WARRIORS -at- LAKERS - 5/19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 10:36 pm    Post subject: WARRIORS -at- LAKERS - 5/19 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

Nearly Outcoached... Last post season, Vogel would typically get outcoached in the first game of a series as he tried to get opponents to match up to him. Remember Portland and Houston? In the play-in games, you don’t have that luxury.

The Lakers rolled out their starting five of Drummond, AD, LeBron, KCP and Schröder -- a group that had played all of three games together heading into this one. A very strong argument could be made that you go with a lineup that has more collective time together (and with, ummm, perhaps AD at center).

Strategically, it just caused opponents so many problems. On D, the Lakers can switch defensively instead of scrambling. When they do scramble, they recover much faster. The Warriors are well-versed in teams over-playing Steph Curry. They feed off of that. Got a traditional bigman? They will hunt him in a variety of ways.

On offense, AD at the center gives you floor spacing by pulling the defense from the paint. Or, just as importantly, it gives AD room post up or put pressure on the rim.

In the first half, the Lakers only went to that lineup with AD at the 5 for the last few minutes when they were already down double digits, and Drummond was forced to sit with foul trouble. They trailed 55-42 at the half, and the Warriors were flying high.

The Lakers got into the bonus with 9:17 left in the third quarter. Again, here’s where you want AD activated, getting the ball with room to attack instead of hanging out on the perimeter with the green light from the Warriors to shoot from 20+ feet.

As they sat their big lineups, cycled into a AD/LeBron front court duo, the game predictably changed. They outscored the Warriors by 11 to trail by just 2 heading into the fourth.

The Lakers never sat AD and built up a small lead in the fourth by having him man the center spot. When they sat Caruso, however, for Schröder, the Warriors retook the lead by a point with 2 minutes left. Vogel had seen enough. Down the stretch, he went with the AD, LeBron, Wes, KCP, AC lineup. It was back and forth.

LeBron got hit in the head on the break and went down, no flagrant after the review, and LeBron tied it up with the FTs. A 2-minute ball game. The Lakers got an AD dunk, Curry got FTs. Tied again with 1:23 left.

With the clock winding down and the offense stalling, LeBron got the ball against Curry and sank a deep three to beat the clock with 58 seconds left in the game.

After a couple of stops by both teams, the Warriors got the ball and called timeout with 2.1 seconds left. On the inbounds, AD made a great switch to tip an inbounds away from Curry’s hands and the Lakers won, 103-100.

Last year, we learned we are better off attacking small ball teams with our much bigger version of small ball. Going big against those types of teams (especially the Warriors) is fool’s gold.

The Lakers now take on the Suns -- a completely different type of team. No home court advantage, but L.A. is a very good road team.


LeBron -- -- He didn’t look terribly explosive in this game. Of course, he won’t when the paint is packed. You want to get LeBron downhill, playing with speed. He’s impossible to stop. In the first half, we played right into the Warriors hands and minimized our strengths by going with traditional Cs. LeBron had just 6 points on 1-7 shooting in the first half. Late in the third when we went small with LeBron at PF, he started to pick apart the Warrior D with passes. He found both Kuz and AC cutting for layups. The team speed picked up. He had more room to attack. The team needs to get better as setting off-ball screens when he’s drawing attention and getting zoned up. It’s a recurring issue that we need to solve in the playoffs. But LeBron is good enough that when he draws double teams he’s going to find guys even if we’re poor schematically. What we want, though, is more sequences like we had to start the fourth where LeBRon gets the ball downhill with AD rolling and the help defense preoccupied. That resulted in an easy lob finish for AD. He’d get into some iso scores on the wing or in the post. Two big plays down the stretch. He hot hit in the head on the break for two FTs. He stayed on the floor, his eye poked. After a timeout and review, he was still struggling a bit with the eye. But when it mattered, he stepped up big despite the issue. With 58 seconds left, he sank a deep three to beat the shotclock with Steph Curry giving him a look like, damn, man. That ended up being the game winner. Triple-double for LBJ. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 7-17 shooting (2-4 from three, 6-9 from the line) to go with 11 boards (4 offensive), 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a +13.

Davis -- -- He might have had one shot within 10 feet of the basket in the first half. He was stripped, so it may not have even counted as an attempt. The rest of it was completely perimeter oriented as he went 2-12 (0-3 from three) for 5 points. Just look at where he plays on the floor when Drummond is out there. It’s frustrating when people are saying he’s playing soft when it’s more of a schematic issue that is causing him to shoot too often from 18+ feet out. So, no coincidence that he’d drop 20 points in the second half once we freed him up to work a little closer in as the C and with much less traffic. Want him getting set up for lobs or by others for dunks? Want him grabbing big offensive boards? Want him working the post? Put him at the C or give him a floor spacing C to play with. Everything was much closer in or at the rim. Then once he got the ball to go through the hoop, he’d finally hit a three, too. The matchup with the Suns, we can try to soften up their middle a bit with Drummond. It will work better than with the Warriors since they aren’t a small ball team. But we need to understand, once it’s softened up, who are closers are. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-24 shooting (1-6 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 12 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 42 minutes. He was a +2.

Schröder -- -- Oof. Not a good start for Schröder. His three ball wasn’t there in the first half as he went 0-4. Combine that with the packed paint and he was highly ineffective, scoring just 2 points on 1-9 shooting. He’d get 10 points in the second half as he’d manufacture some FTs by attacking. He’d also eventually hit another three. His defense was poor, but remember, this is Steph Curry. Don’t read too much into that. He’s schooling everyone. But Dennis definitely had to sit so we could get AC on Curry and the ball back into LeBron’s hands in the final few minutes. Just a bad stretch there late in the fourth where Schröder was completely ineffective on both ends. Dennis will have big games for the Lakers (I suspect as the series go along and they watch the film. It would be nice, though, if the coach would shift things up for him when he sees early on that the shot isn’t there. Bring in some floor spacers to help get Dennis more opportunities to get to the rim and get back on track. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 3-14 shooting (1-6 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -20.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Quietly important player for the Lakers. He had 3 steals, a big one late. He had a couple of threes in the first half. Steady ball. Our ball movement wasn’t especially good tonight. Our transition game, so-so. Both of those things will reflect in KCP’s stats. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 33 minutes. He was a -7.

Drummond -- -- So, one offensive board in 17 minutes. This is the thing about some small ball teams, the good ones know how to box out really, really well. AD2 was completely neutralized. It was a mistake to start him in this game. I’m not mad at his performance, it’s just not a good matchup. Many of these playoff games, won’t be good matchups. Not when you have AD who can play the C. I was honestly happy when Drummond was picking up fouls in the first half. It took three and Vogel sat him down and that’s what got us into our small ball for the first time. Just frustrating. It’s just not worth all the problems it causes us in a lot of matchups. He picked up a couple of his fouls in the first half as he had to deal with the offense running through Curry and we tried to hedge, blitz and recover. We were asking him to do something very difficult. Offensively, I think he had a couple post touches. We ran the ball through him while AD was on the floor. Not the tip of the spear we want tonight. A couple of blocks from Drummond which helped us into transition, but none of the advantages outweighed the disadvantages. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a -1.

Harrell -- -- A 10-minute first half stint in this one. He at least imposed himself a little more than Drummond on the offensive glass (drawing a couple of fouls). But he also gave up an offensive board and was in trouble on help D rotations out to the perimeter. Some two-man game with he and LeBron on offense, but Trezz didn’t really look comfortable out there. We gave up far too much with our traditional Cs that we got in return. Hopefully, both guys will be imposing themself more as the playoffs go along, but Gasol needs to play. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-3 shooting (2-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal and no fouls in 10 minutes. He was a -2.

Kuzma -- -- He had a nice drive and kick to AC for an open three. That’s a play I’m not sure the Warriors expected. I think they thought, leave AC open and pack the paint when Kuz has the ball. When they gave him some room, he had a strong attack across the lane for a layup. When we had our small ball lineup out there we saw Kuz able to cut off ball to take a pass for a layup and LeBron found him on an inbounds for a score in the paint. Kuz also had a lob to AD in transition. Defensively, a couple of steals, including a nice one on a double team.The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-7 shooting (0-2 from three) to go with 6 boards, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +8.

Caruso -- -- “He was awesome all night long,” Vogel said. People who don’t know the value of AC, his defense on Curry showed you why he earns his paycheck. He’s feisty as hell. I think when they brought him back in in those last couple minutes, he stripped the ball from Curry on iso right after returning. He led the Lakers with 12 points on 5-5 shooting in the first half, including hitting two threes. Great read late to find Wes on a kickout for a three. He also found AD for a dunk when he attack on the catch off the three line to collapse the D. Our core four is AD, LBJ, AC and KCP. Those guys need to play a good chunk of minutes together, but with the right fifth guy around them. Some series that will be Schröder, Wes, Kuz. I’m liking aggressive Caruso heading into the playoffs. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 6-12 shooting (2-3 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a +4.

Horton-Tucker -- -- Brief first half stint in this one. He immediately stole the ball on one end, then hit a three on the other. Love seeing him go vertical to help get a stop on a rotation. Little plays that helped. I want him out there with Gasol in those second units. Space the floor, get him a chance to attack. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 from three to go with 1 turnover and 1 foul in 6 minutes. He was a +1.

Matthews -- -- You had a couple of options to replace Drummond in the starting lineup. You either go with Wes or AC. I thought it should have been Wes because he can deal with Wiggins. That’s the lineup. This is the guy we got to replace Green in the lineup. Wes wasn’t even a thought in the first half. I’m so frustrated just typing this section. This should have been about a 15-point win or so, but we absolutely pissed away the first half going big instead of using him. Once we brought Wes and played our version of small ball, we were back on track. He drained a three on his first touch for his only score. But defensively, he drew a charge on Wiggins in transition. He drew a huge illegal screen on Green with 1:54 left, going down to get the stop. He kept Wiggins in check, but just the shift going small is what Wes represented. We play Wes and Gasol from the start, we would have made this much easier on ourselves. Gasol would have some issues on D, but the floor spacing would have allowed our stars to play more like themselves in that first half. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-4 shooting from three to go with 1 board, 1 assist and no fouls in 14 minutes. He was a +17.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: Vogel was killing me tonight. Our struggles were because of his game planning. Very poor. Last year, he was excellent at adjusting after coughing up a first game with some ill-advised initial ideas. With the play-in game you don’t have that luxury (and the Lakers may not have it this year in the playoffs). We tripped over ourselves and fell back 15-4 to start tonight. So...key moment? Let’s go with the stretch in the third quarter when Vogel finally decided to run AD/LeBron at the C/PF spots. He should have started the game with it, but this unit brought the Lakers back. Magically (sarcasm), the floor opened up. LeBron started finding cutters for layups. We saw AD around the rim more instead of 25 feet from the hoop. Glad we don’t have any more one-game playoff series! Vogel’s chess game is much better over a series.

Key Substitution: Sitting Schröder for Wes late in the fourth. Dennis was struggling this game and Curry, of course, is a very tough cover. This sub slid AC back on Curry, and Wes is a scrappy defender who will mix things up. Don’t make that change and we probably lose the game. Schröder was a -20, Wes a +17. Props on that. We went into a timeout and I made a note of whether he’d make that sub and he did.

Key Stats: Let me pick a somewhat obscure one. Draymond Green had 2 points on 0-5 shooting and 8 assists. You need to make him a scorer. If you overplay Curry with extra help, once the ball gets to Green it becomes a 4-on-3 or a 3-on-2. This is what the Warriors want. When we had Drummond out there, we were too slow. We sent doubles and tried to scramble. It was awful. When you have AD out there, you can switch, you can recover much faster. We had two very different teams when we went big vs. going small.

Coach’s Challenge: LeBron tried to step in and take a charge, he was on the move, but did a bit of a mid-air charge attempt versus having his feet planted. Kerr challenged down 6 with 9:37 left. Successful challenge.
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mhan00
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 10:40 pm    Post subject:

We win! 7 seed!
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markjay
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 10:47 pm    Post subject:

Yes, it reminds me of Vogel's coaching style last year when he would use the first game of a playoff seres to figure out the other team and then make adjustments after that. However, in a play-in game, there was no time to wait, so he made the adjustments at half time to help the Lakers pull out the win in the second half.
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lordtrapula
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 10:54 pm    Post subject:

what a shot by LeBron

the intensity of the atmosphere and mike breen calling it

this was one to remember
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 11:01 pm    Post subject:

Sometimes I think Vogel holds out his best lineup in the first half on purpose. That way the other team can’t make adjustments at half time and they are unprepared for our finishing lineup to end games. It seems to work most of the time.
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 11:01 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 11:06 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Whew, this one was close but Lakers are in and hopefully will only play better and better as they progress in the playoffs.
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 11:18 pm    Post subject:

Startrout wrote:
Sometimes I think Vogel holds out his best lineup in the first half on purpose. That way the other team can’t make adjustments at half time and they are unprepared for our finishing lineup to end games. It seems to work most of the time.


This.

Thanks, DB, but you are HAMMERING Vogel tonight.
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PostPosted: Wed May 19, 2021 11:24 pm    Post subject:

Great summary DB

Frustrating as heck first half (probably one of their worst offensive halves of the year), made up for by a much better played second. Glad as heck they pulled it out to get officially into the playoffs.

Crazy how different the team was when AD went to center - totally unlocked him, and he went 8-12 in the second half.

Suns next, let's keep it going!
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 12:09 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Wow. Tale of 2 teams. The one where we have solid playoff defense and the one where Shroeder plays.

Excellent way to close the game out tonight. Now it's time to beat Phoenix.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 2:13 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Living in EDT zone, I decided to call it after watching a miserable 1st half. When I woke up this morning I waited as long as I could to pick up my phone and check the final score with the idea that the game hadn't been lost until I actually checked the final score, yet fully expecting to find a dead cat when I opened that box.

Surprise! The cat's still alive.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 3:36 am    Post subject:

DB--Very nice write up.

ElginBaylor wrote:
Thanks DB. Living in EDT zone, I decided to call it after watching a miserable 1st half. When I woke up this morning I waited as long as I could to pick up my phone and check the final score with the idea that the game hadn't been lost until I actually checked the final score, yet fully expecting to find a dead cat when I opened that box.

Surprise! The cat's still alive.

EB--Interesting post.

Only 16 wins from #18.

Next game is Sunday at 12:30 PDT.


Last edited by Annihilator on Thu May 20, 2021 4:05 am; edited 1 time in total
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 3:47 am    Post subject:

I think what some may overlook about Vogel is that he is playing chess with opponents. You start off super big, and you make them think you are easier to defend and the schemes are working to contain the Laker bigs. On the other end, you save AD from foul trouble defending the paint or anchoring. By going to AD right away at the 5, you allow teams to scheme for your best weapon and lineups. If you look at Vogel he likes to play a little chess match in playoffs. That said, I agree with DB a play in game is like a game 7. Perhaps Vogel felt he had two game 7s so it was more like a game 6. Either way, when push came to shove, Vogel did make the right call by going with AD at the 5 the entire 4th and some of the 3rd.

Schemes wise, I also felt we did not run Bron at the top in the PG role enough, not until late. Again, I think this is by design. I believe the Lakers do not want teams to see their best schemes right away. They bring them along slowly. There is no way the staff does not know the value of the AD at the 5, Bron at the 1 on offense, lineups with shooters and cutters like KCP, Caruso etc around them. Look at how suddenly the last few weeks, we have brought on Wes Matthews. This is by design, IMO. They know the value of guys around AD at the 5. We will be playing 3 wing/guards around AD/Bron a lot. It is just about timing, and having teams to adjust to playing against super big lineups and then suddenly the AD at the 5 lineups.

I was really nervous about this play in. For this very reason. I felt in a one off, we would have a harder time adjusting vs a playoff series. Where we can breakdown the opposing team game by game.

My main criticism of this game:

Why Gasol a DNP? We need to get Gasol a 4 min run in the 1st half to see if he is going to have an imprint on the game. He has a lot of value if he gets involved.

Why Dennis getting so much leeway/minutes? Gotta have a short leash. Dennis has a lot of talent to get to the basket and be a defender, but it was not the game for him. He should not be an auto closer. He should be a guy we turn to when Bron sits, and he should be a guy whose 4th Q minutes depends on how he has played that game and match up wise.

The positives:

Caruso. The man. Enough said.

What about that D from AD/Caruso teaming up against Curry late? That was a lot of great teamwork. And we need to give Vogel some credit. We have been a top defensive team all year, and again it was our defense that gave us a shot to win the game, as Bron/AD/Dennis all struggled shooting the ball most of the game. Our D was #2 or 3 in the league, even when AD/Bron were out. That is the strength of this team.

Overall, glad we escaped. Really hate play ins for the Lakers.
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PenG_
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 4:14 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Steph is terrifying on offense, and his ridiculous stamina allows him to be a decent defender.

Glad that game is over.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 4:49 am    Post subject:

PenG_ wrote:
Thanks DB! Steph is terrifying on offense, and his ridiculous stamina allows him to be a decent defender.

Glad that game is over.

He better beat grizz.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 4:59 am    Post subject:

Steph was definitely torching Shroeder all night. I am happy that we had Caruso and Wes Matthews available.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 5:19 am    Post subject:

This is why a vet like Matthews is on the team - knows his role, never stops playing defense, has the knowledge on how to play certain players and executes schemes. Too many fans here judge players by the boxscore: both he and Gasol have been so badly discounted by the fanbase throughout the season.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 5:44 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

What a crazy game. Vogel was driving me mad. I thought this one was a L. Is he's doing this by design we'll never know, but Jesus Christ...

AD playing the 5 is a completely different beast. A tale of two halves for him and the Lakers.

Schröder value is going down by the minute He was crazy to refuse that $84M contract. Curry torched him all game long.

Drummond looked completely lost out there. Could've used a little bit of Gasol and some spacing.

You can't overlook what Caruso brings to the table. What a game for him. And Wes Matthews too. +17 in a game we won by 3.

LeBron is one of the greats. There's nothing else you can say about this man.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 6:24 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.

I'm not as hard on Vogel... in fact, I thought he did a fine job. Where most teams (like the Warriors ironically) really tighten up their rotations in the playoffs (which this game was essentially), Vogel played ten players as he tried to see what worked against this team based on our past matchups with them and what didn't.

What that ended up revealing is that Drummond, Dennis, and to a lesser extent Harrell weren't good fits in this particular game in the combinations he tried. Fine, in the second half especially, he eventually dialed in to his finishing players on a tighter rotation.

The biggest props I give to Vogel however is that for the most part, the Lakers were stellar on defense throughout. Curry had his best game against us in a long time, but some of his long shots were tough makes, and usually when we chose not to blitz him (which made him cough up a TO when we did that a few times).

As for defending the rest of the Warriors, we kept them in decent check, giving up only 55 points to their potent offense in the first half (coulda been a lot worse) and an outstanding 45 points in the second half. Props to Kerr and his team for coming in with the right heart, skill and effort, but the better team eventually showed why we were the favorites.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 7:04 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!

Despite the double digit leads built by GS, you knew the Lakers would chase them down by the late third quarter as Kerr was relying on an 8 man rotation. That's when Vogel began to push the tempo as well.

On the negatives, I'm kind of surprised that the Lakers didn't get AD going earlier with some easy baskets, though to be fair Green wasn't making life easy inside for AD in the early going. That key substitution (pulling Schröder) was the true turnaround. I looked at the box score and noticed that Schröder was a minus 20. Honestly, it felt even larger than that.
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 8:07 am    Post subject:

Startrout wrote:
Sometimes I think Vogel holds out his best lineup in the first half on purpose. That way the other team can’t make adjustments at half time and they are unprepared for our finishing lineup to end games. It seems to work most of the time.


I agree, and think Vogel is also coaching the players and getting their buy in by allowing them to fail in the first half. The staff knows the value of AD at the 5 and their best lineups. It’s a chess game of when they choose to deploy them. The fact is this wasn’t a game 7 though people kept calling it that. If they lost the game, they would go on to play the Grizz with a very good chance. So the first half of this game was the time to experiment, get some minutes for Trezz and AD2, allow them to see by halftime what works and doesn’t versus this team. As well as play chess with Kerr. We are going to need those guys and our team needs to coalesce. This team is still building chemistry even after the whole season, due to the injuries and the new additions in the middle of the year.

Then there’s Gasol. Surprised not to see Marc in this one but the DNP will have an effect and hopefully light a fire under him (as did AD2’s addition during the season). I’m sure he’s frustrated. I suspect he will play the next game some with good result.

We saw what happened in the bubble and Vogel’s strategy in game 1s and first halves. He doesn’t like to play his best hand right away as frustrating as it is to watch. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here. Thankfully he came with Caruso and Wes in the 4th quarter and sat Dennis late.

Thank DB, really appreciate your write ups!
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 8:47 am    Post subject:

We won with a LeBron Hail Mary.

I had a feeling Wiggins would have a good game, he did. I said we had to be aware of Poole, he also had a good game. I said when Curry was hot there was no stopping him, we didn't.

I think overlooked was the Dubs won something like 15 of the last 20 regular season games. They were on a roll.

I blame the closeness of the game on Vogel. I've always been suspect of his rotation and offensive schemes. I think he should have AD play deeper in the hole, closer to the rim, especially when he has the height advantage he had last night. He takes way too many 3s.

We should beat the Suns unless Vogel is outcoached. He has to use our length. If AD stays on the perimeter we'll have a tough go. We have the size and roster to win with ease. I'm afraid Vogel will mess it up.

CP3 is playing like a MVP. Booker is a all star guard. We can't do what we did with the Dubs, start slow. We need to come out smoking and keep the doobie lit.

Damn Lakers have made me refill my Prozac perscription.
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lordtrapula
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 11:20 am    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
We won with a LeBron Hail Mary.

I had a feeling Wiggins would have a good game, he did. I said we had to be aware of Poole, he also had a good game. I said when Curry was hot there was no stopping him, we didn't.

I think overlooked was the Dubs won something like 15 of the last 20 regular season games. They were on a roll.

I blame the closeness of the game on Vogel. I've always been suspect of his rotation and offensive schemes. I think he should have AD play deeper in the hole, closer to the rim, especially when he has the height advantage he had last night. He takes way too many 3s.

We should beat the Suns unless Vogel is outcoached. He has to use our length. If AD stays on the perimeter we'll have a tough go. We have the size and roster to win with ease. I'm afraid Vogel will mess it up.

CP3 is playing like a MVP. Booker is a all star guard. We can't do what we did with the Dubs, start slow. We need to come out smoking and keep the doobie lit.

Damn Lakers have made me refill my Prozac perscription.


At worst, I think LA will at least make it a long series.

I expect Lebron and Co. to figure things outin the early games before going all out.

I think what was stressful about the play-in was that it was just 1 game lol
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 11:55 am    Post subject:

michaelg wrote:
Startrout wrote:
Sometimes I think Vogel holds out his best lineup in the first half on purpose. That way the other team can’t make adjustments at half time and they are unprepared for our finishing lineup to end games. It seems to work most of the time.


I agree, and think Vogel is also coaching the players and getting their buy in by allowing them to fail in the first half. The staff knows the value of AD at the 5 and their best lineups. It’s a chess game of when they choose to deploy them. The fact is this wasn’t a game 7 though people kept calling it that. If they lost the game, they would go on to play the Grizz with a very good chance. So the first half of this game was the time to experiment, get some minutes for Trezz and AD2, allow them to see by halftime what works and doesn’t versus this team. As well as play chess with Kerr. We are going to need those guys and our team needs to coalesce. This team is still building chemistry even after the whole season, due to the injuries and the new additions in the middle of the year.

Then there’s Gasol. Surprised not to see Marc in this one but the DNP will have an effect and hopefully light a fire under him (as did AD2’s addition during the season). I’m sure he’s frustrated. I suspect he will play the next game some with good result.

We saw what happened in the bubble and Vogel’s strategy in game 1s and first halves. He doesn’t like to play his best hand right away as frustrating as it is to watch. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here. Thankfully he came with Caruso and Wes in the 4th quarter and sat Dennis late.

Thank DB, really appreciate your write ups!


I think of this game as more like game 6 of a series. You don't want to go to a game 7 where anything can happen. So don't mess around with it. Kind of like Vogel in that game 6 of the finals, where we went with our closers to close the series. Vogel kind of did that in the second half, just didn't sit AD at all.

But we played with fire unnecessarily and were very fortunate to get a LBJ 34-footer to drop against the clock. There was a reason our three main scorers looked awful in the first half. It was schematically related with how the Warriors want to play.

I'm a thousand times more comfortable with Vogel and this team in a 7-games series. The chess match between him and Spo in the Finals showed he's got the chops. Glad we can get back to that format.

One unintended benefit of just barely escaping -- the team got a shot of playoff adrenaline in this one. Time to focus.
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DrDent
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PostPosted: Thu May 20, 2021 1:04 pm    Post subject:

DancingBarry wrote:
michaelg wrote:
Startrout wrote:
Sometimes I think Vogel holds out his best lineup in the first half on purpose. That way the other team can’t make adjustments at half time and they are unprepared for our finishing lineup to end games. It seems to work most of the time.


I agree, and think Vogel is also coaching the players and getting their buy in by allowing them to fail in the first half. The staff knows the value of AD at the 5 and their best lineups. It’s a chess game of when they choose to deploy them. The fact is this wasn’t a game 7 though people kept calling it that. If they lost the game, they would go on to play the Grizz with a very good chance. So the first half of this game was the time to experiment, get some minutes for Trezz and AD2, allow them to see by halftime what works and doesn’t versus this team. As well as play chess with Kerr. We are going to need those guys and our team needs to coalesce. This team is still building chemistry even after the whole season, due to the injuries and the new additions in the middle of the year.

Then there’s Gasol. Surprised not to see Marc in this one but the DNP will have an effect and hopefully light a fire under him (as did AD2’s addition during the season). I’m sure he’s frustrated. I suspect he will play the next game some with good result.

We saw what happened in the bubble and Vogel’s strategy in game 1s and first halves. He doesn’t like to play his best hand right away as frustrating as it is to watch. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt here. Thankfully he came with Caruso and Wes in the 4th quarter and sat Dennis late.

Thank DB, really appreciate your write ups!


I think of this game as more like game 6 of a series. You don't want to go to a game 7 where anything can happen. So don't mess around with it. Kind of like Vogel in that game 6 of the finals, where we went with our closers to close the series. Vogel kind of did that in the second half, just didn't sit AD at all.

But we played with fire unnecessarily and were very fortunate to get a LBJ 34-footer to drop against the clock. There was a reason our three main scorers looked awful in the first half. It was schematically related with how the Warriors want to play.

I'm a thousand times more comfortable with Vogel and this team in a 7-games series. The chess match between him and Spo in the Finals showed he's got the chops. Glad we can get back to that format.

One unintended benefit of just barely escaping -- the team got a shot of playoff adrenaline in this one. Time to focus.


Agreed.

Also, just as an aside, glad as hell this 1 game nonsense is over. Curry is the exact type of player that in 1 game can pretty much single-handedly allow his team to win against anyone. Lakers doubled him, tripled him...completely focused on trying to get him to get rid of the ball. They played about as textbook defensively you could to try and "limit" Curry.

Yet - the man went 6-9 from 3, and none of them were open. All challenged, all ones where Curry was trying to find that tiny space to get off a shot when 99% of the rest of the space was taken. If the man was allowed to just shoot last night it wouldnt have surprised me if he went 16-19 from 3.
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