The Lakers venture out on the road, heading east to face some teams outside California for the first time all season. Tonight they are in Brooklyn to face the Nets, one of the few teams in the same situation the Lakers are in — specifically, a team who is still looking for their first win. Someone, then, will leave this game happier than they entered it.
For this team to be the Lakers they will need to sort out how to defend much better than they have through their first four losses. The Lakers boast the worst defense in the league, mostly because they cannot contain dribble penetration and cannot protect the rim when Roy Hibbert exits. Considering Hibbert is currently only playing 25 minutes a night, this leaves the team lacking a defensive presence in the paint for nearly half the game. It has not gone well.
Managing the defensive paint is especially important against the Nets as they possess one of the best scoring big men in the league in Brook Lopez. Lopez’s ability to get points from the post as well as in pick & pops by hitting his midrange jumper will put the Lakers into help situations. While Hibbert should be able to defend Lopez well enough in post up situations, when big Roy vacates the game or when the pick & pop becomes the play, the Lakers are going to have to rotate, help, and sort out their back line defense in ways they’ve not been effective at to this point in the year.
Beyond Lopez, the team’s other offensive threats are Jarrett Jack, Joe Johnson, and Thad Young. We’ll start with Johnson since he’s the most familiar name. He’s also the player who’s been the worst of the trio this season. While we have harped on Kobe’s lack of efficiency and poor production, Johnson has actually been worse than Kobe. Johnson is only shooting 28.3% from the floor on 12 attempts and scoring 9 points per game. While this sounds like a great situation for the Lakers, you also have to figure a breakout game for the former all-star is coming. Will the fact he’ll be going up against Kobe (who has not been very good defensively) grease the wheels for that inevitable good game?
As for Jack and Young, both are long time vets and have established games. They also have huge experience advantages in their match ups. Jack will likely be checked by D’Angelo Russell and will try to use his strength and smarts to get over on the rookie. Jack loves to use the P&R to get to the mid-range where he can get off his jumper and will also threaten the paint if given a clean angle to the rim. Russell would be wise to use his length to challenge shots while laying off Jack to make him prove he can knock down these shots.
Julius Randle, meanwhile, will have to deal with Young. Thad isn’t a huge scoring option, but will get his double digit points without a lot of plays being run for him. He’s good as an off-ball worker and can hit his jumper if given space. He will also get to the offensive glass, so Randle’s awareness will be tested — especially when he’s put into help positions and marking both the paint and his own man.
Offensively, I hope to see the Lakers build on what they started to show in the Nuggets game. That contest showed more fluidity in the sets they were running with some quicker initiations. They ran a bit more pick and roll — both with their big men and guard/wing actions which gave the Nuggets some different looks. I hope to see more of this tonight, especially when Lopez is in the game. If the Lakers can involved Brook in P&R’s and get him in space against Clarkson and Russell, the Lakers can either get some shots going towards the rim or force the Nets into rotations which open up shots and drives against closeouts on the perimeter.
While the Nuggets offered a good chance for the Lakers to get a win, this game in Brooklyn offers an even better opportunity. Yes, the game is on the road, but the Nets are one of the few teams with a worse efficiency differential than the Lakers. Brooklyn has the 3rd worst defense and the 2nd worst offense. They are bad. The Lakers are too, of course, but at 0-5 and with the numbers they are putting up, an argument could be made the Nets are even worse. It’s not often the Lakers will run into a team like this, they’d be wise to take advantage.
Where you can watch: 4:30pm start time on TWC Sportsnet. Also listen at ESPN Radio 710AM.
tankyou says
I would give the Nets the slight advantage for all the reasons noted in the article. They have some serious vets with some established talent. Lopez should really light up the Lakers big time, he is a big time offensive talent, he can put up 30 against us with ease.
IF Joe Johnson continues to play like trash though, which seems unlikely given his track record (unless he’s in steep physical decline/injured??). Let’s hope he shoots at volume with low efficiency again, then we have a shot.
Seems like a toss-up game to me, which at this point means we best be winning!
Anonymous says
This is our first true road game (where we had to leave the state). This road trip will be very telling as the realities of NBA travel haven’t been experienced by our kids yet. This first game may be the most winnable except that the Nets are as desperate as we are to get in the win column and they are playing at home.
Fern says
This from the other thread:
bmcburney November 6, 2015 at 9:39 am
And this is the same FO that won back to back chips in 2009 and 2010. Remind me again, how many chips have those advanced stats guys in Houston won? You Sir won that thread, about tonight game, hell of a chance to get our first win, we can score, can’t play D, the Nets can’t do either. But with our luck they score 125 tonight lol, i have a feeling… GO LAKERS!!!!
Chearn says
The Lakers will win tonight!!!
Let’s Go!!!
T. Rogers says
Crossing my fingers big time for tonight. It either tonight versus Brooklyn or the next game against the Knicks. After that the chances of victories drops dramatically for awhile based on the schedule. So the Purple and Gold need to take care of business tonight. I hope to see Julius take someone to the rack tonight.
Snarky George says
From Kevin Pelton’s weekly chat. Lot’s of Laker talk.
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Cory: Last week when asked about D’Angelo and if you’d still take him 2nd you replied- “I liked him second before the draft and there’s not enough of a sample yet to change that opinion.” You still feel that way? You really trying to tell all of us you wouldn’t draft Kristaps 2nd to the Lakers? You wouldn’t draft Myles Turner or even Stanley Johnson over D’Angelo if you could back and redo the draft? IF the answer is yes you’d still take D’Angelo 2nd, is that you just being a fan of D’Angelo?
Kevin Pelton: Well, yeah, you could define having him second before the draft as being a fan of his. In general, though, people tend to move too hastily in changing their perceptions of prospects based on a small sample of games. Porzingis or Okafor is one thing; plenty of people thought they were better than Russell before the draft. It would be difficult to find people who felt that way about Stanley Johnson or Myles Turner. I’m also not sure exactly what people expected Russell to do with perhaps the set of teammates least suited to showcasing his skills possible.
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Steve: Would you say D’Angelo Russell’s struggles are more on the offensive strategies then on him so far? Still, way too early to be concerned, right?
Kevin Pelton: While I don’t think Byron Scott is helping with his focus on winning games over developing players, I think it’s more on personnel. Surrounding a player whose best skill is playmaking with multiple guards who need the ball in his hands never made much sense. In fairness to Mitch Kupchak, I don’t think signing Lou Williams was Plan A or Plan B and the Lakers sort of had to take value where they could get it. But they might pay a long-term price with Russell’s development.
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Angie: Who’s the first no-win team to get a W? Who loses first: TOR or GSW?
Kevin Pelton: Against all odds, one of Brooklyn and the Lakers must win when they play each other tonight. New Orleans should beat Dallas in one half of their home-and-home. That leaves the Sixers, and if they can’t beat Orlando at home tomorrow, I’m not seeing a realistic win until they host the Mavericks on November 16. Barring a game they sleep through, the Warriors should make it to their matchup with Toronto on November 17 unbeaten. The Raptors’ schedule is also pretty favorable through then.
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Andrew: What’s your take on Okafor? Seems like he is better than expected and his flaws are somewhat fixable.
Kevin Pelton: I don’t know about better than expected since the expectations were pretty high while he was at Duke, but some of the concerns about his low shooting percentages during summer/preseason games haven’t carried over. Facing up is becoming a nice weapon for him.
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Jon: Complete Hypothetical! If the Sixers called the Lakers and offered their pick back to them for Deangelo Russell, do the Lakers say yes at any point/situation during this season?
Kevin Pelton: Hmm. That’s an interesting notion. If they were willing to do it, it would probably be a bad sign for Russell. The answer also has a lot to do with how bad the Lakers figure they’re going to be in 2016-17. If they keep their pick this year and improve a lot next year, getting the pick back wouldn’t be nearly as valuable.
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Nik: One other big knock on Okafor people seem to have forgotten about was his FT shooting. He’s 21/25 over PS and first 4 games. Is it just SSS or did he legitimately improve in a matter of a couple of months?
Kevin Pelton: Yeah, good point. Nate Duncan mentioned during summer league that there was a correctable flaw in his form. He may have gotten that fixed. His low percentage at Duke was tough to understand given Okafor’s soft touch.
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Kevan: Can you elaborate on cognitive biases involved with teams making poor personnel decisions? Obvious example, the Lakers focusing on winning over developing their youth… How do they not see the value we do?
Kevin Pelton: Well, for one it’s a matter of incentives. Byron Scott probably isn’t going to be the coach of the Lakers when Russell is in his prime. He probably isn’t going to be the coach of the Lakers next year. He needs — or at least likely feels he needs — to win games right now to keep his job. It’s understandable then that he’d be more focused on current performance. It’s a natural tension in the GM/coach dynamic that I think would be helped if teams changed coaches less frequently or at least made it clear they were being evaluated more on process than results.
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Matt: Thanks for the informative and entertaining info, Kevin!I am far from a Lakers sympathizer, but part of me thinks the best thing Kobe can do for their organization is to encourage a trade to a team like the Suns or Celtics who wants to win and has assets to send to LA. (I recognize a Lakers-Celtics trade for a star is unlikely, even though that rivalry has mostly fizzled.) If the Lakers do decide to trade him, what kind of return could they get for a 37-year-old rental?
Kevin Pelton: Given his salary, even if the Lakers and Kobe wanted such a thing, it’s hard to imagine a workable trade.
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Anthony: over or under 40% fg for Kobe?
Kevin Pelton: Under
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Kevan: Follow up to cognitive bias question… Doesn’t GM tell coach to develop youth so incentives are not determined incorrectly (i.e. by cya coach)? Hard to understand why anyone other than Kobe and BScott are focused on wins… Or is everyone in that org concerned about job security to the detriment of the team’s future?
Kevin Pelton: This probably has to factor more into the choice of coach than it is something that’s negotiable thereafter.
the other Stephen says
FOR WARREN!!!
Daniel says
Brooklyn Nets Rookie to watch:
Keep an eye on Rondae Hollis Jefferson for the Nets. Although, he is not getting minutes, Jefferson’s defense has shined as advertised. This player has potential and if properly developed could become a defensive force for years to come.
All in all, this is a game where someone has to win. Hopefully, the leaks on defense are minimized, which is asking a lot. Also, I hope we see improvement by Russell (confidence/assertiveness), Clarkson (defense) and Kobe (shooting) as well as Randle building up on good performances.
Joel says
Kobe is playing absolutely no transition defense.
Gene says
Clarkson and Randle should take most of the shots….Kobe the least….
Lil pau says
Wow , we look just unbelievably awful on both sides of the ball
JB says
Kobe starts 0-5. He looks awful. He’s forcing the issue. He was triple teamed on his first shot. He doesn’t have his legs under him but yet he’s still firing. As a result, he has a really funky shooting motion where he kicks one leg out a misses short. Byron thinks everything is okay and it isn’t. It’s up to him to coach Kobe and he can’t.
Tim says
Larry Nance Jr., welcome to the NBA.
Joel says
Holy crap this is a bad team
Tim says
Lakers had 5 FGs in the first quarter and 5 turnovers. Not a good start to the road trip.
rubenowski says
Kobe, Young and Williams to start the 2nd. Byron really wants to win this one.
In the first few minutes of this game I thought the Nets were horrible (I mean they blew a 4 on 1 fast break!) But then I looked at the score and saw they were beating us by a few. 🙁
Fern says
There is a big Laker crowd there.
Gene says
Kobe with 10 shots already(only 2 made)….Split those shots up between Clarkson and Randle and the Lakers would be better…Like at OKC where there 2 best players get the moist shots…
Fern says
That was vintage Kobe to close the half, Russell had a nice half BUT zero assists, cant control the offense if you get rid of the ball behind the 3 point line everytime need to keep the ball until something opens up…
Joel says
Safe to say this is easily Russell’s best game so far.
Gene says
Peace with the best Plus /minus for the Lakers going into the 4th!….Changing the second unit has been huge…..
Fern says
Definitely, Metta brings toughness and Nance can’t be worse than Kelly, he can help…
Tra says
There is a big Laker crowd there.
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There definitely is. I’m fortunate enough to be in the building tonight and there’s a huge Lakers contingent here. Hopefully we can hold on and secure our 1st W of the season.
AusPhil says
Tra – Good to hear that you’re there cheering LA on. Gotta get that W.
Fern says
I hope we haven’t seen the last of DAR on this game, that would made me mad, hey man enjoy the game, tell us what you saw first hand
Tim says
Randle banks it in from 22 feet might have saved the Lakers.
AusPhil says
FINALLY!
bluehill says
Lakers!!!
Fern says
I knew it!!! Yeaaaaa!!!
Anonymous says
What I want to see every game is for Russell, Clarkson, and Randle to combine for 50+ points and for the team to lose.
Fern says
Wow what a fan…
Chearn says
A win is a win. Baby steps forward in this game but I’ll take that as progress.
Indeed, for Warren!
Moto says
Did I read that right? DAR had zero assist?
sam says
A few observation/thoughts:
while Byron Scott keeps emphasizing effort on D in practices and pregame interviews… why would he play Lou and Young in his second unit lineup at the same time? one has to be benched, pick your poison…
with D’angelo rolling today, he get benched in the 4th still… Kobe should be benched if we talk about D-lapses and poor offensive efficiency…
Nance Jr and Black definitely better than Bass and Kelly… in terms of actual performance, effort and body language…
rotation does not make much sense at all, and i m feeling the BS firing bandwagon…
KO says
Congrats to this sight. Clearly our pointing out that Kelly and Bass are bad. Playing Nance and Metta were the differance. I look forward to watching Kelly and Sacre in street cloths rest of year.
Oh one more thing Bryon. You don’t have a 7 footer take ball out. He is your safety valve if you need a last second high pass.
Basketball 101 Bryon.
Mid-Wilshire says
Tonight:
Randle: 14 pts. (5-9 shooting), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block
Clarkson: 16 pts. (6-12 shooting), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Russell: 16 pts. (6-9 shooting), 4 rebounds (but zero assists), 3 steals
Could this have been a glimpse of the future?
Were there mistakes? Of course. They’re young. Was the level of competition very high? No. The Nets are horrible.
Even so, our three young players who (hopefully) are the core of the Lakers’ future just combined for 46 points, 13 rebounds, and 6 assists while averaging 29 minutes per game between them tonight. Considering that this is only their 5th regular season game together, I’d say that this is encouraging.
Even though they have a ways to go, isn’t this what we were hoping for?
matt says
Lakers look a likes:
D’angelo russell looks like slick rick
Jordan clarkson looks like a young blair underwood
Larry nance jr looks like scarface’s best friend manny
Nick young looks like shock g from digital underground
Lou williams looks like drez drom black sheep
This one is bad, kobe look like eugene the jeep from popeye
Roy hibbert look like actor from pacific rim idris elba
R says
Snarky, thanks for posting the Pelton Q&A. Interesting Pelton’s claim that
the Lakers roster as assembled isn’t going to showcase Russell’s skills. Certainly nobody’s gonna get a lot of assists passing to Kobe …
I guess a logical extension of that claim is such a roster won’t develop DAR’s skills much either.
matt says
Ok wait lou doesn’t look like drez
rr says
Anybody who is killing Byron every day should read the Pelton stuff posted by Snarky George upthread.
Did not see this game; glad to see the team pick up a W.
matt says
Im so glad coach tried something different and it worked, nance looked good and did not play like a rookie from wyoming, he played like a real nba player, metta was the needed muscle and showed he can still defend his steal at the end might have been the play of the game i was shocked when he hit a 3, tarik black proved he’s better than bass and needs to play all the time, bass played ok and should still play but very limited like he did , the whole team was operating well, the nets didn’t have much going offensively they missed alot of shots, but their defense challenged the lakers
The combo of nance and metta was a highlight, and nance really bumped people around and boxed out like a pro, a great prospect, im glad russell had a Good scoring game he probably needed, i think the lack of urgency against that poor offensive opponent allowed them to relax, this definitely helped kobe
Anonymous says
Man these guys play well against shifty teams!!
J C says
Nets are truly bad but
Encouraging signs:
Nance and Metta played enough minutes to make a difference. Especially Metta!
No Kelly/Bass combo
Russell had 16 points 4 boards and 3 steals
Kobe didn’t shoot us out of it
Randle and Clarkson excellent as usual.
Got the W.
Our first winning streak of the year!