Well, that was informative. The Toronto Raptors played the Lakers riding a 10 game winning streak versus the purple and gold that they stretched to 11 and in the process illuminating a few troubling patterns.
- Nobody on the Lakers is shooting well. Over the first 2 games in the bubble one thing is clear: our shooting is evidently still self-isolating in Los Angeles. Certainly hasn’t looked like it made the trip, so far. Over 2 games we’re shooting 27.6% from three, and 37.4% overall. Oddly enough we put up exactly 82 shots in both games making 3 more against the Clippers. In both the win and the loss we shot poorly. Some guys got hot at the right times against the Clippers, didn’t replicate that against the Raptors.
- Danny Green has started off very, very slowly. Looks like he’s a step slow right now. He did play improved defense last night, especially on the low block, but still doesn’t look right on that front, either. As the 3rd highest paid Laker Danny needs to step it up a little bit and find a groove before the playoffs.
- Dwight Howard’s mentality isn’t right. As always he looks ripped, he’s moving well but his mind is not in Orlando, yet. He pulled a lot of focus before entering the bubble on a lot of different fronts, has flouted some Bubble protocol and isn’t the X-factor he worked so hard to become during the regular season. It would be a shame if he didn’t at least approach that level of impact but right now I’d just as soon see JaVale McGee in those minutes until Dwight gets his head in the game. Needs to stop setting silly moving screens, needs to box out rather than clear out in the post, and he needs to let the refereeing go. Big time on that last one, which is certainly not an issue unique to Dwight Howard. But I feel that, in his case, he needs to focus on the hardwood and what he can do on it. Let the rest of that stuff sort itself out.
- It’s been said before but it’s worth repeating: we’re only going as far as LeBron and Anthony take us. LeBron looks off, more human, less able to get to the rim at will. I think he’s miffed he’s not getting any foul calls unless they’re extremely obvious but he’s got to play through that and, like Dwight, focus more on what he needs to do to elevate this team without Avery Bradley. Davis looked fairly disinterested last night. Yes, he was often doubled whenever he got the rock, often a few seconds before. Toronto rotates on defense as well as anyone in the league, probably the best right now in the Bubble. But you have to find a way to score and outside of a stretch where he forced some whistles and followed it up with a three he was quiet for long stretches of the game. Might be trying to let the game come to him too much and needs to out the pedal down on his own.
- I don’t think you can play J.R. Smith and Dion Waiters at the same time and expect the guys on the floor not to sieve points. Dion has some instincts on that end, has a couple of nice help plays coming from the weak-side to his credit, but overall looks pretty lost out there. J.R. was never a touted defender, tried well-enough during his high impact years in Cleveland but aging a couple of years and not playing last season didn’t improve his defensive moxie. Likely, it’s suffered and it’s hard for me to justify major minutes for Smith right now, especially when he looks gun-shy on wide open looks like he has in too many games, scrimmages included. He needs to get his head out of his brain and into a basketball and let it fly the second he’s open. We don’t need him to make another play, someone just made one for you and you need to shoot it dude. Waiters looks like he’s trying a little too hard to earn a payday when he just needs to find a rhythm with his teammates out there, especially Kuzma whom he’s likely to share a lot of minutes with. When all three (Smith, Waiters, and Kuzma) share the floor we’re over-weighted on scorers and need more defense and play-making. In a few weeks when Rondo comes back I highly suspect we’ll see his minutes pulled from Smith’s and we might end up seeing more Quinn Cook out there cause at least he knows where to be and when.
That’s the Fiver. Honestly, there could be another couple of topics (namely how good and hungry the Toronto Raptors look coming out of the gate, Nick Nurse is on point and has those guys believing, strong chance to repeat as eastern conference champs, IMO) but it’s only game 2 of the seeding games. Hard to see us losing out the rest of the way so I’m still thinking we lock up the west by the end of next week but the shooting and lack of defensive cohesiveness is troubling already. Hope to see game-to-game improvement in some areas as we move on.
Lastly, in a more real and sombre note, the first person I truly know and have worked with on some theatre projects in the past has come down with COVID-19. He and his girlfriend tested positive this week. They played it pretty safe, masked up, don’t go out in public much and they still got it. It’s real, we all need to do better and we need to continually question why more isn’t being done. So, please, do be careful, stay safe, be well and go Lakers.
Good Fiver, Jamie. Always tougher to write up a loss than a win, especially when it really doesn’t count and could easily be an outlier. Only problem is we only have six games to get ready for the toughest playoff challenge in league history. Can’t wait for guys to produce in the playoffs. Have to make adjustments. Vogel should have pulled Green and KCP earlier.
I’ve been worried about Danny Green all year long. For $15 million, we need a lot more than we’re getting. He missed 6 wide open threes that changed the dynamic of the game. Throw in Morris 0-5 and KCP’s 1-4 and the Lakers get outscored by double digits for the second game in a row.
I agree with your assessment of Dwight’s play and demeanor. The answer, however, is not JaVale McGee, whose 66.7 offensive rating for the last two games is dead last on the Lakers. The answer is obviously more Anthony Davis at the five and hopefully Frank Vogel will come to that conclusion, especially as we see teams copycat Nurse’s defensive strategy and double AD and LeBron and force us to shoot threes.
While I think LeBron and AD both had subpar games, I do believe that our terrible 3-point shooting was the major culprit behind the Raptors ability to shut down our superstars. We need better 3-point shooting to free up LeBron and AD. We’re not going to win a championship without it.
JR did not look ready for prime time but I thought Waiters and Kuzma played fine defense and their stats support that observation. If Green and KCP can’t hit their shots, they’re likely to see their minutes go to Dion and Kyle. Problem with Rondo is he does not help our shooting woes.
Sorry to hear about your two friends. Terrie and I have been crossing our fingers that none of our family or close friends test positive. We dodged our granddaughter Mia who was exposed to an aunt who had a coworker test positive and that was scary enough. Our best wishes and prayers to them.
And yes, everybody stay safe and keep healthy.
Great recap as usual, Jamie. I sincerely hope your two friends are doing well at this moment as I am typing this. We live in a very fragile time where this virus could sneak up on anyone. Very scary indeed. Your 5 things pretty much summarized what I observed in the game last night. Danny Green being a step slower? checked. Dwight lacking mentality and focus? checked. Waiters trying too hard? checked. J.R. being gun-shy and hesitant? checked. KCP? Well, I remember at the start of the season it took him a while before he finally became one of our best 3 point shooters. He needs to find that shot right now as time is not on our side. LeBron seemed like he had a lot of weight on his shoulders to carry. He looked a little fatiqued and gassed. Davis looked disinterested? checked. But on a night where our bench outscored the Raptors bench 50 to 15, this was the wrong night for him to be disinterested. The team has not shaken off the rust just yet, and the lack of familiarity because of our new additions is making adjustments on the fly a little slower than desired. Time is our worst enemy here. Hopefully they can figure that out sooner rather than later. Throughout the course of the season, I have always had 3 main concerns on this Lakers team: Lack of good 3 point shooting, poor free throw shooting and turnovers. Yes, LeBron looked the way he was because, while our ball movement was good at finding the open man, our shooters could not find the bottom of the net. He could have ended up with a tripple double if they had made those shots. It has been said many times, you live or die by the 3 point shot, and last night we died because our shooters could not hit the broad side of a barn.
Great comment, Buba. One thing that jumped out at me about the Lakers’ games against the Clippers and Raptors was how both teams concentrated on getting back on defense to prevent the Lakers from getting easy baskets in transition, which is what the Lakers will certainly face in the playoffs.
The Lakers averaged 18.9 fast break points during the season but only 11.0 fast break points the last two games. So while the games were regular season games, the style of play was very playoffs oriented, meaning teams are going to focus on preventing the Lakers from getting out on the break.
They’re also going to continue to double AD and collapse in the lane whenever LeBron has the ball, which means 3-point shooting is going to become even more important going forward. Lakers cannot afford to play guys who can’t hit their threes. Just as important, they can’t afford to give guys extended time to get their shot back. Vogel has to have a short lease for his shooters. If Green, KCP, or Morris miss a couple of wide open threes, he should quickly replace them with somebody else.
Great points, Tom. I totally agree.