Posted: Sun Apr 07, 2024 9:06 pm Post subject: TWOLVES -at- LAKERS - 4-7-24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings
AD Out Again... With no LeBron on the second night of the back-to-back, the Lakers lost AD after a quarter. They lost their lead and their defense, as well, in the next 12 minutes.
They were down 3 when Jaxson Hayes, who filled in admirably for AD, sat with 5 minutes left in the second quarter. The Lakers went to the Rui, Prince, Reddish, Dinwiddie and Reaves lineup. They called a timeout down 12 just 2 minutes later. Reid was just hitting set shot threes on his way to 23 points on 5-6 from three in the first half..
After giving up 46 points in that second quarter, the Lakers trailed 79-64 at the half.
They trailed by 20 a minute into the half, but they battled. After cutting the lead to 12 with some steals and good challenges on D, they forced a timeout.
Filling in for AD, Hayes had multiple dunks on two-man sequences or changing ends with speed. That got the crowd going and forced another timeout as the Lakers continued their run, now 17-4 to cut the lead to 7.
The lead was down to 5 points when Hayes sat with 2 minutes left in the quarter when they sat Hayes. Rui, Prince, Reddish, Reaves, Russell lineup. While they cut it to 4 on a possession later, the small lineup fell back by 10 by the end of the quarter.
Turnovers to start the fourth allowed the Wolves to edge up the lead a little further. The Lakers would play them even in the fourth quarter. They missed their star power for sure. The Lakers fell 127-117.
Davis -- -- At the end of the first quarter, he was hit on the head on a putback slam with no call. Twice now, he’s been taken out of games getting hit in that eye with no call. This didn’t look as hard as the first time, but ended his night. The Lakers really struggled without him. Once Hayes would sit, the smaller lineups lost ground. You don’t give up 46 points in a quarter with him on the floor against the Wolves. Offensively, in the first quarter, a couple putback jams, a nice post feed to a cutting Russell to start the game. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting to go with 4 boards (3 offensive), 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a +4.
Russell -- -- Not a good night for Russell. Unfortunately, they needed a nuclear night offensively with no defense. Some floaters and drives. A nice play with him cutting off the AD post to start the game for a layup. His only make from three came with under 4 minutes remaining in the game on a pull-up. He did a great job setting the table, particularly for Hayes on the two-man actions. My favorite might have been a look off to freeze Gobert, while Hayes trailed and finished the dunk after a runway takeoff. The Stats: He scored 15 points on 5-19 shooting (1-7 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 11 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and no fouls in 39 minutes. He was a -3.
Reaves -- -- He and Russell shot a combined 9-33 from the floor. Too many turnovers for Reaves tonight, including two early in the fourth that allowed the Wolves to continue gaining separation on a run that carried over between quarters. He hit a couple of threes in eight attempts, one a swish from the wing on a kickout. Another, he sank behind a screen. The Stats: He scored 14 points on 4-14 shooting (2-8 from three, 4-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 4 turnovers and 3 fouls in 35 minutes. He was a -16.
Hachimura -- -- Rui showed up. He was aggressive from the midrange and post. He buried 4-5 from three, getting into those corners where he’s especially deadly. My favorite score might have been an attack off the three line, where he just exploded to the rim for a layup. He also had a nice oop from Dinwiddie in transition. A lot of bounce in his step. He was active and vocal. I’m still annoyed that we didn't play our best lineups from the start of the season. At one point I think Rui, Russell and Reaves were all coming off the bench at the same time. Ridiculous. But that silliness led to the Lakers needing all these games to close the season instead of being in the middle of the pack. He had 17 of his points in the second half. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 11-17 shooting (4-5 from three, 4-4 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a +1.
Dinwiddie -- -- If there is a silver lining to this game, it was getting Spencer more touches and involved in more plays with the ball in his hands. Having him throttle up the offense helps show the coaches what he can do and build some trust there. He led the Lakers with 16 points in the first half, hitting 3-3 from behind the arc. He missed a couple big ones early in the fourth -- a layup and a wide open corner three. Some nice feeds, including finding Rui for some of his scores and hitting Hayes cutting for a dunk. (He did miss Hayes rolling on one play early in the game…but that’s why you need more reps with the squad). Strong 7 assists with just 1 turnover. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 4-7 shooting (3-5 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 5 boards, 7 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -2.
Prince -- -- The ultra small lineups with Prince at the PF are tough to hold the line. The options here in this game are probably Castleton. Since you now need to swap Hayes and Rui as the Cs. Prince missed his only threes and was way too sloppy with the ball tonight, getting stripped on drives, picked on the perimeter and lost the ball in transition. As little usage as he has, 4 turnovers is awful. The Stats: He scored 6 points on 2-5 shooting (0-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 block and 4 turnovers in 25 minutes. He was a -22.
Hayes -- -- Valiant effort by Hayes tonight. His energy helped the team battle back. He had four dunks during the Laker 17-4 run in the third quarter. Defensively, he had 5 steals and a block. He was beating his men down court changing ends. Multiple times he had runways on his way to the hoop for finishes. Occasionally, some confusion on D with teammates, but that recovered from that early. “He’s gotten better game by game as the season has worn on by not making the mistakes of fouling or being out of position,” Ham said. “Doing a lot better job being in position early, again showing his hands, not fouling, not getting the little silly, not necessary fouls.” Probably another silver lining in this game was how the team rallied with him. Maybe that will give those second units a little more swagger. The Stats: He scored 19 points on 8-9 shooting to go with 10 boards, 5 steals, 1 block, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 33 minutes. He was a -14.
Christie -- -- He missed a corner three on a pass that probably should have gone to Hayes for an oop. Not much action. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 0-1 shooting from three (2-2 from the line) to go with 1 board and 1 assist in 5 minutes. He was a -1.
Reddish -- -- In to cover Edwards midway through the first. Pretty quiet night. He would hit a corner three late in the third that cut the lead to 4 points, the closest the team would get. His other score was on a feed from Russell in transition for a layup. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-4 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 2 boards and 1 foul in 14 minutes. He was a -14.
Mays -- -- In for the final 2 minutes of garbage time. Nothing to report. The Stats: No stats in 2 minutes. He was a +6.
Castleton -- -- He attacked off the dribble from the three line for a layup. He faked a handoff, attacked and drew FTs. We needed some size out there, coach went small. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-1 shooting (2-2 from the line) in 2 minutes. He was a +6.
Lewis -- -- He missed a three on the kind of garbage time we don’t like. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three to go with 1 board and no fouls in 2 minutes. He was a +6.
Ham -- -- Key Moment: As soon as we went small in that second quarter. The Wolves got separation. Obviously, losing AD at the end of the first was the key moment in this one. The team got killed in the second quarter for 46 points. Keep it at least reasonable and maybe we have a game despite missing guys.
Key Substitution: Jaxson Hayes tried his best to fill in for AD. The team had a nice stretch in that third quarter. But having to start him over AD the rest of the game…without LeBron? Again, too much for this team.
Key Stats: The Lakers lost just one quarter in this game, the 46-27 second quarter. Wolves got a couple lucky bounces on threes, but even that the Lakers needed a little more resistance defensively. Naz Reid destroyed them with set shot threes once again. He had 31 points. Uggh.
No Vincent, little Christie, little Cam, little AD and no LBR led to Ham trusting Prince against top level talent/team - when will Ham learn
We were not winning this game. However, Hams love for small ball when he has a SEASONs worth of DATA and the freaking eye test to tell him that going big is just better is a testament to how stupid he is. There is no sugar coating it, dude is just not very bright.
No Vincent, little Christie, little Cam, little AD and no LBR led to Ham trusting Prince against top level talent/team - when will Ham learn
We were not winning this game. However, Hams love for small ball when he has a SEASONs worth of DATA and the freaking eye test to tell him that going big is just better is a testament to how stupid he is. There is no sugar coating it, dude is just not very bright
maybe Ham likes Prince because he knows that Prince is consistent with the following:
No Offense
No Defense
No Rebounds
No Handles
No Effort
If Ham is committed to Small Ball, let Christie to Reddish to Castleton (maybe even Giles) have more run because they bring more to the table except trust - that he has in Prince
Good thing is that when Vando is back, it will be easier to incorporate him with the bench player because his value is his defense and effort
This was a tough one. AD battles the full 12 minutes of the 1st quarter then misses the rest of the game due to eye injury. LBJ out sick. No one else could get hot. It sucked, it really sucked. Hopefully we can stay strong. _________________ Lakers. Built different.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
-- At the end of the first quarter, he was hit on the head on a putback slam with no call. Twice now, he’s been taken out of games getting hit in that eye with no call. This didn’t look as hard as the first time, but ended his night. The Lakers really struggled without him. Once Hayes would sit, the smaller lineups lost ground. You don’t give up 46 points in a quarter with him on the floor against the Wolves. Offensively, in the first quarter, a couple putback jams, a nice post feed to a cutting Russell to start the game. 
-- Not a good night for Russell. Unfortunately, they needed a nuclear night offensively with no defense. Some floaters and drives. A nice play with him cutting off the AD post to start the game for a layup. His only make from three came with under 4 minutes remaining in the game on a pull-up. He did a great job setting the table, particularly for Hayes on the two-man actions. My favorite might have been a look off to freeze Gobert, while Hayes trailed and finished the dunk after a runway takeoff. 
-- He and Russell shot a combined 9-33 from the floor. Too many turnovers for Reaves tonight, including two early in the fourth that allowed the Wolves to continue gaining separation on a run that carried over between quarters. He hit a couple of threes in eight attempts, one a swish from the wing on a kickout. Another, he sank behind a screen. 
-- Rui showed up. He was aggressive from the midrange and post. He buried 4-5 from three, getting into those corners where he’s especially deadly. My favorite score might have been an attack off the three line, where he just exploded to the rim for a layup. He also had a nice oop from Dinwiddie in transition. A lot of bounce in his step. He was active and vocal. I’m still annoyed that we didn't play our best lineups from the start of the season. At one point I think Rui, Russell and Reaves were all coming off the bench at the same time. Ridiculous. But that silliness led to the Lakers needing all these games to close the season instead of being in the middle of the pack. He had 17 of his points in the second half. 
-- If there is a silver lining to this game, it was getting Spencer more touches and involved in more plays with the ball in his hands. Having him throttle up the offense helps show the coaches what he can do and build some trust there. He led the Lakers with 16 points in the first half, hitting 3-3 from behind the arc. He missed a couple big ones early in the fourth -- a layup and a wide open corner three. Some nice feeds, including finding Rui for some of his scores and hitting Hayes cutting for a dunk. (He did miss Hayes rolling on one play early in the game…but that’s why you need more reps with the squad). Strong 7 assists with just 1 turnover. 
-- The ultra small lineups with Prince at the PF are tough to hold the line. The options here in this game are probably Castleton. Since you now need to swap Hayes and Rui as the Cs. Prince missed his only threes and was way too sloppy with the ball tonight, getting stripped on drives, picked on the perimeter and lost the ball in transition. As little usage as he has, 4 turnovers is awful. 
-- Valiant effort by Hayes tonight. His energy helped the team battle back. He had four dunks during the Laker 17-4 run in the third quarter. Defensively, he had 5 steals and a block. He was beating his men down court changing ends. Multiple times he had runways on his way to the hoop for finishes. Occasionally, some confusion on D with teammates, but that recovered from that early. “He’s gotten better game by game as the season has worn on by not making the mistakes of fouling or being out of position,” Ham said. “Doing a lot better job being in position early, again showing his hands, not fouling, not getting the little silly, not necessary fouls.” Probably another silver lining in this game was how the team rallied with him. Maybe that will give those second units a little more swagger. 
-- He missed a corner three on a pass that probably should have gone to Hayes for an oop. Not much action. 
-- In to cover Edwards midway through the first. Pretty quiet night. He would hit a corner three late in the third that cut the lead to 4 points, the closest the team would get. His other score was on a feed from Russell in transition for a layup. 
-- In for the final 2 minutes of garbage time. Nothing to report. 
-- He attacked off the dribble from the three line for a layup. He faked a handoff, attacked and drew FTs. We needed some size out there, coach went small. 
-- He missed a three on the kind of garbage time we don’t like. 
-- Key Moment: As soon as we went small in that second quarter. The Wolves got separation. Obviously, losing AD at the end of the first was the key moment in this one. The team got killed in the second quarter for 46 points. Keep it at least reasonable and maybe we have a game despite missing guys.
