LAKERS -vs- WARRIORS - 7-7-23 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Summer League Game 3... The Lakers fell back 13-2 to start the game, missing threes on one end, giving them up on the other. That forced an early timeout.

The Lakers tied it back up 17-17 shortly later and we had a game.

Max Christie helped the Lakers to a 10-point lead leading the team early on with a smooth jumper and the ability to get to the line. The lead would extend to 14 in the third quarter with Cole Swider and D’Moi Hodge hitting threes.

The Lakers kept the Warriors at bay after taking a 10-point lead into the fourth. The Warriors tried to pick up the intensity late in the game and chipped away at the lead as the Lakers didn’t match that intensity. Swider, however, hit another three and dunked on the break to keep them from catching the Lakers. L.A. held on to win 103-96.


Christie -- -- After a sleepy game from the top two draft picks in the matchup before this one, Max gave us some strong ball leading the team to the win in their first Vegas game. He dropped 14 first half points on 4-7 shooting, including a posterizing dunk on a drive that was rewind worthy. He just wound up and hammered on the defender. The jumper looked smooth and automatic, hitting several from the perimeter. He also got to the line with consistency. He also led the team in rebounds (4) and blocks (2) in the first half. Late in the third quarter, they let him run the point for a stretch. He hit a pull-up three off that point guard action in the fourth. Nice to see him drilling one from that type of sequence. With coach Ham watching from the sideline, he put on an efficient, consistent show. I’m pretty sure he’s going to start the season in the rotation. Dlo/Reaves/Vincent will get the bulk of time, but with no Lonnie/Beasley in the mix, Max will get some run. Pelinka talked about wanting to add more length out there and Christie can provide that, especially on the rebounding where I don’t think we got better with our free agency signings. We need more guard rebounding. Defensively, a couple of blocks tonight. On one, his man tried to size him up and go iso. Christie stayed right with him and got a piece of the pull-up. The Stats: He scored 22 points on 6-11 shooting (3-5 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 31 minutes. He was a +9.

Hood-Schifino -- -- Three steals in the first half and 4 on the night, showing his good hands in his man-to-man D. He had an especially nice on as a defender tried to Euro on him. Other than some good reads with the passes, that was probably the highlight of game. The shot was not there at all. Even the floaters that he looked pretty automatic on during college were way off. His best play on offensive might have been a change of speeds in transition to lose the defense and score a layup. He had a couple other layups where the ball fell in his lap or a teammate found him. He’s still shooting blanks from three, only took one in this game. He did swish a three after a whistle if you are looking for any sign of life there from distance. I’ll be surprised if he struggles this much offensively the rest of the way. Feels like he’s due for a more standard shooting/scoring game like we saw in college. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-11 shooting (0-1 from three, 3-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 3 assists, 4 steals, 1 block and 2 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a +3.

Castleton -- -- Kind of more of the same (good and bad) from Castleton in this one. He led the team with 6 assists as they are starting to realize that running some offense through him in the high post area is a good idea. He sees the court well. His best might have been and attack that led to a kickout to a shooter for a three. Offensively, he shows that great touch around the rim. His only miss in this game was an early offense attempt from three early in the game. You rarely see that from him, but interesting he had that confidence. Defensively, I think you again saw some issues controlling the glass and also more of the foul-prone ball. He’s getting whistled for a lot of little cheap ones, but you do worry about his ability to deal with the next level athleticism. He does show some pretty quick reactions to loose balls and some good hands (stole a bounce pass). What he has going for him to make the roster is our lack of bigmen, our lack of money (and repeater tax concerns filling out the roster) and that he’s got a good feel for the game. Can you get 5 minutes a half per game? I don’t know. Maybe. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-5 shooting (0-1 from three, 5-8 from the line) to go with 7 boards (3 offensive), 6 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 4 turnovers and 7 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a +6.

Swider -- -- When you can go 5-8 from three, you’ve got a lot going for you. In the previous games, he was 3-6 and 4-7 from three. That puts him at 12-21 from three and 57% in three games. Swider has been money from beyond the arc. Not a lot outside of that, but all you really need is some average level of defense. There was a moment early in the game on iso D where he mirrored the ballhandler really well with his footwork. So there has been some work since last time in Vegas. What’s not helping his cause are some moments where he compounds errors. He had another little stretch of that in this game. A couple bad passes that went out of bounds, not close to the intended receiver. Late in the game, though, when the Warriors were pushing up the intensity, Swider drilled a three and dunked on the break to keep them at bay. Those were much-needed scores. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-14 shooting (5-8 from three) to go with 2 boards, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 26 minutes. He was a -4.

Hodge -- -- He got the start in this one as the Lakers continue to shuffle that lineup around a little. He looked a bit more like himself as a result. He drained several threes and scored an And-1 layup. He had a couple of steals, swiping the ball with a reach on one and flagging a pass in the backcourt, which led to his And-1. No assists, but he did run a nice little two-man action with Castleton to set him up for FTs. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting (3-8 from three, 0-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -8.

Lewis -- -- He looked a little more active out there tonight. We saw some off-ball defensive work from him, which is an area of concern. He deflected a pass on a kickout. He also jumped a passing lane for a steal, took it the distance and couldn’t finish the throwdown attempt. He had another baseline drive he tried to hammer over a defender and earned FTs on. I appreciate the attempt. He missed all three of his attempts behind the arc. A couple of them he misread the D, thinking he’d have a clean look after the flyby. But they were still able to get challenges in. He can attack off the three line and should have on both of those. He also had a nice putback, crashing the glass. So just more activity made it feel like he leveled up just a little bit in this game. Let’s see if that continues. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-9 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards (2 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 18 minutes. He was a +9.

Baugh -- -- His three ball was ridiculously bad in this game. His one make he banked. He missed a couple others by at least a couple of feet. Just some ridiculously bad shooting. His best play was a high gather over the defender on the break to score a layup. Very nice. But, overall, in the shooting area…yuck. He continued to move the ball well and find guys. He tried to thread a couple that teammates couldn’t get. Hard to say exactly whose fault on those as one looked like it went through a man’s hands. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-6 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 7 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +15.

Fudge -- -- Better outing from him tonight. The broadcast keyed in how much he enjoyed playing the game, smiling after blocking a shot out of bounds and hitting a three. He also had a dunk on the break and some FTs. He somehow missed an oop and point-blank putback of his miss. He buried his only attempt from three. Overall, nice minutes and activity. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-4 shooting (1-1 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 1 board and 1 block in 12 minutes. He was a +4.

Killeya-Jones -- -- Better minutes from Sacha. He sank his only attempt from three (did blow it at the line going 1-4). On one of his freethrow misses, though, he followed it up to grab the board and jammed it back in. He also hit a runner on the two-man game. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting (1-1 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 steal,1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +1.

DuBois -- -- Slow start for the team again, but once again they were able to recover in the first quarter. It would be nice to find some consistency in the starters so the team can get into a better rhythm out of the gates… First shot of each half was set up for Christie… They also gave Christie minutes bringing the ball up and running the point. I think they want to get him some reps organizing the offense. That will give him a little more confidence in the regular season…

[tox]

Thanks DB!

As always, loved what I saw from Christie. But I want to give a shout out to Lewis. He has a lot of skill work to do (especially on that ugly push shot jumper), but I really liked his activity off ball today. He also shows a lot of promise on PoA defense. I feel like in a few years he can be a really good player, if he has the work ethic.

[Laker7]

Thanks DB! Excellent break down.

Continuation of the first two games as far as individuals but better collective execution. Getting more minutes to the future guys (MC, ML, CC, etc.) and less to the camp fodder.

Max L showed hustle and length and had a shot at getting minutes due to his defense and athleticism. JHS kind of disappointed me in this game offensively. Just could not buy a bucket.

Jury is still out on CC for me. He seems to do well against smaller opponents but seems to struggle against the bigger ones. I agree with DB, in order for him to be effective you have to run the offense through him. Being off ball negates his strengths and he just seems to stand around. Does not work hard enough for rebounds.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Laker7]

OBTW, I do not know which is more annoying. Know nothing announcers in Sacto or the ESPN ones with verbal diarrhea in Vegas who want to spend their whole time talking about everything and anyone who is not actually playing the the game.
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Darvin Ham is an idiot!

[Dr. Laker]

Thanks, DB! Max Christie will become a quality NBA player on both ends.
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On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns".

[pio2u]

THX DB!

[pio2u]

THX DB!