BLAZERS -at- LAKERS - 2-2-22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:37 pm    Post subject: BLAZERS -at- LAKERS - 2-2-22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Ugggggggly... This was about as atrocious a game as you will see. Excruciating to watch at times. Not just from the Lakers, but the Blazers, as well.

Let’s just fast forward to the fourth quarter.

As the Lakers pulled ahead by 5, the Blazers called a timeout with 4:24 left. Out of that, the Blazers turned it over, the Lakers gave it right back with a bad pass, the Blazers turned it over again, the Lakers then gave it back with an offensive foul. This was barely basketball.

The Blazers would tie the game up, but I’m not sure they wanted the W.

The Lakers would finally score their first point off a turnover with 2:07 left with an Anthony Davis FT. AD would hustle on the offensive glass to earn FTs on some Laker bricks. With more FTs, he extended the lead to 6 with under a minute left.

Just enough hustle and effort late in this game to eek out the win. The Lakers won 99-94.


Davis -- -- The defense came and went at times early on. There were plays where he was just standing in drop coverage and walking out to try to close on a shooter. Others where he was hustling, battling and doing what we expect from him. Third quarter we started Dwight, which pushes AD out to the perimeter. He stayed out of the paint even after Dwight sat in that third. Some really poorly designed offensive possessions by the Lakers in that quarter. In the fourth quarter, he throttled up the effort. Some good challenges and superb effort on the boards on D. On offensive he was imposing himself on the glass to get the team some critical second chance points down the stretch from the line. Some big jumpers off pick and pops late in the fourth quarter, as well. Great to see that shot dropping. He’s very on balance on those jumpers. This looks like the AD we’ve come to expect. I still don’t think he’s quite in game shape which is why some of that effort came and went. Vogel confirmed that afterward. “Tonight was definitely about mental toughness in face of fatigue,” Vogel said. Mentioning those plays he was late to rotate or get back on D. But strong outing to really lead this team down the stretch. Keep working on that game shape, AD. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 10-18 shooting (10-14 from the line) to go with 15 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 3 blocks, 3 turnovers and 5 fouls in 37 minutes. He was a +2.

Westbrook -- -- Triple-double pace with 7 points, 6 assists and 6 boards in the first half. He would only score 2 points in the second half, so he didn’t get that triple-double. That’s on the coaches. You’ve got to get Russ more than 2 points in the second half. There was really very little intelligent purpose to the offense at times. Good job setting the table for the most part early on, some turnovers, but also some great passes, even moving the D with look offs. IN the second half, he’d have 7 assists with just 1 turnover. Offensively, I’m not sure the last time he’s made one of those post up fades he takes. It’s an instant brick everytime for the past couple months. Just a wasted possession. The Blazers did try to overplay him a bit to prevent drives. That led to some pick and pops for AD. Need some better X’s and O’s out there, though, to get Russ some better opportunities. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-12 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 13 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +2.

Monk -- -- His first shot was a rushed corner three and he proceeded to miss everything from the perimeter in the first half. His only make was a dunk when Russ told him to cut for a pass. Not great D at times. He let CJ blow by him for a layup. He’d throw a lob away on the break on one end, then gave up a straight line dunk on the other. But he did come up with a big stop with a minute left, getting a great challenge in on a CJ drive. Better late than never. Offensively, we brought him in to make some intentional FTs, he bricked both. Figures. The Blazers decided to brick one of theirs in return. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-10 shooting (1-6 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover and no fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +11.

Johnson -- -- He got the start, but quickly sat with a couple fouls after 3 minutes. We didn’t start him in the second half. To open the fourth, he attacked with speed, went behind his back and scored a layup. That helped give us a little spark, which was hard to find. Some good moments on D in that stretch, including a blindside steal on an ATO to get a stop. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -5.

Bradley -- -- I’m not sure how many of his steals came in the fourth, but he had some big ones. I’m not going to bother to look it up. But he was disruptive down the stretch and that helped the Lakers hold the Blazers to 19 points that quarter. Lakers D picked it up in that fourth and that made the difference. Offensively, he was just setting up in the corners and firing away. He made three threes. He also had a layup off a SLOB cut from the weakside in the fourth. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (3-8 from three) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 4 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +4.

Anthony -- -- On fire in the first half with 18 points on just 7 attempts, that included fourth threes. He had a couple attempts in the post, as well. One of those was over a tough double team. On one of threes, he just chucked it up against the shotclock and buried it. Great first half to lead the team in scoring and had a +9. He’d hit 5 threes in this one. He’d also finish a backdoor lob dunk. Really a problem offensively for his old team tonight. They also didn’t really do much to go after him on the other end. He did have a couple of blocks, including a nice close out late. Without LeBron, we need one of Melo or Monk to go off. Melo got it done tonight. Not sure if he will have his legs for tomorrow. A lot of minutes tonight. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 8-12 shooting (5-6 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +15.

Howard -- -- He started the second half so that we could suck on our perimeter D and not have any offensive spacing I presume. Good job imposing his size on the offensive boards. Decent first half, although he did foul a three shooter throwing up a late-clock chuck. Not good, but par for this game. That second half stint, the team was garbage and he didn’t return. “We obviously struggled to score, which has been the story of our season when we’ve tried to play big,” Vogel said. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-6 shooting to go with 7 boards (4 offensive), 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -4.

Horton-Tucker -- -- Awful first half with 3 turnovers in 6 minutes. His tunnel vision is getting the best of him right now. He’s over penetrating, not seeing guys popping and ending up with extra defenders around him. At one point, the coaches sat him for a minute so they could talk to him before throwing him back out there. Second half, he hit a three, finally not trying to do too much. He’d find AD over the top of the D for a score. Then come up with a steal on a dig down. So some positives in the second half, but not a lot of impact in this one. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 1-3 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +8.

Reaves -- -- Pretty quiet night for Reaves. He missed both threes he took. He was looking to pass a bit too much at times instead of looking to score. But sometimes we really need that. Guys are just taking turns going solo and the offense loses flow. A couple things not showing up in the stat sheet: He drew an offensive foul hustling around a screen, and he deflected a pass on the break when AD was slow getting back. That probably saved a three. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 from three to go with 3 boards, 1 turnover and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +3.

Bazemore -- -- Some first half run during a stretch we happened to suck badly. He was a -11 in 7 minutes. He found Dwight under the hoop for a score on one play. Not exactly showcasing for a trade. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three and had 1 assist in 7 minutes. He was a -11.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: The final couple minutes of this game were really about AD imposing his will. That drew a number of FTs that gave the Lakers their lead.

Key Substitution: Melo crushed it for the team obviously. Vogel had some tough lineups out there with neither AD or Russ early on. Or some shooting-challenged lineups late. Melo had the hot hand, so Vogel gave him the big minutes. We needed it.

Key Stats: In the first half, the Lakers gave up 14 points on 9 turnovers, while not scoring any points themselves off just the 2 turnovers they forced. The Lakers were outscored 24-1 on points off turnovers. They did force 11 more turnovers in the second half (Lakers had 17 total, Blazers 13).
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pio2u
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 10:40 pm    Post subject:

Good stuff DB! We needed this one.
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mad55557777
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 11:39 pm    Post subject:

Simply put, Russ is a flawed player and Vogel put him in a position to further expose his flaws, what a nice combo.
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Dr. Laker
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:01 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

A win is a win - especially on the road.
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LakerSD
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 12:21 am    Post subject:

Ugly, but AD continues to look like AD and his shot is falling now.

If we had this AD prior to his injury, we are probably 3-7 games over .500, even with roster issues.
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governator
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:50 am    Post subject:

Man, just get into the play in and go from there
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 6:48 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB

A win is a win
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 6:58 am    Post subject:

Nice to get a W. What are 2-2 in games with AD back? We didn't have Lebron in any of the later 3 games. Should have found a way to beat the Hawks if we had a PG leader/closer.

Westbrook is not what we need on either end.

You're seeing a team that is very disorganized without Lebron. There's no changing the group we have here in terms of their strengths/weaknesses.

All we can change is our effort, which shows that when you have AD defend how he is capable, with some support guys like Bradley, Reaves, Stanely (although Stanley didn't have a good game last night) you can get some significant defense. Once you have this defense, you can then give yourself a shot to win each game. With one of the greatest QBs in league history in Lebron and when his mid-range J is on, the best big in ball.

AD with a jumper = best big in ball.

Wonder what shot mechanic adjustments he made because I was reading he made some while he was out, and it's been very effective since his return.

What stood out to me?

Vogel's scrambling. He's trying all kinds of stuff, be it Dwight starting the 3rd with AD at the 4. THT at point guard. We obviously run a few small ball Stanley at the 5 lineups. We're really not a team that has a defined rotation.

AD's shot. When his shot is on, he's a top 5 player in value. Not sure what he changed exactly while he was out, but he has to bottle that up.

Melo's game. Really big game from Melo, without this performance we don't win. He was our 2nd best player, by far.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 7:35 am    Post subject:

Thank goodness Portland is so awful.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 8:48 am    Post subject:

That was the worst game of the season
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 9:05 am    Post subject:

Dr. Laker wrote:
Thanks, DB!

A win is a win - especially on the road.

We were home.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 10:29 am    Post subject:

Excellent write-up as always - thanks again DB!

2 teams on the verge of a breakdown, good to see the Lakers not lose 4 in a row. Good to see Melo step up.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:45 pm    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
Nice to get a W. What are 2-2 in games with AD back? We didn't have Lebron in any of the later 3 games. Should have found a way to beat the Hawks if we had a PG leader/closer.

Westbrook is not what we need on either end.

You're seeing a team that is very disorganized without Lebron. There's no changing the group we have here in terms of their strengths/weaknesses.

All we can change is our effort, which shows that when you have AD defend how he is capable, with some support guys like Bradley, Reaves, Stanely (although Stanley didn't have a good game last night) you can get some significant defense. Once you have this defense, you can then give yourself a shot to win each game. With one of the greatest QBs in league history in Lebron and when his mid-range J is on, the best big in ball.

AD with a jumper = best big in ball.

Wonder what shot mechanic adjustments he made because I was reading he made some while he was out, and it's been very effective since his return.

What stood out to me?

Vogel's scrambling. He's trying all kinds of stuff, be it Dwight starting the 3rd with AD at the 4. THT at point guard. We obviously run a few small ball Stanley at the 5 lineups. We're really not a team that has a defined rotation.

AD's shot. When his shot is on, he's a top 5 player in value. Not sure what he changed exactly while he was out, but he has to bottle that up.

Melo's game. Really big game from Melo, without this performance we don't win. He was our 2nd best player, by far.
Win is a Win, whether at home or away

As Vogel is preparing for the Clippers, Vogel is still scrambling for lineups that consistently work (usually) - hopefully because of injuries

Interesting that you noted that Stanley had a bad game (he was better in the second half) but didn't mention THT's series of miscues along with million dollar moves but couldn't score at th rim

Starting to see signs of Westbrook actually being a PG by good passes (like the one to Monk and AD) while limiting his TOs.

Great PG would make any team look much better (see CP3 and the Suns).

Let's see if the Lakers can have a win streak going into the ASG - with number 2 coming at the hands of the Clippers
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