GRIZZLIES -at- LAKERS - 1-5-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Slumping Badly... The freefall continues.

LeBron got the Lakers off to a good start in the first quarter with 14 points, including four threes as the Lakers pulled out to an early 11-point lead.

They extended the lead a little before the offense slowed in the second quarter, scoring just 21 points. AD missed some easy ones in that second. The lead was trimmed down to 1 by halftime.

The Grizzlies three shooting throttled the Lakers. Smart and Jackson were bombing away. Ja hit a couple late in the third (had one at the end of a quarter earlier), and the Grizzlies took the lead back after the Lakers had built a small lead. They were tied heading into the fourth.

In the fourth quarter, they were destroyed. LeBron got sloppy with the passes, the turnovers piled up and the Grizzlies were rolling. Bombs away from three for the Grizzlies from three in that fourth.

Smart hit 8 in the game, Jackson 5, Bane 5, Morant 3. The Grizzlies shot 51% from three, making 23-45. The Grizzlies were last in three shooting, and the 23 was a season-high for Memphis. The Lakers fell 127-113.

“It’s only going to make the fire in my chest that much bigger to figure this thing out,” Ham said.


LeBron -- -- He eclipsed his last game’s scoring total in the first 9 minutes of this game. He started his scoring with a great cut off Prince’s offensive board to hammer a dunk. Then he got hot from downtown, sinking four threes in a couple of back-to-back scenarios. The first two were set up by Reaves screening for him to shake off Smart. The next two, Bron was just hitting on iso. He’d finish the half with 18 points. In the third, Bron dove to the floor for a loose ball and got tangled up. He was held and hit Jackson in the chops trying to free up his arm. That had the Grizzlies coach losing his mind and picking up a tech. He threw a bounce pass out of bounds to start the fourth. That would be a sign of the poor ball to come from L.A. He’d get stripped on a double team and that led to a corner three in transition a few seconds later for the Grizzlies. He’d throw another bad pass, not close to the roll man, dunk the other way. Bad time to lose control of the game. He did a good job causing turnovers himself on the defensive end with 5 steals, but the series of miscues to start the quarter (as well as four missed FTs) just sucked air out of the sails. The Stats: He scored 32 points on 11-24 shooting (4-9 from three, 6-10 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 7 assists, 5 steals and 4 turnovers in 39 minutes. He was a -8.

Davis -- -- Steady offensively. He had 16 points on 7-13 shooting at the half and 6-9 in the second half for 15 points. Some good work on the break and on iso. He missed a few chippies in that second quarter. In the third, he got aggressive on iso when Ham sat both Bron and Reaves at the same time. That kind of saved those minutes from potential disaster. Jackson in this game, though, matched ADs scoring output but with 8 fewer attempts. He was destroying us from three, making 5-6. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 13-22 shooting (0-3 from three, 5-7 from the line) to go with 6 boards (3 offensive), 4 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a -10.

Reaves -- -- Really nice passing game from Reaves with 12 assists and just 1 turnover. He distributed the ball well on the break, finding Bron multiple times and Prince for a three. Really nice cross over to collapse the D and then hit AD trailing for the uncontested dunk. Good work all around with the ball movement. They have him more in his comfort zone versus where he was the first few weeks of the season in the sets. He picked up two fouls in less than 4 minutes, but avoided the third by halftime, so foul issues were avoided. He was on a triple-double pace early with 9 points, 6 boards and 7 assists by halftime. He’d pull down just one board in the second half. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-14 shooting (0-3 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 12 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a -23.

Prince -- -- In an ideal scenario, he’s not playing 35 minutes, but we have three men out of the rotation right now. Good to see him knock down some threes. Defensively, he stood in to draw a charge on Ja and he also rejected Ja from behind on another play. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-9 shooting (3-7 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -19.

Reddish -- -- He got the Ja assignment with Reaves on Bane to start the game. I would have preferred Vando. He did okay with it. The Grizzlies would put Jackson on Reddish since he stays in the corners. This allowed him to provide the weakside support. Several times in this game, Cam would try to attack the rim from the corner and would end up in trouble and wasting a possession. He was better on the catch and shoot, sinking a couple of threes. Big minutes from Cam. Too many. No Russell, no Vincent certainly at play here. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-8 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal and no fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -20.

Vanderbilt -- -- I was wondering if they would start him in this game to take on the Ja assignment since he was a menace in that matchup previously. Good energy from Vando tonight. He was getting to some boards and also had a nice steal in the backcourt of an inbounds pass putting on the pressure. When he’s got that level effort and energy going, give him more action. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot, had 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 17 minutes. He was a +3.

Wood -- -- He had 7 points in the first quarter, sinking a three, scoring a layup off a no-looker from Bron and then hitting a runner. He also hit a 65-footer, but that was after the first quarter buzzer. He’d draw some FTs getting downhill. Then late in the third quarter, a couple of back-to-back mental mistakes by the Laker bench. Wood tried to dribble against a backcourt double team and was stripped and scored on. Christie then pushed off on the inbounds to give up the ball again. To start the courts, more of the Lakers mental mistakes and they were in trouble. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-5 shooting (1-2 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 steal and 1 turnover in 16 minutes. He was a +6.

Christie -- -- A little out of sync with some of the guys. Bron threw a pass out of bounds as Christie was trying to cut to the other side and get out of his way. Christie would get downhill and out of control a little and throw a pass away. Both of those were early in the fourth. He’d make a pull up from midrange attacking off the three line for his one bucket. He was fouled on a floater but didn’t get the call. Still, they were a -15 in the 28 minutes he was off the court and a +1 while on it. So, you can’t blame him. He was working on D and giving a good effort. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a +1.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: All fourth quarter? The first few minutes, the Lakers went turnover crazy. That had them on their heels. Then the Grizzlies were sinking threes like freethrows the rest of the way. “We’ve got to meet force with force,” Ham said.

Key Substitution: All the bench guys were positive in the +/-. I might have gone with more Vando minutes in this game. He was a +3, but is very familiar with this Grizzlies team and has been disruptive in the past. We’d bring in Vando and Christie for Reaves and Reddish as our first subs. You could make the strong case for starting either of those guys against the Grizzlies in place of Reddish.

Key Stats: At the half, the Lakers had 17 points off 12 Grizzlies turnovers. Meanwhile, just 4 turnovers for the Lakers and they didn’t give up any points off those. No zone to flounder against. The Lakers had 10 steals in the half, the most for a half in over a decade. In the second half, the Grizzlies three shooting became the story. In that fourth quarter, they made 7-11. Meanwhile, the Lakers went 0-6.

[deal]

thanks DB


We suck right now.
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Lakers need to build a freaking team !

[slavavov]

It seems this skid has taken a life of its own. Its the kind of thing that can dance around in your head late in a close game, where you don't believe in yourself, you're afraid to make a mistake and you start thinking instead of reacting.

Aside from the attitude problems, this team needs a shake-up. I like the idea of trading for Dejounte Murray -- if he can play off the ball next to LeBron, he can give us the speed and athleticism in the backcourt we need, and he would fit in well with our fast-breaking style while reducing LeBron's workload.

But it won't matter unless the Lakers start playing with some controlled anger and irrational confidence. If they're going to lose, at least lose kicking and screaming while throwing a Donald Trump-style tantrum.
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Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers

[Theseus]

My frustration/annoyance with the lakers won't let me take a good writeup for granted. Good work as always, hopefully the next one has some happier faces on it

[joeblow]

I hate HATE HATE the way Ham refuses to force our team to press up on opponents at the three point line. It's almost always drop coverage by our bigs when someone is picked off to open up a 3PA, or a genuine lack of effort to contest the long ball (Lebron), or simply the defensive inability to do so (Austin and DLo).

As mentioned above, the Grizz came in as the least accurate 3P% team, and they make over 50% tonight because like a lot of other teams they know we won't challenge them when they throw them up.

[Bron2AD]

[eddiejonze]

Rather than fire Ham, I'm afraid MGMT will trade AR and Rui for Lavine or something and we will have the SAME issues...
If it's Ham's basketball philosophy to pack the paint and leave the 3 open? He has no business being a coach in today's NBA...Which is all 3's.
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Creatures crawl in search of blood, To terrorize y'alls neighborhood.

[Nobody]

Well, ruined another morning for me watchin on replay. Don't even know what to think or write anymore. The team is in freefall mode, opponents just walk into LA knowing they'll make out like bandits.

[PenG_]

This is embarrassing. Social media is a mine field right now, and we're about to play arguably the best team in the NBA over the last month. If Kawhi didn't miss those two games they might be on a 15 game win streak.

Also I miss the early season LeBron in 4th quarters.

[Kobetan]

[mad55557777]

26 in defense rating now, we suck on both offense and defense.

[PenG_]

[Laker7]

The inability of Ham to make in game adjustments is mind boggling. Memphis started off hot from the 3 point line. Instead of running them off the line, he continues drop coverage the entire game and let Memphis hit 21 three point shots shooting 51% from 3 for the game.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[hydrohead]

[wolfpaclaker]

Popping in to DB's thread - FWIW this whole we're a long athletic big defensive team is only on the surface.

We are 12th in defensive FG%. We are 22nd in 3 point%.

So not only are we not elite at making teams miss, we are quite bad at the area where defensive length helps you the most - 3 point defense.

Go back a few years, when we played bigger. We had some of the best defense FG% numbers. We were 7th from 3point defense%, and 8th from def FG%. We sacrificed offense spacing for size, but the justification worked because of the defensive impact and schemes on defense got the results.

When you have AD, Lebron = you will rebound if they are focused. Why are defensive metrics look good on paper is that AD/Bron rebound, and we can force teams to be off around the rim, because AD is a defensive MVP, but overall we're not good at making teams miss outside of AD's elite rim protection. When teams are potent in an attacking the paint + some shooting from perimeter, we don't have a good scheme against them.

Which is why this is very fixable with schemes and all that. The team has elite defensive length with Vanderbilt, AD, Bron, DLO, Rui. The smallest guy in that lineup is 6'5. All you need to do is play the right lineups and have good defensive schemes, particularly in terms of 3 point shooting defense. The 3 point shot, should be the #1 defensive priority in today's league. In today's league, if you don't value your 3 point defense, it's a bad tactic. You need your players to be valuing the 3 ball defense. You want to also contain the volume teams shoot 3s on you.

Years ago, the league was all about protecting the paint, packing it in. It has changed. The best teams defensively have schemes where they try to stop your best dribble penetration players to get into the paint but never to allow teams to give up too many good looks from 3.

What I see is only surface and superficial. We are not good at defending one of the areas we should be strongest at, using our length and athleticism (the 3 point shot). When you have Prince, Reddish, AD and Bron in your core lineup. You should have some of the best shot challenging in the league. If you don't, it's likely, the chemistry isn't there, and/or schemes are not fit.

[Killer_Z]

Appreciate you DB. Always enjoy the reviews.

[pio2u]

THX DB

[richsmith]

*Checks in*

*Sees Ham is still our coach*

*Checks out*

[Laker7]