Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2024 10:11 pm Post subject: LAKERS -at- CLIPPERS - 1-23-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
Missing LBJ... The Lakers dropped another game with LeBron sidelined despite another strong outing from D’Angelo Russell.
The Clippers are an especially difficult team to not have Bron. Kawhi was able to take advantage going 7-7 in the first half as the Clippers shot 66% as a team.
Despite trailing 77-64 at the half, the Lakers didn’t go away.
They won the third quarter by a few points. They switched AD onto Kawhi defensively. With Russell scoring and finding teammates, Vando crashing the offensive glass, AD using his size, they were scrappy and stayed close.
In the fourth, they were able to trim the lead to 2 points. A block in transition by Russell against Harden and a subsequent Laker score had them right there. They had opportunities to tie the game or take the lead shortly later, but unforced errors and missed open looks did them in.
They missed LeBron defensively against Kawhi, and they missed him setting the table and executing in that fourth quarter. AD had just one attempt as the Lakers scored only 19 points in the fourth.
The game was there for them, but miscues in transition, missed freethrows, missed open shots all conspired against them when the Clippers went on a 9-0 run to finally get separation. The Lakers fell 127-116.
Davis -- -- He took Kawhi more in the second half. Kawhi started the game off 8-8. The Clippers got switches a little too easy. The problem with not having Bron out there to have a big body on a guy like Kawhi is that it’s much easier for the Clippers to pull AD away from the paint. There were times when Harden was on him. AD had a dunk off that and also drew some extra possessions with getting fouled on the offensive glass or regaining possession just by putting pressure on the smalls. Offensively, he started off the game with a couple of jumpers. He and Russell had some nice moments of chemistry, including a great lob dunk. Really poor job of getting the ball to him in the fourth quarter, just one shot. Again, we missed Bron here. Down the stretch, especially. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 12-20 shooting (0-1 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 12 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -5.
Russell -- -- Strong effort by Russell tonight. There was a block by Russell in transition midway through the fourth against Harden where the Lakers would cut it to 2. That could have been a play of the game. Unfortunately, the Lakers, including Russell just fell apart after that. For his part, he had some turnovers right after that and missed shots that cost them. He was carrying the team quite a bit prior to that, so maybe just too much heavy lifting caused him to fade late. Good job attacking for layups, getting into his midrange, hitting threes, including some tough ones. He had the Laker bench and coaches fired up. His passing in the set plays was on point. No look AD lobs, threading a no-looker to Reaves through the D for a layup, finding Cam cutting backdoor with a perfectly timed pass for a dunk, he set the table for the team.The Stats: He scored 27 points on 9-21 shooting (4-10 from three, 5-6 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 10 assists, 1 block, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a -7.
Reaves -- -- The Clippers really worked on getting Reaves to switch on Kawhi. Sometimes it was basic switches on two-man actions, other times it was some clever play calling that forced Reaves as the help man. He had some scrappy moments on D, but that’s a tough ask. They did a good job shaking AD off him. Offensively, Reaves missed a few too many open looks and some late layups. A rare inefficient scoring game from him. There was a huge bogus charge called on Reaves attack where George took a dive and in no way had position to earn that. That came at a key juncture in the fourth. Ham should have challenged it but didn’t. Painful. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-14 shooting (2-8 from three) to go with 2 boards, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -8.
Prince -- -- He made 2-6 from three, but it felt like a worse shooting performance than that. I think because he was missing the wide open ones with no one around him. He had a bad stretch in the fourth getting stripped on a drive, missing some open ones, but he also made a key layup on a drive on that Russell block to cut it to 2. Despite the miscues, he still scored 5 of our 19 in that fourth. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-10 shooting (2-6 from three, 1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -5.
Hachimura -- -- He made his only three attempt on a swing-swing that found him in the corner. He’d hit a couple of midrange jumpers. His best play was a block on one end and then he got the ball on the other in transition and dunked. It still always surprises me when we get that rim protection from Rui, but the team is much better whenever he shows a presence on that end. He was called for a goaltend on another that I’m not sure about. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 5-8 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and 1 foul in 30 minutes. He was a -8.
Vanderbilt -- -- He said they made an emphasis at shootaround on going after offensive boards. He was relentless and Ham seemed optimistic that this might be something that can be carried forward since it was some purposeful intention tonight. I hope so. That’s an area that Vando can elevate his impact. The motor was going non-stop. Ham did mention others will need to be more aware in transition defense. So a lot of action around the rim as a result from that. He also had some cuts off AD drawing doubles for scores. We had a rare Cam to Vando pass in transition for a dunk. There was a play late in this game that kind of typified the Laker game. Vando had a great defensive stand against Russ, just eating up the drive and controlling it on D. But then he gave it right back with a turnover in transition. Overall, though, he won the possession battle with all that high activity, finishing with 6 offensive boards, 3 steals and a block. The Stats: :He scored 12 points on 4-10 shooting (0-1 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 9 boards (6 offensive), 2 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -9.
Wood -- -- He got on the move a little today and drew FTs and finished an And-1 as well. He pushed out rebounds and turned those into FTs, got to make those, though. Some good mobility on both ends. We missed having Bron on the floor in those non-AD minutes. But they had some scrappy moments with Wood manning the C spot. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-2 shooting (2-5 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 3 assists, 1 turnover and no fouls in 13 minutes. He was a -5.
Christie -- -- Not a lot of minutes in this game. He missed a half court heave for his only attempt. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting and had no other stats in 10 minutes. He was a -3.
Reddish -- -- He sank a couple of threes in this game, but struggled to hit his FTs. He also had a nice backdoor cut on a set action in early offense where Russell hit him for a dunk. He also attacked off a made basket on a quick counterstrike to setup Vando for a dunk. Some good moments on D, stripping Russ for a stop, blocking Harden on a three. On that block, Harden kicked his foot out a little and Cam landed on, twisting his ankle. If it’s a reviewable play for a flagrant to protect shooters, they might also want to do that to check on plays like that, as well. That took Cam out of the game. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-5 shooting (2-4 from three, 1-4 from the line) to go with 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 16 minutes. He was a -1.
Hayes -- -- Garbage time final minute. No stats. The Stats: No stats in 1 minute. He was a +0.
Lewis -- -- He scored a layup on a drive in the final minute. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting in 1 minute. He was a +0.
Hood-Schifino -- -- He forgot the ball on an attack for a turnover. It doesn’t look like they credited him for it. The Stats: No stats in 1 minute. He was a +0.
Ham -- -- Key Moment: They could have rolled over in this game, but battled all night. Late in the third, the Lakers got a little sloppy. They threw the ball away, missed their freethrows and then carried some of that over to the fourth. Sloppy turnovers and passes in transition in that fourth. Despite all that they cut the lead to 2. They should have led by 6-8 points during this stretch had they been cleaner. That would have helped them absorb a 9-0 Clipper run later. Instead, the Clippers were able to find some separation. They just kind of nickel and dimed themselves with unforced errors. Good job having the guys competing hard without Bron. Just needed better offensive execution in that fourth.
Key Substitution: Good energy by Vando tonight. I like that Ham mentioned them working on some things on the offensive glass. If guys are going to leave Vando in the corners or dunker spots, he’s got to either corner crash or carve out some space for himself. He’s the most athletic guy out there and plays smaller minutes, so his motor needs to always be at 10. Hopefully, this is something we see with consistency.
Key Stats: The Clippers shot 59% for the game, including 52% from three. We held them to 21 in that last quarter, but didn’t execute well offensively. Guys missed good looks or coughed the ball up with some bad decisions.
Playing DLo and AR together at the same time is defensive suicide vs. offensively skilled teams. As mentioned above, AR in particular was hunted almost every half court set by the opponent.
Whether to shoot over him any where all the way to the 3P line or to blow past him with the dribble or to attack him in the paint, KL, Harden, and Powell were relentless until the Lakers desperately started double teaming whoever went at him once Reddish went down.
DLo wasn't much better when they attacked him, though his block on Harden (who fumbled the layup a bit) was decent. I hope we go back to staggering the two from playing together once we're healthy again. Too many teams are aware of this significant weakness, and are offensively skilled enough to take advantage.
DLo was effective for three quarters. In the fourth quarter, he faded and didn't have the energy to be effective and was not very clean with his entry passes into AD. When DLo is not effective offensively, it highlights the ability to play DLo off the court if he is not scoring
AR was definitely hunted by the Clips. When the DLo/AR partnership on the court is not producing offensively, how will Ham make the DLo/AR partnership work.
Vando was great in providing greatly needed energy but was awful in the fourth quarter with sloppy offensive play that destroyed potential momentum resulting from grat defensive plays.
When will Rui make more of a positive impact on the game.
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8404 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 1:43 am Post subject:
We had no chance in this game without LeBron. At the same time, it highlighted a few needs:
1. More two-way players at the guard and wing spots
2. At least one other player who is a scoring option and can get hot from downtown
3. Another guy besides LeBron with speed who can consistently create extra transition opportunities, even when the defense is somewhat set.
Could Dejounte Murray take care of these three needs? _________________ Lakers 49ers Chargers Dodgers
I think it’s time, gotta pick one of DLo or AR and pair that guy with a defensive back court stud, I mean DLo-Murray or AR-Murray, something like that or a Marcus smart or a Bruce Brown or maybe even Klay _________________ “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.“
The Clippers were scorching hot. Look at each players efficiency tonight on that team. It’s hard when EVERYONE on the other team is shooting > 60%. Westbrick was 3/3 from 3!!!! Even without a shoe.
I thought we played really good D at times. They just efficiently shot over the top. Unfortunately teams seem to get super hot against us. I mean jump shooting wise.
We had no chance in this game without LeBron. At the same time, it highlighted a few needs:
1. More two-way players at the guard and wing spots
2. At least one other player who is a scoring option and can get hot from downtown
3. Another guy besides LeBron with speed who can consistently create extra transition opportunities, even when the defense is somewhat set.
Could Dejounte Murray take care of these three needs?
1) is Murray a definitive upgrade that “Moves the Needle” and be more effective than DLo?
2) Recently DLo, and at the Clipper game for three quarters, was the scoring option that you’ve asked for and shown that he can get hot from downtown. Supposedly CWood and Rui are also viable options
3) Player with speed that has provided extra offensive transition opportunities has been Vanderbilt - sometimes Cam and Prince have done that in the past.
Hopefully Ham will find the right rotations and lineups to unleashed the talents on this team as TLue and Spoelstra have done and Griffith failed to do
Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 6405 Location: Past left field
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2024 1:50 pm Post subject:
kfkilla wrote:
The Clippers were scorching hot. Look at each players efficiency tonight on that team. It’s hard when EVERYONE on the other team is shooting > 60%. Westbrick was 3/3 from 3!!!! Even without a shoe.
I thought we played really good D at times. They just efficiently shot over the top. Unfortunately teams seem to get super hot against us. I mean jump shooting wise.
You are correct BUT the Lakers were playing drop coverage to prevent penetration and giving a lot of wide open three point shots to the Clippers. At some point you have to run them off the three point line and the Lakers did not do that. _________________ Darvin Ham is an idiot!
The Clippers were scorching hot. Look at each players efficiency tonight on that team. It’s hard when EVERYONE on the other team is shooting > 60%. Westbrick was 3/3 from 3!!!! Even without a shoe.
I thought we played really good D at times. They just efficiently shot over the top. Unfortunately teams seem to get super hot against us. I mean jump shooting wise.
You are correct BUT the Lakers were playing drop coverage to prevent penetration and giving a lot of wide open three point shots to the Clippers. At some point you have to run them off the three point line and the Lakers did not do that.
If they are letting Westbrook have wide open 3s while tagging Kwahi/PG13/Harden - every team uses this strategy
Whenever Westbrook is facing the Lakers, it is an IMPORTANT game to him
How will we help AD made a greater impact on games, like how Embiid/Joker/Giannis can take over games
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-- He took Kawhi more in the second half. Kawhi started the game off 8-8. The Clippers got switches a little too easy. The problem with not having Bron out there to have a big body on a guy like Kawhi is that it’s much easier for the Clippers to pull AD away from the paint. There were times when Harden was on him. AD had a dunk off that and also drew some extra possessions with getting fouled on the offensive glass or regaining possession just by putting pressure on the smalls. Offensively, he started off the game with a couple of jumpers. He and Russell had some nice moments of chemistry, including a great lob dunk. Really poor job of getting the ball to him in the fourth quarter, just one shot. Again, we missed Bron here. Down the stretch, especially. 
-- Strong effort by Russell tonight. There was a block by Russell in transition midway through the fourth against Harden where the Lakers would cut it to 2. That could have been a play of the game. Unfortunately, the Lakers, including Russell just fell apart after that. For his part, he had some turnovers right after that and missed shots that cost them. He was carrying the team quite a bit prior to that, so maybe just too much heavy lifting caused him to fade late. Good job attacking for layups, getting into his midrange, hitting threes, including some tough ones. He had the Laker bench and coaches fired up. His passing in the set plays was on point. No look AD lobs, threading a no-looker to Reaves through the D for a layup, finding Cam cutting backdoor with a perfectly timed pass for a dunk, he set the table for the team.
-- The Clippers really worked on getting Reaves to switch on Kawhi. Sometimes it was basic switches on two-man actions, other times it was some clever play calling that forced Reaves as the help man. He had some scrappy moments on D, but that’s a tough ask. They did a good job shaking AD off him. Offensively, Reaves missed a few too many open looks and some late layups. A rare inefficient scoring game from him. There was a huge bogus charge called on Reaves attack where George took a dive and in no way had position to earn that. That came at a key juncture in the fourth. Ham should have challenged it but didn’t. Painful. 
-- He made 2-6 from three, but it felt like a worse shooting performance than that. I think because he was missing the wide open ones with no one around him. He had a bad stretch in the fourth getting stripped on a drive, missing some open ones, but he also made a key layup on a drive on that Russell block to cut it to 2. Despite the miscues, he still scored 5 of our 19 in that fourth. 
-- He made his only three attempt on a swing-swing that found him in the corner. He’d hit a couple of midrange jumpers. His best play was a block on one end and then he got the ball on the other in transition and dunked. It still always surprises me when we get that rim protection from Rui, but the team is much better whenever he shows a presence on that end. He was called for a goaltend on another that I’m not sure about. 
-- He said they made an emphasis at shootaround on going after offensive boards. He was relentless and Ham seemed optimistic that this might be something that can be carried forward since it was some purposeful intention tonight. I hope so. That’s an area that Vando can elevate his impact. The motor was going non-stop. Ham did mention others will need to be more aware in transition defense. So a lot of action around the rim as a result from that. He also had some cuts off AD drawing doubles for scores. We had a rare Cam to Vando pass in transition for a dunk. There was a play late in this game that kind of typified the Laker game. Vando had a great defensive stand against Russ, just eating up the drive and controlling it on D. But then he gave it right back with a turnover in transition. Overall, though, he won the possession battle with all that high activity, finishing with 6 offensive boards, 3 steals and a block. 
-- He got on the move a little today and drew FTs and finished an And-1 as well. He pushed out rebounds and turned those into FTs, got to make those, though. Some good mobility on both ends. We missed having Bron on the floor in those non-AD minutes. But they had some scrappy moments with Wood manning the C spot. 
-- He sank a couple of threes in this game, but struggled to hit his FTs. He also had a nice backdoor cut on a set action in early offense where Russell hit him for a dunk. He also attacked off a made basket on a quick counterstrike to setup Vando for a dunk. Some good moments on D, stripping Russ for a stop, blocking Harden on a three. On that block, Harden kicked his foot out a little and Cam landed on, twisting his ankle. If it’s a reviewable play for a flagrant to protect shooters, they might also want to do that to check on plays like that, as well. That took Cam out of the game. 
-- Garbage time final minute. No stats. 
-- He scored a layup on a drive in the final minute. 
-- He forgot the ball on an attack for a turnover. It doesn’t look like they credited him for it. 
-- Key Moment: They could have rolled over in this game, but battled all night. Late in the third, the Lakers got a little sloppy. They threw the ball away, missed their freethrows and then carried some of that over to the fourth. Sloppy turnovers and passes in transition in that fourth. Despite all that they cut the lead to 2. They should have led by 6-8 points during this stretch had they been cleaner. That would have helped them absorb a 9-0 Clipper run later. Instead, the Clippers were able to find some separation. They just kind of nickel and dimed themselves with unforced errors. Good job having the guys competing hard without Bron. Just needed better offensive execution in that fourth.
