Nothing is more irksome than obvious and blatant favoritism when it comes to the refs. To be sure there were plenty of issues entirely of LA’s own creation that molded this loss but Portland got plenty of help from the officiating crew of Curtis Blair, Rodney Mott, and Ray Acosta. Lately I’ve taken umbrage with the Lakers heart and hustle, that was not the case last night. I thought we competed hard and fought well. Just too much to overcome.
- Anthony Davis rounding the corner. As far as benchmarks go this game had a lot of positives. Big minutes with no setbacks physically? Check. Hitting threes at a decent clip? Check. Got to the free throw line? Check…kinda? That is one area that is still confounding as Davis continued his season long struggle from the stripe. Other than that AD was as dominant as we’ve seen him be in some time. By my count Davis should have shot at least 5 more free throws as he was fouled on a dunk and was walked under on his jump shot at least 2 times that was not called. Portland has no answer for AD, especially when one of Gasol or Drummond occupies the center down low. That frees up Anthony to operate more freely on the perimeter. Encouraging game all around for AD.
- KCP making plays and being aggressive. In a turn of events that should surprise nobody who watches the Lakers at this point KCP came back from a dud game a good game. Whee. Our starting line up features two incredibly inconsistent players in Kuzma and KCP. Against the Clippers Kuzma was “The Can’t Miss Kid” and then turned in a no-show against the Blazers. Wheere, of course, KCP showed up and was a much more aggressive and assertive version of himself. The thing I take heart in regards to both players is that one is not truly a starter for us (Kyle) and the other controls the answer to his dilemma. Caldwell-Pope needs to play with this much force, speed and determination every night if we want to win the game. This is true with LeBron or without. With Davis or no. Kentavious can impact the game a lot more than he has allowed himself to this season.
- The dunk that wasn’t. Kuzma’s tip dunk was not an offensive goal tend. Plain and simple. I had thought there were official-generated reviews for these kind of things but I guess that is not the case? The ball was out of the cylinder and off the rim and that was obvious on replays. The fact that Dame came down and buried a three made this a 5 point switcheroo for the purple and gold. Telling ya we got jobbed last night folks…
- 8 turnovers in the first quarter, 6 the rest of the game. A lot of those came from our starting front court of Drummond, Kuzma and Davis: a law firm that puts the ball in YOUR court. Take out what was a pretty awful first quarter and this was a stellar game by the Lakers. Since we can’t take out the first quarter we’ll just have to live with the results. But things are working when your starting guards commit three total turnovers and dish out 7 assists combined. Both Caruso and KCP did a pretty good job of protecting the rock and, along with KCP, I though Caruso did a good job of staying in his game but still applying offensive pressure to Portland. Feels like Caruso ought to have shot one free throw in this game but, again, only two Lakers shot free throws all game (Davis 10-15, KCP 6-7).
- The nine man rotation works Frank. This looked and felt right. I’m sure Trezz wqasn’t happy but to win the individual must sacrifice for the greater good. I also think we’re locked into Drummond starting, whether that’s a result of what Frank wants, a shake and wink deal with Dre’s agent or whatever it feels like the starting line up is fairly etched into stone. That works because it allows the starting unit to have an identity, whether it’s the identity every fan wants to see is a different question entirely, and gives Frank the ability to decide which of Gasol or Trezz is up to bat in any game or series. So, barring a blow out, no more 11 or 12 man carousels that just make no sense to anyone. Please and thank you.
Anyone else perfetcly happy with Caruso starting and Schroder coming off the bench? I am. If Dennis indeed has COVID-19 I don’t think that’s too far outside the realm of possibility as we’ve seen what has happened to Marc’s wind and stamina as a result. While it’s true it affects everyone differently what is also true is that everyone who gets it returns to professional sport with less endurance. Schroder may not be able to start, physically speaking. Hopefully this is all contract tracing and just protocols and I expect the Lakers to be tight-lipped about it but it’s something that must be considered. Dennis has thrived as the lead guard off the bench, Caruso has shown he can fit seamlessly in with Davis, Pope and James and has shown a better ability to take care of the ball as a starter than Dennis has, albeit in a incredibly small sample size. THT fans may not like this but he is likely the odd man out in a lot of playoff games as I believe Frank will turn to Wes Matthews and his superior defense if push comes to shove. Talen is certainly the superior offensive threat but in a tight rotation his skillset may prove extraneous. We’ll see. SO many unsettled questions about this team…
Thanks for the fiver, Jamie, but we do have some differences of opinion.
1. Agree 100% that this was a great game by AD. Loved that he was hitting his threes, wish he could get back to 85% on free throws, clutch block in last two minutes. AD playing well was more important than winning or losing this game. Lakers will still have a chance no matter what seed if LeBron and AD are healthy.
2. Second silver lining is the aggressive play by KCP. He’s stepping into his threes, taking the wide open midranges, and finishing well attacking the rim. Several strips on Blazers’ players attacking the rim. Hopefully, we’re starting to see Playoff KCP, who was our fourth best player in the playoffs last year.
3. Refereeing has seemed to be against us during the last two weeks of tough losses. That was a key play there and Frank might have been wiser to not have used up his challenge on the bump foul called on KCP in the first half. Always need to save the challenge for game turning situations late in the game. This was a perfect example of why you don’t waste a challenge early.
4. The turnovers were actually 8 in the first quarter, zero in the second and third quarters, and then 6 killer turnovers in the last quarter, including 2 to start the quarter. This was a game where having Caruso as your primary playmaker was a huge disadvantage. While he was only charged with 1 turnover, there were at least a half dozen terrible passes by Alex that led to turnovers or were luckily avoided. Guy is not a point guard and should not be given those responsibilities going forward. But good scoring game by Alex, which kept us in the game.
5. it al least appears Frank has chosen Drummond and Gasol to play and Harrell to sit, which is the right decision right now. The next step, of course, is starting Gasol and bringing Drummond off the bench to play against second string centers.
6. Caruso is not close to being a starter unless we’re missing two or three starters. His defense has suddenly become porous, his playmaking more likely a turnover than an assist, and his decision making, especially when to throw a pass, terrible.
When a player like Alex, who has a history of posting excellent plus/minus and net ratings, suddenly looks to be indecisive and struggling via the eye test, it makes sense to look at his recent stats. Last 15 games, Alex has an OFFRTG of 101.1, DEFRTG of 106.6, and NETRTG of -5.5 (7th) and a Plus/Minus of -3.2. (7th) . Stats say same thing as eye test. Caruso is playing poorly. 7.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.5 topg. His saving grace is he’s been hitting his threes and attacking offensively.
Comparing his as an alternative to Dennis Schroder as the Lakers’ starting point guard is ridiculous. THT can play the point but Caruso is a reserve shooting guard at best. He’s not a point guard and for sure not a starting point guard. Re-watch the game and just look at his passing. Aside from almost throwing the ball away with simply dumb passes at bad angles, none of his passes are ever in the pocket where the receiver wants and needs them. Even his last assist to AD was low and behind him and took a great recovery by Davis to turn it into points. Your Bench GOAT simply cannot play point guard. After his shaky start, notice that the first two starters to go to the bench were Drummond and Caruso. Unless he starts playing better D, Alex will be lucky to get a 3-year $20 million offer from anybody.
If Schroder can’t start because of Covid, THT would be the better option to start at the point than Caruso. The shine has gone off his defense the last 15 games and he’s no playmaker and only a starting point guard if nobody else on the team is healthy. By the way, AC DEFRTG for game was 109.3, NETRTG -5.1, Plus/Minus -8.1, 3rd worst of any Laker who played.
Good Fiver Jamie. Loved AD’s aggression. That’s the AD the Lakers traded for. I was hoping he was pacing himself for the playoffs and although that’s not the ideal style you’d like to see from the future face of the franchise it appears to be AD’s M.O at this point of his career.
LT…I think some of Caruso’s slippage is due to the increased workload on offensive. Once he settled back into his normal role I believe his stellar defense will return and hopefully he’ll keep the consistent 3pt shooting.
Hey, Lee. I think this problem he has with his calf and back have also affected his defense. He’s getting backdoored so often it has become embarrassing and after two years of always having a team best or second plus/minus and net rating, he’s really slumped there. Last night, third worst plus/minus for game despite 18 points. The old Caruso who scored 8 points and played elite D is the guy we need. I do think Alex is a player who needs limited rather than heavy minutes so good ppoint.
Good points Tom.