BLAZERS -at- LAKERS - 10-23-22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 5:52 pm    Post subject: BLAZERS -at- LAKERS - 10-23-22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Closing With Russ... Painful one today.

The Lakers got off to a 10-2 start, getting steals and stops early. The Blazers came back with a 15-point run later in the first quarter to take the lead.

The Lakers went through another one of those 1-16 stretches from three in the first half. The lack of three shooting once again became a big issue in this game, and several of those in the first half didn’t need to be taken. (I think they mentioned this was the worst start for three-point shooting in NBA history.)

Despite the atrocious three shooting, they trailed by just 7 at the half.

AD had another one of those dominant stretches, this time as both LeBron and Russ sat late in the third. As he tagged out for LeBron, they pushed the lead to as many as 7 points before the end of the fourth. The Lakers hit 5 threes in that third quarter.

Behind some small ball early in the fourth, the Lakers defensive energy picked up. When AD returned, they were locked in. They would extend to an 8-point lead with just over 4 minutes left by the time Westbrook checked back in.

The scouting isn’t anything new. We did this to Russ ourselves before we traded for him. The Blazers put Nurkic on Westbrook. This allowed him to stay in the paint and leave Russ open. Russ could have tried to get downhill on him, but didn’t because his finishing all game had been horrid. So, he’d miss an open three, stand on the perimeter, allowing the D to load up elsewhere, and then clank an uncontested midrange jumper with 30 seconds left.

As the offense stalled out, Lillard went to work. He would take the lead with 12.4 seconds left on a step-back three on iso coverage against Walker. (The Lakers thought they had a stop earlier, but were challenged and overturned on a foul on Pat Bev, who the refs said flopped.)

The Lakers had plenty of time to set up a play of their own. They sat Russ, finally, and LeBron had a wide open lane for an uncontested dunk with 7.7 seconds left. Almost too easy, with too much time.

Ham subbed in JTA to take the Lillard assignment one last time, but it was Jeremy Grant who jabstepped and attacked around LeBron for a layup with 3 seconds left to take the 106-104 lead. LeBron would miss a turnaround at the buzzer and the Lakers fell -- the win slipping from their fingers.


LeBron -- -- We clipped his wings down the stretch by putting Westbrook back in the game. When they sat him, LeBron had a driving dunk with 7 seconds left. He couldn’t knock down a turnaround jumper at the buzzer to tie it. Defensively, LeBron couldn’t get a stop on Grant who attacked across the lane for the game winner (AD was there, too). Give Grant some credit for that make. But back to the Westbrook situation, just watch Nurkic stand in the paint the last few minutes. We made the game too easy for them to defend our stars. I really liked this game from LeBron other than one or two of his threes he took. There was some quality energy and activity from him on D that helped captain the second unit was AD (and Russ) sat in that fourth quarter. Offensively, he was moving the ball well and hitting guys rolling to the hoop for scores. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 12-22 shooting (2-9 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a +2.

Davis -- -- He almost had his 7th block of the game on Grant on that final Blazers score. He was right there, strapped with 5 fouls but couldn’t quite deny him to help LeBron. Defensively, he did a great job anchoring. Occasionally, he’d get burned on a flare screen for Lillard out top while he was in drop coverage, but he did his job until those fouls caught up with him late. There was another dominant stretch from AD in the third quarter, highlighted by a putback jam on a Reaves’ missed floater, he followed that up with a lob-dunk finish on a two-man action with Nunn. He’d then block a shot, push out the break and hit Reaves for a three. That was a momentum shifting stretch. He also had a nice short-roll bounce pass to Brown for a score later. Again, offensively, we have the three-point issues. AD went 0-3 from three and missed wide open looks, including hitting the side of the backboard on a corner three. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 9-17 shooting (0-3 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (5 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals, 6 blocks, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +3.

Westbrook -- -- I was dreading the moment when Ham would bring him back in the game. We seemingly had all the momentum in the world, but once Russ returned, the game was made real simple for the Blazers. Ignore him, pack the paint and take out the main threats. What is really sad is seeing Westbrook at this point in his career with Nurkic hanging off him by 15 feet or more and not wanting to get a running start, get down hill and attack that. Instead, he settled and missed jumpers. The finishing by Russ around the rim was pretty atrocious this game. Only starter in the negative on the +/- with a -4. It just doesn’t work, especially down the stretch. We are probably better off having him in the dunker spot off ball (we found him there on play earlier in the game) or have him setting screens that free up someone else. If they aren’t going to guard him, you force them to. We did not do that. But preferably, we just aren’t finishing games with him. I did like some of Russ’s passing this game. He found both LeBron and AD for some scores under the hoop. Also, some good moments defensively as far as effort and areas we were concerned about. So that has picked up. But, man, it is toxic right now when trying to build chemistry. They sit him, I think we get the W despite how good Lillard is. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-15 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 6 assists, no turnovers and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a -4.

Walker IV -- -- He’s really slid into that third impact player role. Russ and Nunn are floundering. Lonnie gets to play with a couple superstars out there drawing attention. It helps. He had 8 points on 4-9 shooting in the first half. In the second half 7 points on 3-4 shooting. Some really nice support for teammates offensively. He hit a corner three when LeBron drew a crowd in the post. We need more of that. Bev found him diving in the lane as Pat attacked baseline. That’s how you do it. What I don’t like seeing is the pull-up three in transition. He can make them when he’s smoking, but this team just can’t afford a couple possessions each like that from about 4 or 5 players right now. It just pisses away possessions to the weakest part of our game. Defensively, we had him on Lillard for a possession that gave up a big step back three. That’s tough on iso for anyone. We used JTA for a final possession and that helped deny the ball getting to Lillard with that extra length. That might have been useful on that step-back three. I didn’t follow the nuances of how Walker was used by Pop, but I’d be surprised if he put Lonnie in that situation with his other personnel available. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 7-13 shooting (1-5 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a +5.

Beverley -- -- He had his back to the screener, Nurkic, and the refs called a flop. Felt like Nurkic stepped and leaned into him, but that challenge late in the game got overturned. Otherwise, that would have been a huge stop by Bev. He made the Lakers second three of 19 attempts in this game. HE alsohad a nice sequence where he and JTA helped get a stop on one end with some feisty D in the corner. Then Pat found LeBron with a bounce pass backdoor fora dunk. Some very nice passing from Pat, including finding Walker for a couple of his scores as Beverley put pressure on the D. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 1-3 shooting from three, 4-4 from the line, to go with 4 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 3 foul sin 30 minutes. He was a +7.

Nunn -- -- Just an awful stretch in the first quarter. Defensively, he gave up freethrows with fouls. Offensively, he missed jumpers and turned the ball over. He’s been very soft defensively. Ham, thankfully, limited his minutes. He’s small and we need him to match up small, so that causes some issues. When the offense isn’t going, Ham will pull the plug I think. As the team warms up, I expect Nunn’s consistency in impact to pick up. We are in desperate need for three shooting and he’s got to bring that with consistency. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-3 shooting from three to go with 1 assist, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 10 minutes. He was a -7.

Reaves -- -- Our best three shooter on the night. He had a 4-point play in the first quarter, hitting an And-1 wing three. In the third, he sank a big three in transition that forced a timeout. Also in that 11-2 run, he drew an illegal screen on the D fighting through the screen. Earlier, he drew a charge on the bigger Grant in the post. The refs thought he was flopping on another charge later that also looked legit. A few possessions here and there add up in close games. Reaves is one of the guys I see helping close games. We brought him back for Russ only in the final possessions of this game after we had given up our lead. Hopefully, the three shooting continues and that makes the decision easier for Ham. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-5 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -6.

Jones -- -- He had a run in the first half. In the fourth we went smaller and kept him sitting. He annoyed LBJ not catching a feed on the roll. He got a layup on the side pick and roll with Reaves. LeBron would finding him rolling off a dribble handoff and roll. Size-wise, he had troubling with strength against Nurkic. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting to go with 2 boards and 2 foul sin 6 minutes. He was a -5.

Toscano-Anderson -- -- His length was important when we went to the centerless lineup in the fourth. He can switch everything and play strong D. Glad to see the team using him this way. Out of a timeout, we had him slip a screen and LeBron found him for the score. Getting him downhill on cuts is tricky when you don’t have a good shooting lineup, but you can catch teams by surprise when they are worried about others. I had him with two steals in this game, but he didn’t get credit for one of them. Good minutes. Feels like we are starting to figure out what lineups we can use him and how. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -5.

Brown Jr. -- -- He came in with 5 minutes left in the first quarter, giving the team a little more size at the wing than we’ve been playing with. The statline might look quiet, but he really had some good chemistry out there. He also allowed others to not have to play up defensively. It made a difference. He missed both his threes, but should be serviceable on that skill. He knocked down a midrange jumper off a BLOB inbounds and scored a layup off the AD/LeBron short-roll for his only points. He also had a nice give-and-go feed to LeBron for a score. I’m reminded a little bit of last year when we had Stanley Johnson come along and just having that little bit more size on the wing helped everything come together better. He fit in very well. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +0.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Bringing Russ back in to close. With 3:17 left up 6, the D decided not to guard Russ and he missed an open three. He’d miss an open midrange, not even close. The packed paint allowed the Blazers to get key stops and Lillard to go to work on the other end. With 12 seconds left down 2, he finally sat Russ for a last set with some better floor spacing out there. LeBron had a wide open floor and just waltzed down the lane on Nurkic for a dunk with 7 seconds left. I would have loved 3 or 4 more minutes of the Lakers giving LeBron room to work. Instead we saw the textbook scouting reporting against the Laker team and took the L. If you are going to play Russ down the stretch, you need to be very methodical in what you call. We can’t let the guys freestyle closing a game, clearly, with Russ on the floor. Ham wasn’t dealt a good hand with this roster and some of the injuries. He’s also put in a lot in a short time, but got to be better than this one despite those obstacles.

Key Substitution: Outside of that Russ situation, there was a stretch between the third and fourth quarters where the Lakers went with a centerless lineup. LeBron, JTA and Brown were out there as we shuttled in and out guards (excluding Russ). This unit held their own while AD rested and he came back to a lead. The defensive energy picked up as they were flying around the court and very, very switchy. When AD returned, they were locked in and we saw some nice emotion from AD as he blocked a shot under the rim as the Lakers dug in for a big defensive stand with 7 minutes left and up 5. They’d extend the lead to 8 with about 4 minutes to go. We finally brought in Russ to play at that point for Brown and were now smaller again without floor spacing.

Key Stats: Welp, 6-33 from three again. We knew this team would be bad looking at the stats prior to this season…but not historically bad to start.

Coach’s Challenge: Up 8 with 4:26 left, the refs called a foul on Bev as Lillard drove. Lillard stumbled and they called a tripping foul. Looked like a bad call, so the Lakers reviewed. They called a trip on LeBron instead. Lakers kept their timeout but lost the argument and brought Russ back out of that. With 21.8 seconds left, Nurkic leaned into a screen on Beverley, who went down hard. A foul called on Nurkic and Laker ball. The Blazers challenged. “Beverley took a dive,” the refs said. Blazers ball.
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mhan00
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 5:57 pm    Post subject:

This game ruined my day.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:00 pm    Post subject:

The refs really blow that call on Nurkic, he extended both of his arms
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:20 pm    Post subject:

"If you want to contrast Portland’s approach with the Lakers’, don’t look at LeBron’s last shot or even at Westbrook’s. Those are the easy targets. Instead swipe back to the 1:00 mark in the fourth period.

L.A. had the ball, up three. One more make probably would have sealed the game for them.

On this possession, James and Anthony Davis ran action out high, near the top of the three-point arc. James had the ball, ending up with Grant on him. He stayed out at the arc, moving towards the right-hand side of the floor. Davis went right as well, crossing in front of James. Davis had Josh Hart as a defender, standing all of 6’5.

The two Lakers superstars looked at each other, assessing their options. James’ body language made it clear. He was prepping for the shot. Davis acquiesced and went to the right-hand coffin corner, on the same side of the floor as the ball, buried deep near the baseline, as far away from the bucket as possible.

One could argue that Davis was being a good teammate, clearing out for James. If so, James didn’t make much use of the gift. With half the shot clock remaining, he sidestepped into a drifting three which didn’t even come close to going in. Grant was still firmly attached to him. It wasn’t just an isolation play, it was the lowest-denominator, least-effective move possible.

James wasn’t good to Davis in the same way Davis was to him. LeBron was staring straight at one of the 76 best NBA players of all time, a teammate whose talent and accomplishments dwarfed anyone on the court outside of himself and perhaps Lillard. What did he do with him?

Had James motioned Davis to post up the much-smaller Hart, the world would have opened up for the Lakers. If Grant stayed home, Davis would have had Hart one-on-one with his back to the basket, an overwhelming mismatch. If Grant went down to help Hart, Davis could have flipped the ball back to LeBron for the same three he eventually ended up taking, just without the sidestep and with no defender in sight. Either way, more seconds would have drifted off the clock, a benefit to the Lakers with their scoreboard edge in the last minute.

As it was, Davis got stuck in the corner with a quicker man in front of him. He couldn’t cut baseline unimpeded. If LeBron drove and Hart moved to help, Davis would be left with only a three-pointer as consolation. He’s shooting 28.6% on distance attempts in the young season, up from the 18.6% he shot last year. Nor would Davis have any prayer of helping with an offensive rebound off a miss from that position. He was all but erased in favor of King James.

Instead of creating a nearly-impossible situation for the Blazers, the Lakers made defending ludicrously easy, with the asterisk that LeBron is never a simple opponent to stop. But that asterisk remains no matter what he does. He added nothing to it. He turned his All-NBA teammate into a walking paperweight in the process.

And that’s the difference between Portland and L.A. right now. The Blazers are allowing Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons to be game-closers, with Justise Winslow, Josh Hart, and Nassir Little as key pieces. The Lakers can’t even make use of Anthony freakin’ Davis when it counts.

Even more than the 3-0 record versus 0-3, that’s why it’s better to be part of what Portland’s doing right now than whatever the Lakers are putting out there."

https://www.blazersedge.com/2022/10/23/23419710/portland-trail-blazers-la-lakers-final-score-lebron-james-anthony-davis-damian-lillard-jerami-grant
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:24 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

I believe team has now lost 33 of of its last 45 regular season games to go along with this putrid 3 shooting. It's hard to not keep thinking about how negatively the Russ trade impacted the franchise, from both a talent depth point of view, and of course the fit...time and again you have had to summarize how Russ just simplifies things for defenses.

Not looking forward to the remaining 79 games.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:32 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB!

I posted in the game thread that I had an "ominous feeling" with a few minutes left. Well...
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 6:40 pm    Post subject:

A few points on the article above. Nurkic is straight up lurking and waiting to double AD if he goes to the post. Or he’s going to take away LeBron’s drive attempt if Hart decides not to leave the strong side shooter which would be AD. Maybe he doesn’t leave. But the fact that whatever LeBron decides in this scenario it will likely lead to a three pointer from two really bad shooters that the Blazers decided to leave open all night.

So, yes, Russ does factor in here. Without Russ on the floor, Nurkic is on AD, switching to LeBron maybe here. Then you’ve got more options. It’s easier to score on Nurkic for LeBron. AD probably gets to go single coverage in the post or draw help and we have an open shot for a better shooter.

If Ham is going to leave Russ out there, then have a plan. Russ spacing the floor is not a plan. Setting a screen, putting him in the dunker spot instead of the perimeter (LBJ found him earlier when Nurkic was in no man’s land when Russ was under the hoop) etc. Saying LeBron chucked because he was, what selfish? is not really looking at the underlying issue of how we got there and what would actually happen next on the sequence.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 7:10 pm    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
A few points on the article above. Nurkic is straight up lurking and waiting to double AD if he goes to the post. Or he’s going to take away LeBron’s drive attempt if Hart decides not to leave the strong side shooter which would be AD. Maybe he doesn’t leave. But the fact that whatever LeBron decides in this scenario it will likely lead to a three pointer from two really bad shooters that the Blazers decided to leave open all night.

So, yes, Russ does factor in here. Without Russ on the floor, Nurkic is on AD, switching to LeBron maybe here. Then you’ve got more options. It’s easier to score on Nurkic for LeBron. AD probably gets to go single coverage in the post or draw help and we have an open shot for a better shooter.

If Ham is going to leave Russ out there, then have a plan. Russ spacing the floor is not a plan. Setting a screen, putting him in the dunker spot instead of the perimeter (LBJ found him earlier when Nurkic was in no man’s land when Russ was under the hoop) etc. Saying LeBron chucked because he was, what selfish? is not really looking at the underlying issue of how we got there and what would actually happen next on the sequence.


Agreed. Some of the comments made by the Blazers article author remind me of some of my business partners who just want to sound smarter than anyone else in the room by nit picking at one minor issue and blowing it up, meanwhile ignoring the pink elephant standing in the corner.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 7:33 pm    Post subject:

We have been competitive the last two games while shooting historically bad from 3 point range. Fix that and we are 2-1.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 8:23 pm    Post subject:

Besides the obvious of WB being a TERRIBLE sub-in late in a winnable game and the missed treys, this still was the most winnable game of the three we had so far if not for some additional problems that should get a closer look:

- Damon Jones is OK for a small ball center defensively, but Nurkic is not a small ball center himself and went at him again and again in the post to score with ease. If T. Bryant were healthy, the defense and rebounding (Nurkic had 13 boards, more than any Laker) from the center slot when AD went to PF or the bench would've been much, much better.

- Speaking of rebounding, we lost that mega important battle 52 to 40, and it wasn't even Nurkic doing the most damage there against us... "little" Josh Hart had 16 boards!!!! I complain more than anyone here about how small most of our support players are, but no excuses tonight since Hart is only 6'4". He wanted the ball more than most of our players.

I continue to be impressed with the overall defensive effort of the team, which allowed us to create more turnovers today and has us leading the league in steals, but the single most controllable thing the team can do to improve going forward is the same advice I've been saying: stop taking so many threes!

Lebron alone took another nine trey shots (made a pitiful two of them), and I literally hate how much he focuses on that aspect of his offense over the past few years.

What a waste of a winnable game.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 8:27 pm    Post subject:

What is becoming sadly evident at this point is that similar to Vogel, if we win a championship it will most likely be in-spite of Ham, not because of it.
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PostPosted: Sun Oct 23, 2022 11:24 pm    Post subject:

On the positive side, we are getting better every game. And most of our players are shooting way below their averages, so it seems pretty likely they will improve at some point. If they were shooting around their averages, we’d probably be winning.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 4:37 am    Post subject:

Woke up and I'm still PISSED about this game.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 4:38 am    Post subject:

danzag wrote:
Woke up and I'm still PISSED about this game.


Complete clown show
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 5:10 am    Post subject:

Hanging from Rafters wrote:
What is becoming sadly evident at this point is that similar to Vogel, if we win a championship it will most likely be in-spite of Ham, not because of it.


I was very surprised that the Lakers didn't try to get the ball out of Lillard's hands down the stretch except for the very last play; Laker commentators also noticed the same. Too many non-optimal decisions in the last 2 minutes.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 6:48 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. I always thought highly of Josh Hart, he hustles and plays over his size on both ends of the court. His 16 rebounds doesn't surprise me. I miss having him on our squad in a similar manner to how I miss having Caruso out there on the floor when it matters. We do have some players on this squad who hustle and scrap, do the intangibles a bit and even play smart and that's encouraging, defense kept us in this game and nearly won it for us. But that's not enough to cover for the lack of 4th quarter closing options, not with the lineup we went to late game. Game 3; perhaps Ham just hasn't sorted that bit out yet.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:20 am    Post subject:

its funny. people have been posting since last year how bad we are yet are still surprised.

The young bodies have helped on D but we knew we didn't have shooters. exactly what some thought would happen is happening.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 7:32 am    Post subject:

I did not catch the entire game, it's tough to watch the Russ/Pelinka Lakers, but I'll say what I've noticed through 3 games.

1- Our lack of 2-way guys sticks out like a sore thumb.
2- It's not just shooting, shooting and #1 go hand in hand.
3- Our defense is much improved with the new athletic players but it comes at a premium price (making baskets).
4- AD at the 5 and Lebron at the 4 full time makes us small in halfcourt sets and we can get punished at times (Grant scoring there in the paint rather easily).
5- Westbrook is a problem, and closing with WB will always be a problem, but he is not the main problem with the team. the main problem remains #1. Which is lack of 2-way guys.
6- Lebron's scoring methods are a problem for the team dating back to last year. He is in I will break the scoring record mode, instead of I will set the table mode. We need post up, set the table up Lebron, not Steph Curry/Dame impersations. Alas, I've beaten this to a dead horse, and neither Klutch nor Pelinka see this.

What we have this year is guys who can play defense, but not shoot well enough or score baskets. Guys like Beverly, JTA, Reaves, Nunn and even Westbrook are giving defense and athletic efforts we lacked last year. On the flip, they are not factors on offense. Now instead of having players that can't defend a chair, but can make shots, we have players that can defend/move defensively, but can't make enough shots.

It all comes down to 2-way balance. Badly built roster, and Westbrook's salary is a major problem in how the team was put together. It is what it is, and while Ham has done some good things, particularly he is getting WB to play better defense, but he didn't come into this season with any better plan than last year. I'm sure he will get it and do better, and the defense is better, but so is the defensive ability of the players. The lineups we are using are not balanced, and that refelcts in the disparity of our offense/defense stats.

In the end, the core issues will remain all year unless we have some moves that give us 2-way balance. I still feel confident in Ham getting this team to play .500 ball and 41-43 wins if he makes some tweaks to his lineups, and subsitutes some defensive talent for offense. Starting WB and Beverly together needs to end, and we need to get some lineups out there where we have more shot makers all in the same lineup.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:10 am    Post subject:

Sigh. Yeah...

Thanks DB

(Or really in the case of this game )
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Lakers#1Team
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:36 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Hoping for a nice surprise (a win) in the near future. The season hangs in the balance. We could easily start 0-11 ending any chance for a play-in or we can win some tough battles and hang around .500 ball with a chance at a play-in. My expectations are low so I'm looking forward to a nice surprise.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:42 am    Post subject:

Hanging from Rafters wrote:
What is becoming sadly evident at this point is that similar to Vogel, if we win a championship it will most likely be in-spite of Ham, not because of it.


I actually think he's way ahead of Vogel on a lot of things at this stage. While I didn't like the late-game chess battle, it's still only game three and I think there may be some politics that may need to play out. Not just with WB, but also with LeBron/ and how he and the rest of the team orchestrates the close to a game. Plus, I don't envy the hand that he was dealt.

At this stage of a season with a new coach, there is a lot of giving guys a shot to do something. Whether that's running the offense or a lot of times certain defensive assignments, sometimes they just throw guys out there to sink or swim...or give them enough rope to hang themselves. There's just so much roster turnover and new system stuff in the mix that it's a problem. But I probably do give Ham the L yesterday for that close, and that's okay right now. Everyone's learning and we should expect that with the complete overhaul.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 8:50 am    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:

1- Our lack of 2-way guys sticks out like a sore thumb.


I say this all the time, but so much is about the number of two-way minutes you can get on the floor over the course of a game. Obviously, you must have impact ballers, but even if those guys only play one side of the floor, it's a problem. Come playoffs, those holes get exposed. In closing time, those holes get exposed.
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Dr. Laker
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 9:24 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!
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mad55557777
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 9:33 am    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
Hanging from Rafters wrote:
What is becoming sadly evident at this point is that similar to Vogel, if we win a championship it will most likely be in-spite of Ham, not because of it.


I actually think he's way ahead of Vogel on a lot of things at this stage. While I didn't like the late-game chess battle, it's still only game three and I think there may be some politics that may need to play out. Not just with WB, but also with LeBron/ and how he and the rest of the team orchestrates the close to a game. Plus, I don't envy the hand that he was dealt.

At this stage of a season with a new coach, there is a lot of giving guys a shot to do something. Whether that's running the offense or a lot of times certain defensive assignments, sometimes they just throw guys out there to sink or swim...or give them enough rope to hang themselves. There's just so much roster turnover and new system stuff in the mix that it's a problem. But I probably do give Ham the L yesterday for that close, and that's okay right now. Everyone's learning and we should expect that with the complete overhaul.

if you give Vogel this roster, the defense will be elite too, we took away all his dogs last year. we had the best defense in the league (or close) in 2020-2021. Vogel's defense involves a lot of traps and switches which this current roster can handle. he would've trapped Dame late in the 4th.
i think Vogel to Ham is more of a parallel move at this point.
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 24, 2022 10:26 am    Post subject:

DrDent wrote:
DancingBarry wrote:
A few points on the article above. Nurkic is straight up lurking and waiting to double AD if he goes to the post. Or he’s going to take away LeBron’s drive attempt if Hart decides not to leave the strong side shooter which would be AD. Maybe he doesn’t leave. But the fact that whatever LeBron decides in this scenario it will likely lead to a three pointer from two really bad shooters that the Blazers decided to leave open all night.

So, yes, Russ does factor in here. Without Russ on the floor, Nurkic is on AD, switching to LeBron maybe here. Then you’ve got more options. It’s easier to score on Nurkic for LeBron. AD probably gets to go single coverage in the post or draw help and we have an open shot for a better shooter.

If Ham is going to leave Russ out there, then have a plan. Russ spacing the floor is not a plan. Setting a screen, putting him in the dunker spot instead of the perimeter (LBJ found him earlier when Nurkic was in no man’s land when Russ was under the hoop) etc. Saying LeBron chucked because he was, what selfish? is not really looking at the underlying issue of how we got there and what would actually happen next on the sequence.


Agreed. Some of the comments made by the Blazers article author remind me of some of my business partners who just want to sound smarter than anyone else in the room by nit picking at one minor issue and blowing it up, meanwhile ignoring the pink elephant standing in the corner.


Co-sign, I know the type. Know-it-all hometown-homers looking for clicks
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