LAKERS -at- BUCKS - 1/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 9:07 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -at- BUCKS - 1/21 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Road Warriors... The Lakers extended their streak to 8-0 on the road to start the season.

I’m not sure if you will see more block/charge calls against a single player like we saw in this one. The Giannis Wall was in play as the Lakers were walling off and rotating to get in front of Giannis all night long.

They picked up Giannis’s third foul in the first half with 2 seconds left when Caruso rotated over on a drive. That capped off a 16-6 run to close the half. Trezz got run down a couple of times. The Lakers challenged a block/charge call and won as it looked like the refs were trying to protect Giannis on some of these calls.

It wasn’t that the paint was closed for business. There was a green light for the Bucks most of the night, but down the stretch you saw how limited Giannis’s game can be when forced to take what the D gives him and when our guys do a better job sticking with their assignments. With no perimeter shot, the offense bogged down for the Bucks in the final moments as one of the top defenses in the league, clamped down on one of the top offenses when it mattered most.

Meanwhile, clutch threes by KCP (7-10), LeBron (6-10) and Caruso (1-1 to improve his three shooting with a corner three with 1:40 left) all factored in late in the game. After that AC three, LeBron would bring the double tap with a three of his own with 1:04 left, just beating the shotclock.

At the end of the night, Giannis would score 25 on 11-17, but have 3 assists with 9 turnovers as the Lakers took the 113-106 win against the Bucks.

The Lakers are the top team in the league in point differential at just over +10 for the season. The Bucks are just right behind them, and that’s where they stayed tonight. A key stat in the game: The Laker three shooting finished 19-37 (51.4%). That’s 30 more points from behind the arc than the Bucks tonight.


LeBron -- -- We know he was annoyed with the MVP voting last year. Not that he didn’t win, but that he didn’t get as much consideration as he should have. In the playoffs, he clearly separated himself from Giannis. Tonight, he did, as well. He led the team in points, assists and the +/- stat. The shot was looking confident from distance and on that turnaround. He sank 3-4 from three in the first half on his way to 17 points on 6-12 shooting with 4 assists. Not a lot of finishing at the rim (a nice cut where AD found him for a dunk), but more perimeter and midrange from LeBron early on. No ups and downs in this game. He would score and pass at the same pace in the second half. Passing wise, if guys are going to send help and leave our shooters open, you take what the D gives you. “We rewarded great passing with shot confidence,” Vogel said. LeBron had the pass of the night, threading an outlet through defenders to Kuzma leaking out for a layup. (He actually missed the read early, but still found him.) The Stats: He scored 34 points on 13-25 shooting (6-10 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnover and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +15.

Davis -- -- His aggression got taken away a little early in this one when he picked up a foul on the first defensive stand as he matched up with GIannis. We matched him up with Giannis and that gave Giannis an early advantage. But he eventually got on track. He had 13 points on 6-10 shooting. His perimeter shot wasn’t looking great tonight. He missed some easy ones and struggled (2-5) from the line, as well. His passing has been great this season. He had another 6 assists tonight. On one, he drew LeBron’s defender’s attention, LBJ cut and AD hit him for the dunk. In crunch time, he missed a couple of shots, but he was still moving the ball well and finding guys. “Just getting him to see the second side of the defense and he’s continuing to grow every single game and every single film session,” LeBron said. He had a good possession defensively going under a screen and forcing Giannis into an airball from midrange. He also go suckered on an up-fake from the three line to give up a dunk, but the Lakers had the game in control then. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 8-18 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-5 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 6 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +0.

Schröder -- -- Ouch. His lack of confidence in this game after missing shots was killing the Lakers offense. He wasn’t taking the plays that were there and allowing the D to load up. Or, on one such sequence he gave it up to AC to create at the end of the shotclock after ruining clock down on a set. I was surprised we actually had him in there to close. But we went small and had our Core Four of AD, LeBron, AC and KCP on the floor, too. Schröder just didn’t have any confidence in his offensive game in this one. So as good of a shooting night as we got from KCP or even LeBron, that was mitigated a bit by Schröder’s struggles tonight. Defensively, he had a nice steal on a mismatch where he stepped around the post man to steal the pass. Some scrappy moments against bigger guys even on the perimeter. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-10 shooting (0-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +0.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- On fire! All his shots were from three tonight. He’s just deadly from the corners. Some of these looks, though, are just wide open. That’s straight up trouble for the D. He did hit a tough one, though, tonight. He swished a running three from about 35 feet out at the end of the first half. He was 3-4 from three in the half with 11 points. Then he knocked down a couple more early in the second half. With 2:40 left, he was wide open in the corner and got to measure it and drill it. A big shot with the game at just 2 points then. “He just so good for our ballclub,” Lebron said. He mentioned giving the team energy like he does is so important. He had some nice plays defensively under the hoop. Really, when he and AC are out there, a lot of good things happen. But this game, KCP was an assassin sniper tonight. He destroyed the Bucks. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 7-10 shooting from three (2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +8.

Gasol -- -- Quiet night from Gasol. When you have a stretch big out there, that can cause some issues with our D and mobility with Gasol. When we have breakdowns in those situations, they are big as he’s not in the paint and won’t get there. Lopez has a quick trigger, too, which makes it trickier. People want McGee’s intimidation out there, but that’s fool’s gold. At the end of the day Gasol was still a +4. McGee continually struggled to keep us effective. What actually frustrates me is that Gasol can’t get to 50-50 balls. In any event, offensively the guys have a lot more space. Defenders are having to travel a lot further and our guys are getting some really good looks. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting from three to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 1 foul in 18 minutes. He was a +4.

Matthews -- -- “He gave us a little insight on the things they like to run and like to do,” AD said. Wes came in sooner than the previous games. I mentioned it being tricky to sit for an hour and play well for some players. Perhaps, they were trying to get him in sooner because of that. In any event, the lineups previously weren’t working. The downside here is some of these lineups that are causing us issues are so perimeter oriented. Just a lot of three shooting and little penetration with how we’ve been running them and we just aren’t locking down. Offensively, he sank a three on a kickout from Trezz and another off a swing pass from Morris. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-4 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 2 assists and no fouls in 10 minutes. He was a -2.

Harrell -- -- He was on the floor a lot tonight. I don’t mean minute wise, just getting knocked down. He took a hard charge (flagrant) from Giannis who popped him in the face with the elbow. He’d get Giannis again later in a play we challenged and won. So two charges were drawn by Harrell tonight. The shot challenging/altering was pretty poor, however. He and Morris really played a bit too small at times in that regard. We need better from them or we need better perimeter mobility to prevent giving up paint scores. In the final couple minutes of this game, we went to a three-guard lineup with AD/LeBron. We weren’t getting the mobility we needed from our other bigs. But that may be our go-to quite a bit in the playoffs late in the game. Offensively, they probably should have went to him a little more, but he was effective when they did. There was a key stretch late in the game where he had mismatches in the post and he got the ball and took care of business. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-7 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -3.

Kuzma -- -- Good energy off the bench right away. He was blocking shots and grabbing boards. On his first half block, he saved a hoop right at the rim. In the second half at the end of the third quarter, he denied Lopez at the rim. I love the energy on the challenges and on the boards so far this season. Offensively, he swished a quick-fire wing three, bouncing into his footwork nicely. He’d get another leak-out score. We haven’t seen a lot of that because he’s been crashing back on the glass. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 5 boards, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a -1.

Caruso -- -- Vogel leaned on him as the game went along. He didn’t play the entire first quarter and it took a while into the second before we saw him. Basically, he didn’t play with LeBron at all in that first half. Big play at the end of the first half with 2.3 seconds left, he stepped in to take a charge on Giannis. The Bucks had sat Giannis to avoid the foul trouble, brought him in for offense and then paid the price with his third foul. (We’d also hit a three on the other end.) In the second half, we sat Wes and gave those minutes to AC. Just getting AC more on the court in the second half and in the final minutes is big for this team. If you want to cut down on the paint points, a good place to start is some better perimeter D and rotations behind everyone. AC brings that. He is always in the right place and disruptive whenever tested. What he also brings is that 57% three shooting (15-28). With 1:40 left, we found him in the corner and he was money. That was a killer. He’s also set up LeBron for a dunk with 15 seconds left as we ran clock. But having AC on one side and KCP on the other for AD and LeBron with the way they are shooting right now? Sheesh. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-2 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block and 3 fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +4.

Morris -- -- Really awful first half on both ends. He couldn’t hit anything offensively. It’s important we have him to space the floor, but if we aren’t taking advantage by getting in the paint or he’s not hitting, you’ve got some problems. He would hit one with 8:40 left in the game on the pick and pop with LeBron and the Lakers had a good stretch. That’s where he becomes valuable come playoff time. You can go bigger with AD at C. Defensively, it’s difficult with the smaller Harrell. Both provided little to no resistance. We’re letting guys get to the paint and there was no fight in the back line. We really limited his action in the second half as a result of the first half issues. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 10 minutes. He was a +10.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Back-to-back big threes from the Lakers late in this one. AC swished a big corner three with 1:42 left. LeBron swished another with 1:04 left and the shotlcock going off. (Then AC found LeBron later for a dunk with 15 seconds left to seal it for good.) I like seeing AC out there to close.

Key Substitution: Lakers went with a Schröder, KCP, AC guard trio with a few minutes left in the game to close. That put LeBron at PF and AD at C. Schröder was really struggling offensively, so not an easy call there. But our other bigs really weren’t able to play with the mobility we needed, so slide LBJ to the PF spot.

Key Stats: Well, 8-0 on the road is a franchise record to start the season. But we are a bit different of a team right now outscoring an opponent by 30 from behind the arc. We’re shooting 39% from three, which is up from 35% last year. Last year, we won the break and points in the paint with consistency. Tonight, we lost the break 24-9. We lost the points in the paint 58-32. We were second in points on the break last year. We’re ninth now, scoring about 3 points less (we’re scoring 3.6 more points from three).

Coach’s Challenge: With 10:17 left, Trezz came over to take a charge on Giannis. They called it a blocked, looked like an obvious charge in the moment. Seemed like the refs did not want to call another foul on Giannis. Vogel won the challenge. That would be just one of several block/charge calls that went against the Lakers on Giannis in that fourth. Not enough challenges for Vogel to keep the officiating honest.
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eddiejonze
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:23 pm    Post subject:

first!
Giannis lack of a jumper got EXPOSED.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:25 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!! Appreciate your write ups so much.

It’s tough for the other team to win when Lebron is shooting like that. Can the team’s 3 shooting last, even through the playoffs??

Man, I love watching Caruso move his feet and compete.... it’s getting uncomfortable watching Schröder at the end of games.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:05 am    Post subject:

^ I think the three shooting has more or less carried over from the playoffs of last season. They were shooting well on the shots they had available. Subtract out Green’s shots for others. Add in that the quality of looks are much greater right now.

Obviously AC and KCP will edge down at some point, but I do think the shot quality we will see this season will be better because of both the changes as well as the the familiarity of the guys returning. We’ve got better shooters and we are adding more into our offensive scheme. Because of that we should sink a higher percentage.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 1:40 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!

Lakers first real quality win. Will admit it was frustrating watching the paint at times being wide, and I do mean wide, open, on defense. That needs to get repaired, whether it's with what we got, or grabbing another body to help there.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 3:07 am    Post subject:

Great write up as always!

Incredible performance by Lebron considering he scored 6 points in the paint. He's shooting a career low percentage of attempts at the rim, at 29.5%. Yet he's still finding many ways to score.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 5:09 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!!!
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:12 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 6:27 am    Post subject:

DB, I noticed Schroeder's lack of confidence late in the GSW game and it carried over to this game. He kept handing / passing the ball off late in the game instead of trying to create. If this continues, Vogel make take him out of his end of game rotation.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:16 am    Post subject:

I thought the 4th Q really showed something interesting, a blue print as to how we can be devastating on offense at some point.

You saw Bron run the point, with AD setting screens. When Bron saw AD get switched on to by a small, he took his time and got him the ball at the Dirk Nowitzki-Tim Duncan spots as I like to call them. From there. AD had the entire court to look at, where he could just shoot over smalls, or wait for doubles and then find the open man. We have so many options when we run this offense.

Last year, when teams would double AD we had a lot of trouble getting AD involved, Our spacing was not the same as it is right now. There has been a major development in our 4th Q offense at this point in the season this year vs this point last year. I specifically recall how hard it was for Bron-AD to do anything but play milk the shot clock and run an iso offense. Now, even though yesterday we allowed the Bucks to get back into it in the 4th, the type of shots we were getting, and how AD was surveying the floor, and being a playmaker, that is something new we are seeing this season. A lot of criticism on AD, but I have seen him develop into a less predictable player this year. He is becoming a triple threat in those spots. Shooter, driver (always was a double threat) and now a passer. I love this.

We have to go back and watch that 4th Q execution and milk that offense all playoffs. You spread the floor with the 3 best shooters you have going that night (Wesley, Caruso, KCP) and with Bron running point up high, I can not imagine a single team in the NBA do anything about it.

I think Frank should start thinking about getting Dennis on a 24 minute game plan vs 30-32. The 4th Q should be about Dennis running those plays when Bron sits, and Bron running them the rest of the Q. Then when Bron is running them, you send out a natural 3 point spot up guy like Wesley, or even Kuzma, who has shown to be more of a natural catch and shoot guy this year.

We have just so much firepower this year, I feel we are not even close to doing what we can, if we change things up a little with the way we distribute minutes. However there is probably a lot of things at play here with Covid, load management, getting players to learn their roles etc.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 7:53 am    Post subject:

Love how DB called the "core" AD-Bron-KCP-Caruso. I so agree with that. They just fit in so well with each other. You get some of that Shaq-Kobe-Fish-Horry vibes, even though they play different. Or that Kobe-Gasol-Odom-Fish vibes. Just that chemistry, you can not teach, that instinctive play around each other.
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CervantesRises
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:53 am    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
Love how DB called the "core" AD-Bron-KCP-Caruso. I so agree with that. They just fit in so well with each other. You get some of that Shaq-Kobe-Fish-Horry vibes, even though they play different. Or that Kobe-Gasol-Odom-Fish vibes. Just that chemistry, you can not teach, that instinctive play around each other.


Agreed wolf. These 4 really 'get' each other.

Thanks DB...I don't say thank you enough. These are always my favorite post-W reads.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:58 am    Post subject:

PenG_ wrote:
Great write up as always!

Incredible performance by Lebron considering he scored 6 points in the paint. He's shooting a career low percentage of attempts at the rim, at 29.5%. Yet he's still finding many ways to score.


Yeah, this is total in-game, in-season load management. Last year when he settled, it was tough for us to get Ws. But he's thinking big picture on how to manage this season considering the short turnaround.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:05 am    Post subject:

Laker7 wrote:
DB, I noticed Schroeder's lack of confidence late in the GSW game and it carried over to this game. He kept handing / passing the ball off late in the game instead of trying to create. If this continues, Vogel make take him out of his end of game rotation.


As the season goes along, I think we'll see less of that. His role is tricky with the two superstars on the team. Harder than Trezz's offensively. So it will take a bit. I imagine when his confidence isn't there, they will likely set up some more specific sequences/plays for him to get to the rim.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:22 am    Post subject:

While I’m very happy we beat the Bucks, at the same time games like this seem like fools gold in that we only won because we were shooting lights out from 3. I believe more often than not we would loose this game if our shooting had been a more normal night or a playoff game with more defensive intensity. The Bucks were getting to the rim and scoring at will which is very concerning.

Even with our strong record it just doesn’t feel like we are near as good of team as we were last year. There’s still time to change that and I have faith we can, but I just don’t see it right now. We’re more like the team that does well in the regular season (like the Bucks last year), but then falters in the playoffs.

This whole thing came out more negative than I intended. I do worry about our interior defense, rebounding, and lack of speed & size against the opponents bigger players though.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:26 am    Post subject:

Startrout wrote:
We’re more like the team that does well in the regular season (like the Bucks last year), but then falters in the playoffs.



We're too versatile for that to be the case. LBJ/AD on both ends of the court can hurt teams in too many ways. Then we fit in the pieces around that. That's the Bucks problem. They aren't flexible like that.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 11:31 am    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:

We have to go back and watch that 4th Q execution and milk that offense all playoffs. You spread the floor with the 3 best shooters you have going that night (Wesley, Caruso, KCP) and with Bron running point up high, I can not imagine a single team in the NBA do anything about it.


There were moments where we reverted back to that slow-down, non-ball movement stuff in the fourth. But also huge sequences like that three by AC where AD collapsed the D and could pass while facing the basket vs. having his back to guys he needs to find. That's when he's trouble for the D.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:07 pm    Post subject:

Startrout wrote:
While I’m very happy we beat the Bucks, at the same time games like this seem like fools gold in that we only won because we were shooting lights out from 3. I believe more often than not we would loose this game if our shooting had been a more normal night or a playoff game with more defensive intensity. The Bucks were getting to the rim and scoring at will which is very concerning.

Even with our strong record it just doesn’t feel like we are near as good of team as we were last year. There’s still time to change that and I have faith we can, but I just don’t see it right now. We’re more like the team that does well in the regular season (like the Bucks last year), but then falters in the playoffs.

This whole thing came out more negative than I intended. I do worry about our interior defense, rebounding, and lack of speed & size against the opponents bigger players though.


Championship teams find different ways to win. Some nights with the 3, some nights with the D, just find a way to get it done. We had stinkers last year during the regular season, but we won them.

Thanks, DB!
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 12:13 pm    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
Love how DB called the "core" AD-Bron-KCP-Caruso. I so agree with that. They just fit in so well with each other. You get some of that Shaq-Kobe-Fish-Horry vibes, even though they play different. Or that Kobe-Gasol-Odom-Fish vibes. Just that chemistry, you can not teach, that instinctive play around each other.


It is my hope that Kuzma becomes just as important of a member of this group by the end of the season.

Slowly but surely, he's been making good progress towards that end... his defensive energy and BBiQ has improved, the outside shot is a bit more consistent, he's shown flashes of being a willing passer, I see him going after rebounds with vigor, and he still loves to attack the paint with the ball in his hands. Keep it up, Kuz!
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 2:11 pm    Post subject:

Startrout wrote:
While I’m very happy we beat the Bucks, at the same time games like this seem like fools gold in that we only won because we were shooting lights out from 3. I believe more often than not we would loose this game if our shooting had been a more normal night or a playoff game with more defensive intensity. The Bucks were getting to the rim and scoring at will which is very concerning.

Even with our strong record it just doesn’t feel like we are near as good of team as we were last year. There’s still time to change that and I have faith we can, but I just don’t see it right now. We’re more like the team that does well in the regular season (like the Bucks last year), but then falters in the playoffs.

This whole thing came out more negative than I intended. I do worry about our interior defense, rebounding, and lack of speed & size against the opponents bigger players though.


They are playing at like half-speed rn

Make no mistake, the Bucks aren't pushovers but the Lakers this year are just flat out better.

Last year the Lakers had to be 100% every single game to compensate the lack of talent after Bron and Davis. Meaning the duo had to take the charge on both ends of the floor.

Now, as long as one of the stars shows up, they can win with the newly added depth.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:08 pm    Post subject:

Startrout wrote:
While I’m very happy we beat the Bucks, at the same time games like this seem like fools gold in that we only won because we were shooting lights out from 3. I believe more often than not we would loose this game if our shooting had been a more normal night or a playoff game with more defensive intensity. The Bucks were getting to the rim and scoring at will which is very concerning.

Even with our strong record it just doesn’t feel like we are near as good of team as we were last year. There’s still time to change that and I have faith we can, but I just don’t see it right now. We’re more like the team that does well in the regular season (like the Bucks last year), but then falters in the playoffs.

This whole thing came out more negative than I intended. I do worry about our interior defense, rebounding, and lack of speed & size against the opponents bigger players though.


I was starting to think this too but realized something - we've had teams go off like this for spurts vs our fellas as well. In addition, Bucks coming in as best scoring offense also had tremendous 3 shooting at their disposal. If you noticed the game, the Lakers focused on trying to have, as much as possible, a hand in a 3 shooter's face (yes, there will still open looks that missed); this in turn played in part to how the Lakers interior D was not as strong.

Yes, The 3 shooting for the Lakers was far higher than normal, but the Bucks were completely playing it that way - daring the Lakers to hit 3 as they packed the paint. Lakers made them pay.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2021 10:11 pm    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
Love how DB called the "core" AD-Bron-KCP-Caruso. I so agree with that. They just fit in so well with each other. You get some of that Shaq-Kobe-Fish-Horry vibes, even though they play different. Or that Kobe-Gasol-Odom-Fish vibes. Just that chemistry, you can not teach, that instinctive play around each other.


Agreed. I feel extremely comfortable with KCP and AC on the court, for frankly the obvious reason those guys were often in the playoff run close out lineups.

KCP has really grown into his role. He is a pesky defender. He can fly out on the break. Unlike many 3 and D guys he will actually make a guy pay for playing him too close at the 3 by faking, and if the path is open will take it to the hoop (many 3 and D guys actually don't like doing that). It's crazy to think how we use to rip into him so often for boneheaded plays...now, he is seriously one of the more calming influences on the floor, especially in clutch time.

AC's 3 so far has been a nice surprise. He keeps that up and the Lakers will have 2 of the most versatile 3 and D players in the league.
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