Game 41 : Memphis Grizzlies (27-14) @ Los Angeles Lakers (21-19) - 9:30 PM

[BEazy]

Man I don't know how yall keep giving Westbrook a pass on games like these. He plays absolutely no defense, but people still want to say it's not Westbrook, it's the coach this and that. Nah man, if Westbrook doesn't score, which he was brought here to do, then he's useless because his other skills are not amplified enough to make a impact in the game. I mean this fool shot 16% and yet we want to blame coach Vogel for the mistakes?

BTW Monk and Bradley scored more points than Westbrook so I don't even know how he was the 2nd best starter with a -22 in the +/- category.

Let's just continue to be oblivious about all glaring problems Westbrick presents and keep saying, "he'll turn it around eventually."

[tamaraw08]

Man I don't know how yall keep giving Westbrook a pass on games like these. He plays absolutely no defense, but people still want to say it's not Westbrook, it's the coach this and that. Nah man, if Westbrook doesn't score, which he was brought here to do, then he's useless because his other skills are not amplified enough to make a impact in the game. I mean this fool shot 16% and yet we want to blame coach Vogel for the mistakes?

BTW Monk and Bradley scored more points than Westbrook so I don't even know how he was the 2nd best starter with a -22 in the +/- category.

Let's just continue to be oblivious about all glaring problems Westbrick presents and keep saying, "he'll turn it around eventually."

I don't give him a pass, he played like crap, he shot horribly which contributed to them losing but pretty much everyone except Lebron layed bricks last night. You want to bring up the +/-? Lebron was a -30, so you want to blame him? How about Bradley? he was a - 20 too.
You bring up Monk bec he scored 1 more point? He NEEDED 13 ATTEMPTS TO SCORE 7 POINTS. Bradley scored more 1 more point because he took 10 shots?
Again Westbrook played a horrible game but STOP looking through your myopic eyes and just blame one person for the loss.
They lost to a very good team that just won 9 straight games including beating good teams like the Suns, Cavs and the Nets.
I NEVER wanted Westbrook here, and you can blame Lebron, AD and Pelinka for trading good pieces for him for all I care. I just hate the idea of blaming one player every time they lose. Oh Russ had 8 TO's, that's why they lost.

[tamaraw08]

The loss of the game is on Vogel. The lineups were just too small to compete against the Grizzlies who have some of the biggest wings in the league. Bane is at SG but could play PF.

From 3: Lakers were 42% and Grizz were 37%
From 2: Lakers were 48% and Grizz were 63%
From FT: Lakers had 19 shots and Grizz had 32

Lakers starting small wings Monk and Bradley
From 2: 1/15 (7%)
From 3: 2/8 (25%)

Grizz feasted inside and Lakers couldn't get anything inside.

Westbrook struggled shooting too but is not the issue since he competed and had low TOs. Yes, he's not worth 40m playing like this but he was still the 2nd best Lakers starter on the game. He's a good matchup on Morant but with Bradley and monk out there he is more needed at SG or SF where he's undersized.

This was just a matchup where Lakers were too small at the wings to compete. Howard is also a bit slow for their wings and I'm glad he got a bit o minutes but the game was lost with the starting unit. You could get away with playing one of Monk, Ellington or Bradley at a time but not multiple.

You guys probably know that I am not a fan of Vogel getting so much credit when they won it all and also when they defended great last season. But for me, this is a Team loss last night. Monk is due for a bad shooting game, you can't count on Bradley to shoot 2 well 2 straight nights. Melo could have stepped up but didn't. Pretty much everyone didn't bring the energy and focus to make stops. Frank could have adjusted better and faster too.

[Pythagoras]

The loss of the game is on Vogel. The lineups were just too small to compete against the Grizzlies who have some of the biggest wings in the league. Bane is at SG but could play PF.

From 3: Lakers were 42% and Grizz were 37%
From 2: Lakers were 48% and Grizz were 63%
From FT: Lakers had 19 shots and Grizz had 32

Lakers starting small wings Monk and Bradley
From 2: 1/15 (7%)
From 3: 2/8 (25%)

Grizz feasted inside and Lakers couldn't get anything inside.

Westbrook struggled shooting too but is not the issue since he competed and had low TOs. Yes, he's not worth 40m playing like this but he was still the 2nd best Lakers starter on the game. He's a good matchup on Morant but with Bradley and monk out there he is more needed at SG or SF where he's undersized.

This was just a matchup where Lakers were too small at the wings to compete. Howard is also a bit slow for their wings and I'm glad he got a bit o minutes but the game was lost with the starting unit. You could get away with playing one of Monk, Ellington or Bradley at a time but not multiple.

I didn’t get to see the game cause I was at work but was following online, thanks for this good breakdown.

So I have to say, this season has really highlighted Vogel’s limitations as a coach. In particular, his rotations suck. The team now finally has two functional wings in Stanley Johnson and Ariza. Those two should be playing heavy minutes when you’re playing Lebron at C. Move Monk to the starting 2 for goodness sakes. Avery Bradley is not some elite 3 and D guard. Why is his starting spot being protected as much as Lebron, AD, and Westbrook’s?????

[Ball so hard]

The loss of the game is on Vogel. The lineups were just too small to compete against the Grizzlies who have some of the biggest wings in the league. Bane is at SG but could play PF.

From 3: Lakers were 42% and Grizz were 37%
From 2: Lakers were 48% and Grizz were 63%
From FT: Lakers had 19 shots and Grizz had 32

Lakers starting small wings Monk and Bradley
From 2: 1/15 (7%)
From 3: 2/8 (25%)

Grizz feasted inside and Lakers couldn't get anything inside.

Westbrook struggled shooting too but is not the issue since he competed and had low TOs. Yes, he's not worth 40m playing like this but he was still the 2nd best Lakers starter on the game. He's a good matchup on Morant but with Bradley and monk out there he is more needed at SG or SF where he's undersized.

This was just a matchup where Lakers were too small at the wings to compete. Howard is also a bit slow for their wings and I'm glad he got a bit o minutes but the game was lost with the starting unit. You could get away with playing one of Monk, Ellington or Bradley at a time but not multiple.

I didn’t get to see the game cause I was at work but was following online, thanks for this good breakdown.

So I have to say, this season has really highlighted Vogel’s limitations as a coach. In particular, his rotations suck. The team now finally has two functional wings in Stanley Johnson and Ariza. Those two should be playing heavy minutes when you’re playing Lebron at C. Move Monk to the starting 2 for goodness sakes. Avery Bradley is not some elite 3 and D guard. Why is his starting spot being protected as much as Lebron, AD, and Westbrook’s?????

Just curious - have you been able to watch Johnson and Ariza play? I refuse to believe anyone who's watched these two play believe they are doing a job well enough to warrant more minutes. If anything i'd argue they should both play less. I previously described Bradley as a mediocre player... solid on defense and not totally awful on offense. He's close to net zero impact in my book. However, the same can't be said for either Ariza or Johnson. Honestly not sure what Ariza offers at this point, but it's surely not defense. Johnson is solid on defense but offers next to nothing on offense. With all that being said, i'm not convinced there's a better alternative to starting Bradley on the roster. THT's flaws are well documented so I won't belabor that point again.

Every single fan base criticize their team's rotations. Are we sure Vogel is not making the best out of this **** roster construction. Of course his rotations could be better at times. However, by and large they are about the best anyone could do. I've also been very vocal about my distaste for small ball lineups... i think Howard should start on a situational basis.

[BEazy]

Man I don't know how yall keep giving Westbrook a pass on games like these. He plays absolutely no defense, but people still want to say it's not Westbrook, it's the coach this and that. Nah man, if Westbrook doesn't score, which he was brought here to do, then he's useless because his other skills are not amplified enough to make a impact in the game. I mean this fool shot 16% and yet we want to blame coach Vogel for the mistakes?

BTW Monk and Bradley scored more points than Westbrook so I don't even know how he was the 2nd best starter with a -22 in the +/- category.

Let's just continue to be oblivious about all glaring problems Westbrick presents and keep saying, "he'll turn it around eventually."

I don't give him a pass, he played like crap, he shot horribly which contributed to them losing but pretty much everyone except Lebron layed bricks last night. You want to bring up the +/-? Lebron was a -30, so you want to blame him? How about Bradley? he was a - 20 too.
You bring up Monk bec he scored 1 more point? He NEEDED 13 ATTEMPTS TO SCORE 7 POINTS. Bradley scored more 1 more point because he took 10 shots?
Again Westbrook played a horrible game but STOP looking through your myopic eyes and just blame one person for the loss.
They lost to a very good team that just won 9 straight games including beating good teams like the Suns, Cavs and the Nets.
I NEVER wanted Westbrook here, and you can blame Lebron, AD and Pelinka for trading good pieces for him for all I care. I just hate the idea of blaming one player every time they lose. Oh Russ had 8 TO's, that's why they lost.

Coming from a person that blames everything on LeBron, I'll take what you said with a grain of salt. BTW blaming and comparing Bradley and Monk who don't make nearly as much money as Westbrook is pretty dumb argument. But you go on ahead and puff your chest out.

[Hans1984]

Well what a surprise. A team that can barely beat the bad teams can't beat one of the best teams in the league
(who btw played without two of their best players and their HC)

[zimpy27]

The loss of the game is on Vogel. The lineups were just too small to compete against the Grizzlies who have some of the biggest wings in the league. Bane is at SG but could play PF.

From 3: Lakers were 42% and Grizz were 37%
From 2: Lakers were 48% and Grizz were 63%
From FT: Lakers had 19 shots and Grizz had 32

Lakers starting small wings Monk and Bradley
From 2: 1/15 (7%)
From 3: 2/8 (25%)

Grizz feasted inside and Lakers couldn't get anything inside.

Westbrook struggled shooting too but is not the issue since he competed and had low TOs. Yes, he's not worth 40m playing like this but he was still the 2nd best Lakers starter on the game. He's a good matchup on Morant but with Bradley and monk out there he is more needed at SG or SF where he's undersized.

This was just a matchup where Lakers were too small at the wings to compete. Howard is also a bit slow for their wings and I'm glad he got a bit o minutes but the game was lost with the starting unit. You could get away with playing one of Monk, Ellington or Bradley at a time but not multiple.

I didn’t get to see the game cause I was at work but was following online, thanks for this good breakdown.

So I have to say, this season has really highlighted Vogel’s limitations as a coach. In particular, his rotations suck. The team now finally has two functional wings in Stanley Johnson and Ariza. Those two should be playing heavy minutes when you’re playing Lebron at C. Move Monk to the starting 2 for goodness sakes. Avery Bradley is not some elite 3 and D guard. Why is his starting spot being protected as much as Lebron, AD, and Westbrook’s?????

Yeah I'm happy with Westbrook, Monk, LeBron, Davis definitely starting. I just think the 5th guy needs to be an adjustment for matchups. In the case of Davis being out you can only really replace him with Johnson since his defense and spacing is the closest replicate.

That makes the team smaller, so the 5th guy needs to be an SF size. Reaves, THT, Ariza are the options. If coach wants THT+Melo as 6th men and Ariza doesn't provide enough offense punch then go with Reaves. But Reaves is the smallest I'd go. With respect.to a team like Grizzlies I'd probably think about starting Howard instead.


Westbrook, Monk, Reaves, Johnson, LeBron
Bradley, THT, Ariza, Melo, Howard

Swap Reaves and Howard based on matchup

[Pythagoras]

The loss of the game is on Vogel. The lineups were just too small to compete against the Grizzlies who have some of the biggest wings in the league. Bane is at SG but could play PF.

From 3: Lakers were 42% and Grizz were 37%
From 2: Lakers were 48% and Grizz were 63%
From FT: Lakers had 19 shots and Grizz had 32

Lakers starting small wings Monk and Bradley
From 2: 1/15 (7%)
From 3: 2/8 (25%)

Grizz feasted inside and Lakers couldn't get anything inside.

Westbrook struggled shooting too but is not the issue since he competed and had low TOs. Yes, he's not worth 40m playing like this but he was still the 2nd best Lakers starter on the game. He's a good matchup on Morant but with Bradley and monk out there he is more needed at SG or SF where he's undersized.

This was just a matchup where Lakers were too small at the wings to compete. Howard is also a bit slow for their wings and I'm glad he got a bit o minutes but the game was lost with the starting unit. You could get away with playing one of Monk, Ellington or Bradley at a time but not multiple.

I didn’t get to see the game cause I was at work but was following online, thanks for this good breakdown.

So I have to say, this season has really highlighted Vogel’s limitations as a coach. In particular, his rotations suck. The team now finally has two functional wings in Stanley Johnson and Ariza. Those two should be playing heavy minutes when you’re playing Lebron at C. Move Monk to the starting 2 for goodness sakes. Avery Bradley is not some elite 3 and D guard. Why is his starting spot being protected as much as Lebron, AD, and Westbrook’s?????

Just curious - have you been able to watch Johnson and Ariza play? I refuse to believe anyone who's watched these two play believe they are doing a job well enough to warrant more minutes. If anything i'd argue they should both play less. I previously described Bradley as a mediocre player... solid on defense and not totally awful on offense. He's close to net zero impact in my book. However, the same can't be said for either Ariza or Johnson. Honestly not sure what Ariza offers at this point, but it's surely not defense. Johnson is solid on defense but offers next to nothing on offense. With all that being said, i'm not convinced there's a better alternative to starting Bradley on the roster. THT's flaws are well documented so I won't belabor that point again.

Every single fan base criticize their team's rotations. Are we sure Vogel is not making the best out of this **** roster construction. Of course his rotations could be better at times. However, by and large they are about the best anyone could do. I've also been very vocal about my distaste for small ball lineups... i think Howard should start on a situational basis.

I’ve seen both Ariza and Johnson play and they’re both mediocre. I also think Bradley is every bit as mediocre, however unlike Ariza and Johnson, we have a much better option at the 2 than him. Playing a small ball C such as Lebron, with 3 undersized guards also on the floor, Monk-Westbrook-Bradley, is going to get you cooked by team’s with decent wings with size. If AD and Lebron were both on the floor it would be more defendable, although I still wouldn’t like it. Monk is a 2, let him play the 2.

And yes, I’m sure Vogel hasn’t done a good job with this roster. Starting DJ for as long as he did was inexcusable. Starting Bradley over Monk, especially when the team was playing a traditional C with AD and needed more offense from the the 2, was inexcusable.

Two of the best recent adjustments the Lakers have made is Lebron to starting C and putting Monk in the starting lineup. Those were both Fizdale.

[Revived]

LeBron should never EVER have any say in GM decisions EVER. This bull team is downright bad and ain't gonna win jack ****.

He was GM of the team that won the title in the bubble. He was primarily responsible for bringing in guys like AD, Howard, McGee etc who all played big parts in that playoff run.

[BEazy]

LeBron should never EVER have any say in GM decisions EVER. This bull team is downright bad and ain't gonna win jack ****.

He was GM of the team that won the title in the bubble. He was primarily responsible for bringing in guys like AD, Howard, McGee etc who all played big parts in that playoff run.

Okay, I guess Rob Pelinka didn't do anything and just twirled his thumbs on his desk.

[MoneyMo]

LeBron should never EVER have any say in GM decisions EVER. This bull team is downright bad and ain't gonna win jack ****.

He was GM of the team that won the title in the bubble. He was primarily responsible for bringing in guys like AD, Howard, McGee etc who all played big parts in that playoff run.

Okay, I guess Rob Pelinka didn't do anything and just twirled his thumbs on his desk.

Lebron is only GM when something goes wrong? When the move payoff it's then because of Pelinka? He should get the good with the bad.

[Revived]

He was GM of the team that won the title in the bubble. He was primarily responsible for bringing in guys like AD, Howard, McGee etc who all played big parts in that playoff run.

Okay, I guess Rob Pelinka didn't do anything and just twirled his thumbs on his desk.

Lebron is only GM when something goes wrong? When the move payoff it's then because of Pelinka? He should get the good with the bad.

Yeah, this. Unless you’re in the actual GM office, then you don’t know if the decisions are made by Bron, Pelinka or both.

[BEazy]

Okay, I guess Rob Pelinka didn't do anything and just twirled his thumbs on his desk.

Lebron is only GM when something goes wrong? When the move payoff it's then because of Pelinka? He should get the good with the bad.

Yeah, this. Unless you’re in the actual GM office, then you don’t know if the decisions are made by Bron, Pelinka or both.

Same goes right back at ya with your LeBron comments from earlier. You don't know if LeBron did all that you mentioned unless you personally were there with LeBron. You weren't, so your argument is not factual. You're just an outsider that's kicking us while we're down because it's the "thing" to do. Can't help but notice you're a Suns fan, makes sense now. Anyway, have your fun.

[BEazy]

He was GM of the team that won the title in the bubble. He was primarily responsible for bringing in guys like AD, Howard, McGee etc who all played big parts in that playoff run.

Okay, I guess Rob Pelinka didn't do anything and just twirled his thumbs on his desk.

Lebron is only GM when something goes wrong? When the move payoff it's then because of Pelinka? He should get the good with the bad.

You're putting words into my mouth now. Do yall have an agenda or something? I never seen you guys post on this board unless it's something bad that's happening to the Lakers. Nobody said it's all LeBron's fault, but he was the one that recruited Westbrook heavy and he even had a meeting with Westbrook at LeBron's house with AD. Even sat next to Westbrook in LA during one of Bronny's games in the offseason. That's no coincidence. We didn't hear anything about Rob Pelinka at those events...did you? There is no evidence that LeBron got McGee, Green, Bradley, or any of those suppose "LeBron acquisitions" that you guys claim he did. Anyway, no use in talking to a non Laker fan about my team that I've followed closely for decades.

[euphorbus]

Memphis just clobbered the Warriors, 116-108. They outscored Golden State by eleven in the last frame. Ten straight, without their head coach. LA got taken out by a really good team.

[SweetTouch]

Memphis just clobbered the Warriors, 116-108. They outscored Golden State by eleven in the last frame. Ten straight, without their head coach. LA got taken out by a really good team.

Don’t tell that to the chicken littles

The youngsters need some to focus on

Let them have their drama