Breakdown of the Lakers team and players - 5 games I attended

[wcsoldier]

Wassup y'all , I'm back from a California trip which included 5 Lakers games (against Denver, Sac, NJ , Dallas and Toronto) , here is my take on Dubcc favorite team and grades for each player

Team :

Offense : - Our offense is almost flawless , VERY effective .. what I liked is that we started  each game by establishing our game inside , giving more touches for Pau and Drew than in the beginning of the season ... this resulted in Fish and Radmanovic stop jacking long jumpers early in possession (as in that digusting Detroit game). This offense is so stong because we can basically play any type , pushing the ball ,  halfcourt by going inside , attacking the hoop and kicking it out for our shooters .... this offense is just a joy to watch ...

- The only thing I did not like was the way our offense was run in halfcourt sets by the 2nd unit ... the focus should be on giving the ball in the post to Drew or Lamar... instead of watching Sasha jacking up shots every time he touches the ball ... I still would like to see Farmar attacking the hoop and creating opportunities for others on a regular basis instead of being an outside shooter .. don't get me wrong he can shoot but this is not what our team needs ... our team needs more creation and dribble penetration from the guards/wing  positions ... 4 shooters out of a 6 players rotation is too much imo ...

Defense :

Our defense was pretty solid when it comes to overload one side of the court but ABSOLUTELY horrible when it comes to defending pick n roll and stopping guards penetration ... watching some no names from Sac and that Mavs guard going to the hoop with ease was digusting ... We were less dominant on the boards aswell, Pau does not box out well , Drew timing is still not there and to be honest I have the impression he's more worrying about scoring than being our D anchor .... Kobe has his part of responsability aswell , dude needs to stop gambling for steals ( with little success) , his on-ball D is needed ...
The positive thing is we were able to play solid D when it counted but  showing no interest in D for half of the game is not going to get it done ...


Players Grades : (A+,A , B+ B , C C-)

Point Guard Position:

Derek

Offense ( B+): I think he did a pretty good job at running the triangle , he starts to shoot the ball a little better aswell and kept us in the game during the 2nd Q against the Mavs.

Defense : (C) : Derek always fight on the defensive end  but his pick n roll D is just terrible ... I thought his D was much better in the beginning of the season.

Jordan :

Offense (B) : He had his very good moments but I still did not see the evolution I'd like to see i.e more dribble penetration and kicking the ball out for shooters ... Jordan for this team should be the type of player Rondo is for Boston ...

Defense : (C-) : he's the weakest defender of this 9 players rotation imo , he's just horrible on pick n roll and on-ball D ... needs to work a lot !

Shooting Guard Position :

Kobe ;
Offense(A) : his offensive arsenal is just impressive ... was in the zone on his mid-range game... he's totally off on long jumpers and 3 pts shots though ... this is obviously a concern against great D (read Boston)

Defense (B) : was not satisfied by Kobe D , too much gambling ... I could understand that offense was taking too much of his energy in the past but nowadays our O is so smooth , we do not need a big night from Kobe to win ... that's why more focus should be put on his on-ball D

Sasha :
Offense (B) : PATIENCE is needed , do not shoot the ball every fucking time you touch it ... obviously Trevor took significant minutes from him , especially in the 4th Q with the 1st unit and Sasha has some trouble without Kobe creating open shots for him..

Defense ( B) : put good pressure on his opponent as always

Small Forward Position :

Vlad
Offense (B) : Well Vlad is a spot up shooter , his shot has been on and off ... the pb when his shot is off is that he's pretty useless ...

Defense ( B)  A little less impressive than in the beginning of the season but still surprisingly solid

Trevor

Offense (A) : Finally , a player besides Kobe who is going to the hoop , knows his role well , and knock the J down when he's wide open ... great activity on the offensive boards aswell

Defense : (A+) : Just everywhere on the floor, just a crazy energy D effort on a nightly basis , thing is when he goes for a steal , he got it 90 % of the time and recovers pretty quick when he doesn't have it ... his on-ball D is very solid , that little period of time he was on Vince particulary impressed me .

Power Forward Position

Pau :

Offense (A+) : just great to watch him operating on the low block , great ball handler , passer , has been money on his hooks near the basket and his face up J .

Defense (B) : some difficulties to box out sometimes , and he needs to rotate and shows up to protect the rim when our guards are burned ... but to summarize he played respectable D

Lamar :

Offense : (B) : I like his agressivity during the 1st 3 games , I was like : "Lamar is finally taking advantages of the mismatches he has" then he dissapear the last 2 ...

Defense (B) As usual decent , nothing outstanding but no major breaks either...

Center :

Drew :

Offense (B+) : Drew is getting there , finishing near the hoop with authority , got some monster dunks and back his opponents down better ...

Defense (B+) : Second best defender behind Trevor , still needs to grab more D rebounds and he can do a better job at defending the rim when a guard is showin up ...  I hope this is just my impression but I feel he's currently more interesting in dropping 20 than grabbing 12-13 and blocking 3 a game

[OG Hack Wilson]

no pacers game?  rats

[wcsoldier]

I was in holidays in L.A , how was I supposed to attend the Pacers game ?

[OG Hack Wilson]

holidays?


lollllllllllllll

[wcsoldier]

u should step your diss game up because I cannot even understand it ...

[OG Hack Wilson]

holiday


thats funny


it's "vacation"

[GangstaBoogy]

Ariza was one of those players I wished we could get but thought it would never happen. Sometimes I still can't believe we actually got him AND Pau Gasol. Still seems like a fantasy sometimes.

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

Nice review...I agree with most of what you said on those 5 games.


what section did you sit in?

[wcsoldier]

Denver : 318
Sac and NJ ; 321
Dallas ;112
Toronto ; 119

I went to the Clips games aswell

[Now_Im_Not_Banned]

^Nice. What game had the best atmosphere?


and which Clipper game was it?