LAKERS -vs- SUNS - 7-8-22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 08, 2022 9:52 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -vs- SUNS - 7-8-22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Summer League Game 4... Ugly one.

Really very little of interest other than a stretch of strong two-way ball by Pippen in the second quarter; a few threes by Swider; and a random play or two by Christie of some type. The offense was largely disorganized. The defense had little interior presence and was constantly on its heels in transition.

The Suns scored with ease, particularly in the open court, and cruised to a 104-84 win over the Lakers.


Christie -- -- Ineffective putting the ball in the hole, but he did get the line a number of times on the drive. His one make in this one was a floater that bounced off the rim, super high and then dropped in. So not exactly clean. Again, there were possessions where he let the defense catch up when he had a slight advantage instead of extending that advantage. The struggles continue at that end. The rebounding, again, has been excellent. He’s continually crashing the glass on both ends and led the team with 4 offensive boards and 8 total. His length and motor continuing to show up. Defensively, he had moments again. One play he showed the good lateral movement cutting his man off, then recovered to challenge well and force a brick. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 1-6 shooting (0-2 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 8 boards (4 offensive), 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a -9.

Pippen Jr. -- -- He led the team in scoring. Slow start to the first half, but he finished strong by stringing together a series of defensive plays and drives for scores, as well as hitting a three on a two-for-one attempt. He did a great job drawing contact and whistles (even finishing through contact). That’s been a consistent part of his game. Not so great was the FT shooting. He left a few points on the table there. This team greatly misses some consistent playmaking. He had a few assists, but he’s not setting up others with any consistency. He had a nice look off pass to a cutting Bass for a score. He also had an underhanded outlet scoop pass that led to a score. But in the half court, he was consistently missing passes that he should have made. It’s probably hard to feel confident with new stuff going on, but he was blowing passes or not making them on the set plays. He was off the mark on a lob on the first play of the game. He missed (didn’t even pass) Swider on a flare screen that left him wide open. They pressured his ball handling at times and early on he looked like he wanted to continually get back to his right hand on the dribble. He was picked in the back court on one. Defensively, he put some pressure on himself, getting his hands on a few steals, picking a pass from behind in the backcourt, stealing a kickout pass on another. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 6-14 shooting (1-5 from three, 6-10 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals, 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -21.

Swider -- -- He drained 3 of 7 from behind the arc. Not a lot of wide open, clean looks either. He hit some with defenders nearby. He drained a quick-fire sideline three with a quick release and just a hair of room on his first attempt. He’d swish another three with a man on him. And on a rare drive and kick from a teammate, he knocked down a three later in the game. Not as successful on the pull-ups. His other hoop was a drive that turned into a step-through for a score. Defensively, I do at least see something positive from him once again. In this one, he drew a charge in transition D to get a stop. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-11 shooting (3-7 from three) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and 6 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -9.

Pierre-Louis -- -- He got the start and showed the pressure and extra effort on D. A couple of disruptive plays there, including one where he cut his man off, then helped on another driver after the pass to force a travel. Offensively, he couldn’t score, going 0-5. He had one drive where he got swatted as he tried finishing his right instead of his offhand which would have been preferred. The Stats: He scored 1 point on 0-5 shooting (01-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 5 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -22.

Killeya-Jones -- -- Really no interior presence. He hit a jumphook on iso for his only bucket. No blocks and our interior was generally pretty soft with him at the C. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-5 shooting to go with 3 boards, 2 steals and 3 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -10.

Brown -- -- A couple of buckets. Hehit a turnaround bank out of a timeout. He scored on a layup trailing the break. He got overpowered in the paint on D on a play and give up an offensive board and fouled on the putback score. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-7 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 1 assist, 1 steal and 5 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -4.

O’Neal -- -- The crowd is very much behind him, cheering loudly on anything positive. He definitely has length that’s very noticeable out there. But he’s not able to impose that very well because he lacks strength and gets muscled a bit. He showed some range, knocking down a face-up 21-footer. He has some mobility. HIs other hoop he scooped in a layup on the move off a feed from Swider. But there were times under the hoop where he couldn’t power up or finish. On the defensive end, he battled for a board and was tied up. He got out-muscled on D again to give up a putback score. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-6 shooting (3-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive) and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -1.

Bass -- -- There were stretches where he fit in better as a finisher after others created. That doesn’t happen often with this team, but when he can finish off others, the offense has much more flow. When he’s bringing the ball up and decides to keep it, or when it stops in his hands and he tries to freelance, it’s a bit clunky to the team flow, even if he can just put the ball through the hoop with some consistency. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 5-8 shooting (1-2 from three, 3-5 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 20 minutes. He was a -18.

Jones -- -- He blew a couple of layups he should have had. Nothing came easy, but was able to finish a couple other times at the rim for his score. SOme hustle, hitting the floor for a loose ball. But he’s really fading into the mix of other random players and not doing anything to standout or separate himself in any way. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-9 shooting (4-4 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a -10.

McCoy -- -- Probably his weakest game so far. He got picked at midcourt and also lost a dribble behind his back that turned into a transition score the other way. On the plus size, he made one of his threes. He gave us one of our very few inside-out kickouts to a shooter for an open make. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-3 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 15 minutes. He was a -5.
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TDRock
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 12:01 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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hydrohead
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 3:46 am    Post subject:

TDRock wrote:
Thanks DB

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sonic the laker
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 5:16 am    Post subject:

Thanks as always, DB!

Christie is going to be a project. But, if the Lakers really invest in him, I believe it'll pay off in the end. Cole Swider is a legit shooter. No question. The question is going to be all the other things. Cole reminds me a lot of rookie Kuzma, in ways. Cole is the superior shooter, whereas Kuzma was the superior scorer. But, both had very little else to their game. Kuzma, over time, improved in different areas. Especially rebounding, seeing the floor, ball handles, and defense. I see Cole having the same challenge, in front of him, if he wants to make it at the next level.

Also, I'm glad to see Shareef finally get some more minutes. Granted, he got muscled out there a bit. But, he's showing that he's got something to his game.

If I had to choose right now, I would keep Cole on his two-way contract, and switch the other contract from Pippen, to Shareef.
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governator
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 09, 2022 5:19 am    Post subject:

Mod, can Swider cover the perimeter or does he need to bulk up and be a stretch big?
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