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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Aloha,

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

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.

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

Aloha,

Think the Lakers have been hit by the injury bug? The Grizzlies have 13 guys out! They will play the Celtics with Kennard, Roddy, 3 two way players and 3 10 day contract players. Yikes.

Aloha,

It’s trade season again and the expectation seems to be that the Lakers will make one. But what if they can’t? Personally I think it’s more likely that the Lakers won’t be able to make a big trade than making one.

Take Murray for instance. The Hawks do not want DLO. That make sense. The two PG experiment didn’t work with Murray so why would it work with DLO? So the Lakers need to find a third team. This is where it gets tricky. The Lakers not only need to find a third team that will take on DLO but also has something of value for the Hawks. And we really can’t pay a team to take him because our first round pick needs to go to the Hawks. Last year the Lakers lucked out because we were the third team. The Timber Wolves wanted Conley and we had the assets to help make it happen.

I am not even sure that landing Murray increases our odds for a championship. For me, health is still the biggest factor. The Lakers are 21 and 12 when fewer than 3 rotation players are out. And that doesn’t even take under consideration that guys and the team has to find a rhythm when players return. One can only imagine what if Vando had been available all year after watching him play recently now that he is healthy and in playing condition.

Murray would help our perimeter defense but by how much? DLO is currently on a hot streak and it is unrealistic that he maintains this level of play, still as the third option would Murray out perform DLO’s 17 points, 6 1/2 assists and 42% 3 point shooting? Plus, while DLO isn’t a lock down defender he has been decent at team defense. While Murray hasn’t resembled the defender he was a few years ago. Considering we can insert Vando and Cam when better defense is required, I’m not sure that a Murray trade would be much more than a wash at best.

Unless something unexpected happens I am beginning to think that holding off on a trade until the summer when will have more assets available maybe the best scenario moving forward.

Aloha,

I think this was what the team was meant to look like. Contributions from the whole squad. AD and LeBron both had good games but it was the others that got this win. 6 players in double figures and great team defense. While we still have 2 guys are out we have enough guys returning to make a difference.

Vando is beginning to look like Vando again. While his stat line doesn’t jump out at you except the 3 steals. he played 18 minutes of elite defense, mostly against SGA.

It’s so good to have Rui back. While he is still on minutes restriction, he scored 12 points and was 2 for 3 from 3. He also played solid defense and had 2 blocks.

Christian Wood is finally looking comfortable and has played well the last several games. 11 points 7 boards and 3 blocks.

I was worried about our back court defense with DLO and Austin starting together but over all they played well. DLO definitely has improved his defense and several good defensive plays.

Holding a team like OKC to 105 is a very good effort. This is the vision Rob had when he put this team together. Now we just have to keep it going.

Aloha,
Perhaps I’m not as upset with last night as some are. First the Jazz were at home and are extremely hot right now. 5 of their last 7 wins have come against the Nuggets, the 76ers, the Bucks, the Heat and the Mavs, so they were going to be a challenge to beat.

2nd the Jazz threw AD’s rhythm off, sent a double every time he touched the ball. Usually the two bigs. He had 10 assists but missed a lot of shots he normally makes. Now with LeBron there would be no way they could defend AD the same way. Plus they could not have stopped LeBron inside. None of their bigs are strong enough.

3rd. Other guys stepped up. DLO was unconscious. He showed his value when he is the primary ball handler without LeBron. Even when LeBron returns I think he should start. Austin, who also played well was much more comfortable as the off guard and wasn’t over dribbling into the teeth of the defense. Off the bench he was in the conversation for 6th man of the year. I think that’s his best spot.

It was nice having Rui back. It was a shame he was on a minute restriction because they clearly had no answer for him. Like LeBron he was just too strong for their bigs. After a stretch of good play, Darvin had stated he would be starting before his last injury. He should start Rui as soon as he is back up to speed. Cam is clearly fighting an injury after having to leave the game after 11 minutes. It’s the perfect time to insert Rui.

I don’t see a trade happening anytime soon. So until a trade materializes I think a starting lineup of DLO, Prince, Rui, LeBron and AD gives us the best chance. With proper rotations I think our 2nd unit would be solid as well.
While Rui isn’t as good as Vando or Cam on defense, he is pretty good and he is a real offensive threat with helps open up things for AD and LeBron.

Aloha,

Well that was stupid. We shot 50% The Suns shot 49%. The Suns shot 36% from 3 making 14. We shot 38% making 13. Sounds like an even game until you consider the 17 turnovers and 13 offensive boards. The Suns took 13 more shots than we did. Ball game. You would think giving up 127 points meant bad defense but it was more like bad offense. We were always trying to defend in transition. The Suns scored 17 points off of only 9 turnovers in the first half, they were almost all live ball turnovers and it seemed like they all ended in made 3’s or and ones.

We are not going to win many games when LeBron scores 10 point with 4 awful turnovers and AD scores 13 with 5 rebounds. The thing that irritated me most was the lack of effort in trying to get AD the ball. Tonight the others scored 86. That normally would lead to a blowout. It was a blowout all right.

And of course we continue to be snake bit with injuries. Wood who has been playing well missed due to a migraine. And Cam got hurt 8 minutes into the game. We could have really used his defense.we were only down 5 when he left. We can’t beat the top heavy teams with our starting line up but our advantage is supposed to lay with our depth. But our depth is rarely available. Rui, Wood and Cam could have helped. And of course Vincent was brought in for his on ball defense. That would have been extremely beneficial tonight.

I’m thinking we should start DLO again. Austin was playing his best ball off the bench. He was being mentioned as a 6th man of the year candidate. But he’s struggling as a starter again. He was targeted all game. Even though DLO is not a great defender, he was better than Austin. Plus Dlo is a natural PG. Austin is a combo guard. I like Austin better when he’s paired with LeBron on the 2nd unit.

All in all it was a crappy effort. More so by LeBron and AD. They have to lead the charge and neither could tonight.