I’d say second verse, same as the first, but it’d only be because I really enjoy that line.
While there was plenty of hype and hoopla surrounding that first preseason game – and for good reason – the actual game was pretty bleh (technical term). he Lakers shot just 29% and while there were plenty of highlights, the Jazz pulled away late. To his credit, Byron Scott started with the lineup most fans anticipated, but the rotations were definitely worth questioning.
It is worth noting, though, that the lineup Scott started with is much more important moving forward than how he dolled out minutes in a preseason game. This isn’t remotely close.
From last game to Tuesday night, it’d be nice to see a little more mixture of the first and second units. Sunday night, thanks in part to injuries, the group off the bench had no one to create for others. When Marcelo Huertas is available (he’s out both thanks to a Visa and hamtring issue), that playmaker is there when all the starters are out. Basically, any lineup featuring both Lou Williams and Jabari Brown in the backcourt will struggle to find any kind of rhythm in half-court sets.
That was really my lone major complaint in terms of decision-making on Scott’s part Sunday. Overall, it’s tough – if not impossible – to install anything on either side of the ball with little less than a week of training camp to work with. So, in Tuesday night’s game, it would be nice to see a little more rhythm on each side of the ball.
As the Lakers reportedly cut back on two-a-days, we might also see slightly more lively legs on all over the court. Those poor rims took a beating Sunday night as jumper after jumper fell short. Additionally, the tendency in players’ first games is to be nervous and aim jumpers. For both D’Angelo Russell and Julius Randle, Sunday marked their first considerable NBA action in a year, if ever. Those nerves should be at least slightly calmed with that experience behind them.
More generally, it would be nice to see the units get into their sets a little more quickly on offense in the half court. Scott’s Princeton offense can get cumbersome when actions take so long to occur, leaving guys in positions where they’re forced to create a shot against both the defense and the shot clock. No, a day’s worth of practice will not resolve this issue in any noticeable fashion, but anything will help.
The number one takeaway I had from Sunday night was how much more excited I was before, during and after the game. As I was driving around today, I legitimately realized they had lost the game. In no way am I saying the outcome of these games matter, but progress is undoubtedly crucial.
Injuries/Other:
D’Angelo Russell: Probable (foot)
Jabari Brown: Questionable (hand)
Anthony Brown: Questionable (shoulder)
Marcelo Huertas: Out (Visa, hamstring)
Anonymous says
Let’s see robert upshaw, Robert sacre might communicate better but there is no way tarik or upshaw isn’t better than him… come on man!!!!!!
Anonymous says
And let’s see russell and randle get more time you know what bass can do let them young boys play!!!
Anonymous says
Gobert changes the jazz last year, upshaw can be that same type of player… I know it was first ps game, but you got to see what people can do
PurpleBlood says
Man, D´Angelo´s just plain nasty when he´s dishing the rock…!
dxmanners says
I’m in Upshaw’s corner as well, but he’s no Gobert. Not even in the same sentence.
Kind of like putting Byron Scott in the same sentence as Gregg Popovich.
lakerade says
I’d like to see a continuation of the defensive intensity from the first game, that was nice to see during the meaningful minutes.
Mid-Wilshire says
You can’t compare Gobert and Upshaw at this point. Gobert has played in the league 2 years; Upshaw — zero. Also, Gobert has substantial international experience. Upshaw, obviously, has none.
But I’m in full agreement that Byron should play Upshaw tonight. Let’s see what he can bring. That’s what PS games are for, isn’t it?
Clay Bertrand says
I’m not a hater. But I must say that from the comments on the first game, it appears I am in the minority. I find the “Princeton Offense” EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE. No Ball movement?? Check. No Player Movement?? Check. No Spacing whatsoever?? Check. Utter Confusion on Offense?? Check. Guys just GOING FOR THEIRS?? Check. No one in position to get back on D?? Check.
Don’t tell me its only one week and you can’t install anything in one week. Half the team has been practicing together since Summer League. This is Mike Brown all over again Part 2 the SEQUEL. I guess no one learned from last year. The Princeton is much too cumbersome and completely contrary to the pick and roll and ball rotation offenses employed by the successful teams in the league to work. ESPECIALLY with young guys who are good pick and rollers!! Russell’s playmaking abilities are utterly WASTED in the Princeton. It was designed for a non athletic team of Ivy League players to be able to compete with more athletic NCAA teams. (Please refrain from mentioning the Sacramento Kings. Yes they ran the Princeton. Yes they won SQUAT.)
Byron Scott says that all his wonderful, forward thinking conditioning of the team will pay off in January and February. WHAT the WHAAAAAATT??? Awesome!! What is the pay off going to be??? Our January and February schedule is a 2 month blood bath.
And I echo the wonderment of all of the other comments in questioning the excessive playing time of Robert Sacre. And by excessive I mean, his BEING ON THE FLOOR at all!! How about Upshaw or Jonathan Holmes or going smallball for a stretch to see if our young guys can push the pace some?? Is this preseason?? OHHHHH Byron doesn’t want to show too much to opposing teams just yet. AHHHHH….Very shrewd.
Byron Scott’s tenure should end when Kobe retires after this season (hopefully). They should have hired Quin Snyder or another younger Coach to build and grow with the young core. Instead, we got a defiantly arrogant former Laker who escapes the harshest criticism ONLY because he was a Showtime Laker and who keeps forcefeeding PAT RILEY doctrine 30 years after it last found success (ironically he DOESNT USE the fast break like Riley pushed….maybe it worked too good??). Three pointers don’t win Championships (and the Princeton Offense does???), Analytics are for dweebs and damn it Robert Sacre is a good player!!!!
See you at Chick Fil A when they S-CAN you Byron. Smile for the Selfie.
Lil pau says
Oh no…. Russell…
Tim says
Really hope Russell is okay as he gets help heading to the locker room..
Tim says
Russell only a bruised butt after a hard fall, likely to return.
kO says
Team lookd bad. No idea on offense and wide open Utah shots. Also I really question Randal talent. My eyes wuestion him as a starter this year.
Shaun says
Igotta agree on the princeton – was ugly under brown , still ugly under scott … im enjoying watching ron back on the team .. hes bringing fire and defense and lots of communication on defense … overall the team just looks short at most positions
offense is ugly just lots of isos
Lil pau says
Scott apparently thinks it’s the playoffs.
Loving Randle and Hibbert tonight. MWP too.
karen says
Oh i love clays comments. So right
tankyou says
@ClayBetrand, COMPLETELY AGREE.
Reading your comment above felt like I was listening to my own internal dialogue. Scott’s defensive schemes are generally lousy and lack creativity during crunch time of games. Same thing with offense, which often turns into just a ton of isolation sets, that lead to an amazing number of mid-range 2 point shots.
His offense isn’t even a good version of the Princeton, its just a ton of bad spacing with minimal ball movement. You would think after getting destroyed for so many years as a Coach he might start to think that the other team prioritizing open 3 point shots, Pick N’ rolls would be a good thing to try and do as well. All this BS about conditioning as if beating someone into the ground for a couple weeks really gets them in good condition. The NBA season is a massive grind, and rest periods are extremely important to manage microtearing, glycogen replenishment, and myofibril tearing. Even High School teams don’t make the team run suicides during the weekedays of the season, the Coaches do lots of walk throughs to ensure rest and recovery. If you want to run professional athletes into the ground to start the season to help work on their “maniliness” or some other BS masculinity crap, he should just quit and start hanging out with the flat-earth society.
Oltimer says
I don’t think it is the offense that lost the OT. It is the type of players closing the game. Quinn Snyder wants to win while Byron Scott loves to experiment. He wants to prove a stubborn point and impart a lesson on his player, problem is, Lakers need a psychological uplift that they can close the game. All the heroic efforts at mid part were wasted and fans in SoCal and East Coast were grumbling when the team didn’t intend to compete in the end. Williams and Young have no defense but tons of offense; Sacre is useless 7 footer and the other two rookies are projects in the D’League while Jazz were putting up good defense and good perimeter shooting.
kO says
For a team under Scott that losing is the norm it might be a good idea for fan base and players to TRY TO WIN. Anytime you have Sacre, Kelly, Young in game you ain’t trying and going last 12 minutes with one real player Lou ain’t trying.
Over working your team in practice and under coaching in a winnable game is showing me a 40 win team with a 29 win coach.
Craig W. says
All this complaint about who finishes a pre-season game is a bit ‘over-the-top’. It is pre-season! One real point of these games is to see what players will do in pressure situations and to expose players who may not be on the club. Both of those occurred in OT last night. That is not a lineup you will ever see in a regular season game.
Utah, on the other hand, has 14 of 15 players back and can easily work on how they will handle an OT situation. Two different clubs, two different goals for the same game.
Note: Yes I would like to see Upshaw get some run. I want to see him in an actual NBA type game before we send him down to D-league.
J C says
How poorly is Upshaw playing in practice that he can’t even get pre-season minutes? Is he dogging it? Why isn’t Byron giving him a chance?
Ko’s estimate of “The Byron Effect” sounds about right – a 40-win team reduced to 29 wins.
I also agree that a preseason win would be a much-needed boost of confidence to this group after last year’s tragicomedy, even if it is a mostly new roster.
However I did like the way Kobe, Randle looked.
J C says
Forgot to add – MWP’s presence was palpable.
If he doesn’t get a roster spot I’ll be stunned.
Justin says
@KO So Byron needs a pointless win because you and a bunch of fans are insecure and think the players need confidence. That is not the point of preseason. The Lakers need to make cuts and get a good look at guys and what they will do in certain situations. Young needs to play to see if he improved and play defense like he said he would. Byron needs to know what he has. And any player losing confidence over a preseason game is not one that made the NBA to begin with. That was a good learning experience (playing in overtime) that you can’t get in practice. Lakers at best are a 7-8 seed, so they need to know how players close out games if they want any chance of sneaking into the playoffs. And of course most of those players won’t be in an OT game, but foul trouble or ejections happen. Knowing if a player can handle that pressure is invaluable. I am getting tired of the loser mentality so many fans have. The season hasn’t even started and people are acting disappointed. The only thing that matters is that the players remain healthy, develop, you learn what they are so you can build around them, and that they show enough to entice a major free agent. Sorry if my rant sounds like an attack to you.
Vasheed says
@JC,
I would like to see Upshaw on the court too. I did see some nice scrimmage video of Upshaw showing enough lateral quickness to keep Clarkson from getting to the rim and it resulted in a turn over. He looked pretty good. So I dunno whats the hold up.
I’m so far I’m liking Hibbert’s defense and the overall talent depth of the team. The Princeton offense just doesn’t look like it is doing the team any favors.