Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 10:12 pm Post subject: SUNS -at- LAKERS - 1-11-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
Sluggish... The Lakers didn’t look up to the challenge from the start.
The Suns hit five threes in the first four minutes, and the Lakers trailed 17-9 when they called a timeout. They didn’t feel the Lakers at all defensively. The lead would edge up in the second quarter, but the game didn’t get out of hand until midway through the third quarter.
The Lakers turned over the ball and missed jumpers as they went without a field goal for 4 minutes in that third. The Suns pulled away with a 14-1 run.
L.A. struggled to get good challenges on shooters without fouling, and the overly perimeter-oriented game didn’t play to their strengths.
A 15-2 Laker run cut the lead to 19 midway through the fourth, but there was no chance. The Lakers fell 127-109.
Laker fans were grumbling after this one.
LeBron -- -- Ankle twist early in the second quarter, then tweaked his shoulder a little while later. I’m just glad he got out of this one without anything severe. He was one of the only players to get to the rim for the Lakers. Even then, didn’t do that a lot. It was a good passing game from Bron, however. He had a sweet behind-the-back pass from about 20 feet out to Russell under the hoop for a score. I also liked seeing him and Reaves run the two-man game, where Bron took the pass on the short-roll to hit AD for a layup. Bron with the ball on the short-roll is deadly. I’d like to see it a little more. Just 10 points tonight. No Laker got into the 20-point mark scoring in this game. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 3-11 shooting (0-4 from three, 4-7 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 1 foul in 24 minutes. He was a -25.
Davis -- -- I’m not sure what the plan was offensively for AD in this one, but we’ve got to have better from him. You need to attack with AD relentlessly and soften the middle. AD maybe just wasn’t up for it after dominating this matchup earlier this season. He had a few dunks. One off a quick first step. Another off the Bron short-roll. And another on a post-entry. Turnovers were an issue in this game. He, Bron, Russell and Reaves had 13 combined. No one was clean. He lost the ball in th epost, strapped on the line on another. We just didn’t seem to have the intensity out there tonight. When he has low FTs or low offensive board, the activity isn’t where it needs to be. Just 1 FT and no offensive boards in this one. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 6-11 shooting (0-2 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -24.
Prince -- -- He made a couple threes and floater in the first half. He knocked down another three in the second half. He looked a little annoyed with the team effort at one point. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (3-8 from three) to go with 6 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -30.
Reaves -- -- I want to say he had all three of his turnovers in that third quarter. Very sloppy and that played into the run the Suns got. Good to see Reaves hit a couple of threes (including a pull-up when his man went over the top of the screen…he’s really improved that this season, surprised he doesn’t try it more.) Defensively, it felt like the Suns were just going to shoot right over him without worry. They looked really comfortable getting into their shots against him. When he tried to challenge better, it turned into fouls. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 4-7 shooting (2-3 from three, 3-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 6 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -23.
Reddish -- -- Knee soreness cut his night short. He’d miss a three and play just 8 minutes. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 1 foul in 8 minutes. He was a -5.
Russell -- -- “Fouls and turnovers just made it kind of an easy night for them,” Russell said afterward. The team was a -20 when he was off the court, +2 on it. Some late-game relaxed defense, but he was playing his game, being aggressive and hitting perimeter shots. The three ball was falling and he also scored an And-1 layup. Nice job finishing that behind-the-back feed from Bron to give the Laker a lone highlight. He banged knees in the third quarter and went down in pain. Asked about trade rumors and if he was uncomfortable. “It is what it is. Since I’ve been in the league I’ve kind of been dealing with that,” he said. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 7-14 shooting (3-7 from three, 2-4 from the line) to go with 1 board, 6 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 27 minutes. He was a +2.
Christie -- -- I’m surprised he was as efficient as the numbers indicate. When he missed, it seemed loud -- getting blocked a few times. But I really like the aggressiveness, even with the stars on the floor. He really looked comfortable on that end, hitting a three, getting to the midrange and the rim. He struggled to defend Booker and picked up his third foul in the first half. The Lakers challenged the third foul on a kickout by Booker and that was successful to save him a foul. He didn’t get another foul the rest of the game. Good learning experience for him and good outing. If Reddish needs to rest his knee, I’d like to see them start Max again. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-8 shooting (1-3 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -2.
Hayes -- -- He started the second quarter in place of Wood, who was out with the migraine. They missed Wood against Durant, which allows other defenders to go elsewhere. Hayes quickly picked up an offensive foul on a screen. He’d pick up 4 fouls in just over 4 minutes, two of those on offensive screens. He’d foul out in the second half. He and Reaves teamed up for a lob dunk. Good to see that chemistry still there. Bron also found him for a dunk. Russell lost the ball on a play in the backcourt and Hayes got hammered on trying to block a dunk attempt. Thanks, guys. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 3-3 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 5 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +1.
Vanderbilt -- -- He sank a three in this one. It actually looked good as soon as it left his hands, he was leaning forward and drilled it. He was awful a the FT line, though. Some good hustle from him and that made some things happen. We put him on Booker in the second half with the starters. He’s given him problems in the past. Good energy on the offensive glass. We need guys like him and Reddish defensively against the Suns with all their fire power. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 9 boards (3 offensive), 2 assists, 2 steals and no fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -1.
Hood-Schifino -- -- Glad to see he finally got some minutes going down to the G-League. He really looked like he lost any confidence he may have had in his last game with the Lakers. He attacked off the three line for a layup. He missed a long jumper on iso. He got blocked on a layup off a nice spin move. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting in 5 minutes. He was a +4.
Mays -- -- Good work. One of the few interesting things in this game. The Lakers new two-way signing got some garbage time action. He attacked Booker off the three line with a behind-the-back dribble to get into a layup for his first Laker bucket. He then took a kickout in the corner, dribbled once and hit the three. He missed a floater in the middle of the paint. He then made a layup on the break as the Lakers rattled off a 10-0 run to for a timeout and cut it to…22. He dunked off a backdoor cut when Vando found him. He got a nice bounce on a three to fall for him. He blindsided a man on an inbounds pass for a steal. More production in one game than JHS has had all season. I think this is why they picked him up, especially with Vincent out for 6-7 more weeks. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-6 shooting (2-2 from three) to go with 1 offensive board, 1 assist, 1 steal and no fouls in 11 minutes. He was a +9.
Windler -- -- He sank a deep catch and shoot three on his first attempt for his first Laker bucket. The Lakers picked up some experienced players with their two-way deals. Windler had an injury year that made him still eligible for a two-way. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 1 assist and 1 foul in 4 minutes. He was a +4.
Ham -- -- Key Moment: That third quarter effort by the Lakers was pretty sad. Sloppy ball and the offense died. They went 4 minutes without a field goal.
Key Substitution: He started an AD, Bron, Vando, Prince, Reaves lineup in the second half. Prince got the Durant assignment and Vando got Booker with Reddish not playing the second half. So no Reddish in the second for a push. No Wood and we had to rely on Hayes. No Rui, who we really needed. And, of course, no Vincent.
Key Stats: The 18 turnovers were painful. The Suns got 28 points off those. Cut that in half, please.
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35992 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 11:45 pm Post subject:
First. I watched the game in bed on my tablet after the first quarter and was semi-asleep the entire time, so was largely spared having to watch this one. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8402 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 11:49 pm Post subject:
I said this in another thread. It seemed the Lakers just didn't play hard enough in this game. Kenny Smith said on TNT that the Lakers in general don't play hard enough until March or April and that a lot of it is LeBron James. That really annoys me.
I know LeBron needs to conserve his energy, but he needs to do a better job of getting this team to come out strong early in games, even if he waits until the second half to really look for his shot. _________________ Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers
Joined: 13 Sep 2008 Posts: 5742 Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2024 11:54 pm Post subject:
Made it through the first half of the 3rd Q and then gave up. Why bother watching and caring if the players don't. Stand around offense, no movement, can't set a single decent pick, can't rebound for (bleep), brickfest from the FT line and turnover galore. I'm surprised the Suns only won by 22.
Still don't understand what Ham does. Call a (bleep) timeout for crying out loud!
Thanks DB! Watching the games off the DVR lately, so I can take a break from the sad display of bad basketball when I want. We did have quite a few guys out this game but that's no excuse for a lack of effort, execution and any semblance of a system.
I keep asking myself why I am still watching the games. Hoping to see effort from everybody and development from the youngsters. And that Ham will start doing something, anything, that isn't the total opposite of conventional basketball wisdom.
I don’t know how u keep chugging along the Westbrook era, now the underachieving era, take the break bro _________________ “The main goal for the Lakers is to win a championship. All I care about, all we care about, is to raise another banner in the rafters.“
Talent doesn't matter if the coaching system sucks. Our coaching position has been a revolving door since Phil left. Guys like Spolestra or Popovich just don't grow on trees. _________________ Lakers. Built different.
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-- Ankle twist early in the second quarter, then tweaked his shoulder a little while later. I’m just glad he got out of this one without anything severe. He was one of the only players to get to the rim for the Lakers. Even then, didn’t do that a lot. It was a good passing game from Bron, however. He had a sweet behind-the-back pass from about 20 feet out to Russell under the hoop for a score. I also liked seeing him and Reaves run the two-man game, where Bron took the pass on the short-roll to hit AD for a layup. Bron with the ball on the short-roll is deadly. I’d like to see it a little more. Just 10 points tonight. No Laker got into the 20-point mark scoring in this game. 
-- I’m not sure what the plan was offensively for AD in this one, but we’ve got to have better from him. You need to attack with AD relentlessly and soften the middle. AD maybe just wasn’t up for it after dominating this matchup earlier this season. He had a few dunks. One off a quick first step. Another off the Bron short-roll. And another on a post-entry. Turnovers were an issue in this game. He, Bron, Russell and Reaves had 13 combined. No one was clean. He lost the ball in th epost, strapped on the line on another. We just didn’t seem to have the intensity out there tonight. When he has low FTs or low offensive board, the activity isn’t where it needs to be. Just 1 FT and no offensive boards in this one. 
-- He made a couple threes and floater in the first half. He knocked down another three in the second half. He looked a little annoyed with the team effort at one point. 
-- I want to say he had all three of his turnovers in that third quarter. Very sloppy and that played into the run the Suns got. Good to see Reaves hit a couple of threes (including a pull-up when his man went over the top of the screen…he’s really improved that this season, surprised he doesn’t try it more.) Defensively, it felt like the Suns were just going to shoot right over him without worry. They looked really comfortable getting into their shots against him. When he tried to challenge better, it turned into fouls. 
-- Knee soreness cut his night short. He’d miss a three and play just 8 minutes. 
-- “Fouls and turnovers just made it kind of an easy night for them,” Russell said afterward. The team was a -20 when he was off the court, +2 on it. Some late-game relaxed defense, but he was playing his game, being aggressive and hitting perimeter shots. The three ball was falling and he also scored an And-1 layup. Nice job finishing that behind-the-back feed from Bron to give the Laker a lone highlight. He banged knees in the third quarter and went down in pain. Asked about trade rumors and if he was uncomfortable. “It is what it is. Since I’ve been in the league I’ve kind of been dealing with that,” he said. 
-- I’m surprised he was as efficient as the numbers indicate. When he missed, it seemed loud -- getting blocked a few times. But I really like the aggressiveness, even with the stars on the floor. He really looked comfortable on that end, hitting a three, getting to the midrange and the rim. He struggled to defend Booker and picked up his third foul in the first half. The Lakers challenged the third foul on a kickout by Booker and that was successful to save him a foul. He didn’t get another foul the rest of the game. Good learning experience for him and good outing. If Reddish needs to rest his knee, I’d like to see them start Max again. 
-- He started the second quarter in place of Wood, who was out with the migraine. They missed Wood against Durant, which allows other defenders to go elsewhere. Hayes quickly picked up an offensive foul on a screen. He’d pick up 4 fouls in just over 4 minutes, two of those on offensive screens. He’d foul out in the second half. He and Reaves teamed up for a lob dunk. Good to see that chemistry still there. Bron also found him for a dunk. Russell lost the ball on a play in the backcourt and Hayes got hammered on trying to block a dunk attempt. Thanks, guys. 
-- He sank a three in this one. It actually looked good as soon as it left his hands, he was leaning forward and drilled it. He was awful a the FT line, though. Some good hustle from him and that made some things happen. We put him on Booker in the second half with the starters. He’s given him problems in the past. Good energy on the offensive glass. We need guys like him and Reddish defensively against the Suns with all their fire power. 
-- Glad to see he finally got some minutes going down to the G-League. He really looked like he lost any confidence he may have had in his last game with the Lakers. He attacked off the three line for a layup. He missed a long jumper on iso. He got blocked on a layup off a nice spin move. 
-- Good work. One of the few interesting things in this game. The Lakers new two-way signing got some garbage time action. He attacked Booker off the three line with a behind-the-back dribble to get into a layup for his first Laker bucket. He then took a kickout in the corner, dribbled once and hit the three. He missed a floater in the middle of the paint. He then made a layup on the break as the Lakers rattled off a 10-0 run to for a timeout and cut it to…22. He dunked off a backdoor cut when Vando found him. He got a nice bounce on a three to fall for him. He blindsided a man on an inbounds pass for a steal. More production in one game than JHS has had all season. I think this is why they picked him up, especially with Vincent out for 6-7 more weeks. 
-- He sank a deep catch and shoot three on his first attempt for his first Laker bucket. The Lakers picked up some experienced players with their two-way deals. Windler had an injury year that made him still eligible for a two-way. 
-- Key Moment: That third quarter effort by the Lakers was pretty sad. Sloppy ball and the offense died. They went 4 minutes without a field goal.
