Crunchtime lineups

[yanuary]

After 5 games, we saw few different lineups at the end of the games (and no one was blowout, except last 3 minutes versus OKC every results were close)

vs Rockets : Russell/Clarkson/Young/Deng/Randle
vs Jazz : Russell/Lou/Young/Deng/Randle
vs OKC : Russell/Lou/Clarkson/Young/Randle (3.07 when was -12 Walton send Lou to the bench, Ingram for him)
vs Pacers : Russell/Lou/Clarkson/Randle/Nance
vs Hawks : Russell/Lou/Young/Randle/Nance (2:50 last change - Young for Ingram)

So few reflecions so far :

1) no classic C (Mozgov/Black/Zubac) in any lineup - smallball, even when we played against Gobert or Adams
2) Russell and Randle were on court every time even that one of them or both struggles in O or D.
3) We saw Deng only in first two games.
4) Luke started send Nance-Randle duo as PF-C in last two games
5) supersmallball vs OKC completely doesnt worked
6) we should expect fight between Lou, JC and Young for SG and SF places

In my dream few weeks or months later i want see Ingram in crunchtime to (our future lineup DLO-JC-Ingram-Nance-Randle...) but for now Young and Lou play to good to send both of them and sometimes even one of them to the bench. And one interesting point - we didnt saw Luol Deng anytime as SF in crunchtime. For now im happy that Luke sending duo Nance-Randle because Randle with undersized PF (Deng or Young) didnt played good at defensive end.

[Slava]

I think Nance and Randle are nailed onto be in due to their ability to switch onto smaller players on pick and roll situations. Lou is excellent in terms of composure so the final two spots come down to Russell, Clarkson and Young depending on who has the hotter hand in the game.

[yanuary]

I think Nance and Randle are nailed onto be in due to their ability to switch onto smaller players on pick and roll situations. Lou is excellent in terms of composure so the final two spots come down to Russell, Clarkson and Young depending on who has the hotter hand in the game.

Lou is excellent now but im not sure that he could keep his efficency. And i think that Russell spot is out of discussion for now (its a process, even than he played bad he stayed on court).

So i agree that final two spots come down to three players, depending who was hotter in the game, but it would not be fight between DLO, JC and Swaggy but between JC, Young and Lou. And who knows? Maybe even Imgram (i hope so!)

[jackwindham]

Lakers haven't tried a lineup where Ingram and Deng were the two forwards on the floor?

[Slava]

Lakers haven't tried a lineup where Ingram and Deng were the two forwards on the floor?

They have, more than once: http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612747/lineups/?sort=MIN&dir=1

[yanuary]

Like i said - DLO and Randle spots in crunchtime is out of discussion.
Today we saw Ingram first time.

[Teen Girl Squad]

Like we saw with Ingram in a close game tonight, Luke is more concerned with experimenting right now that deciding the final rotations/lineups asap. Its about roster development and I love that he's sticking with that approach even though some Lakers fans are already calling to tighter rotations/heavier minutes the moment they've starting tasting success. Rather that than playing Booker 45 minutes like Phx did tonight on the road in November.

[yanuary]

We already have tighter rotation - without Calderon, Huertas and MWP. And it was a point.

[dipstick]

The success despite lack of a tight rotation or heavier minutes on any 1 player is a testament to the system that Luke is implementing. I think its what is helping us despite the lack of consistency that is expected from the young guys.

[yitur]

In the end it will probably be Russell-Clarkson-Ingram-Nance-Randle with a lot of switching and swarming the strong side. Ingram is perfect for the rebounding disadvantages at times with this smallball lineup and also him and Nance are great at help defense. Clarkson's improvement in defensive side of the ball is very encouraging so far too.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

It comes down to who's playing well among Clarkson, Lou, Young and Deng. It's clear that Nance/Randle at PF and C is the best way to close games. My personal preference on who finishes is DRuss, Lou, Young, Nance, Randle

[Landsberger]

Having Russell finish the games isn't my choice. His defense against the other team's guards is atrocious and he shoots below 40% and is somewhat limited to outside shots. Clarkson and Williams are our best finishers IMHO at the guard position.

[larry14r]

Having Russell finish the games isn't my choice. His defense against the other team's guards is atrocious and he shoots below 40% and is somewhat limited to outside shots. Clarkson and Williams are our best finishers IMHO at the guard position.

Yeah, but Luke has other ideas.

[Kilroy]

Having Russell finish the games isn't my choice. His defense against the other team's guards is atrocious and he shoots below 40% and is somewhat limited to outside shots. Clarkson and Williams are our best finishers IMHO at the guard position.

Yeah, but Luke has other ideas.

Luke has had some weird rotations in crunchtime as far as Russell is concerned... Like against GSW... Russell wasn't super effective outside of a couple stretches, and he was riding the second team in the 4th as long as the game was in the balance, then Kerr pulled his starters with about 3 min left, and essentially called it a game... Then Luke put Russell in with less than 2 min left...
I mean I get that the starters generally finish games, but that one was a head scratcher to me.

So there's a difference between 'Crunchtime Lineup' and the lineup that closes games... The Crunchtime Lineup should probably be the starters in most circumstances... That's the lineup you've identified as your best mix of players for most circumstances, so that's the one you go to when the going gets tough... You live and die with those guys.

But there are always nuances depending on what's going on in a given game with your own players as well as your opponents...

That's what makes this team so fun to watch though... We may not have the elite talent at the top that the better teams have, but we've got great young talent across the board and we're deep as hell with it. So it isn't really necessary to identify a specific 5 player set for crunchtime.

[yanuary]

Update (games 6-13) :
vs Warriors : Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle/Nance (last changes doesnt matter)
vs Suns*(Nance couldnt finish this game after INJ) : Russell/Clarkson/Young/Ingram/Randle
vs Mavericks*(without Nance) : Russell/Clarkson/Lou/Young/Randle
vs Kings : Lou/Young/Ingram/Randle/Mozgov
vs Pelicans : Russell/Lou/Clarkson/Randle/Nance(blowout but Luke sends own crunchtime lineup and we saw it between 42 and 46 min of the game, last changes doesnt matter)
vs Wolves*(Mozgov fouled out) : Russell/Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle (again blowout but Luke sends own crunchtime lineup and we saw it between 42 and 46 min of the game, last changes doesnt matter)
vs Nets : Russell/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle/Mozgov
vs Spurs*(without Russell) : Lou/Clarkson/Young/Deng/Randle - and this was first game when we saw some "defensive-ofensive" change between Nance and Deng in last minute.

So for now, after 13 games :

Randle (finished) 13/13 (possible) games
Russell 10/12 games
Lou 10/13 games
Clarkson 10/13 games
Young 8/13 games
Ingram 5/13 games
Nance 4/11 games
Deng 3/13
Mozgov 2/11 games

[lake_show]

Update (games 6-13) :
vs Warriors : Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle/Nance (last changes doesnt matter)
vs Suns*(Nance couldnt finish this game after INJ) : Russell/Clarkson/Young/Ingram/Randle
vs Mavericks*(without Nance) : Russell/Clarkson/Lou/Young/Randle
vs Kings : Lou/Young/Ingram/Randle/Mozgov
vs Pelicans : Russell/Lou/Clarkson/Randle/Nance(blowout but Luke sends own crunchtime lineup and we saw it between 42 and 46 min of the game, last changes doesnt matter)
vs Wolves*(Mozgov fouled out) : Russell/Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle (again blowout but Luke sends own crunchtime lineup and we saw it between 42 and 46 min of the game, last changes doesnt matter)
vs Nets : Russell/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle/Mozgov
vs Spurs*(without Russell) : Lou/Clarkson/Young/Deng/Randle - and this was first game when we saw some "defensive-ofensive" change between Nance and Deng in last minute.

So for now, after 13 games :

Randle (finished) 13/13 (possible) games
Russell 10/12 games
Lou 10/13 games
Clarkson 10/13 games
Young 8/13 games
Ingram 5/13 games
Nance 4/11 games
Deng 3/13
Mozgov 2/11 games

Thanks for putting that together. That is interesting... I guess the small ball trend continues. With our SG's and SF's getting the bulk of the late game minutes, and Randle being the lone staple to close out the games.

I think Luke really likes the idea of being able to switch everything defensively late in games. Keeping Randle out there allows him to do that since Randle can guard both the perimeter, and the post. Plus, non of our bigs (outside of Randle) are real offensive threats. Luke might just be trying to keep as much offense on the floor late in games to give us a chance to win these games. I was surprised we haven't seent a whole lot of Nance late in games. He also does a good job on guarding both perimeter, and post players, but I guess his lack of offense keeps him off the floor. Good stuff. Thanks again. We'll see if these trends continue.

[yanuary]

Update (games 14-30)

G14 vs Bulls : Russell/Lou/Young/Deng/Randle
G15 vs OKC (w/o Russell) : Clarkson/Lou/Young/Nance/Mozgov (also we see here D/O changes with Deng and Ingram for Lou and Mozgov in last minute)
G16 vs GSW : blowout
G17 vs GSW : blowout
G18 vs ATL (w/o Russell, Randle) : Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Nance/Black (last changes in blowout doesnt matter)
G19 vs NOP : blowout
G20 vs CHI (w/o Russell, Young) : Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Randle/Nance
G21 vs TOR : blowout
G22 vs MEM (w/o Russell, Young, Nance) : Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Deng/Randle
G23 vs UTA (w/o Russell, Young, Nance) : Lou/Clarkson/Deng/Randle/Robinson
G24 vs HOU : blowout
G25 vs PHX (w/o Russell, Young) : Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Deng/Randle
G26 vs NYK : Lou/Clarkson/Ingram/Deng/Randle
G27 vs SAC : blowout
G28 vs BKN : Russell/Young/Deng/Randle/Mozgov
G29 vs PHI : Russell/Lou/Deng/Randle/Nance
G30 vs CLE (w/o Russell) : Lou/Clarkson/Young/Ingram/Nance

After 30 games (6 was blowouts, so only 24 counted) :
Randle (finished) 21/23 (possible) games
Lou 20/24
Clarkson 18/24
Russell 13/16
Young 12/20
Ingram 11/24
Deng 10/24
Nance 9/20
Mozgov 4/22
T. Black and T.Robinon both with only 1 game.

We saw Luol Deng more and more often last time in these lineups. Also even Randle isnt untouchable anymore.