BUCKS -at- LAKERS - 2-9-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 10:29 pm    Post subject: BUCKS -at- LAKERS - 2-9-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

Transitions... Someone brought up the idea of not having games on the day of the trade deadline. The Lakers certainly would have appreciated that tonight. With a stripped down roster and Bron resting, they had to play a streaking Bucks team.

They got off to a surprisingly good start as Austin Reaves sparked the team to a 5-point lead in the first quarter with 8 points in his 5 minutes. The Lakers would extend that lead in the second quarter after Reaves crossed over Giannis badly and scored a layup.

By the halftime, they’d maintain a 58-50 lead as Dennis Schröder helped drive the offense with Bron out and Russ no longer a Laker. (He’d finish with 25 points and 12 assists without a turnover).

The Lakers started to struggle in the third as AD had a series of miscues on both ends midway through the quarter. He picked up three fouls in the third and had to sit. As he sat the Bucks kept on rolling to cap off a 25-8 run. The Lakers trailed 88-81 heading into the fourth.

With 8 minutes left, the Lakers would tie it up on a Dennis Schröder three. But AD’s fifth foul had him sidelined and the Lakers interior couldn’t control the Bucks. The Bucks would pull away and take the 115-106 win. A good effort from L.A., but just not enough talent on the floor tonight.

The losses have piled up for the Lakers lately. With the new talent ready to tag in on the next one, they’ll need to build chemistry fast to turn the season around. Unfortunately, they’ve got a series of games they have to win now or risk getting buried further in the standings. The transition needs to happen fast.


Davis -- -- So many times in this game, he’d compound mistakes -- bad play on D followed by an error or unsuccessful trip on offense. Not a great first half with 12 points on 12 shots. The handle was so sloppy tonight. I think he was trying to do a little too much with it as we were undermanned, but also could just be out of sync still from his time off. In any event, very sloppy from the start with 5 turnovers. He also gave up some putbacks to Lopez. One off a missed freethrow. Late in the game when we needed a one-and-out possession, he let Lopez again tap one out. Still, he helped anchor that D better than without him on the court. Giannis was able to use some screens and poor help D to shake AD early on. The help D allowed Giannis to get downhill too fast on those and both AD and the coaches were frustrated. There were some possession in this game where AD tried to score in transition or getting downhill and ended up on the floor on a miss and behind everyone else and that led to two of the Bucks first six threes. As the game went along, he struggled with foul trouble and that put us undermanned even more. We needed a big game from him tonight and it was not happening. Asked about his demeanor in the last game during Bron’s setting the record, he said it wasn’t about the two of them. “I was pissed off we were losing the game,” AD said. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 9-23 shooting (0-2 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 16 boards (5 offensive), 2 assists, 5 turnovers and 5 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -7.

Schröder -- -- Of course, to have a chance tonight we needed a big game from Dennis. He gave the Lakers a good one. First off, 12 assists with no turnovers. Obviously, with Russ out we needed to depend on him more to set the table and he did that well. Sneaky first half from Dennis as he ended up leading the scoring with Austin with 13 points to go with 6 of his assists. He hit a number of those midrange pull-ups. Speaking of sneaky, he also had an And-1 where he did that shifty change of directions in early offense as he attacked along the baseline for an And-1 then threw in high over the defenders. He catches guys sleeping quite a bit on that. If you relax for a second and stand up a little straighter on D, you’re toast with his speed. Despite the good game, we likely move Dennis to the bench as the backup point guard. Someone will need to organize the offense and drive the engine and this was really like leading one of those second units tonight with how undermanned we were. He and probably Reaves can help do that. The Stats: He scored 25 points on 10-17 shooting (1-4 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 12 assists, 1 steal and 5 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -7.

Hachimura -- -- We needed a bigger, more aggressive game from him tonight. He just needs to insert himself more. But it’s a new team, he’s young and now even more new teammates. The coaches need to work with him to get to his spots more, but they’ve got too many new bodies they need to do that with. He had a big missed layup in transition in the fourth on a push out that the Bucks rebounded and quickly outlet to Giannis who was standing at the other end for a dunk. That was a 4-point switch. The lead went from potentially 5 for the Bucks to 9. On his scores, he moved in off the three line and hit a step-back from midrange. That’s his bread and butter. He sank another midrange getting some contact and rising up between a couple defenders. I like that he can make some tough shots. Defensively, he altered a few shots. I think we’re going to see a lot more of that with the addition of Vanderbilt and Bamba. The new size they’ve added to the roster should help solve some issues we’ve had all season. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-9 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 1 foul in 32 minutes. He was a -10.

Christie -- -- Enjoy the minutes while you can. The Lakers guard depth will likely see him and Reed out of the rotation. It’s just a numbers game. They started him in this one, but I’m not sure they were thrilled with some of the team D reads. Still, good experience for him. Hopefully, we find him minutes on the good side of blowouts later this season. Offensively, he missed a pull up at the FT line and he got rejected under the hoop after a great find by Reaves. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-2 shooting to go with 1 assist in 12 minutes. He was a -8.

Brown -- -- Some timely threes in this one. He swished a three on iso with the shotclock low in the second half. He hit a big one with 5 minutes to go to cut the lead to 5. He knocked down another in the first half. His one two was on a drive where he took a couple of long steps off a screen for a layup. He quietly led the Lakers with 38 minutes. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting (3-4 from three) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 38 minutes. He was a -13.

Reaves -- -- The backup PG tonight with Russ gone. He sparked the Lakers to a 6-point lead in the first quarter, sinking a couple of threes, hitting a pull-up jumper as well as running the two-man action with teammates to set the table. He had 8 points and a steal in his first 5 minutes. The Lakers extended the lead to 11 in the second quarter when Reaves crossed Giannis over for a layup that had Crypto roaring and the Laker bench on their feet. He’d sink another three as we checked him back in for a final offensive possession where he just iso’d and drilled it. He had 13 points on a strong 5-6 shooting in the first half. On one of those plays, we ran our double drag screen play. Reaves was a screener who then popped out for a three. This play is going to be especially effective with DLo and Beasley in the mix. Look for a lot of variations off that. In the second half, he hit a pull-up jumper when the defense left him. He sank a teardrop after a push dribble to get through defenders in the lane (so nice). He’d later add another trip to the line to get his 18th point in 24 minutes. Great to see him back in a rhythm after being sidelined. He was huge for the team being able to hang in this game. They might ease him back in from that injury, but I really hope we see Reaves in the mix quite a bit as we integrate the new players. He is one of those glue guys that can connect pieces together and keep the systems flowing on both ends. He made a concerted effort to stay warm when not in the game. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 7-11 shooting (3-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnover and 3 fouls in 24 minutes. He was a -1.

Walker IV -- -- Once we have more bodies in the mix, I’ll be curious to see what happens with Lonnie’s minutes. He gives the team some nice athleticism, but it doesn’t translate well on the defensive end. Cold start to this game as he made just one of his first six or seven attempts. Good scoring push from him in that fourth quarter. He attacked from the wing and powered in an And-1. He circled around on the dribble and banked in a short one. He sank a pull-up jumper. There was a key juncture, though, where a couple of Bucks just went after him on iso for scores. Overall, I liked seeing the ball in his hands on the move a little more in this one. With Westbrook gone and Bron out, you expected to see a little more of that. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 6-14 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 3 assists, 1 block, 2 turnovers and no fouls in 31 minutes. He was a +0.

Gabriel -- -- Our backup C for the next couple of games until Bamba is cleared to play. Hard to see where he finds minutes once we add Bamba and Vanderbilt into the mix. Bamba gives more of a floor spacer. Vanderbilt/Hachimura/Bron all will take up front line minutes. If this were Vogel, you might see Bamba and AD starting and that could get Gabriel a shift, but I don’t think that’s happening with Ham. In this one, we struggled a bit in the third quarter as soon as AD sat. The Bucks were able to get scores at the rim or pull him out and cause more problems. We used him some at the PF to deal with Giannis’s size or we put him in the middle of the zone, as well. He scored a couple of times working the two-man with Reaves, who took over that backup PG spot. He also tipped in a miss at the front of the rim. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -3.

Swider -- -- He came in to start the fourth as the Lakers went to the zone D. They needed to look for him a little while he was out there. I think Dennis had a good opportunity to find him on a kickout on one play, but kept it, turned it over and AD picked up his fifth foul on that play. Swider did tie up Giannis on the perimeter on one play. The Stats: He had no stats in 3 minutes. He was a +4.

Ham -- -- Key Moment: Let’s go with AD giving up yet another offensive board and the Bucks scoring an And-1 off it with a minute left. That buried the Lakers for good. Lopez had 6 of those tonight and probably all came against AD. We needed better from our superstar tonight to have any kind of chance.

Key Substitution: There’s a whole roster of players about to check in to games. All they could do was watch from the sidelines. DLo will replace Westbrook. This is the kind of guard you need to slot next to LeBron, someone who can play off the ball (and actually performs better when he’s not the primary ball handler every game). Defensively, communication will get much better. That will be a step up if everything else is lateral in terms of the impact on that end. Also with that trade, the Lakers bring in Vanderbilt, a hustle, energy, defensive guy with some length that has been badly missing from this roster. He will be a fan favorite and was key in the Timberwolves defensive impact the previous year (and a key player in the Jazz hot start this season). The Lakers add Beasley to DLo’s perimeter shooting gravity. Look for shot quality to improve playing with Bron. We swap out Beverley/Bryant for Bamba. While everyone loved Bryant’s energy and offensive production, his defense was among the worst C’s in the league. The Lakers now have length to go with a floor spacing C. There are some interesting lineups you can run with that (in addition to making it easier for Vando to play on the offensive end). I’m not sure Reed gets into games because of the depth on this roster. So the rotations change as the Lakers add shooting and defense to the mix. The question is whether they have enough time to build chemistry and catch back up to the rest of the West. More than anything, the team needs continuity now. Ideally, the pieces fit and they can build on all they’ve picked up at this trade deadline without more major roster turnover in the offseason.

Key Stats: The Bucks were 5-28 from three in the first half. The Lakers were 4-9. Crazy. The Bucks shot 7 of 19 in the second half. The Lakers went 3-9. We just signed a couple of guys in Russel and Beasley that will each put up numbers on threes like the Lakers did in those halves. The 16 offensive boards (6 from Lopez) killed the Lakers.
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TooMuchMajicBuss
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 10:33 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB - First!

Frustrating yes, but not bad for only half a roster.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 10:55 pm    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!

We already look better, and we're not even at full strength, yet. Once we have a full activated roster, and get a flow/chemistry/rhythm going, I believe we'll be able to do really good things. Not sure it'll be enough this season. But, definitely next season.

Really enjoyed watching this game, and it's been a long time since I've enjoyed a game, win or lose. Makes me really hopeful for our future.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 11:18 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB! Nice showing by the shorthanded Lakers. A blowout was expected by most but we gave them a good battle.

It was hard for AD to get going with the Bucks trees clogging the paint and getting him into foul trouble. It did seem like there was something else preventing him from giving his full effort. Figure it out AD, we need you at your best.

Nice games from DS, AR, and LW. It will be interesting to see how the lineup and rotations shake out starting Saturday.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 11:27 pm    Post subject: Re: BUCKS -at- LAKERS - 2-9-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

DancingBarry wrote:
Transitions... Someone brought up the idea of not having games on the day of the trade deadline. The Lakers certainly would have appreciated that tonight. With a stripped down roster and Bron resting, they had to play a streaking Bucks team.



Trade deadline could be set right before the all star weekend. No time wasted, and traded players get extra time to get themselves accustomed. For example just move the all star weekend one week earlier this year.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 11:29 pm    Post subject:

Schroeder & Reeves were our best players tonight - Great game by both. I really like the hustle and effort the whole team had. With all the youth we just added I hope to see a lot more of that. No more old and small. Fast and big is the new Lakers. With energy and movement at the end of games.
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 09, 2023 11:48 pm    Post subject:

Short-handed Lakers finally had the appearances of the right type of players on the roster and provided the effort that typfied Ham's short tenure in the NBA

Supposedly one of the strengths of these Lakers is that they have TWO superstars. If AD is just a very talented player providing good numbers that don't have a great impact on games, Ham needs to adjust his approach that recognizes this fact during these upcoming important games
~ Recognize that AD is not in basketball shape since he's been injured and management is cautious about playing him

By default, AD was the leader of the players on the court and wasn't up to the challenge. Recognizing that AD seemingly doesn't WANT the ball at critical times or make clutch defensive plays, hopefully Ham will make the proper adjustments as the new players are incorporated
~ Recognize Big Game James saying that AD has not been practicing, hence not used to the bumps and physical play when playing actual games. However, being a veteran of many years and used to reaclimating oneself after being injured (unfortunately), this is interesting. Hopefully Ham will adjust his strategy to recognize that one of his superstars is not able to perform at a high level.

Hopefully, the more balanced roster will provide the opportunities for LBJ/AD to only play 30-35 MPG because DLo, Beasley, Vando, Bamba, Austin, Christie and Gabriel are playing well.


Last edited by A Mad Chinaman on Fri Feb 10, 2023 2:12 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:34 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB!
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 4:33 am    Post subject:

Nice to have Reaves back. AD seems to be still finding his legs.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 5:38 am    Post subject:

When everyone else arrives, Dennis & Reaves at the point should
be enough.

Pîp, Swider & Christie should head down to the g-league to get their reps
in.

I remember reading that, when drafted, Vandy could guard multiple positions. I wonder now if he could guard Sf's and backup LJ. That would leave AD, Rui & Gabriel at PF...I'm over thinking; we'll see.


Thanks DB !
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 6:36 am    Post subject:

Last game with excuses
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 7:06 am    Post subject:

Running out of games.

@GS next and it’s not like GS is in the grind of season knowing they will finish top 3. They need the W.

No more excuses. I’m also putting this on the stars. If you are top 5 players, prove it. There isn’t too much of a gap in NBA role players.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 7:49 am    Post subject:

THX DB!

The season starts TODAY! ...... GO LAKERS!!
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 8:18 am    Post subject:

LakerSD wrote:
Running out of games.

@GS next and it’s not like GS is in the grind of season knowing they will finish top 3. They need the W.

No more excuses. I’m also putting this on the stars. If you are top 5 players, prove it. There isn’t too much of a gap in NBA role players.

I agree.
even Bucks game

Russ gone= Positive
Reaves- big night
DS- big night
TB wasn't playing anyway.

In reality, sans bron we floored the team that everyone said would be our best. No reason AD, fully rested shouldn't have been able to carry us.

We need a 6-7 game win streak starting now.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:25 am    Post subject:

i think if last night showed anything, Max is probably out of the rotation. he needs to play in G league. Troy Brown is better than him at the moment.

DS was awesome and should continue to get minutes. i would start Besaly and Dlo, but i think Ham might go with DS and DLO at the beginning just because - he is Ham..
they let Jrue Holiday got hot in the 3rd and that was the game. Lakers could withstand the onslaught on Giannis, but they can't let Holiday get hot like that.

i think the team will need some time to gel, but unfortunately, we have no time.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:51 am    Post subject: Re: BUCKS -at- LAKERS - 2-9-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

DancingBarry wrote:
Transitions... Someone brought up the idea of not having games on the day of the trade deadline. The Lakers certainly would have appreciated that tonight...


That was Lakers#1Team who suggested lining up trade deadline with the All Star break so there isn't this gap of missing players in caught in the trade transition. A brilliant idea.

In the meantime... le sigh...

Thanks DB
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 12:46 pm    Post subject:

In the closing minutes we were down 2-3 baskets and AD missed two shots inside and lost a couple of rebounds while Middleton and Giannis scored inside easily.

I know we are waiting for AD to get back in shape, but it just feels like this team is always waiting for something. Someone to heal or a trade to be made.

The end of the season is not waiting, it's approaching fast. We should have been over .500 a month ago but it just looks like this team can't get its crap together.
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 7:20 pm    Post subject: Re: BUCKS -at- LAKERS - 2-9-23 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

TDRock wrote:
DancingBarry wrote:
Transitions... Someone brought up the idea of not having games on the day of the trade deadline. The Lakers certainly would have appreciated that tonight...


That was Lakers#1Team who suggested lining up trade deadline with the All Star break so there isn't this gap of missing players in caught in the trade transition. A brilliant idea.

In the meantime... le sigh...

Thanks DB

Yes, I mentioned this in the game thread. Seems like the logical thing to do. But, Silver wants to complicate things with a mid season tournament next year. Is that in place of the all-star weekend? Sounds like regular season games would lead up to only one extra game between the top two teams. They will have to schedule the trade deadline around that as well. If it happens.
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