5 Things: Celtics spoil LeBron’s return by blowing out Lakers

An absolutely uninspiring effort against the team one would think the Lakers would want to beat no matter the situation, record or personnel. Maybe the Boston/Laker rivalry is dead and, if so, another thing of magic and majesty has passed from the planet’s surface. Can’t be a rival when you only show up for half the battle. That’s minion level status, at best.

1. Great first quarter, huh? The Lakers showed up like a team that desperately wants to turn the page in a horror novel where the horror sort of just…never…ends. The offense was grooving, we forced 7 turnovers, LeBron was back, Russ was greasing the engine and we we’re defen-well, not quite. That first quarter defense, which gave up 30 points, was about as good as it was going to get it turns out as the Lakers gave an equal amount or more points for the rest of the game. There is an issue on defense which can’t just be explained away by the loss of Alex Caruso. That issue is a lack of several things: execution, attention to detail, heart, and investment.
2. The Lakers new hit single should be called 3rd Quarter Blues. But we really didn’t need the 4th quarter encore of “I’ve Already Left the Building”. It’s been an issue all season. The halftime refreshments need to be changed, whichever parent is bringing the orange slices and Gatorade needs to get booted over to hauling the balls and setting up the nets because we come out of the locker room like we’ll all look on Thanksgiving after turkey. I’m assuming the Lakers don’t serve the team turkey dinner at the half, of course. I really don’t know what to say about this. The only people in the room are the team and coaches and whatever support staff is there to tape up this or patch up that. It’s such a consistent occurrence that it has to be mentioned and is a major concern. Until we can figure out how to come out of the half with some level of intensity we’re going to have an uphill climb in most games.
3. The odd refereeing continues. It’s obviously bothering the entire team as they spend more time talking to the refs about this or that than with each other about blown coverages and missed assignments. Foul calls are, in my opinion, a byproduct of intensity. We lack it, which is astounding when one considers that we have Russell Westbrook on the team. But, at this point, it seems pretty obvious to me that there is a lack of fire under the team. If it’s a symptom of too many guys on minimum deals, something that will even out over time, or simply the way the game is now being called I don’t know but a blow to the head should be a foul no matter the score, no matter what. AD took a head hit last game, LeBron in this one and Russ has been knocked down more than I’ve ever seen him and barely gets to the line. Now…would we win just because of more free throw attempts? No guarantee on that one as the Lakers are struggling against the free throw line defense teams are throwing at them but I think a few more calls going our way would at least help us stay focused on the task at hand.
4. The Lakers rebounding struggles continue. Because we’re a long and not tall team we need to team rebound with intent. We’re not doing that very well. I can understand why Davis prefers to play the 4. He gets to weak side block shots and hunt guys down when they’re not focused on him. He gets a big lug to box out and set screens. In short, someone to do the yeoman’s work in the paint. AD has the skillset, and oftentimes the mentality, of a guard. Which is what makes him both so dangerous and also what makes this current experiment with him playing the majority of his minutes at the 5 such a quandary. Not one Laker managed more than 7 rebounds and, as a team, we were out rebounded 18 (51-33). Like defense, rebounding is a heart/hustle stat. This team plays fast, but not controlled. This team has heart but usually it only shows up for a half or so. It’s getting sickening to watch, quite frankly. The fans deserve better and so does the team. This team should be better than this.
5. 8-9. I remember when the Heat hit that 9-8 record in year 1 and Bosh and Wade told LeBron to just be LeBron, they’d fit in around him. From there on out it worked and it worked to the tune of 2 NBA titles. Something like that has to happen here only I have no idea what that looks like. It’s hard for Russ to find his own groove when Frank takes he and LeBron out at the same time. It’s neither of the ball-dominant player’s team, it’s more AD’s now than anyone else’s as he’s the youngest and has the most impact game to game, so far. He may not want it but that torch is coming his way and it feels like it’s coming his way right now. Maybe that’s the issue, that we’re a LeBron James team in Anthony Davis’ body while Russ watches on in horror like a version of Freaky Friday gone horribly wrong. We’re on the south side of that 9-8 mark, had we won tonight it could have been now. As it is the best we can hope for is to see 9-9 after the next game and not 8-10. If this team comes back from the road trip not having won a single game I think we’ll start to hear some rumblings followed by the dreaded vote of managerial confidence in regards to coach Vogel’s job.

Never in a million years would I have imagined that I would write that last sentence. Think of it…Luke Walton might have more job security than Vogel does right now. At the very least there probably isn’t much difference between the heat under either seat. But this team isn’t defending and they’re not outscoring teams with raw firepower. There is no easy fix, it would appear. Time? Sure, there’s still some time to get it figured out but come the end of the roadie we’ll be 20 games in with 62 left. We’re in 9th place in the western conference right now. A Laker team that can put up 109+ ppg should have a better record if only they could figure out how to play defense for more than a quarter or two. If they can’t then it makes Vogel’s skillset an even larger issue as he is known to be a defense-first guy. At any rate, the Lakers are now fast running out of excuses: AD is playing the 5, we’re running shooters out there in the sets that they evidently prefer, we got all three superstars back and THT.

We’re still getting run out of the building.

Something’s got to give.

Go Lakers.

(personal note for all the GHE/GHF chit chat – I would much rather be writing about how great the team is playing and how the playoffs are going to be fun…well…the team ain’t obliging, people, the team ain’t obliging)