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DancingBarry Editor-in-Chief
Joined: 07 Sep 2001 Posts: 40331 Location: O.C.
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2024 9:30 pm Post subject: LAKERS -at- SUNS - 10-17-24 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings |
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35 from Dalton Knecht... The Lakers rookie went off. Can you have a breakout game in the preseason? Maybe.
If you’ve watched him in college, you know he has stretches where he can take over a game. In the summer league, the Lakers weren’t coaching to his strengths with consistency. Here at the next level, he’s finding his spots in the NBA and within the sets the Lakers are running. His game is NBA ready.
With the Lakers struggling to close the Suns, they looked to him to step up in the fourth. He drilled a big three from the right wing in the final minute. After getting a key stop with 9 seconds left, they called timeout, got him the ball in iso and he drilled another big three over the length of Bol Bol.
That sent the game to overtime, where Dalton came through with 13 of the Lakers 15 points (assisting on the other two). He sank two threes from the right side, before hitting a tough corner three on an inbounds with 2.8 seconds left on the shotclock and a man all over him. Nothing but net.
He’d carry the Lakers to the 128-122 overtime win.
No Lebron or Rui in this preseason game, so the starters and rotations were scrambled to start. Reddish and Christie were inserted into the starting lineup as the Lakers went small. Early in the game, AD had 15 of the Lakers first 21 points as he was feeling it from behind the arc.
The Suns had a 21-0 advantage on the break in the first half. Redick challenged the team at halftime and they responded, outsourcing the Suns 13-1 in the second half.
Davis -- -- The first play of the game, we set him up behind a screen for a three. He must have been feeling it in warmups because we called that number, he answered, and then drilled 4-5 from three in the first quarter. He’d have 15 of the Lakers first 21. The shot looked really good and he put up 8 threes in the first half. He had some interior scores in the third quarter set up by his guards before you thought he’d end up resting for the remainder of the night. But he started the fourth and dunked on a second effort off a drive. He’d get a cherry picking dunk and knock down an And-1 turnaround jumper in the post. He scored a lefty jumphook with low position to cut it to 3. He’d scored 35 points in 34 minutes before sitting. Strong outing by AD again. “He’s confident. It’s just the willingness,” JJ said that needs to be there for AD from deep. The Stats: He scored 35 points on 14-28 shooting (4-9 from three, 3-8 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 block and no fouls in 34 minutes. He was a -4.
Russell -- -- He’s doing a great job setting up teammates and being the trigger man for a lot of our off-screen plays. He led the team with 10 assists and probably a couple hockey assists, as well. Scoring-wise, the shot was MIA. He had his carwash inflatable jumper out there. That’s only image that comes to mind for me when he’s either hoisting up weird threes or turning easy jumpers into unnecessary fading, off-balance bricks. His body just seems all over the place sometimes. He had a bad stretch in the third when the Lakers fell back by nearly double digits after tying things up. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 2-9 shooting (0-5 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 1 board, 10 assists, 3 turnovers and 2 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -5.
Reaves -- -- Despite AD’s big start, it was AR who led the scoring at halftime with 18 points on 5-11 shooting. He drilled a three, got to the line five times and hit a number of floaters. With no LeBron, he’s got to step up the aggression and he did that. We didn’t use him as much in the second half. Once Russell sat, we went to the other guards to carry the load. The Stats: He scored 18 points on 6-12 shooting (1-4 from three, 5-5 from the line) to go with 8 boards, 2 assists and no fouls in 22 minutes. He was a +2.
Christie -- -- Very quiet night, but solid minutes. He sank a catch-and-shoot corner three, didn’t really bring it down on the catch. He hit a midrange pull-up on the two-man game. In the second half, an aggressive attack off a curl into the paint drew the defense and he then found AD rolling for the dunk. He drew some FTs trying to finish on the break. And backdoored his man in early offense to take a bounce pass and dunk. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 2-3 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and no fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -1.
Reddish -- -- Very active early on, crashing the glass, keeping balls alive, including one offensive board tapped to Hayes for a dunk. He needed a breather early in the second half it seemed after some good back and forth extra effort. So the wind isn’t there yet. I think Redick will appreciate that effort. Some decent D with a steal on KD and forcing a big into a prayer with another challenge. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 5 boards (2 offensive), 1 steal and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -5.
Knecht -- -- Who’s the last Laker rookie to go off like that in a preseason game? Knecht went nuts. He scored 12 in the fourth and 13 in the overtime and assisted on the other 2 we had in OT. Redick said Reggie Miller kind of challenged him saying it was high praise to say he was in the 1% of shooters. Knecht showed out for his coach. “It feels supernatural when you are in that state,” Redick said of being in the zone. Knecht buried two big threes in the final minute of regulation, including one out of a timeout with 4.8 seconds left. Both of those over Bol Bol. In OT, he called for a screen, got to the midrange and drew FTs (early in regulation, he got his man on his him in the same type of pull-up and drilled the jumper). He drilled a couple threes from the wing. Then with 2.8 on the shotclock, we inbounded to him in the corner and swished another three with a man in his jersey. The bench was just going nuts through all of this. The points just kept coming. What a beast. “He’s proven he’s ignitable time and time again,” Vincent said. Defensively, he had a number of good plays out there, including a big block in OT which then turned into an And-1 layup for him in transition on the other end. Earlier he had a block on a Beal on a stepback jumper and also forced him into hitting the side of the board on another three. We know he has no lack of confidence with that three ball, but he looks very comfortable anywhere on the NBA floor for a rookie. He even tried to cram with both hands over Nurkic earlier in the game. On that three that tied it up in regulation, “He just said be confident and do what you do,” Knecht said of Redick calling his number. The Stats: He scored 35 points on 10-18 shooting (8-13 from three, 7-8 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 32 minutes. He was a +7.
Hayes -- -- He ice the game in OT when Knecht found him for an And-1 in transition. Good job by Hayes and Traore patrolling the paint and being mobile and active on the perimeter down the stretch on D. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-5 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 9 boards (4 offensive), 2 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a +10.
Vincent -- -- Defensively, the Suns shot right over him a few times. Offensively, early on he looked very decisive. He sank a three on the horns flare screen. He scored a layup on an up and under. He then hit an elbow pull-up working off the screen. Nice mix there, but the quickness reacting to everything was great to see. When he came back late last season, he was trying to feel his way back into the game and lacked that. The Stats: He scored 7 points on 3-7 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 1 assist and 1 turnover in 18 minutes. He was a -7.
Hood-Schifino -- -- Sketchy minutes. Two turnovers in that second quarter that led immediately to easy scores on the other end. When you aren’t doing anything else on the court, these are just the worst. So this felt like the JHS we saw last year. Bronny got some of the minutes later in the second half, before JHS returned to run the point. He missed a couple of threes in crunch time. Then gave up a flagrant-1 foul on a three pointer (three FTs and the ball while we were down 2 with 4:27 to go). He had a couple of drives in OT where he came up empty. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-9 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 4 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +12.
Traore -- -- Big block at the rim midway through the final minute to give the Lakers a chance in this one. Dalton did the rest. Offensively, he scored on a baseline reverse for his only points. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go with 5 boards, 1 steal, 2 blocks and 1 foul in 10 minutes. He was a +10.
Lewis -- -- Short minutes and nothing to report. The Stats: He was a -4 in 2 minutes.
Bronny -- -- Better minutes for Bronny. He got some run in the second half. He’d score missing a scoop, but follow tipping it in. He was fouled on a cut by KD then missed both FTs. He had a layup goaltended for his other points. He had a couple of pass deflections that won’t show up in the stat sheet, but were disruptive and got stops. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-4 shooting (0-2 from the line) to go with 2 offensive boards and 2 fouls in 17 minutes. He was a +17.
Olivari -- -- Fans definitely excited to see him get minutes again when he came in with 6 minutes to go and the Lakers down 5. He got blocked by KD on a three and we subbed him out shortly later to go bigger. So that was that. The Stats: He didn’t score on 0-1 shooting from three in 2 minutes. He was a -2.
Redick -- -- He said his assistants told him to not put Knecht back in the game with 4 minutes left. Glad JJ didn’t. You got to give your young guys minutes and these were huge confidence building minutes for Dalton… JJ got to work on some small ball lineups with no LeBron, Rui, Wood available. That put Cam or Knecht at the 4. Some brief AD/Hayes combos, but mostly just undersized fours tonight. That’s an easier option against the Suns. They did a good job on the defensive glass. That might have cost them some fastbreaking. But without LeBron/Rui, the Lakers will likely play slower… JJ said he challenged the team to stop the transition scoring by the Suns. After 21 in the first half, they scored 1 in transition in the second half… |
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DancingBarry Editor-in-Chief
Joined: 07 Sep 2001 Posts: 40331 Location: O.C.
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2024 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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Hopefully, not too sloppy. Preseason overtime game is rough. |
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Dominic1981 Star Player
Joined: 09 Feb 2022 Posts: 1613
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2024 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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JJ having AD shoot 9 threes in a game is certainly a choice… This game looks like what I expected a JJ team to look like.
46 three point attempts
And only 9 turnovers
Very efficient |
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Dr. Laker Franchise Player
Joined: 12 Apr 2002 Posts: 17637
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2024 9:40 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks, DB! _________________ On Lakersground, a concern troll is someone who is a fan of another team, but pretends to be a Lakers fan with "concerns". |
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Laker's Fan Franchise Player
Joined: 27 Jun 2002 Posts: 13292
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Posted: Thu Oct 17, 2024 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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Just Hoopin'. That was impressive. |
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Pidge Starting Rotation
Joined: 11 Oct 2012 Posts: 492
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2024 1:35 am Post subject: |
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I know the US isn't a fans of draws (ties), but OT in pre-season is dumb. This is about fitness and getting up to speed as a team, not creating the conditions for injuries.
Great from the rookie. Excited to see what he does this year.
Not sure what's up with Russell, but the apology thing struck me as weird as the time, I wonder if he genuinely felt he needed to do that or if someone decided to dig up an old story and now he's thinking it's a bigger thing than it is. _________________ "I got Wheaties!" |
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deal Franchise Player
Joined: 17 Aug 2008 Posts: 15416 Location: Earth
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2024 4:10 am Post subject: |
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It's always fun to win. Nice to see Knecht getting some good run, he's a
keeper and should get better in 1-2 years; already a rotation player.
Let's hope AD stays healthy, he did some serious minutes.
Thanks DB ! _________________ Lakers need to build a freaking team ! |
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Rek Star Player
Joined: 24 Apr 2008 Posts: 2239 Location: SoCal
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2024 6:23 am Post subject: |
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DancingBarry wrote: | Hopefully, not too sloppy. Preseason overtime game is rough. |
Thanks for staying up late for this one |
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ribeye Franchise Player
Joined: 10 Nov 2001 Posts: 13341
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2024 6:41 am Post subject: |
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DancingBarry wrote: | Hopefully, not too sloppy. Preseason overtime game is rough. |
Hey, you sloppy is better than most at their best. Whether stated so regularly or not, I think I speak for all, any version of you is greatly appreciated and admired. _________________ "A metronome keeps time by using a Ringo" |
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Laker7 Star Player
Joined: 24 Feb 2003 Posts: 6481 Location: Past left field
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Posted: Fri Oct 18, 2024 10:01 am Post subject: |
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I like the preseason OT game just to give JJ a chance to coach in OT before the regular season starts.
Christie needs to be more aggressive when playing with the starters. In the first half, he started, played 16 minutes and took 1 shot. 1 SHOT! That is not going to cut it once the regular season starts. Hayes, Reddick and Bronny are not scorers. It can't be Knecht and a bunch of warm bodies. Others have to step up.
Can't say enough good things about Knecht. Points, rebounds, blocks, steals, defense, it was all on display tonight (does need to work on his post game interview skills, was a little weak with Greenberg). As long as he gets some help, our bench should be fine this year with regards to scoring. Still need a big body big man. _________________ Darvin Ham is an idiot! |
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