Aloha
I’m going to keep this short. We still suck. We are not going to win many games when our superstars are -20 (LeBron) and -18 (Russ).
LeBron looked tired in the 2nd half. 1-4 from 3 and 4 for 12 overall. And one of those makes was an uncontested lay up wit 3 seconds left.
It was nice to see Russ knock down some 3’s but my goodness he was 1 for 11 inside the arch and 1 for 9 in the paint. He only had 1 turnovers but only 3 assists and a couple of boards. Along with poor defense. Buba was right when he pointed out that Russ has been less effective since cutting down on his turnovers.
How can Malik play 28 minutes and they only find him for 0ne 3? Sorry but that on the coaching staff. A scorer like Malik should get more then 6 shots in 28 minutes. Another example of why I have never believed that a volume 3 point shooter could help this team. They don’t look for shooters unless it’s maybe Melo who was odor 5 from 3.
The bright spot was THT who has quietly been putting together a decent month. He had 20 and a team high 7 assists.in 25 minutes. He was also a +12 for the game. It will never happen but Frank should start THT at PG. he would do a better job than Russ. One last thought. On a night where we were killed in the paint and on the boards, Dwight got 13 minutes. He had 7 boards in his run. The first was the only quarter we won and it happened to be the quarter where he got most of his minutes. Again Frank failed to make proper in game adjustments, with the exception of sitting Russ in the 4th because he was killing us. The Pacers out scored us 14 to 6 in the 4 minutes Russ played in the 4th.
This road trip could be brutal. Somehow we will have to pull it together and at least break even. Right now I don’t know if they can.
One of my faults is after Bradley or Reaves or on and on have a good game I think here we go, only to be disappointed in them later. Same with THT. Westy is a mess, that’s a shame. LBJ shouldn’t be blamed for playing like a 32 yr old every so often. Triple Double. Still on no AD, but lose to Indy? Wow!
Michael, I don’t know if there is a better way to sum up the game than what you stated here but you are on point. From Monk not having enough shots in 28 minutes, Dwight not being given enough minutes, to not game planning to cater to shooters is really mind-blowing.
A lot of things went wrong in this game, but LeBron looking tired in the second half was the most glaring, and that was a factor in his play in the second half which also affected the overall performance of the team. Having THT with a great night like this should have alerted the coaching staff to make the proper adjustments accordingly than running LeBron to the ground. The same goes for Monk who was left with way too few shots. Dwight giving us a lift with just few minutes when it was obvious that the Pacers are more than glad to have a free pass in the paint as they pummel us by going to the rim with such ease. Sir Stanley Johnson not seeing enough minutes did not sit well with me.
How to get Russ to help in this area is becoming more and more challenging. Just not long ago his chemistry with LeBron, and even AD, was becoming a thing of beauty. But he has tempered his aggressiveness and thus his confidence in the process since the turnovers went down. He is not playing with a style that suits his profile ever since. Yes, he’s not shooting very well for a while now, but shooting slumps are part of every player’s career. And if you lose an element of your game such as your aggressiveness that makes you whole, then you end up losing the confidence that in turn, puts you in a big hole. That’s what THT had to go through before finding his groove slowly and eventually getting himself back on track. If you ask me what my choice would be when it comes to Russ I will prefer his assists go up even if that means a few more turnovers. Sometimes it is better to let a player be himself in order to get the best out him. Doing otherwise could be counter productive. I wasn’t sure what we are going to get from Russ when we traded for him but since we have him now we just have to find a way to maximize his production as it is going to be nearly impossible to trade him.
But you made very tangible points.
There comes a time when a team’s ceiling and floor slowly get closer and closer together. That almost seems to be what is happening to this team right now.
I thought there were great moments when Lakers players made great decisions and plays. In the end, there were still some very questionable lineups.
Frank did the right thing in pulling Russ but, as always, not soon enough. We were getting killed by Russ’ nonchalant defense and erratic play. A 3 to 1 assists-to-turnovers is great but not when there are only 3 assists from your starting point guard who also shot 1 for 11 in the paint and had a team second worse -18 +/-.
When teams make this many wrong decisions, there’s always plenty of blame to go around. Despite his finals record, Lebron is batting .1000 on his GM skills. Once he and the Klutch Klowns get involved, he leaves the franchises in shambles as he runs off to greener pastures.
Not this time, Stan. Lakers are Bron’s final stop and Home.
we our a -34 in the 4th with Russ on the floor. a +50 without him. also read that Frank was given permission to bench Russ in the 4th. thats sad when w coach has to get permission. just another example us how disfuctional this organization is.
Yep. Too many cooks and no chef.
Guess we’ll see. A return to Cleveland may prove tempting and a great narrative, which he’ll love.