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    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    After witnessing one of the worst first quarters of the year I asked myself why am I watching this? Then the Lakers would do a little something then fall back again and I continued to ask that question well into the 4th quarter. Then a funny thing happened. We won.

    This was one of the most impressive wins of the year. Holding the Bucks to 13 points in the 4th was one of our best defensive efforts of the year. Just a few thoughts.

    Austin is a gamer. To be a gamer one must not be afraid of the moment and Austin never is an afraid of the moment. His triple double was perhaps his best game as a Laker, on both sides of the ball. His two clutch 3’s were huge game saving shots. Austin always seems to rise to the occasion when LeBron is out.

    Never sit Dlo because he isn’t shooting well. Darvin would do that earlier in the year. Elite shooters can explode at any time. Dlo hit 5 3’s in the 2nd half and hit big free throws and dished 12 assists.

    Speaking of free throws, the game never should have went to OT. Dlo got hammered on that layup with 6 seconds left in regulation.

    AD is a warrior and the soft label should be retired forever. Not his best shooting night but he played through pain and dominated the game in the second half. Amazing performance.

    Lost in all of this was Rui’s great game. 16 points and 14 boards along with some solid defense. Defense is the area of his game that gets little attention but he is developing into a very good defender.

    Spencer needs the ball in his hands. He hasn’t been nearly as effective off the ball. Darvin needs to play him when DLO sits as much as possible. Although he was great defensively again.

    I think the reason the team rises to the occasion when LeBron sits is because the players are free to be themselves. They have a tendency to LeBron watch. We won without LeBron last year down the stretch and we have won this year. AD is the guy we can’t win without.

    The Grizzlies will be tough. They are playing a lot of young guys and will run. After this exhausting game the Lakers will need to dig deep to win. I’m hoping that AD’s knee is sound because we will need him. Losing to the Griz would diminish the Bucks win. The 7/8 seed is still within reach but we can’t let up against anyone.

    The agony and the ecstasy

    Aloha,

    After witnessing one of the worst first quarters of the year I asked myself why am I watching this? Then the Lakers would do a little something then fall back again and I continued to ask that question well into the 4th quarter. Then a funny thing happened. We won.

    This was one of the most impressive wins of the year. Holding the Bucks to 13 points in the 4th was one of our best defensive efforts of the year. Just a few thoughts.

    Austin is a gamer. To be a gamer one must not be afraid of the moment and Austin never is an afraid of the moment. His triple double was perhaps his best game as a Laker, on both sides of the ball. His two clutch 3’s were huge game saving shots. Austin always seems to rise to the occasion when LeBron is out.

    Never sit Dlo because he isn’t shooting well. Darvin would do that earlier in the year. Elite shooters can explode at any time. Dlo hit 5 3’s in the 2nd half and hit big free throws and dished 12 assists.

    Speaking of free throws, the game never should have went to OT. Dlo got hammered on that layup with 6 seconds left in regulation.

    AD is a warrior and the soft label should be retired forever. Not his best shooting night but he played through pain and dominated the game in the second half. Amazing performance.

    Lost in all of this was Rui’s great game. 16 points and 14 boards along with some solid defense. Defense is the area of his game that gets little attention but he is developing into a very good defender.

    Spencer needs the ball in his hands. He hasn’t been nearly as effective off the ball. Darvin needs to play him when DLO sits as much as possible. Although he was great defensively again.

    I think the reason the team rises to the occasion when LeBron sits is because the players are free to be themselves. They have a tendency to LeBron watch. We won without LeBron last year down the stretch and we have won this year. AD is the guy we can’t win without.

    The Grizzlies will be tough. They are playing a lot of young guys and will run. After this exhausting game the Lakers will need to dig deep to win. I’m hoping that AD’s knee is sound because we will need him. Losing to the Griz would diminish the Bucks win. The 7/8 seed is still within reach but we can’t let up against anyone.

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    Aloha,

    All Lakers fans eyes have been fixed on what the Suns, Kings and Mavs do down the stretch. I would add the Clippers to that list. After the Lakers beat the 76ers and Pacers, the Clippers lost to both at home. They have lost 6 of the last 9 and have fallen to 5th, a mere 2 games out of 7th. They also have quite a few tough games coming up. And they are healthy. We hold the tie breaker against them so it could be huge if they slip to 7th or 8th. One wonders what management will do if they fail badly in the playoffs. Their stars have been available most of the time. PG and Harden are both free agents. It will be interesting to see if they pay them.

    Add the Clippers to the list

    Aloha,

    All Lakers fans eyes have been fixed on what the Suns, Kings and Mavs do down the stretch. I would add the Clippers to that list. After the Lakers beat the 76ers and Pacers, the Clippers lost to both at home. They have lost 6 of the last 9 and have fallen to 5th, a mere 2 games out of 7th. They also have quite a few tough games coming up. And they are healthy. We hold the tie breaker against them so it could be huge if they slip to 7th or 8th. One wonders what management will do if they fail badly in the playoffs. Their stars have been available most of the time. PG and Harden are both free agents. It will be interesting to see if they pay them.

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    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    A win is a win is a win but man, that was ugly. Two things happened that we haven’t seen for a while. Our offense had been humming along nicely until last night. 21 turnovers led by LeBron with 8, guys missing shots they normally make and a lot of missed free throws made it appear like we were trying to lose.

    Fortunately the other thing we haven’t seen for awhile showed up. Defense. We held the 76ers under a 100 points. The Lakers hadn’t done that since December. Maxie had 27 points but on 26 shots. I’ll take that every day of the week. Spencer and Cam were great on the perimeter and there wasn’t a 76er that had a good shooting night.

    The 76ers are without Embid but they have been a tough out for everyone without him. They would not have won as many games with him if they didn’t have a lot of talent on that team. So I’m happy that no matter how hard we tried to lose, we didn’t fold and took over in the 4th.

    Now the question becomes, can we play the kind of offense we had been playing along with the defense that we saw last night. That will be key. We went 9 and 2 down the stretch last year, with LeBron missing some of those games. Our schedule has us set up for a similar run if we can get it together. With 12 games left we really need to go 10-2 to have a chance to move up. Some of the teams above us have tougher schedules then the Lakers. Moving up in the standings will be tough but not impossible but there is zero room for error.

    Ugly

    Aloha,

    A win is a win is a win but man, that was ugly. Two things happened that we haven’t seen for a while. Our offense had been humming along nicely until last night. 21 turnovers led by LeBron with 8, guys missing shots they normally make and a lot of missed free throws made it appear like we were trying to lose.

    Fortunately the other thing we haven’t seen for awhile showed up. Defense. We held the 76ers under a 100 points. The Lakers hadn’t done that since December. Maxie had 27 points but on 26 shots. I’ll take that every day of the week. Spencer and Cam were great on the perimeter and there wasn’t a 76er that had a good shooting night.

    The 76ers are without Embid but they have been a tough out for everyone without him. They would not have won as many games with him if they didn’t have a lot of talent on that team. So I’m happy that no matter how hard we tried to lose, we didn’t fold and took over in the 4th.

    Now the question becomes, can we play the kind of offense we had been playing along with the defense that we saw last night. That will be key. We went 9 and 2 down the stretch last year, with LeBron missing some of those games. Our schedule has us set up for a similar run if we can get it together. With 12 games left we really need to go 10-2 to have a chance to move up. Some of the teams above us have tougher schedules then the Lakers. Moving up in the standings will be tough but not impossible but there is zero room for error.

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    • Pitiful game. Way too many TO’s, especially LBJ. Hamster needed to EXPRESS “stop the lousy fancy near-impossible passes when we are struggling”!

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    Aloha ,

    I don’t have much to say about last night. We lost the game in the 3rd quarter when we couldn’t hit a shot. But one thing stuck out to me. Rui had 17 in the first half on 8-10 shooting. He scored 29 in the last Kings game. It’s obvious they had a matchup issue with Rui. So why did Rui get his first shot of the 2nd half at the 6 minute mark of the 4th quarter? Ham has done this before. I don’t understand a coach going away from a hot hand. Makes no sense to me. We didn’t score a basket for 7 minutes in the 3rd. Our big 3 scorers couldn’t shoot. Why not look to run things for Rui? I can’t figure it out.

    One Question

    Aloha ,

    I don’t have much to say about last night. We lost the game in the 3rd quarter when we couldn’t hit a shot. But one thing stuck out to me. Rui had 17 in the first half on 8-10 shooting. He scored 29 in the last Kings game. It’s obvious they had a matchup issue with Rui. So why did Rui get his first shot of the 2nd half at the 6 minute mark of the 4th quarter? Ham has done this before. I don’t understand a coach going away from a hot hand. Makes no sense to me. We didn’t score a basket for 7 minutes in the 3rd. Our big 3 scorers couldn’t shoot. Why not look to run things for Rui? I can’t figure it out.

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    • “We didn’t score a basket for 7 minutes in the 3rd. ”
      This is where we lost the game. Somebody needs to let Ham read this article. This article is Coaching 101.
      Thanks. Michael.

    • Me either, nothing but angst and BS. The “why”, to me, is simple: he wanted to juice the trio of AD, LBJ, and DLo. It didn’t work. AD had his hands full and never got lift off against DA, LeBron looked like he wanted to start a new hobby called “I’ll Just Watch You Shoot and ohhhhh you made it…” and DLO didn’t have the hot hand.

      What was also irksome was the lack of anything resembling fire from anyone the 2nd half. Also not sure why Jax barely played when he could have paired with AD for a very different look defensively. Could have put AD in Barnes, for example.

    • A few things… I would imagine there aren’t a whole lotta plays in the book for your #5 scoring option for just about every team. Rui gets his in the flow of the offense. Also, current success has been heavily based on D.Russell taking alotta shots and AR’s improvement. AR was hot early on as well. And finally…take a look at our offensive possessions to open the 3rd. Lebron turnover #1. Lebron 3pt brick. AR 25ft brick. Rui charge turnover #2. D.Russell turnover#3. AD free throws. LeBron turnover #4. AD missed bunny. D.Russell turnover #5. D.Russell 22ft brick. AD free throw. 5 empty trips due to turnovers, 3 long range bricks, coupla trips resulting in AD free throws, and a missed layup.

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    Aloha,

    Wow one of the most exciting games we have had for awhile. DLO not only picked up the slack for LeBron but he was the best player on the floor all night. He basically out Lillard,Lillard. That tailbone injury DLO suffered may have saved the season. He sat and watched the team play and when he came back he decided to be himself and he stopped deferring as much. With no LeBron he took control of the team and not only scored but had 9 assists. If passes that leads to free throws. Counted as assists he would have had several more. Hopefully he will remain assertive the rest of the season.

    Spencer has yet to supply a lot of offensive. I think he has deferred too much on that end. But he has been playing some great defense since coming to the Lakers.
    Lillard had 28 points but it was a bad 28. Nothing came easy and Spencer blocked him twice including that incredible game winner. Hopefully he will become more aggressive on the offensive end as our 2nd unit needs more offensive firepower.

    I thought AD had a real gutsy performance. He was rolling until he took that blow to his shoulder. Still he played with one arm most of the 4th quarter. While he was no longer scoring, he still managed to be a force on defense down the stretch. With DLO scoring 21 in the 4th he really didn’t need to score. I’m hoping that the shoulder is just a nerve thing, like a bad stinger and he will be ready to go against the TWolves. We are 5-4 without LeBron but there is no way we can be that effective without AD. Our entire defense depends on him.

    We are 11-5 since February 1st, with a lot of those wins coming against quality teams. When looking at the schedule 11-5 would have been viewed as a nice result. Unfortunately we had dug a deep hole and we really needed to go 13-3. But games like last night give me some measure of optimism. If we can avoid anymore major injuries and get some of our best defenders and rebounders back, we still could be a tough out in the playoffs. We have to do it again, against the TWolves.

    DLO!

    Aloha,

    Wow one of the most exciting games we have had for awhile. DLO not only picked up the slack for LeBron but he was the best player on the floor all night. He basically out Lillard,Lillard. That tailbone injury DLO suffered may have saved the season. He sat and watched the team play and when he came back he decided to be himself and he stopped deferring as much. With no LeBron he took control of the team and not only scored but had 9 assists. If passes that leads to free throws. Counted as assists he would have had several more. Hopefully he will remain assertive the rest of the season.

    Spencer has yet to supply a lot of offensive. I think he has deferred too much on that end. But he has been playing some great defense since coming to the Lakers.
    Lillard had 28 points but it was a bad 28. Nothing came easy and Spencer blocked him twice including that incredible game winner. Hopefully he will become more aggressive on the offensive end as our 2nd unit needs more offensive firepower.

    I thought AD had a real gutsy performance. He was rolling until he took that blow to his shoulder. Still he played with one arm most of the 4th quarter. While he was no longer scoring, he still managed to be a force on defense down the stretch. With DLO scoring 21 in the 4th he really didn’t need to score. I’m hoping that the shoulder is just a nerve thing, like a bad stinger and he will be ready to go against the TWolves. We are 5-4 without LeBron but there is no way we can be that effective without AD. Our entire defense depends on him.

    We are 11-5 since February 1st, with a lot of those wins coming against quality teams. When looking at the schedule 11-5 would have been viewed as a nice result. Unfortunately we had dug a deep hole and we really needed to go 13-3. But games like last night give me some measure of optimism. If we can avoid anymore major injuries and get some of our best defenders and rebounders back, we still could be a tough out in the playoffs. We have to do it again, against the TWolves.

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    • Great post, Michael. That was such a fun game. I was not even worried about losing at the end because we had played so well without LeBron and done exactly what we needed to do against Denver late in the game. The comeback after Dame’s 4-point play that put us down 6 should have ended game but it didn’t Credit Rui for that big three and DLO for his best game ever. As you can see above, I want us to re-sign DLO as our third star and spend the draft capital on building a monster front court to help AD.

    • That was a fun game. Regarding Dinwiddie, I agree he needs to add more offense to his already good defense. This may be due to learning how to integrate himself into the team. Hopefully that turn-around comes sooner rather than later.

      • He seems to Ball Dominate, which should prolong LBJ and make more of LBJ’s shooting, rather than having to do everything and wearing down.

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    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    Another loss to the Nuggets in the last few minutes. What else is new. Sometimes Darvin baffles me. AD has had great success attacking Joker in the past. You have to makes the Joker play defense but somehow it didn’t sink in for Darvin and he didn’t make an adjustment.

    Then there was Rui. 23 points in first 3 quarters. They didn’t have anyone that could guard him. One would think a coach would ride that. Rui got one shot in the 4th quarter. I have no idea why.

    While Rui did his best he is just not tall enough to guard the Joker. I could maybe understand not having AD on him all game but he should have been on the Joker for those last 7 minutes.

    We were up 2 with 7:30 left when Darvin took DLO out and brought Cam in to defend Murray. Up to that point Murray scored 3 in The 4th. He score 3 more baskets down the stretch. When DLO is in he stretches the floor. Whether he is hitting shots or not you have respect him. After DLO went out the Nuggets began to drop an extra man and clogged the paint. AD and LeBron both were stripped in the traffic. DLO wasn’t reinserted back in until the 1:30 left and 7 points behind. We had stopped scoring, it would have been nice having our best shooter in the game.

    It would have been nice to get this one. The loss makes the OKC game even bigger. Perhaps we can summon a little defense or maybe our 2nd unit will actually score a few points for a change. What ever we better find a way to win this one.

    Same ole same ole

    Aloha,

    Another loss to the Nuggets in the last few minutes. What else is new. Sometimes Darvin baffles me. AD has had great success attacking Joker in the past. You have to makes the Joker play defense but somehow it didn’t sink in for Darvin and he didn’t make an adjustment.

    Then there was Rui. 23 points in first 3 quarters. They didn’t have anyone that could guard him. One would think a coach would ride that. Rui got one shot in the 4th quarter. I have no idea why.

    While Rui did his best he is just not tall enough to guard the Joker. I could maybe understand not having AD on him all game but he should have been on the Joker for those last 7 minutes.

    We were up 2 with 7:30 left when Darvin took DLO out and brought Cam in to defend Murray. Up to that point Murray scored 3 in The 4th. He score 3 more baskets down the stretch. When DLO is in he stretches the floor. Whether he is hitting shots or not you have respect him. After DLO went out the Nuggets began to drop an extra man and clogged the paint. AD and LeBron both were stripped in the traffic. DLO wasn’t reinserted back in until the 1:30 left and 7 points behind. We had stopped scoring, it would have been nice having our best shooter in the game.

    It would have been nice to get this one. The loss makes the OKC game even bigger. Perhaps we can summon a little defense or maybe our 2nd unit will actually score a few points for a change. What ever we better find a way to win this one.

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    Aloha,

    I wonder how many Laker fans turned off the game after the third quarter? I know i almost did. My frustration level after the 2nd and 3rd quarters had me toying with my remote. Then LeBron happened, like he has so many times in his career. He has shot the 3 at around 40% all year but he slipped into Steph Curry mode in the 4th nailing 5 3 pointers and it was magical.

    It’s been a while since I have witnessed a NBA team melt down as Badly as the Clippers did in the 4th. And considering it was the Clippers it made it that much sweeter. There are like a 100 articles on Lebrons 4th quarter offense but it would have been for naught if it wasn’t for some of the best defense we have seen this team play in weeks. The first 7 minutes of the 4th had Cam, Hayes and Prince out there with LeBron and they did a fantastic job. Cam had missed the last 14 games and it was easy to forget that he has played some solid D this year. It’s definitely good to have him back for this stretch run. His length and quickness clearly bothered Harden. And as important as LeBron’s offense was, he played some of the best defense he has played this year. Even more impressive was the fact that it was against Kawhi in the 2nd half. Kawhi had no chance of making that last shot as LeBron had forced him nearly behind the plane of the board.

    Lastly I have to give a shout out the Rui and DLO. In those last few minutes when the Clippers were throwing everyone at LeBron Rui made 2 critical shots and DLO hit the last 3 that sealed it. I think maybe Steph is the only guy in the league with a release as quick as DLO’s. The ball barely touched his hand.

    Of course it won’t mean anything if we don’t win tonight. The Wizards are a bad team. But even bad NBA teams have some of the best players in the world and you have to respect them. We haven’t always done that this year and have lost. Hopefully we can channel this 4th quarter energy down the stretch. We are only a couple of games out of the 6th seed and like last year, every game must be played with playoff intensity. There is no margin for error.

    Wow

    Aloha,

    I wonder how many Laker fans turned off the game after the third quarter? I know i almost did. My frustration level after the 2nd and 3rd quarters had me toying with my remote. Then LeBron happened, like he has so many times in his career. He has shot the 3 at around 40% all year but he slipped into Steph Curry mode in the 4th nailing 5 3 pointers and it was magical.

    It’s been a while since I have witnessed a NBA team melt down as Badly as the Clippers did in the 4th. And considering it was the Clippers it made it that much sweeter. There are like a 100 articles on Lebrons 4th quarter offense but it would have been for naught if it wasn’t for some of the best defense we have seen this team play in weeks. The first 7 minutes of the 4th had Cam, Hayes and Prince out there with LeBron and they did a fantastic job. Cam had missed the last 14 games and it was easy to forget that he has played some solid D this year. It’s definitely good to have him back for this stretch run. His length and quickness clearly bothered Harden. And as important as LeBron’s offense was, he played some of the best defense he has played this year. Even more impressive was the fact that it was against Kawhi in the 2nd half. Kawhi had no chance of making that last shot as LeBron had forced him nearly behind the plane of the board.

    Lastly I have to give a shout out the Rui and DLO. In those last few minutes when the Clippers were throwing everyone at LeBron Rui made 2 critical shots and DLO hit the last 3 that sealed it. I think maybe Steph is the only guy in the league with a release as quick as DLO’s. The ball barely touched his hand.

    Of course it won’t mean anything if we don’t win tonight. The Wizards are a bad team. But even bad NBA teams have some of the best players in the world and you have to respect them. We haven’t always done that this year and have lost. Hopefully we can channel this 4th quarter energy down the stretch. We are only a couple of games out of the 6th seed and like last year, every game must be played with playoff intensity. There is no margin for error.

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    • Michael, thanks for the excellent recap. I was so furious at the Clippers blowing out my beloved Lakers that I turned the TV off and went to get some dog food for my German Shepherd. Normally, I don’t do that when the Lakers game is on. But, man, little did I know something miraculous would happen. When I returned, I tuned into Sportscenter only to find out the Lakers had won. That was an unbelievable turn of events. Man, this win feels good!!

    • I turned it off when it got ugly, and went to work in the kitchen. Luckily I had my tablet nearby, open to ESPN. Turned the tube back on when it got close, just in time to hear the fat lady sing :). Old man LeBron strikes again!

      • “Turned the tube back on when it got close, just in time to hear the fat lady sing :). Old man LeBron strikes again!”.
        Hahaha!!! John, that is funny as hell. Love how you it all together.

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    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    There were a lot of reasons for the loss today. Here are a few.

    The Suns had 14 offensive rebounds to our 3. A lot of those were long rebounds that the Suns beat us to the ball. They just out hustled us. No excuse for that.

    The Suns made 18 free throws to our 4. Yes there was a lot of missed calls but part of the problem was we didn’t attack the rim like we generally do. We shot more jumpers and we didn’t even try to get AD the ball in the first half. He didn’t shoot of free throw. Part of that was on the ref’s but part of that was on the Lakers. And in the 1st quarter we let the bad calls get in our head. If there is one thing drives me crazy about LeBron is is argues with ref after a missed call and doesn’t always get back on defense. The ref’s never change their minds.

    We won’t win enough games to matter when AD has 4 points on 4 shots in a half.

    Our defensive rotations were slow. Booker had 22 points and KD had 21. I will take that all day long but you have to be quicker on your rotations. Allen shoots 49% from 3 and he got way too many wide open looks. Royce O’Neil made 6 3’s. He has always been a good 3 point shooter but even in my advanced age could have knocked down a few with the time he was given to line up the shot.

    Rui had 11 points in the first half on 5-7 and 2-2 on 3’s. He had 2 points on 2 shots in the 2nd. It was like they completely forgot about him. They didn’t have a defender strong enough on him but we didn’t try much to post him up.

    Spencer has not been good the last couple of games. He needs to contribute much more on offense.

    It’s games like this that is very frustrating for me because it was very winnable. The more games like these the more I miss Vando with his defense and rebounding. Unfortunately he is still in a walking boot and if he does return it could be too late by then. We can be better than this. But time is running out.

    A few reasons why

    Aloha,

    There were a lot of reasons for the loss today. Here are a few.

    The Suns had 14 offensive rebounds to our 3. A lot of those were long rebounds that the Suns beat us to the ball. They just out hustled us. No excuse for that.

    The Suns made 18 free throws to our 4. Yes there was a lot of missed calls but part of the problem was we didn’t attack the rim like we generally do. We shot more jumpers and we didn’t even try to get AD the ball in the first half. He didn’t shoot of free throw. Part of that was on the ref’s but part of that was on the Lakers. And in the 1st quarter we let the bad calls get in our head. If there is one thing drives me crazy about LeBron is is argues with ref after a missed call and doesn’t always get back on defense. The ref’s never change their minds.

    We won’t win enough games to matter when AD has 4 points on 4 shots in a half.

    Our defensive rotations were slow. Booker had 22 points and KD had 21. I will take that all day long but you have to be quicker on your rotations. Allen shoots 49% from 3 and he got way too many wide open looks. Royce O’Neil made 6 3’s. He has always been a good 3 point shooter but even in my advanced age could have knocked down a few with the time he was given to line up the shot.

    Rui had 11 points in the first half on 5-7 and 2-2 on 3’s. He had 2 points on 2 shots in the 2nd. It was like they completely forgot about him. They didn’t have a defender strong enough on him but we didn’t try much to post him up.

    Spencer has not been good the last couple of games. He needs to contribute much more on offense.

    It’s games like this that is very frustrating for me because it was very winnable. The more games like these the more I miss Vando with his defense and rebounding. Unfortunately he is still in a walking boot and if he does return it could be too late by then. We can be better than this. But time is running out.

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    • I think this team’s shown us enough times who they are, that we should believe them. You can’t build a decent squad, much less a champion, when you’ve got 1/3rd of your cap committed to anyone short of a top-3 MVP candidate. By then end of this tough 10-game stretch, they’ll be lucky to still be the 10 seed.

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    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    I checked in with Tom and learned that he is in the middle of a move to a new home and said he will be back in a few days. Or at least that’s his excuse. You can bet if the Lakers had pulled off one of his trades, we would have heard from him😂

    Tom is fine

    Aloha,

    I checked in with Tom and learned that he is in the middle of a move to a new home and said he will be back in a few days. Or at least that’s his excuse. You can bet if the Lakers had pulled off one of his trades, we would have heard from him😂

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    • Michael, thanks for the good news. Actually, Tom told me in an email conversation about a month and a half ago that he is moving to a new home after 40-something years, but I thought he already did. Anyway, I am glad he is okay. Hopefully, Jamie is okay, too.

      • I checked in a couple 3 days ago and told him I would not go to the Blog. I kept my word LT. Now that the cat is outta the bag, take care. Moving in an ordeal at anytime!

        • Great to hear he’s ok (physically anyway). I look forward to the forthcoming “Signing Dinwiddie for nothing is actually better than giving up any assets for just a modest improvement” post.

    • Thanks for the update; I was legit concerned. I like to spar back & forth with LT but it’s all in good fun and keeps the mind sharp. Seems like a good dude, glad he’s OK.

    • I knew something was up when he was quiet about Hield going to Philly. I’m grateful for the good news.

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    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    The Lakers continued their strong play last night against a good Pelican team. It wasn’t as much about the win as it was how we won. The Pels are 8th best defense in league. They had been on a roll and had beat the Clippers on Wednesday holding them to 106 points. Even with AD limited due to foul trouble we dropped 139 on them, with all 5 starters scoring 20+ points.

    We all know that DLO is a streaky scorer and he was definitely on last night. But even when he’s not hitting his shots you have to stay with him and that opens the floor for others. We are 0 and 5 in games DLO missed. It seems his mind set has changed since he came back into the starting line up. He has been much more aggressive on the offensive end, which volume scorers need to do, make or miss. We definitely need this level of aggression the rest of the season to have a chance.

    For me the biggest thing was the body movement. We had 32 assists and a big reason for that was players were moving and not standing around watching LeBron and AD operate. LeBron had 13 assists and he will find you if you are open. Rui was the biggest beneficiary of that movement. There is no reason why we can’t continue moving like this. This group has several starts together now and I’m hoping they continue to gel.

    The news about signing Dinwiddie was huge. We desperately needed depth at PG. I was bummed at the trade deadline that we didn’t find any. But we probably could not have done better Spencer in a small trade anyway. And he didn’t cost us anything. He is a solid vet and will definitely help.

    It appears that we will have Cam back after the break which is more good news. His perimeter defense has been missed. I’m hoping that we can get Vando back before the playoffs. His elite defense and rebounding could really help this team become very dangerous in the playoffs.

    It’s a good day

    Aloha,

    The Lakers continued their strong play last night against a good Pelican team. It wasn’t as much about the win as it was how we won. The Pels are 8th best defense in league. They had been on a roll and had beat the Clippers on Wednesday holding them to 106 points. Even with AD limited due to foul trouble we dropped 139 on them, with all 5 starters scoring 20+ points.

    We all know that DLO is a streaky scorer and he was definitely on last night. But even when he’s not hitting his shots you have to stay with him and that opens the floor for others. We are 0 and 5 in games DLO missed. It seems his mind set has changed since he came back into the starting line up. He has been much more aggressive on the offensive end, which volume scorers need to do, make or miss. We definitely need this level of aggression the rest of the season to have a chance.

    For me the biggest thing was the body movement. We had 32 assists and a big reason for that was players were moving and not standing around watching LeBron and AD operate. LeBron had 13 assists and he will find you if you are open. Rui was the biggest beneficiary of that movement. There is no reason why we can’t continue moving like this. This group has several starts together now and I’m hoping they continue to gel.

    The news about signing Dinwiddie was huge. We desperately needed depth at PG. I was bummed at the trade deadline that we didn’t find any. But we probably could not have done better Spencer in a small trade anyway. And he didn’t cost us anything. He is a solid vet and will definitely help.

    It appears that we will have Cam back after the break which is more good news. His perimeter defense has been missed. I’m hoping that we can get Vando back before the playoffs. His elite defense and rebounding could really help this team become very dangerous in the playoffs.

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    • You are right on the money. Great post!!

        • Michael, for some reason, I am getting excited about our prospects for the rest of the season after signing Dinwiddie. I don’t want them to cut any player on the roster unless it is a home run type of situation. This team is good enough to withstand and beat any team in a seven-game series. All we need is to have everybody healthy by the playoffs. This team is not built for a grueling 82-game season. Add in the nonstop injuries we have had to deal with throughout the season, and you will see why we are where we are right now in the standings. Thanks for responding.

    • The last few games have been encouraging, obviously. Clearly the talent and effort are enough to bang with anyone. Just a matter of the winds of fortune going forward.

  • Profile picture of Michael H

    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    Spencer is watching the Lakers game with Rob tonight. Hmmm.

    Dinwiddie

    Aloha,

    Spencer is watching the Lakers game with Rob tonight. Hmmm.

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    • He’s trying to up his viewership numbers, with his spotting in MSG yesterday, then STAPLES!!! Center tonight…accumulating the frequent flyer mileage…Toronto was really looking to shed salary…their roster is cashing big checks for not much in return…Dinwiddie’s current offensive game is pretty inefficient…

    • A big guard for cheap couldn’t hurt. Especially since Vincent looks like he’s about to pull a Nunn. Never trust these contract year numbers. NEVER.

      • Absolutely true, Vincent has pulled a Nunn (None)…and a veteran guard is more likely to get favorable calls and not do the “deer in the headlights” thing in big games/playoffs….

    • Espn says he will sign once he clears waivers.

    • Now, that’s what I call news. A great step forward. I heard Ish Smith is waived. I would love to have him on the team since we can’t get Tyus Jones. I Iike this move.

  • Profile picture of Michael H

    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    What do you do? I guess sometimes it’s just not your year. We went into a game with the defending champions, missing 4 rotation players. Then Max, who has been trending up goes down with an ankle. That left Mays a two way guy playing stretch minutes. To his credit he did pretty well.

    With all of that we were still tied with a minute and a half to go. Two defensive errors that led to 3’s ended it. But I was impressed by how hard we played.

    When you think about it we did this all without our 3 best perimeter defenders. Murray would not have had it as easy with Vando on him. DLO was missed as well. His 41% 3 point shooting requires teams to honor him whether he is hitting shots or not. Without him the Nuggets crowded the paint more than usual.

    Jackson Hayes has turned his season around. You have to hand it the coaching staff. You could count on him having 3 or 4 fouls in 10 minutes. He’s been playing without fouling over the last couple of weeks and only had one last night. The energy he brought nearly changed the outcome.

    I thought AD out played the Joker last night. He is a big reason I feel this team has a chance with health against anyone.

    We were unable to make a trade, primarily because of the asking price of our targets. Still we have a chance to improve. We desperately need another ball handling guard as last night illustrates. Spencer Dinwiddie could be that guy. He’s not having a stellar year, still a 6’5 “ combo guard that can defend a little would be welcome. And he is better than some of the smaller deals we could have made. Because of the new CBA rules many of the contenders can’t sign him. We have more cap space than most of the others. He is a LA guy so that helps. More than anything else we just need a healthy squad and see happens.

    Good Effort

    Aloha,

    What do you do? I guess sometimes it’s just not your year. We went into a game with the defending champions, missing 4 rotation players. Then Max, who has been trending up goes down with an ankle. That left Mays a two way guy playing stretch minutes. To his credit he did pretty well.

    With all of that we were still tied with a minute and a half to go. Two defensive errors that led to 3’s ended it. But I was impressed by how hard we played.

    When you think about it we did this all without our 3 best perimeter defenders. Murray would not have had it as easy with Vando on him. DLO was missed as well. His 41% 3 point shooting requires teams to honor him whether he is hitting shots or not. Without him the Nuggets crowded the paint more than usual.

    Jackson Hayes has turned his season around. You have to hand it the coaching staff. You could count on him having 3 or 4 fouls in 10 minutes. He’s been playing without fouling over the last couple of weeks and only had one last night. The energy he brought nearly changed the outcome.

    I thought AD out played the Joker last night. He is a big reason I feel this team has a chance with health against anyone.

    We were unable to make a trade, primarily because of the asking price of our targets. Still we have a chance to improve. We desperately need another ball handling guard as last night illustrates. Spencer Dinwiddie could be that guy. He’s not having a stellar year, still a 6’5 “ combo guard that can defend a little would be welcome. And he is better than some of the smaller deals we could have made. Because of the new CBA rules many of the contenders can’t sign him. We have more cap space than most of the others. He is a LA guy so that helps. More than anything else we just need a healthy squad and see happens.

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    • it was pretty much the same as the playoffs last year. We hung with them until crunch time and then we just didn’t execute as well as they did down the stretch. That gamble AR took going for that steal on Joker and leaving MPJ alone in the corner was atrocious. Good guard play is gonna give us huge problems every time and the Nuggs were missing their starting guard (KCP) as well…

    • I am really impressed by Jackson Hayes’ play as of late. You are right, Michael. The team played very till the last minute.

  • Profile picture of Michael H

    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    Well, it’s down to the wire and I’m beginning to feel like there probably won’t be any huge trades. You never know but anything big seems extremely complicated with multiple teams needing to be involved and not draft capital to work with.

    There might be smaller deals. I would keep an eye on guys like Royce O’Neil, Tyrus Jones and Chris Dunn. Last years Westbrook deal caught everyone by surprise, so it’s possible that a name no one has talked about pops up. So something big could happen tomorrow but I’m not holding my breaths

    Trade Deadline

    Aloha,

    Well, it’s down to the wire and I’m beginning to feel like there probably won’t be any huge trades. You never know but anything big seems extremely complicated with multiple teams needing to be involved and not draft capital to work with.

    There might be smaller deals. I would keep an eye on guys like Royce O’Neil, Tyrus Jones and Chris Dunn. Last years Westbrook deal caught everyone by surprise, so it’s possible that a name no one has talked about pops up. So something big could happen tomorrow but I’m not holding my breaths

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    • The 3 Lakers that everyone felt were in trade talks and many felt 2 of the 3 were expendable…did pretty well scoring against New Orleans tonight…I really wonder, and I’m probably wrong, was there really anything up with Russell and “medical procedure” missed a practice and a game????

  • Profile picture of Michael H

    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    If the Lakers can’t make a splashy trade there are a couple of small moves that could make us a little better.

    Vincent and a 2nd or 2 for Royce O’Neil. He is a proven 3 and D player. He shoots 38% from 3 and is a very good defender. With Vando out a month we will need help on defense.

    We have a 2.7 mil trade exception. Enough to acquire Chris Dunn from the Jazz. Gives us a solid defensive pg off the bench.

    I know these are not sexy moves but they would improve the team if we can’t make any of the bigger trades.

    Small deals

    Aloha,

    If the Lakers can’t make a splashy trade there are a couple of small moves that could make us a little better.

    Vincent and a 2nd or 2 for Royce O’Neil. He is a proven 3 and D player. He shoots 38% from 3 and is a very good defender. With Vando out a month we will need help on defense.

    We have a 2.7 mil trade exception. Enough to acquire Chris Dunn from the Jazz. Gives us a solid defensive pg off the bench.

    I know these are not sexy moves but they would improve the team if we can’t make any of the bigger trades.

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  • Profile picture of Michael H

    Michael H wrote a new post

    Aloha,

    Apparently Vando has been diagnosed with a foot sprain. He will be re-evaluated in 3 weeks. I think that’s huge. I saw him as the 3rd most important Laker. He is one of a kind. A 6’ 10” guy that can guard point guards is non existent. He is an all nba defense caliber player and in important cog in any playoff run.

    A little good news

    Aloha,

    Apparently Vando has been diagnosed with a foot sprain. He will be re-evaluated in 3 weeks. I think that’s huge. I saw him as the 3rd most important Laker. He is one of a kind. A 6’ 10” guy that can guard point guards is non existent. He is an all nba defense caliber player and in important cog in any playoff run.

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