Game Thread PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1, GAME 2: BLAZERS @ LAKERS - AUGUST 20, 2020 - THURSDAY, 6:00 , ESPN & NBCSNW

if you have a long BB memory, you'll recall talk about some great distance shooters who were poor, comparatively, at the FT line. The chatter was they should back up 2-3 feet to closer simulate their normal shot

that might be the case now for Dame and three's. He seems better from 30' than from 24'

 

He just finds more space out there than he does closer to the line, it's the whole reason he developed that part of his game. He's still effective from close to the line, it's just a matter of more of those shots being contested. He also doesn't always get the foul calls he is expecting when so close to the line and that also has an effect on his percentages.

 

For this to happen....



...the Blazers have to win this game!

 

What this dude said!

 

Collins MRI. My guess is he's gonna be out for a while.

 

If it's high ankle sprain he probably is done. But we wait for that MRI.

 

Expect Davis to start at Center. Lakers will probably go with Lebron/KCP/Green/Kuzma/Davis to improve the Spacing.
We need to weather the storm especially in the beginning, i expect the Lakers to come out hot and hit some 3s, we can't expect them to go again for 5/32

 

If the Lakers two best shooters (Green and KCP) continue to struggle and Vogel insists on playing big minutes with Dwight or McGee with AD, this series sets up well for us.

We saw what that allowed us to do scheme wise defensively.

• Top lock Green and KCP and drop the big vs their double away stuff
• On side ball screens, we were able to ice (send ball handler baseline) and drop the big while also involving a third defender--typically the nail defender--to help on the roll. Wenyen was great here, fulling committing to stopping the roll and had the mobility to recover to AD which also helps whoever the primary big defender in pnr is to focus on defending the ballhandler rather play both that and the potential lob.
• And if AD was the screener in these situations, that often meant a weakside big in the dunker spot. That makes those rolls naturally less effective and we were also totally ok with bringing help off the weakside corner to free up Nurk or Whiteside to step up and make an impact at the rim. AD has potential to eat as a pnp shooter in these situations (and most other situations) but he's not shot the ball great all year so you'll live with that.
• On middle ball screens, we were not afraid to show a body to LeBron off the strongside wing to force a kick out. We even saw it when we when Gary would go under on LBJ.
• Lakers also like to have KCP and Green screen for LeBron and AD to force switches. Although we got caught in them a few times, we often had CJ and Dame show hard and stay with those guys longer and more often than you'd typically see if those guys were shooting well. And even in those switches where it flowed into a post up, we were able to pack the paint and show bodies and hands to those guys to force kick outs to struggling shooters.
• We also saw what a lack of second creator meant for the Lakers. When LeBron is off the floor or they choose to let KCP or Caruso handle the ball in ball screens, we were able to get aggressive with our bigs at times because one, those guys aren't dynamic playmakers and two, with two bigs on the floor + poor shooting, that spacing makes it easier to send help and recover.
• Did a great job most of the night walling up in transition too and that again becomes easier to commit to when you don't fear the kick for the 3.

Fully expect LeBron and AD to be more aggressive as scorers in game 2, especially if their horrid shooting continues, but their personnel allows us to play big, play to our strengths and better scheme towards limiting their strengths offensively in the half court (which are few tbh) and in transition.

I expect to see more AD at the 5 where we saw some issues defending the LBJ/AD pnr. They went to it more often with him at 5 (AD is often left being a spacer above the break with a center in there) and we also saw Portland less willing to involve a third defender in the action. Instead we saw Nurk play further up in his drop and AD got behind him a few times and finished. Lakers did a good job exchanging here which caused some confusion for our weakside help, so communication will need to be better in those situations. I also expect to see Portland to try and switch some of those. This is where a healthy Zach would come in handy minus being another body to throw at AD.

Offensively I thought we had a lot of good moments. Few too many sloppy turnovers and didn't shoot it well really all night minus when it mattered AGAIN (this team has been so clutch in the bubble) but do think we have a lot of opportunities to improve, especially during the brief time Dame is off the floor. Would like to see more action involved where GTJ as a screener. I think a spain pnr involving CJ and Whiteside would be pretty productive. I think those guys have shown some chemistry as a lob/ pnr tandem and it would also free up Gary for some 3's or CJ to get downhill to the rim or to pull up for 2 if there's some miscommunication by the guards on the switch (which most teams opt to do to defend this action).



Most of the stagnancy we see with our no Dame units is because we struggle to create that initial advantage. I think this action helps you do that and also plays into or guys' strengths.

You could also do some fun stuff with Gary and CJ screening for Melo out of the corner. That creates a tough decision for LA defensively and gives Melo better matchups to post up against than we saw tonight if they opt to switch (think he can have is way vs Caruso/KCP/Green). Struggles came vs Morris and Kuzma.

If Zach can get right and we can excise Mario from the rotation, I do like our chances to spoil things for the Lakers. *EDIT Just saw the Zach news. Bummer.

I think it'll be long series either way though.

 

So far he is not exactly a paragon of durability.

 

Zach, Hood, Skal, Ariza, Little

We have 5 forwards out and are playing the team with two MVP forwards.

I dont want to hear Lakers bitching about how things would be different if they had Bradley, etc.

Fuck the Lakers.

 

Deep down, true Lakers fans HATE LeBron and Dwight Howard. It's hard for them to stay invested. They wish they still had Russell and Ingram, two All Stars that they tanked for. Now all they have is an old LeBron. Anthony Davis will go play for the Warriors or something stupid like that. Dame breaks up another team.

 

Yes, and Sonics WON the first two games of that series.

 

I think Zach is out for this series definitely. I feel sorry for the kid due to how hard he work to from his shoulder.