5 Things: The Kids Were…Alright

Scrubs vs. Starters was a perhaps unexpected plot twist to the preseason. LeBron and Russell rested for the sake of rest and AD missed time due to his balky back. After assuring the world that, were the games to matter, AD would play, coach Ham trotted out a who’s who of bench guys on this iteration of Laker basketball. For the most part they floundered against the superior starting line up that Minnesota deployed but still some players shined and it was good for all of them to get the kind of run they just won’t see in an NBA game.

1. My opinion to start Thomas Bryant remains unchanged. The dude plays hard, has a better skillset than Jones, and just looks hungrier. Touching the next level only to sustain a serious injury looks like it’s lit a fire under TB and he made the most of his extended run last night. While he missed his 2 three point FGAs (a theme shared by basically the whole squad) he was active on defense and aggressive in the paint even when he was going up against Gobert. His aggression and attack-mode earned him multiple trips to the stripe which helped us keep pace early in the game. Jones is probably the better shot blocker in terms of racking up the stat itself but Bryant is his equal on defense because of his superior nimbleness and mobility. I’m sure we’ll get another look at Jones as starter and perhaps he’ll come back with something better. If the choice were up to me and I had to make it today, Bryant would get the nod.
2. Lakers offensive rebounding was great! Unfortunately it was a byproduct of a slew of missed shots in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Threes or twos, didn’t matter, Laker youngins missed a grip of shots of all shapes and sizes. Again, is this a three alarm bell for the season? Not really, but it does spotlight an issue we all had going in to this campaign which is the new Lakers are not known for their scoring penchant.
3. Lonnie Walker IV’s debut. LW4 got some solid minutes in starting hot and cooling off. Hit hist first three and went on to miss the next 6, I believe, and didn’t look to aggressive attacking the basket. Coming back from lower body injuries is always a process though so really it was just nice to see him get up and down.
4. Turnover leads to turnovers. This is basically the second straight season the Lakers have over-hauled the roster. It’s also the third in which key members of a banner winning team were let go without much reason or rhyme. It shows in a stat like turnovers. If it takes a few weeks to months for guys to get truly familiar with one another, and you’re not a consummate pro, the chemistry side of the ball can be a long time coming. The Lakers are averaging a grip of turnovers to start which isn’t great because turnovers were a key part in our general undoing last season. Can’t blame LeBron or Russ, either, they didn’t play. I can handle turnovers in preseason but they need to start coming down into the 110-13ish/game range. Which is a little above average. 12ish is elite and I just don’t expect that from guys who take risky passes in both James and Westbrook.
5. AD’s injury. Has to get mentioned even though coach Ham went out of his way to try and make it a non-issue. He should take a Popovichian route and deflect with one/two word answers. In reality this kind of injury is common but Lakers fans have AD injury PTSD in a big way so any minor injury is certain to be semi-overblown amongst the fan base. Goal is to get everyone through preseason healthy and ready. That ain’t changed.

Hoping to see more starters from here on out. Would like to win at least one game, not because it’ll have any bearing on the standings but because of the spiritual significance. The fans need a W to calm their hyperbole down a bit. Still, just coming out of preseason healthy will be good enough for me. Just would be nice if there was a shred of momentum to the start of the season.