KINGS -at- LAKERS - 1-4-22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:10 pm    Post subject: KINGS -at- LAKERS - 1-4-22 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

The Finishing Kick... The Lakers had one of their cleaner first halves of the year with just 1 turnover. You’d think they’d be up huge over the visiting Kings.

Yet, their inefficiency on the offensive end (18.8% from three, Bron looking tired and Westbrook going 4-13) had them trailing by a bucket at the half.

The Laker’s perimeter defenders allowed the Kings shooters to get comfortable and knock down good looks. As the D tightened up at the end of the third when LeBron sat, the Lakers put together an 8-0 run.

They led by 2 points heading into the fourth (still with just 3 turnovers). But again, the LeBron led unit to start the fourth fell behind by 7, forcing a timeout. LeBron just looked tired.

But Bron found his second wind as he and Monk worked the inverse screens for threes or drives as the quarter went along.

The biggest score came with 52 seconds left as LeBron got downhill and scored an And-1 against the Kings bigman. That should have been the dagger with LeBron saving his best for last. The Lakers, however, went through a stretch of making 1 of 6 freethrows as the Kings intentionally fouled. Still, they hung on for the 122-114 win.


LeBron -- -- He was really pacing himself in this one, but had enough in the tank for the final kick. Poor close to the first half as we held a 5-point lead while he rested. When he came back in, he rested on the court, not boxing out and settling for long jumpers. After 2 minutes, we trailed. In the third quarter after a rare bad pass on the fastbreak, we called timeout and LeBron looked tired on the bench with his head down. To start the fourth, he struggled some more and we suddenly trailed by 7. Then he found his second wind. He knocked down an iso wing three. Swished another next time down. He worked the inverse screens with Monk into switches with Monk’s man. Attacked that for a layup. Jones didn’t switch on one, LeBron attacked him and scored a huge And-1 with 53 seconds. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 12-26 (3-10 from three, 4-5 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 5 assists, 1 blocks, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +3.

Westbrook -- -- March 14, 2016. The last time Russ had 0 turnovers. Just 2 assists, as well. More scoring and less playmaking. “Russ is really invested in this team,” Vogel said, mentioning he was proud of the bounce back performance. Vogel said he challenged the team to be better with ball security. The game started off pretty slow for Russ. A very inefficient 8 points on 4-13 shooting in the first half. The Lakers had just 1 turnover in the half, but the inefficiency offensively had them trailing still. Second half, he went 4-6. He was focused on finding the rim and got around defenders for some layups. Vogel mentioned trying to get Russ to slow down at the right moments. LeBron talked about the difference between attack turnovers and careless turnovers. Russ has had every kind of turnover, but good to see that bottled up after that last one. He could still use a little better shot selection in this one, but that, too, was improved. Defensively, he drew a big offensive foul on the perimeter fighting through a screen with a couple minutes left. With all that, guess who led the team in +/- tonight? The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-19 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 2 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a +17.

Bradley -- -- Again, some nice off ball cutting. Russ had a drive and Bradley met him in the paint to take a pass and hit the floater. He’d get another score on a putback. He’d also swish a three on a handoff. I kept thinking about Reaves in the starting lineup over Bradley. Probably not going to happen, but maybe some day. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 block and 1 foul in 21 minutes. He was a -14.

Monk -- -- “He’s always live. He’s always a threat,” Vogel said. He and LeBron destroyed the Kings down the stretch with the inverse screen action. When he gets a good look, it just always feels like it’s going in. He mentioned his shot selection in the first half wasn’t good. Once he kept it simple and guys started to find him, he was killing the Kings. He sank his last three attempts from three and slipped in a floater in there. Some excellent passing sequences in this game to find Dwight for lob dunks. He also had a behind-the-back pass to LBJ on the break for a score. The not-so-good was getting him the ball with 24 seconds left up 5 for some intentional foul freethrows and he missed both. Got to knock those down. There’s been a lot of obsession on Buddy Hield by Laker fans, obviously. I think I’ll take this Malik Monk (and at this price). He’s killing it in the starting lineup. Keep it up. The Stats: He scored 24 points on 8-15 shooting (6-11 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 37 minutes. He was a -2.

Ariza -- -- Our 21st different starting lineup tonight. At the PF spot, he was hardly noticeable on the court. Just one attempt from three, which he missed. I think we likely resign Stanley Johnson and he gets more of these types of minutes. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 3 boards, 1 block and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a -8.

Anthony -- -- Some foul trouble limited his first half action. He sank a couple of post-up jumpers in a row in the third quarter as part of a Laker 8-0 run. Not a vet play: Killed me when instead of running clock, he pulled up with 15 seconds left in the third to miss a jumper (naturally, the Kings scored on the other end). When we’d bring Dwight in, it would usually be for Melo. If we are ever fully healthy, I think these are about the minutes we will see from Melo. Efficient scoring punch off the bench, not picked on relentlessly on D. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 4-6 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 3 boards and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +9.

Howard -- -- He sparked the team off the bench. Active, aggressive first half from Dwight. He was working the glass for 8 boards (4 offensive) in his 10 minutes. Guys were also looking for him on lobs early. He nearly had a double-double in that first half with 12 and 8. He’d continue to be a factor on the boards in the second half, including a big offensive board that led to a Monk three on the kickout. I’m not sure if the rest helped, but Dwight said he wanted guys to feel him out there. The 7 offensive boards were big. Vogel also mentioned him struggling a bit with Covid recovery. Good performance. Let’s see if they find more spots for him or not. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-12 shooting (2-2 from the line) to go with 14 boards (7 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +11.

Horton-Tucker -- -- Finally a THT sighting. Vogel mentioned Covid being a factor in THT’s return. That he’s struggled a bit with his recovery. Tonight, he was able to get into the paint with some consistency in the first half and that led to his best stretch of ball in a while. He had 13 points on 6-8 shooting in the half. Once the ball was going through the hoop with the layups, he finally hit another three on a kickout. During this stretch, the coaches also called his number on an ATO and he scored a layup (ball reverse into a two-man action with Dwight to get him downhill). They’d call that again in the second half. THT’s midrange fade action picked up in the second half. Really good job moving the ball, too. He found Russ on a key drive and dish with 1:30 left. It’s possible they wanted more playmaking from THT and less from Russ, but seems unlikely. Defensively, some good moments with the active hands. He had a moment with some coverage on the perimeter in that fourth. The coaches wanted the lock and trail so he wouldn’t get picked off and give up threes and called a timeout to let him know in that fourth. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 9-13 shooting (1-2 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 6 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnover sand 2 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a +14.

Reaves -- -- Another one of those AC-type of glue games where the stat sheet looks minor, but he did the little things (taking charges, forcing opponents into travels) that don’t show up in the stat sheet. I’d love to see him pick up a little more aggressiveness in his offensive game, but hopefully that comes as he gets more experience. We’ve got a lot of guys who are aggressive in this offense, so it might not be needed as much. But his ability to move the ball, keep an advantage and get the defense scrambling, can help the team avoid stagnant stretches. Note that obviously we haven’t seen Bazemore, but also Ellington lately as Reaves is getting those minutes. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 2 boards, 1 assist and 1 foul in 22 minutes. He was a +10.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Going to the Monk-LeBron inverse screen action down the stretch. This is their bread and butter. The Kings got killed for threes or that And-1 layup with 52 seconds left by LeBron. It’s such a weapon. Monk is LeBron’s best guard on those plays since he’s been here and they were piling up the points to close this game. Yessir.

Key Substitution: Dwight bringing 14 and 14 off the bench was a key. Vogel also made a late-game decision to go with THT over Reaves and kind of paid a price for it briefly. Hield hit back-to-back threes and the coaches were not pleased with THT. But Talen helped make up for it with some continued offensive impact.

Key Stats: The Lakers had an amazing 18-5 advantage in turnovers. The Kings made up with that with a little more efficiency. Still, very good to see a game where the mistakes were cut down. Vogel stressed ball security he said to the team, not just Russ. Russ was less of a trigger man in this one with only 2 assists.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:12 pm    Post subject:

Sorry, left some notes in there for a second. Cleaned up now.
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slavavov
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:16 pm    Post subject:

So great to see THT have a good game. Hopefully this will give him a huge shot of swag.*

*so that he boosts his trade value so that we can trade him for a young, athletic 2-way frontcourt player
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:02 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB, another good write up.

Will take any W's these days.
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deal
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 4:48 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB !!!


About time we used DH...
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 4:48 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB. Winning is always good.

But how the (bleep) can a professional basketball team be so bad at FT shooting. SMH
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PenG_
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 4:55 am    Post subject:

When I went to bed, we were down 7 and Lebron was like 6-18. Never would've thought we'd look that good down the stretch.

Thanks DB!
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governator
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 5:59 am    Post subject:

There u go Vogel, Dwight until AD comes back if out rebounded. Man, Bron looking a lil tired, we gotta be able to get this dude rest during the first half and let him go hard in the 4th. 1st half Russ driving into multiple defenders got my BP up but he calmed down in 2nd but man, oh well, let’s focus on the positives
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:43 am    Post subject:

Bron looked tired, but he also was hovering around the perimeter more in this one. Not sure if this is by design or not. It did seem that he was playing much more of a PG role in this one, in that he was bringing the ball up, setting the offens up, telling guys where to go. The Rondo PG role.

Wonder if this was by design. Wonder if there is some advanced stat that tracks how much Bron brings up the ball and does tradiotional PG work vs what he did in this game. As I think there is a definite connection in Westbrook only having 2 assists and ZERO TOs (Celebrate people) and Bron doing more PG work.

Our playoffs blue print has to be the offense starter is Bron, not Westbrook. We can not run the offense with Westbrook as the primary PG. Westbrook needs to shift into secondary attack, scoring SG mode and you live with whatever that entails.

Defensively, it is what it is. I was reading with AD we were up to 9th in the standings in Drating and since we're in the 20s again. That's his defensive impact and the impact of going away from Dwight as well. The Bron at the 5 small ball helps the offense (we have scored 130+ and 120+ in two of the three wins since Vogel's return) but it can hurt the defense.

Again, hard to evaluate this team, but I would love to have March/April where we can get some of these younger fresh legs around AD/Bron/WB/Melo. I'm talking a Stanley/THT/Reaves/Monk/Nunn, rounding out our top 9 minutes guys. Bradley maybe moving to 10th and Dwight replacing him if the matchup warrants in minutes. That's your top 10 hopefully. You won't have those "motor" issues. A lot of active guys there and a lot of movement around your star shot creators (AD/Melo/Bron/WB).
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Laker7
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 7:56 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Great write up as usual.

Ariza looks like he is out there collecting a paycheck rather than competing for another ring. No sense of urgency IMO. Need Stanley Johnson back in the starting line up. Much better effort and defense.
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deal
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 8:49 am    Post subject:

Laker7 wrote:
Thanks DB. Great write up as usual.

Ariza looks like he is out there collecting a paycheck rather than competing for another ring. No sense of urgency IMO. Need Stanley Johnson back in the starting line up. Much better effort and defense.



Agree. Stanley is hungry...
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 12:02 pm    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
Bron looked tired, but he also was hovering around the perimeter more in this one. Not sure if this is by design or not. It did seem that he was playing much more of a PG role in this one, in that he was bringing the ball up, setting the offens up, telling guys where to go. The Rondo PG role.

Wonder if this was by design. Wonder if there is some advanced stat that tracks how much Bron brings up the ball and does tradiotional PG work vs what he did in this game. As I think there is a definite connection in Westbrook only having 2 assists and ZERO TOs (Celebrate people) and Bron doing more PG work.


Yeah, hard to say off one game. Also, Fizdale is out. He's in charge of the offense, does he handle a lot of in-game play calling?

We've got a couple extra days off in this next week of ball. Hopefully, that helps.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 2:03 pm    Post subject:

Love the idea of going small and then mixing it up with bully-balling Dwight off the bench. It'll be interesting to see how Vogel re-integrates AD into all of this.
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