WIZARDS -vs- LAKERS - 7/27 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 5:30 pm    Post subject: WIZARDS -vs- LAKERS - 7/27 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

One Last Game Before They Count Again... As we finish out the last of the scrimmages, the Lakers took the opportunity to rest their stars and give the bench some more reps.

Behind strong production from Alex Caruso and the two newcomers, Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith, the Lakers dispatched the Wizards 123-116.

Caruso scored 17 and dished 6 assists, Waiters added 18 and 6 assists and Smith led the team with 20 points on 6-7 shooting from three.

So they finish off this Bubble preseason and hope to regain the momentum they had just before the shutdown. It’s unfortunate they won’t have any real home court advantage as we work toward the playoffs. But the team has shown they can win at a high rate no matter what floor they are on.


Caruso -- -- No foul issues to slow him down in this one. He stuffed the stat sheet with 17 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in 24 minutes. The aggressiveness might have been higher because LBJ/AD weren’t out there, but great job drawing fouls and getting to the line. He had 8 trips to the FT line and even got the Wizards into the penalty just a few minutes into this one. “Game by game what’s needed is kind of different for me,” he said. The three shot looked like money as teammates did a good job finding him with extra passes to turn a good look into a better one. “I was on the receiving end of some of the extra passes today,” he said. There was a stretch in the first quarter where our guards seemed to have the Wizards rattled a little. They were coming up with steal after steal and that turned into Lakers transition points. He had the assist of the game, stealing a kickout and quickly chucking it down court to KCP in stride and ahead of the pack for the score. Good to get him those minutes as a playmaker. Vogel said he wants his guards to get paint touches to collapse the D. Caruso plays better when he’s got that aggressive mindset. He said he got a little winded playing longer stretches, but found his second wind. He was asked about the arena atmosphere and said he didn’t really notice what’s going on without fans there. “I’m usually pretty locked in,” he said, mentioning it’s just less noise. As a player, the crowd just kinds of disappears when you are locked into a game. You’re listening to coaches, teammates and the crowd is kind of an afterthought, punctuating plays. Players definitely feed off that, but he’s never seemed to be one that needs that to throttle up the intensity. The Stats: He scored 17 points on 4-6 shooting (6-8 from the line, 3-4 from three) to go with 5 boards, 6 assists, 3 turnovers, 3 steals and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a +16.

Green -- -- Most of his production came early on. He had 13 points on 5-8 shooting and 2 steals in the first half. Some production on the break where he scored a layup and knocked down a pull-up three. He played a little PF with second unit as Vogel went to some small units on a few occasion. This had Green matching up with Hachimura for some minutes. The trio of Caruso, KCP and Green had some excellent defensive rotations, playing on a string. A combined 6 steals from them, often just being in the right place at the right time. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-8 shooting (2-2 from the line, 1-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 steals, 1 block and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +1.

McGee -- -- A had one of those stretches (you saw this with Golden State on occasion) where he’d impose himself on the game for a brief stretch of great ball that had the opponent on its heels. He saved a ball inbounds to KCP, who scored a layup off it. He then spiked a shot to the ground on D (very controlled shotblock). He drained an open three on the other end. Then also found Cook with a bounce pass cutting for a layup on the next trip down. Quite the flury of action from him. He also had a defensive stand where he swatted two shots at the rim. Really, just those couple of sequences of action. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-2 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 3 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -1.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- The perimeter shot wasn’t falling for him (a couple of those looks were forced due to clock management) and he didn’t force it otherwise. Again, some action in transition. He usually gets in on a couple breakaways per game. His two assists were a feed in transition and swing pass (KCP to THT) for a three. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +2.

Morris -- -- He got the start but it was a planned single, short stint for him today, just 6 minutes. He had a couple of scores, one on a fade after and up-fake and attack. The other was a good battle on the offensive glass off a missed FT to tip it in. He was aggressive in his time out there. The 7 attempts were inflated a little with that battling on the offensive glass. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-7 shooting (2-2 from the line, 0-1 from three) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive) and no fouls in 6 minutes. He was a +0.


Waiters -- -- The two new guys tag teamed for 38 points. Waiters had 18 on 8-17 shooting in 27 minutes. Seems doubtful he’ll get that high a number of shots with a full rotation, but he’s aggressive. He had several makes that bailed out the offense. Midway through the fourth quarter, he sank a tough iso shot with the clock about to expire. Bonga got a good challenge in, but Waiters still hit the 20-foot stepback over him. He also drained another deep jumper with the clock winding down. And then spun away from a double team to reverse around a big and just beat the shotclock. Again, having that tough shot maker that can bail out an offense for key shots in the playoffs will be big. Now throw in the 6 assists he had tonight. That doesn’t even count the hockey assist where he might probe and kickout (AC got a three off one of those). I would have preferred to see some more minutes with Howard to help build that chemistry, but Dwight didn’t get any run today. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-17 shooting (2-4 from the line, 0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a +4.

Smith -- -- He led the Lakers with 14 points on 4-5 three shooting in the first half and finished with a game-high 20 points, making 6-7 from three. What you hope from him is that he can feel it like this in some game and give you some of those game-breaking minutes from the bench. Having a guy who might be your 10th or 11th man able to give you a shot in the arm or break open a game every now and then would be amazing. He’s giving more effort and intensity on D than I thought we’d see. Certainly some mistakes, but the hustle and effort is there. He knows this could be a last chance at this stage in his career and is going hard. Like Waiters, he also had some moments where he created something out of nothing. He had a couple of heat checks in the mix, but extremely efficient day with 20 on 9 shots and very limited usage. The Stats: He scored 20 points on 6-9 shooting (2-2 from the line, 6-7 from three) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a +1.

Cook -- -- A lot of run for the deep bench in this one. Cook got 26 minutes and 11 shots off. Not always pretty as he had a team-high 5 turnovers. He’d occasionally over penetrate a bit. He just needs to look for space, not necessarily try to create for others or get to the rim. His midrange is automatic, so when he can stop on a dime or keep his dribble alive and work around a screen that’s probably a better option for him than trying a tough finish over a big or looking to pass off when in trouble. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-11 shooting (4-4 from the line, 0-2 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists, 5 turnovers, 1 steal and no fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -4.

Dudley -- -- Quietly contributing and finishing with the second best +10 on the day. He was part of a good stretch of D the team had in the first quarter. Scoring wise, he hit a three after a fly by and had a layup, cutting from the weakside for THT to find him. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-3 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +10.

Horton-Tucker -- -- He started the second half as we went to the deep bench. His only make was a three off a swing pass. A couple nice passes (Dudley cutting for a layup, Cacok down low). Defensively, he had a couple of steals. Really nice job going vertical on the break with that long standing reach to help get a stop. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-6 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +0.

Cacok -- -- He started the second half for McGee, battling Thomas Bryant. His motor is pretty non-stop and he had 9 boards in his 13 minutes as a result. He manufactures some points just off that (one a putback off a THT drive, another a tip in between a couple of defensive players and then also an And-1 bucket sprinting as he changed ends to take a pass. Just making something out of nothing in all those. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-6 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 9 boards (2 offensive) and 5 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +2.

Antetokounmpo -- -- He showed off that length on a couple of plays, one outback dunk, the other a help D rejection behind a Laker guard. Good job getting to the line, but poor job finishing from there. Even one of the makes was a little shaky. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-8 shooting (3-8 from the line, 0-1 from three) to go with 7 boards (2 offensive), 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +4.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Let’s go with the start of the second half and highlight the Lakers scouting department. On the court to start was Caruso, Cacok, THT, Bonga and Bryant. That’s quite the group of second round or undrafted players getting run. When you don’t have a lot of assets, having a scouting department that can find you two-way players to develop or late-round picks is huge.

Key Substitution: Vogel said he asked J.R. to be more aggressive in this one on the catch and shoot opportunities. J.R. answered the call and then some.

Key Stat: The Lakers got 78 points off the bench today. Nice to the see turnovers down, just 14 (and Cook had 5 of those) with 22 assists by the team.
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MookieBetts50
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 6:23 pm    Post subject:

First?? That's the problem with a weekday AM game, too busy no one remembers!

2-1 with some nice mojo going into the true part of the restart. Good consistency from the few vets Vogel did run today. Glad Caruso kept in control not fouling out this time and stuck some open looks. Liking our guard rotation's deep ball potential as well as leak outs, no Rondo and Bradley who are more half court minded.
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Dr. Laker
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 10:44 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!
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TDRock
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:36 pm    Post subject:

Yay winning!

So why didn’t Kuzma play? He’s a seasoned veteran who needed the rest?



EDIT - Thanks DB!
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 9:55 am    Post subject:

I think they said he had a slight ankle tweak and could play if needed, but they wanted to hold him out.
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TooMuchMajicBuss
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 10:36 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB - Good tune ups for the Lakers. Here's hoping this translates through the next few games and the playoffs.
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deal
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 7:05 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB !!! I missed the game, so this recap really helps...
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 28, 2020 7:56 pm    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
I think they said he had a slight ankle tweak and could play if needed, but they wanted to hold him out.


Ah. Thanks
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