back in the rotation. In tonight’s game, we didn’t quite see the same Farmar/Hill chemistry, but the Jazz were a little more prepared for it. Still, just having Hill move (instead of wait for jumpers) as I’ve said, makes that offense much more fluid. Farmar was looking for him on the roll, it just wasn’t super clean. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 5-8 shooting to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: The offense stalled when the ball went into him in the post, so he took and he missed a jumphook. He took a pass in the paint, pivoted around defenders and reverse jammed. He blocked his man out of bounds from behind. He missed a pull-up 14-footer off the two-man game with Farmar. Second Half: He grabbed a tough pass in the lane, pivoted and hit the jumphook. After getting dunked on as the only man back on the break by his Gobert, Hill got his revenge in the post with a speedy dropstep baseline and throwdown all in one move (got the bench on their feet). He followed in a Meeks miss in transition, good hustle. He cleaned up a missed Meeks reverse with another putback. He got tapped on a top-of-the-key jumper with the shotclock low.

Henry -- -- He led the team in FTs again. If there was one thing consistent about his game (or about the team), it was Xavier’s ability to draw whistles and get to the line during the preseason. D’Antoni set up Xavier for some iso sequences on the wing to take advantage of that. We also having Farmar coming off screens for threes on the weakside on some of those sets. Defensively, I like watching how much Xavier and Wes switch on their two-man D. They didn’t look so good when they put on full-court traps, however. Xavier was the guy who had to jump the passing lane when the Jazz passed out of the doubles. Jazz ended up getting all the way to the rim after breaking us down on those. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 3-5 shooting (1-1 from three, 6-8 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He attacked in transition and missed, but Johnson cleaned it up. He didn’t settle for a jumper, attacked the paint and earned FTs, he made both. He deflected a pass to get a stop. He attacked and somehow flipped in a baseline runner with a man all over him. He hit a three next time down. He had 7 points on 2-3 shooting. Second Half: The offense stalled as he backed it out, and he missed a long wing jumper. He was called for a travel. Nice job filling the lane with Farmar on the break and he scored a layup around a defender. He attacked from the wing on iso and drew FTs, he made both. He attacked the lane and drew FTs, he made one. He iso’d and drew more FTs, he made one.

Johnson -- -- It was night and day with the impact between Wes and Shawne in the first half. Williams was a -15, Johnson a +13 in the first half at PF (Williams was strictly with the starters). I still think we’ll probably need to run him some more minutes with the starters at SF at some point to help the team’s D. Good job on the boards. We have to be careful, however, when our bigs are pulled out on some of our defensive schemes and we are switching on bigs under the hoop. We’re getting eaten up on second chances in those types of situations. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-8 shooting (0-2 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +3. The Action: He missed a wing three. He followed up Henry on the break and tipped in the miss. He missed a post turnaround jumper. Nice feed from the post to a cutting Farmar for the And-1. He grabbed an offensive board and missed jumper in the lane. He scored an And-1 layup off the Meeks-to-Farmar sequence on the break, he missed the FT. Second Half: He took contact across the lane and missed a jumper that should have been FTs. He ball-faked, attacked from the three line and threw down. He missed a three, looked long as soon as it left.

Meeks -- -- Quiet night from Meeks, which at least isn’t a bad thing. He played his usual hustle D. Missed his usual layups (others cleaned them up again). And he hit a jumper. He got credit for 3 steals, although those often seemed to be of the bad pass, loose ball variety versus the great D type. Blake probably cemented his opening night starting SG spot with his game tonight. Meeks looks pretty good on that energy second unit. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting (0-2 from three), 1 board, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 19 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: Sloppy cross-court pass with one hand and it went out of bounds. He missed a corner three. He scooped up a loose ball and ignited a breakaway score for Johnson. Second Half: He missed a layup on the break, but Hill cleaned it up. He swished a short pull-up straight away. He biffed a reverse off a great Farmar feed. XXXX


D’Antoni -- -- The wholesale substitutions in this game, 5 out, 5 in were awful. Probably just a preseason thing to get his main units more playing time, but the team suffered both times it happened… The Lakers trailed 16-12 when the timeout came midway through the quarter. They were running the offense quite a bit with Blake instead of Nash, didn’t seem intentional but just Blake being aggressive. He brought in Johnson for Williams… They tied it at 21-21 when the next timeout came… He brought in Farmar, Hill, Meeks and Henry to run with Johnson… The Lakers were tied 23-23 after a three-heavy first quarter… He started the same unit… Stu keeps griping about the Lakers doubling off the cutter and wanting the coaches to talk to them about it, but this is by design. Coaches telling them to double the post after the man cuts… He brought back in the starters up by 9, wholesale change. Hope he never does this in the regular season… Sure enough, the Lakers lead was cut to 1 quickly. You can’t just sub in and out 5 players and expect things to go smoothly… This unit is also very perimeter oriented despite having Pau. They need to get him some low-post touches with a little more consistency… Out of the timeout, Pau in the post for FTs. Not enough of that… The Lakers trailed 53-51 at the half. The Lakers shot 41.9% (18-43, 8-19 3PT, 7-8 FT). They had 14 assists and 7 turnovers. The Jazz shot 48.7% (19-39, 6-10 3PT, 9-11 FT). They had 15 assists and 9 turnovers… Coaches were irked that the first unit didn’t maintain the same energy. While, duh, we brought them all five in at once stone cold. Still, they do definitely need to play with better energy… Blake hitting jumpers and making great feeds and the Lakers led by 7 in the third… They extended to a 12-point lead… Some more hot shooting by Blake, great passing by Nash and the Lakers forced another timeout up 13… Wholesale changes again, all 5 starters out. All the bench now in. Got to stagger the subs or you will have stalls. Happened again with this unit… They warmed up and held the lead all fourth quarter against a weak Jazz team… Lakers shot 10 less threes in the second half…

[mhan00]

Nice way to end the preseason.

[Tanlentueux]

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

Thanks DB!

[bertrome]

Hope the strong bench play carries over to the regular season, would help the team stay above water till Kobe comes back.

[lounger]

On to the season!

Thanks DB! I hope Blake keeps this up especially while Kobe is away.

[lakerjoshua]

I'm ordering league pass tomorrow.

So I can watch Farmar's new bench mob "punch them in the nose".

It's been a while

[DancingBarry]

[epak]

A healthy Hill will be vital for us. You know he's feeling good when he can throw it down!

[Chronicle]

I thought Williams played well on the defensive end in the first half.
_________________
Kobe

[gumby]

I liked what I saw.

My question is how is the actual substitution pattern going to work?

He can't just go 5 in and 5 out each time.

Although that would be interesting to see how long that worked or failed.

Bye.
_________________
"This trophy removes the most odious sentence in the English Language. It can never be said again that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics.'" -Dr. Jerry Buss (1985) R.I.P., 33 x M.V.O.

[Chronicle]

[Gimme_the_rock]

[LakerEric]

I just don't see a crappy team like most of you see. I am the eternal optimist but this is a very deep team and when Kobe returns....I see a 55 win team if healthy.

[ElginBaylor]

So I'm a bit isolated here in Indiana. What's up with Kaman? Still sick or is there an injury?
_________________
Not a legend

[LakerEric]

Kaman has gastroenteritis. Stomach illness. He'll be ready Tuesday.

[AprilRyan]

Is there a good reason why Nash and Blake have to play together? Why not put Wes at SF, Young at SG and Nash at PG? Or Young, Henry and Nash?

[yinoma2001]

[wolfpaclaker]

The starting 5 isn't the real starting 5. Pau's best partner at PF/C has been Kaman. If you're going to truly evaluate a slow, old, starting 5 - evaluate a lineup that has Kaman, Pau, Kobe and Nash on it. And we won't see that lineup any time soon, not before end of November. I promise you guys, that lineup would beat that 2nd unit any day of the week and is our best lineup. You can't overrate speed just because it looks good in flashes. It's only a small sample of the game.

I don't mind 2 lineups, but I don't think we can truly play that way until Kobe is back.

[GoldenThroat]

Farmar has really grown up as a player. Hope he can be re-signed at a reasonable rate, because he's a starting caliber PG now, IMO.

[DancingBarry]

[DancingBarry]

[yinoma2001]

[A Mad Chinaman]

[GoldenThroat]