Boing. Bonk. Clang. Clank. Ckunk, Unfortunately that isn’t the sound of construction near my apartment but the sound of the outside shot of the Los Angeles Lakers. It ain’t pretty but it’s still not all doom and gloom.
- Unbalanced attack. Not quite enough force-feeding Anthony Davis like the first murder victim in 7, Gluttony. We kind of let P.J. Tucker and the Lilliputian defenders of the Rockets dictate the tempo of our offensive attack. We didn’t get the ball to Davis with much of a plan, or if there was a plan it was blown to a high degree.
- The Mystery of the Disappearing and Re-appearing Anthony Davis. It’s quite the magic act to be able to make a talented 7 footer vanish but somehow Davis seems up for trying. While not quite as bad as the games against Toronto or OKC, considering LeBron was out this was Anthony’s big chance to show how he could dominate as a small ball center, punish the smaller Rocket defenders in order to have them sag off for mid-game threes only for that to be a set up for a game-sealing mid-range barrage. Instead we saw him outplayed and even bullied at times by the tiny Houston defenders. Tip-o-the-cap to Tucker and whatever rangy help defender they sent to double when he turned his back to the basket or before he would commit his dribble at the three. Davis needs to play above that kind of thing in the playoffs if we’re going to have any chance at all.
- Quinn Cook doesn’t seem like he’ll have a shining moment as a Laker. Too bad. Good dude, played his way into a solid role on the Warriors, hoped he could challenge Rondo for PT. None of that ever happened. Not really sure what the issues of his fit with this team are because it feels like he could have been a solid backup PG on this squad. Seems like it’s just not destined to be.
- Dion off, too, spelled the end. I feel like, despite all of the above and the underlying issues that are causing this struggle to reboot, if Dion had been on his game we would have been in this. We really didn’t get much from the bench. I’d like to see a couple games where Dion starts. Keep the tandem of KCP and Dwight Howard intact, they play really well with one another. KCP might have better stats and our winning percentage was better in the 20 games he started but that first unit, even with LeBron, has really bad spacing. Caldwell-Pope can come off the bench and fill a role, he’ll pair better with Caruso and make that second unit defense resemble the one that was on the same page in the regular season. Dion starting gives LeBron some space to get his game going, would have quality defenders to play with, and for all we know would play even better as a starter. Most guys do. But when he comes in along with Morris and Smith the defense just tanks. Probably won’t happen.
- J.R. Smith welcome to the Lakers. He made his first basket (technically scored his first points last night on free throws) as a Laker. Now, please help me understand why he’s playing? Yes, it;s roughly for only 13-15 mpg but those are minutes you could be giving to one of the G-Leaguers during this little stretch to see what they can bring to the big club. The dude was a gunner of an extraordinary nature. He ain’t that machine gun now.
Still not overly concerned, we were out 2 starters and our best bench defender. Lakers not really playing with the same heart that we grew accustomed to during the regular season and one has to begin to wonder if there’s another switch or lever to pull. Can’t wait to long to find that groove, man.
Great song, not so great for Laker shooting. We are so outta sync it’s boring. Perhaps the new guys don’t have to fit in. Go with the guys that got us here and live with the results.
One more point, when we were got their lead to 5, Dwight gets an offense foul, downhill from there. Do we have any more dumb player than Dwight??
He’ seems to have had a regression of sorts which is a bummer, he had been so solid all season. Just seems so overly aggressive right now.
I will add I feel like we are getting shafted by the refs. KCP gets hit on almost all his tim runs, no call. Dwight has dudes holding him down, no call. LBJ gets hit in the head on a layup, no call. That’s gotta get annoyi
I agree with the no calls for sure. Why do Refs hate the Lakers and Umps hate the Yankees? Lol!
Everybody hates the Yankees, Deej 😉
Unless you are a Yankee fan, U B correct Sir! Lol
Just joshing, although I do so very much love it when the Angels beat either the Yanks or the BoSox. Hate dem Sox!
I don’t know what you saw, Jamie, but from where I was sitting it looked like all gloom and doom. Lakers need something to shake them up and inspire them. Otherwise, our championship hopes are dimming faster than Donald Trump’s hopes of getting re-elected.
I’m actually rooting for the Trailblazers to win the #8 seed because the Lakers need something to wake them up. Maybe the trash talking about how the Blazers could upset the Lakers and send LeBron fishing in the first round would be the kick in the ass we desperately need.
At any rate, we don’t look interested or confident, The loss of Bradley and Rondo along with LeBron and Caruso totally messed up the rotations. AD played like a guy whom every team in the league is now going to double team and bully in the post. Only Kuzma played with some heart.
Vogel needs to keep Kuzma in the starting lineup. Our championship hopes are going to ride on LeBron, AD, and Kuz playing out of their minds. The other two who start should depend on the matchups but Kuz needs to be in that starting lineup. If we play a team with a traditional center, start McGee and let Kuz defend a guard. If a team plays small or has a stretch five, then stay with two guards to go with LeBron, AD, and Kuz.
Lakers have to go with their best five starting if they want to win it all.
We’ll see, I think that we’re slow-walking up to the real starting line. Only thing that worries me is how much LeBron is really hurt or how much is the team just being cautious? Other teams have struggled and we’re incorporating new guys into the way we play on the fly. Having AB sit out may have been the nail in the coffin, he’s that important to our defense and that smart of a player.
Not so sure about Kuzma “having” to start. You need someone to come off the bench and put up points and I think he’s the guy for that. We need to re-define 2-3 roles on the team, get guys like Caruso and James feeling right as they can, and get the defense in order. That’s why I’d rather space out what squads the new guys play in. Put Waiters with the starters, take some pressure off LeBron to do all the play-making out of the gate and better replicates what Bradley brought on both ends. KCP just doesn’t come close. He’s good in his own way but not the same play-maker and I like the chemistry he and Dwight forged.
ANyhow, 4 more games to find a groove. When he’s been engaged Davis has been unstoppable. The scary thing is how disengaged he’s looked otherwise. Starting Kuzma, or any line up change, isn’t going to alter a player’s internal mental approach to the game. That’s on AD and AD alone. He needs to figure out how to bring it, even if there aren’t adoring fans.
No home court may have hurt the Lakers more than any other team in the NBA. It takes away one of our secret weapons: annoying Laker fans wherever they play! Robot fans don’t cut it. All in all this was always going to be an odd kinda crapshoot. Toronto looks more and more like the team to beat as they seem to have come into the Bubble ready to pick up where they left off. Houston had time to work on ways to play defense, could be that we see D’Antoni bring home a ring…sure hope not. 4 games left, going to be interesting to see how we respond to all this.
Thanks for replying, Jamie. I respectfully disagree. Kuzma is clearly a much better fit to play with LeBron and AD than Waiters for several reasons:
First, Kuz is the best 3-point shooter on the team and the starting lineup desperately needs his gravity beyond the arc to free up LeBron and AD. Waiters isn’t anywhere close to the long range threat that Kuzma is. Starting lineup needs 3-point shooting. That’s always been the priority to play with LeBron.
Second, Kuz is a better defender. He can guard multiple positions and showed he can defend guards. Waiters is still struggling to make the right rotations. Vogel’s priority is defense. He is not going to trust Dion as a starting guard. Isn’t going to happen.
Third, Kuz doesn’t need the ball in his hands. The strength of his game right now is being a spot up, catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter and slasher to the rim. That fits much better than Waiters who needs the ball in his hands. Dion is a better fit to come off the bench but he should get more minutes.
Fourth, the bench needs a scorer who can get his own shot and make plays for others. Dion is much better at creating a shot for himself and others than Kuz is. Starting him just takes the ball out of LeBron’s hands and leaves the bench with no playmakers or guys who can get to the rim. Waiters has to come off the bench.
First of all, there may be a few teams out there who could play small ball against the Rockets. You cannot go toe to toe against them and expect to outlast them. Besides the Mavericks, they are simply a good 3 point shooting team. Second, I know it’s just an experimental small ball lineup for the Lakers, so why can’t we stick with our size advantage that got us to this point? It was our size and length that bothered our opponents throughout the season and should not be left on the back burner. Even though our small ball lineup outrebounded the Rockets, they were not able to prevent them from punishing us with their long range shooting. Our size and length would have curtailed or deflected some of those 3s. Anytime we cut the lead to single digits, they went on a 3 point barrage simply because our small-ball lineup could not match the intensity. As for who starts between Kuzma and waiters, I would be inclined to say Kuzma. Waiters and KCP would inject life into the bench along with Dwight. I would still like to see more of our traditional centers. Jaime is right: The loss of Bradley and Rondo has disrupted the continuity of the rotation, even though that might not register on the richter scale like I said before. But the little tweaks being experimented with right now will hopefully prove adequate. The team needs a big boost in confidence, especially with respect to 3 point shooting to go along with a concerted effort defending the 3 point line.