Game Debrief: What Went Right And What Went Wrong?

Ham went to the Conference Finals as a rookie head coach. We just made some poor decisions, the players and the HC. Small ball isn't the best look against these dudes, they small ball better than we do. However we don't seem to have any size, that JJ feels comfortable playing a lot of minutes.

 

JJ should have make some subs up by 12 in the 3rd .

Overall I've never seen a team got so MUCH in its own way in B2B playoffs games

Luka is a great ballhog playing no defense .

MOVE THE f***ING BALL

 

Luka does move the ball did you not see how many open looks our shooters missed?

 

Realistically? We’re done. Doesn’t matter if we win G5, we’ll get throttled in G6.

The good? Maybe Luka and Rob can get something started early this offseason.

Another maybe good? Perhaps other free agents take pay cuts bc they want to join Luka, and know they can help him bc they want to win too.

 

good:

luka and lebron played like the guys we say they are.

i think the defensive effort was actually good. edwards can play, and he hit some stuff. randle exploited some advantages in the first half, but overall, i liked the shots they were getting.

bad:

i didn't like HOW MANY shots they were getting. that's mostly just size, but there were still a few plays where they just wanted the ball more, imo.

we just don't have resistance at the rim on defense, and that makes it easier for a meh offensive team to put points on the board.

i would have liked to see more vando/goodwin opportunities in the second half. they seem like guys who are trying to make plays instead of reacting.



anyway, it's too late now. i wouldn't be entirely shocked to see us win three straight, but we've been outplayed over 4 games.

is what it is; use it to plan for next year.

 

Yeah, you can just tell Minnesota has higher potential, athleticism. I think their inconsistency on offense and our stars playing out of their minds has made the games close. They got moments when they lay bricks, which we can't capitalize on. I don't know whether its fatigue or the fact the game plan was quite redundant (using big 2 as the ball handlers and playing the 5 out Pringles set up), but we can't sustain playing well after getting a good lead.

When Ant wants to win, we can't stop him.

 

Not enough length down low on D or on offense to maximize what Luka can do.
Bummer, but honestly, after game one, I felt like we weren’t going to beat Minny in this series.

 

The better of two evenly matched teams win the types of games that were #3 and #4 and MIN won both of them. 'Nuff said.

Absolutely gut-wrenching loss. Made the Game 3 loss feel like a walk in the forest. Lakers 113; T-Wolves 116.

This game will be talked about for a long time, mainly 'cuz of JJ's decision to play the same 5 guys (Lebron/Luka/AR/DFS/Rui) basically for the entire 2nd half. They were gassed. It indeed did look like it affected the Laker's play over the last 4 mins.

It was a thrilling game if you like the NBA. Gotta admit. But if you're a Laker fan you feel like you're wrung-out after this loss.

Late in the 1st Q: we're up 10, get a steal and a fastbreak but Luka missed the layup and MIN immediately hit a 3. Up 7 instead of 12. Luka gets doubled, MIN steals, Ant gets fouled on the layup, made 1 of 2. We shouldda been up 12, but in the last minute we're only up 4.

Early 3rd Q: an incidental both-guys play with AR and Naz and they call AR for his 3rd foul. Shouldda been a no-call, but do I really wanna get into the refs here? We lost the game on our own.

However: I saw Vando in the 1st half, under the Laker boards, get shoved, pushed down and punched in the face and nothing was called. Guess they just didn't see it.

Ant's knee injury when Lebron dove after the ball: I've been watching MIN all year: Ant gets hurt a lot - not faking it - but he always gets back up and plays. I've seen him leave games with what looks like an injury that will keep him out for a week, and he re-appears as the 2nd half begins. I'm guessing some of it is theater.

14-0 Laker run to open the 3rd and we were feelin' good. Some of us. MIN went on a 12-3 run to end the 2nd, so it was needed. Then MIN goes on a 9-0 run after our 14-0 run. And so it went. Because of course...

The refs just missed the kicked ball. MIN gets it. That's how this series has gone, right there.

Jaden McDaniel has a career in movies after he hangs it up: the cold-faced assassin. He plays it well. I've watched his entire career. He's the kind of guy Kobe would want on his team.

Color us astonished when Rudy elbows the back of Bron's head and the call goes our way!

Of all the Laker players who were called on to continue playing w/o a break, Luka looked the most gassed. I'm only kidding when I say what do you expect from a hookah-smoking fat-azz still recovering from food poison? I really am kidding. No but seriously: he was totally gassed. JJ Redick: see the major criticism of Thibs.

After Ant hit the 3 from the top of the key: Laker timeout. Entire team looked fatigued. Imagine playing a 40 year old for 24 mins straight. Even if he is an action figure.

MIN's offensive rebounds: 18. Jeeeez...

The last 4:30 of the game was the stuff of Laker fan's nightmares. The kind of a nightmare when you say to yourself, "Oh wow...it's okay because this is only a dream! I'm good! Only a dream!"...but you stay inside the nightmare. It doesn't go away. It plays out anyway, even though you know you're dreaming. In my nightmare-scenario, no matter what we do, it's not enough, every little thing goes MIN's way, and they win.

And it indeed did play out that way in waking time. When Luka missed a layup around 4:23 left, then Naz hit one of his goofy 3s from the top of the key: that's the bad dream, right there, man. Nothing but doom-vibes. I'ze in the Sunken Place. You too?

Rui hits a 3 with 3:30 left to re-take the lead! MIN timeout! I'm thinking I'm coming out of the nightmare. But I wasn't. If Jaden stealing Lebron's inbounds pass in the crunchiest moment isn't the stuff of Laker-fan nightmares, I don't know what is.

The final 4:30 lasted for around 45 minutes for me. And now we're down 3-1. No one needs to be told what being down 3-1 means, so I won't.

 

Well said, abeer. I only disagree with one point: I would be shocked if we win 3 straight.

 

people forgot how good minny is defensively with their length and athleticism. they're a perfectly built team for today's nba


that, along with the fact that they've made the big shots when they've needed to and the lakers haven't is why they're up 3-1. doesn't help that the lakers are relying on 40 year old lebron and luka to do everything

 

The Wolves are good and I honestly have nothing against them as a team. They’ve played hard and defended their home court.

we just gotta lean into the cliches and take it one game at a time at this point. Focus on winning game 5 at home and go from there. Our role players simply have to give us something.

 

I was definitely irritated by multiple calls and no calls

 

Disappointing

Expected as likely

But still disappointing

 

Julius is their 2nd best player .. Lakers just can't defend to save their life

 

I think our defense has been fantastic, except for the glaring void in the paint. Lebron, Rui, and DFS have been working really hard to collapse into the paint late in MIN's shot clock to contest and they've done a good job considering a lot of it shouldn't be their job. We just don't have a true big down low on D and it's killed us.

Look at how nonexistent Rudy's been for them on offense. But Finch plays him for totally other reasons, and we all can see why.

Yea, Julius took a long time to jell with this team, but he's there. It hurts. He's been really good for them.

 

i told my dad after the game that silver might want to rethink making the playoffs a wrestling match when nobody's tuning into minny's second round series (even if it's against gs). lakers/gs could have happened if julius randle could commit an offensive foul (like he has constantly for his entire career).

 

Reminds me a little bit of the 04 finals in terms of them being a really good team that may deserve to win anyway, but allowed to be uber physical with us, but not us with them.

 

I have seen a bunch of posts and videos on other non Laker sites, pointing this out as well. The refs screwed us, it is true.