LAKERS -vs- SUNS - 10-5-22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 9:27 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -vs- SUNS - 10-5-22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Finding Some Offensive Flow... With AD resting in the second game, the Lakers changed up their starting lineup. They went smaller and opted for more spacing.

Good start by that unit as Russ got going early, Reaves moved the ball well and LeBron was an efficient scoring machine.

By halftime, they had a 7-point lead and scored 69 points.

“Without AD, that’s pretty impressive,” Beverley said of their scoring.

Behind some Kendrick Nunn third quarter scoring, the Lakers built a 13-point lead as they rested their starters for the rest of the game. The Suns would chip away at the lead late in the third.

In the deep garbage time of the fourth, the Laker bench let the lead slip away. After Pippen Jr. drew a couple FTs to cut the lead to 1 in the final minute, he couldn’t secure a defensive board and the Lakers lost a two-for-one advantage and were forced to foul. That was the game as they fell 119-115.


LeBron -- -- With AD off the floor, Jones to the bench and Gabriel in, it certainly looked a little more open on the court for LeBron. He dropped 23 points on 8-11 shooting in the first half. Give LeBron space and he’s a beast. Some really good chemistry with him and Reaves. LeBron was filling lanes on the break or hitting from outside. Super efficient work. When Ham went to his subs, he kept one of Russ and LeBron on the floor at all times. As simple as this sounds, it’s never a given that your coach follows through on that. They sat him for the second half. So much better looking after getting warmed up after that last game. Defensively, he’s still getting warmed up but had some better moments with playing big. Last game, he had some standing around. I think that likely got brought up judging by Ham’s post game comments tonight. So we had more activity from LeBron tonight. “You tend to float a little bit. If a shot is taken on defense and no one is in your area, you tend to stand and turn and watch,” Ham said. He thought his guys were looking to do that more (box out or help a teammate by cracking back). We saw a track down block attempt and some good hustle on a tough board. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 8-11 shooting (3-6 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +3.

Westbrook -- -- Started fast, finished slow. He had an 11-point first quarter on 4-6 shooting, including sinking a couple of corner threes. This is where they want him off ball as he shoots well from the corners. It’s been noticeable how much action he’s had there off ball. He had a couple moments in the first half pushing out the ball, as well. Then, he missed several shots in a row. In the second half, he played about 3 minutes before sitting. Really not a good stretch then or after that first good burst of activity. I don’t want to see the early offense pull-up threes. He’s always been low percentage on those and it’s just not smart ball. Defensively, again he had moments of not boxing out and allowing second chance points. If I’m Ham, I’m pointing it out in a polite manner of him probably being winded and needing to get into game shape so he can box out and show a bit more activity on those. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 4-12 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-5 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 3 assists, 4 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +5.

Gabriel -- -- With no AD tonight with that back soreness, they gave Gabriel the start after his good outing in the first game. “I wanted to see a small ball lineup,” Ham said. Quieter night for Gabriel. He did shot some hustle battling for an offensive board between a couple players. He drew some FTs, as well. He had one of the highlight plays of the night finishing a lob from LeBron over a crowd early in the game. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-4 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 1 board, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -8.

Reaves -- -- Some superb playmaking out of the gates of this one. Let’s just cover some of those: An attack and kick to Russ for an And-1 three (note Russ in corner as others playmake); he hit LeBron on the break a couple of times for scores; he found Nunn for a corner three; he attacked off the three line to drive and dish to LeBron; he found LeBron again after pulling down an offensive board and kicking out; he also hit JTA on a kickout for an open three. But look at the distribution there with 4 assists to LeBron and 1 to Russ. Those guys are typically your playmakers, but Reaves really took over that role, finishing with 8 assists in the first half to lead the team. Point of attack D on CP3 in the starting role tonight. He got in on a nice recovery block on him. Some steals by Reaves in the second half, as well. So, he’d finish with 3 steals and 2 blocks. All that stuff is what you want around your stars. Note: He’s got his left hand taped up, so tweaked a finger at some point. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 9 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 1 foul in 36 minutes. He was a -4.

Beverley -- -- I don’t see him starting, but more likely finishing at times. That forward defensive stance was on display quite a bit as he and Reaves tag-teamed the point of attack. Sometimes his aggression gets him in foul trouble and that was the case today. The team’s depth at guard, however, can absorb that. So, as long as he’s disruptive and slowing the other team down, I don’t think you mind. All his shots came from three tonight, and he sank a couple. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting from three (2-3 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 block and 3 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -2.

Nunn -- -- He came in off the bench tonight as a scoring punch with 21 points in just 19 minutes. He went to work in the third quarter as we rested LeBron and Russ. He sank a couple of threes during that stretch, reversed on the break, scored a layup on another set play, and also had a nice two-man feed to Jones for a dunk. He hit four threes on the night. Really encouraging night from him. We lost Monk to free agency and needed someone to fill those shoes. The Stats: He scored 21 points on 8-13 shooting (4-7 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a +0.

Jones -- -- No rebounds tonight according to the stats. I do know he gave up a couple of putbacks. So he really needs to work on that end of things. He did have a couple blocks (I see credit for only one). That will get you out of rebounding position. Still, your big needs to be gobbling up boards. I’m still waiting to see a lob setup for him. He did have a dunk working on the two-man game (teammate Bryant picked up a tech celebrating for him). The perimeter shot is looking clunky. He needs a little oil in that thing. It looked much better last season. He showed some nice passing skills on a backdoor bounce to Russ. But he also had a bad kickout that went to no one on another play. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a 4.

Bryant -- -- He came in for Gabriel early in the fourth. That flat shot is getting to the rim fast. He missed a three and got some boards The Stats: No data available.

Toscano-Anderson -- -- He sank one of his three attempts from three. One looked awful and hit the board. He and CP3 were having extended conversations in the first half discussing fouls. We spread him around a bit defensively, but I like that you can put him pretty much anywhere, including on a guy like Booker for a stretch. That allows you to play other guys who might struggle defensively in more favorable matchups. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 steal and 3 fouls in 16 minutes. He was a -7.

Bacon -- -- He came in midway through the third and looked very comfortable/confident out there. He attacked off the three line for a layup. He attacked left and hit an And-1 fade on the baseline. He drew FTs on a hesi and drew more on another iso. He hit a floater with a minute left. Looked good out there. Not sure if these numbers are totally accurate as the stats seemed to stop being collected at some point. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and no fouls.

Swider -- -- He came in early as the second sub, playing the SF/PF with LeBron. The defensive schemes where he’s going over the top and recovering were working well. Later in the second half, he had a couple of blocks on Bridges. He was stone cold tonight, but that defensive work and his ability to stay on the court is actually more important. The coaches know he can hit shots, they want to see him grab boards, get stops and not be a doormat. In that regard, he had 6 boards, 2 steals and 2 blocks tonight. That’s a good sign. Better than the other night. His only bucket tonight was on a putback on a missed FT. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting (0-5 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a -1.

Huff -- -- He finally got in with a few minutes left to run with some of his summer league teammates. He had an offensive board, but turned into a defender to lose it. He also got backed under the hoop by Saric and fouled. The Stats: No stats available.

Pippen -- -- They drew up a two-for-one play in the final minute for him and he ended up drawing FTs with 32 seconds left down 3, he made both to cut it to 1. Unfortunately, he couldn’t secure a defensive board on the other end and that screwed up the two-for-one. We had the stop, just ran into ourselves under the hoop there. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 1-4 shooting (4-5 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 12 minutes. He was a -11.

Ryan -- -- He showed a quick trigger from three and buried one off a handoff. He missed a couple others. His run came late in the game. The Stats: No stats available.

Christie -- -- He didn’t show much. His best play was stripping a man on one end, then getting fouled hard on a reverse attempt on th either for some FTs. He made both for his only points. Defensively, he fouled a three shooter and struggled a bit to stick with his man like he had been previously. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-4 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -13.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: I liked that Ham went small in this one to see how the team looked. Just seeing that flexibility is encouraging. The team won that first quarter 35-28 and had some nice flow to their game with Austin mixing things up. The key to that small ball is not giving up a ton of second chances. We saw some better moments of team rebounding.

Key Substitution: Reaves looked great with that starting unit that went smaller. Nunn looked great off the bench when we needed more help scoring. Hope we see that again.

Key Stats: The Lakers had 17 assists on 22 baskets in the first half. Reaves led the way with 8. (The Suns had 11 assists in the half.) The Lakers finished with 25 assists in the game. The Lakers won the first half by 7 points. So in they’ve won both first halves where they have played their stars. And lost both halves when they rested them. Tonight, they did it without AD.
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TDRock
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:11 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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JamaalWilkes
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:13 pm    Post subject:

So many players who can't get it done. It's going to be a rough season.
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:45 pm    Post subject:

The center position looks very concerning at the moment.

I don't think jones or bryant can give us 10-15 quality minutes on either end based on what they've shown so far.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 12:33 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Loss that doesn't matter but a win excluding camp fodder time. I'm liking the hints of solid defense from several players.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:22 am    Post subject:

PICKnPOP wrote:
When the playoffs come Jones and Bryant will likely be unplayable in most series. Might as well give Gabriel as much run as possible during the regular season so he’s ready. I think today the coaching staff wanted to see how he would hold up against a legit big-man and I think he did fine.
He didn’t have as great of a game today but I think he will look great with AD in there. I really don’t like the idea of drop coverage too much especially in the playoffs with people like steph, dame, KL, Murray all in the west. I’d be more comfortable with a front court of AD and Gabriel for more switchability. I’d like to see him with.

Russ
Reaves
Bron
AD
Gabriel

I like nunn scoring but I think a bench of shroder/nunn gives us scoring off the bench that we will need when we start staggering our stars. Then again staggering nunn and shroder might be a good idea too. Nunn gives spacing to the first unit and reaves gives the second unit a playmaker to keep the ball moving.


This post just sums up my thoughts beautifully. PICKnPOP is becoming one of my favorite posters.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:29 am    Post subject:

I liked Austin and Cole at the 2 and 3 with Lebron at the 4 tonight. Cole reminds me a lot of Kyle Kuzma (without the runner).
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 4:55 am    Post subject:

podcast dogging T.Bryant this morning, he been looking bad?
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:15 am    Post subject:

Like the lineup changes and not surprised they fared better. Not only is Lebron far more effective at the 4, when he has smalls around him he can get switches easier.

This was proven last few years, but we seem to not want to honestly come to terms with it.

Even though Bev/Reaves/WB is a bit undersized, it may be the best we can do for now as a starting perimeter unit around Bron/AD. We need to play Bron/AD at the 4/5.

AD is a better anchor than Gabriel, and we can get some defensive stops this way, much much more team speed and spacing. The defenses if they pack the paint in on us with these lineups, they'll have to be concerned about some of the ball movement as well.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 5:32 am    Post subject:

Our starting lineups have been playing well, over these past two preseason games. For all the changes made to the team...both the coaches and players...Hamm has them looking pretty decent. All that said, it's still just preseason. But, compared to last year, the difference in competitiveness is night, and day.

As for this game against the Suns, I'm happy to see that we cleaned up a lot of the turnovers, from the first game. The team looks further ahead on defense, than on offense. But, that's to be expected. With AD out, neither Bryant or Huff got a lot of play, which surprised me. Would like to see more of them, to better judge their potential contributions to the team.

Boxing out for defensive rebounds still needs to be a focus, for this squad. I like what I've seen so far, and am eager to see what Walker, Schroder, and Brown can bring to the table.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 6:17 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

Liked the energy and effort. Lets see if it continues tonight against the Wolves.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 6:23 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Great stuff as always.

Watching the first half without AD they put up 70 points vs the Suns main players. I was impressed with their pace. Seems like they have bought in to DHam's schemes.

And although he played relatively well, I'd still trade Russ right now for Buddy and Myles Turner.
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:12 am    Post subject:

Back to good ol write ups.


The good:
Lebron was coasting and those blocked shots showed glimpses of him being able to turn it on when needed. Lets hope he can get carried into the playoffs so he can preserve that switch.

Russ played well. I still see some bad tendencies that will be highlighted when his layups arent going in. Missed block outs, the bull dozing for a foul, the curl into the paint (off a post move) that often results in a loose ball...
They dont show tonight or the game before because the ball went into the hoop (other than the missed FT lol).

Nunn is explosive and clearly out to earn a contract. Redemption season incoming

Reaves! This kid is legit and I love the idea of using him as an initiator when others are getting a breather.


The bad:
Thomas has always had slow mechanical feet. I dont know who has them worst, Cole or him? Ham clearly yanked him back to the bench after Ryan was visibly yelling at him to rotate and set a screen. Thomas responded with standing still...
Felt like Jay offered more in his garbage minutes. I'd like to see him get more burn.



The concerns:

AD. I know its precautionary, but he isnt playing on the second of B2B which adds to the speculations. We need another center who will provide those backup minutes.

Pippen. I dont really like Pippen as a playmaker. Part of it is rookie energy, but part of his game reminds me a lot of Russ (energy driven). WOuld like to see him with another lineup perhaps.

Cole. I dont need to see Cole on Booker, ever again. Id like to see him with actual playmakers.

Guards. Weve got way too many guards. Way too many short guys


Pure Speculation


The following are likely impacted if moves are made

- Bacon
- Pippen
- Ryan
- Thomas
- Russ
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 6:11 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB! I liked Gabriel's game even though he didn't get the stats he played with energy. Small ball might be the way to go.
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