Lakerholics

What’s the story behind the Los Angeles Lakers’ fascination with Andre Drummond ? Do Pelinka and Vogel really believe Drummond at center is the best strategy to take advantage of LeBron James and Anthony Davis?

The Andre Drummond experiment up to this point has been a bust as every key stat clearly demonstrate the Lakers are a better team on offense and defense with Marc Gasol or Anthony Davis at center than the Big Penguin. Frank Vogel continues to ignore the stats that say Davis and James play, shoot, and defend better without Drummond and claims Andre just needs more minutes to learn how to play alongside the Lakers’ superstars.

You can almost see the wheels working in the background as Pelinka and Vogel continue to believe Drummond not only could help the Lakers win the championship this year but might also re-sign with the team long term. Their obsession with a possible James, Davis, and Drummond Big Three has apparently blinded them to Andre’s poor footwork, subpar court presence, low post inefficiency, and inescapable poor fit next to LeBron and AD.

Meanwhile, Frank Vogel has become increasingly defensive about Andre Drummond’s performance, pointing out Andre has not had the benefit of camp and the regular season to develop chemistry for the scheme to work. That’s an argument better made during the regular season than the start of the first round of the playoffs while the Lakers try to re-integrate superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis back from long injuries into the rotation.

What drives me crazy is Vogel not realizing traditional centers change how the Lakers play offense and defense. Andre’s lack of offensive spacing and lack of defensive mobility limits the team’s play at both ends of the court. The Lakers established a gold standard of what to expect during last year’s successful championship run with Anthony Davis playing more than 50% of his time at the five. That’s a proven winning formula you can’t discard.

So what’s really going on here? Do the Lakers really believe Drummond at the five is a championship scheme? Did Andre receive a promise he would be the starter in the playoffs when he signed his free agent contract? Alternatively, have the Lakers decided to dramatically reduce Anthony’s minutes at the five to accommodate his preference for playing power forward? That’s a move they clearly made during the regular season.

Or is the obsession with Drummond just an example of an old school coach like Frank Vogel stubbornly refusing to give up the idea of traditional low post center being the best scheme to anchor the team’s offense and defense. It’s hard to fathom what’s going through Frank Vogel’s mind right now as the Lakers trail the Phoenix Suns 0–1 and could be in danger of suffering a devastating first round loss rather then repeating as champions.

Unfortunately, the time has run out and Frank Vogel needs to abandon his obsession with Andre Drummond and either start Anthony Davis or Marc Gasol at center immediately or risk losing the opportunity to win #18.

Frank Vogel and the Lakers dodged a bullet against the Warriors and hopefully learned a key lesson when it comes to repeating as champions: Two’s company and three’s a crowd when it comes to Andre Drummond.

The Lakers’ best 5-man lineups offensively and defensively the past two years have always featured Anthony Davis at the five, LeBron James at the four, and three players capable of shooting the three and playing defense. The problem with playing a traditional low post center like Drummond alongside James and Davis is his presence in the paint creates crowds that make it easy for teams to prevent LeBron and AD from getting to the rim.

That’s what happened in the first half of the Play-In Game vs. the Warriors when Davis only played 4 minutes at center and the Warriors were able to sag off Drummond or Harrell to prevent the Lakers from attacking the rim. James, Davis, and Schroder as a result shot a combined 4 for 28 from the field as every shot at the rim was contested and 5 blocked and the Warriors forced the Lakers to shoot from outside and took a 13 point half time lead.

Contrast that with the second half when Davis played center for 18 of the 24 minutes and the Lakers, without a low post center clogging the paint, had wide open lanes to drive into the paint and attack the rim for buckets. Without Drummond or Harrell crowding the paint, James, Davis, and Schroder shot a combined 16 for 27 from the field and the Lakers rallied from down 13 to won the game with a 34-foot three from LeBron James.

Heading into their first round playoff series against the #2 seed Phoenix Suns, Frank Vogel needs to understand the Lakers cannot afford to lose first games by continuing to start traditional low post center Andre Drummond. The Lakers need to go all in and start Anthony Davis at the five or replace Andre Drummond with stretch five center Marc Gasol with the 3-point gravity to create space for James, Davis, and Schroder to attack the paint.

The Lakers face a tougher gauntlet to repeat as champions and need to understand that two’s company and three’s a crowd when it comes to Andre Drummond and commit to starting Anthony Davis or Marc Gasol at center.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has to be smiling at the serendipity of the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors meeting Wednesday night in the Play-In Tournament Game between the West’s 7th and 8th place teams.

No better appetizer than LeBron James vs. Steph Curry to get NBA fans excited and hungry for the playoffs after a second straight Covid ravaged season with limited live fans in the stands and declining television ratings. The winner earns the #7 seed and plays the #2 seed Suns in a first round playoff series while the loser has to play the winner of the 9th vs. 10th place game to earn the 8th seed and play the #1 Jazz in a first round series.

LeBron James and Steph Curry already have a storied history, playing each other 38 times, including 16 regular season games and 22 playoff games, with Curry winning 9 of 16 regular season and 15 of 22 playoff games. The threat of Steph and Warriors upsetting LeBron and the defending champion Lakers and sending them into an elimination game vs. the winner of the Grizzlies vs. the Spurs has purple and gold haters salivating.

Watching Steph go off late with three dagger threes to clinch Sunday’s win over the Grizzlies has NBA fans and pundits eagerly awaiting Wednesday night’s matchup between LeBron’s Lakers and Steph’s Warriors for 7th seed.

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While the Lakers opened up as 7-point favorites, the line has now dropped to 4.5 points as gamblers expect Golden State to go all-in with their small ball ‘Death Lineup’ with Draymond at center that won three championships.

The Lakers and Warriors met three times this season with Steph Curry catching fire late in the first game to pull off a 2-point Golden State upset but LA dominating the last two games with 26 and 31-point blowouts. With rookie center James Wiseman injured, the Warriors have gone small with Draymond Green at center and won 17 of the 25 games Steph Curry has played since their last game against the Lakers back on March 15.

Make no mistake, Steph Curry has taken his game to new heights since the three games against the Lakers, averaging 36.1 points per game compared to 29.3 points before March 15 to win the second NBA scoring title of his career. The Warriors will likely start Draymond Green at center against the Lakers like they did in their big win over the Grizzlies to clinch 8th place in the West, which puts pressure on Frank Vogel to go small with AD at the five.

With Drummond finally getting a chance and showing he can play with James and Davis, Vogel faces his first major matchup decision of this year’s playoffs: go big with Drummond at center or small with Davis at the five.

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Unlike as 7-game series, the Play-In game doesn’t leave any room for error. There’s no question the Lakers as a team are best with Anthony Davis at the five but they have been hesitant to go that route during the regular season.

Last year, AD played the five 25% of the time during the regular season and 40% of the time in the playoffs. This season, he has only played center less than 10% of the time as they have preferred to play him at power forward. The big question for Wednesday night’s game is whether Vogel will stay big and start Andre Drummond at center or counter Steve Kerr’s move to start Draymond Green at the five by starting Anthony Davis at the five.

Realistically, the Lakers with LeBron James and Anthony Davis should be able to dominate the boards and paint and beat the Warriors if they go big with Andre Drummond at center or small with Anthony Davis at center. Considering Drummond’s recent success with LeBron and AD, Vogel’s likely to stick with his starting lineup of Drummond at the five and Davis at the four and look to dominate the Warriors with their size and athleticism.

The danger is Drummond not being able to make the smart adjustments on offense and defense playing against a savant veteran like Draymond Green. If Drummond struggles, look for Vogel to make a quick change to go small.

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Frank Vogel’s personnel moves in last year’s playoffs were close to perfect as he dramatically increased the minutes superstar Anthony Davis played center from 25% during the regular season to over 40% during the playoffs.

Wednesday night’s Play-In game against the Warriors should give us a critical first hint of how Vogel is going to manage his center minutes in these playoffs. Will he rely on Drummond at the five or revert back to Davis? Along with the heath of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, how Drummond plays and what Vogel decides to do with his center minutes will likely determine whether Lakers can realistically repeat as champions.

There’s no question the Los Angeles Lakers face an unprecedented gauntlet to win their 18th NBA championship. Unlike any other champion in NBA history, the Lakers will have to win 17 games rather than 16 to do it.

To say the Los Angeles Lakers have had a tough season is a understatement. The short offseason, compressed schedule, and major injuries to superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis and key role players have taken their toll.

Barring the Lakers winning their remaining two games and the Blazers losing their last game against the Nuggets on Sunday, the defending NBA champion Lakers will end the 2021 regular season in 7th place in the West. The NBA introduced a Play-In Tournament this season to determine the 7th and 8th seeds. The winner of the 7th vs. 8th place teams wins 7th seed while the loser plays the winner of 9th vs. 10th place teams for 8th seed.

The playoff path for the 7th seed Lakers to repeat as NBA champions this year is a gauntlet filled with major obstacles and road blocks. In fact, no team below 5th seed has ever won the championship in NBA playoff history. Despite all the injuries and losing 17 of the 29 games since LeBron James was injured in March, the Lakers are suddenly getting healthy and showing promising signs they may be capable of defending their championship.

The most promising signs have been the recent championship caliber play by LeBron’s supporting cast, including Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Wesley Matthews. While championships in the NBA are won by superstars, basketball is still a team game and it’s often role players performing like stars in their roles that ultimately determines which team ends up winning the NBA championship.

So let’s look at the key members of LeBron James’ supporting cast who have performed like stars in their roles over the Lakers’ last few games and what their roles might be in these playoffs helping win the championship.

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THE RETURN OF PLAYOFF ANTHONY DAVIS

Considering we don’t know for sure whether LeBron’s high ankle sprain has completely healed or not until he hits the court, Anthony Davis playing at the elite level of last year’s playoffs is the key to a Lakers’ championship.

In the last three games he’s played, Davis has averaged 32.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.3 blocks in 41.1 minutes per game, while shooting 45.2% from the field, 33.3% from three, and 78.4% from the line. Those stats compare favorably to last year’s playoff stats: 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.4 blocks in 46.6 minutes per game, while shooting 57.1% from the field, 38.3% from three, and 83.2% from the line.

Watching Anthony Davis finally shoot and defend at the same elite level he did during last year’s playoffs gives Lakers fans legitimate hope the purple and gold can still rally and run the gauntlet to repeat as NBA champions.

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THE EMERGENCE OF ANDRE DRUMMOND

Signed as a free agent from the buyout market, Andre Drummond has struggled at times to find his role and comfort zone playing with the Lakers during the 19 games he’s played with LA with LeBron and AD injured.

With the return of Anthony Davis, Andre has finally started to figure things out, averaging 18.0 points, 14 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks in 28.6 minutes per game, shooting 62.5% from the field and 50.0% from the line. That is a dramatic improvement over his first 17 games when he averaged just 11.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and 0.8 blocks in 24.3 minutes per game while shooting 52.0% from the field and 64.3% from the line.

The important of Drummond finally posting double-doubles like the 17.5 points and 13.5 rebounds per game he averaged for the Cavs this season cannot be overstated. The Lakers suddenly have a playoff starting center.

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THE STAR POWER OF TALEN HORTON-TUCKER

After refusing to include Talen Horton-Tucker in a trade for Kyle Lowry, the Lakers finally started to see rewards for their faith in their 20-year old young star as THT has now elevated his play to include late game heroics.

His dramatic rebound and put back after a wild layup miss sealed the Lakers’ clutch win over the Nuggets and his 3-point dagger from the wing over childhood hero Derrick Rose clinched the Lakers’ win over the Knicks. With LeBron James, Dennis Schroder, and Alex Caruso out the last two games, THT has taken over the point and averaged aa 18-point, 10-assists double-double leading the Lakers to big wins over the Suns and Rockets.

With a 12-man rotation heading into the playoffs, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel is going to be challenged to find playing time for many of the role players on his bench but THT has shown he has to be part of that rotation.

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MORE CONSISTENCY FROM KYLE KUZMA

More than any other role player on the Lakers, Kyle Kuzma is the team’s jack of all trades with his scoring, rebounding, playmaking, and defense, all of which at times leads to his posting inconsistent stats from game to game.

During his last 2 games, Kuzma has focused primarily on scoring with both James and Davis out, racking up games of 23 and 19 points in wins over the Knicks and Rockets, including a clutch game winning layup over Houston. Kyle averaged a team best 21.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.0 steal, and 0.5 blocks in 32.4 minutes per game over the last 2 games while shooting 58.6% from the field, 45.5% from three, and 50.0% from the line.

Kuzma will be one of the first players off the bench for Frank Vogel in the playoffs and will hopefully continue to provide the Lakers with more consistency from his shooting, rebounding, assisting, and defending.

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MORE SCORING PUNCH FROM ALEX CARUSO

Alex Caruso is another Lakers player who’s benefited from having more playing time and responsibility with LeBron James and Anthony Davis out with injuries. Lately, Alex has responded with aggression on offense.

Before reinjuring himself 7 minutes into the last game, Caruso posted back-to-back games where he scored 17 and 18 points in games with Phoenix and Portland, by far his two biggest scoring games in the regular season. Over that 2-game stretch without LeBron and AD, Caruso averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals in 33.5 minutes per game, while shooting 51.9% from the field, 60% from three, and 50.0% from the line.

While Alex is not a natural scorer, his looking more for his shot has to be another positive to add to his defense first resume. Caruso’s renewed aggressiveness is great news for an offensively challenged Lakers team.

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VETERAN CLUTCH PLAY FROM WES MATTHEWS

Relegated to the bench a few weeks back when Frank Vogel tried to narrow his rotation, Wes Matthews displayed his savvy by staying ready and when given his chance showed he was still an elite defender and clutch player.

Wes’ clutch rebound and put back as time ran out enabled the Lakers to tie the Knicks and eventually win the game in overtime and his clutch steal sealed the team’s comeback win over the Rockets without Davis and James. Over the Lakers’ last five games, Matthews has averaged 6.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.4 steals, 0.4 blocks in 25.0 minutes per game while shooting 40.0% from the field, 38.1% from three, and 66.7% from the line.

The key for Matthews has been his defense, especially against bigger guards and wings. Over the last 5 games, Wes’ 105.6 defensive rating has been the 4th best on the team, often against the opposing team’s best scorers.

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Anthony Davis, Andre Drummond, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Alex Caruso, and Wesley Matthews have all been stars in their role as the Lakers have regrouped and learned to win without superstar LeBron James.

With just 2 games left in the regular season, the Lakers are now looking like the juggernaut the rest of the league expected before AD and LeBron fell to injury and the likely 7th seed nobody in the NBA wants to meet in playoffs. The silver lining to playing without Davis for 30+ games and without James for 20+ games is many of the Lakers role players have been able to learn how to make clutch plays and win games without their superstars.

Heading into the playoffs, having role players capable of being stars in their roles may be exactly what the Lakers need to make the long and improbable journey from Play-In Tournament and 7th seed to NBA champions.

There was a feeling heading into last year’s playoffs Anthony Davis might be ready to take the baton from an aging LeBron James as Los Angeles Lakers’ best player and team leader. After last night’s big game, that feeling is back.

No disrespect to LeBron James and what he’s accomplished throughout his illustrious career, but there’s a point when the Lakers’ championship hopes need to focus on their 28-year old rather than their 36-year old superstar. Maybe James will win another dramatic injury and performance battle with Father Time to lead the Lakers to his 5th and the team’s 18th championship but having Anthony Davis back playing like a Finals MVP is great news.

LeBron James won Finals MVP last season averaging 29.8 points, 11.8 boards, 8.5 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.5 blocks in 39.4 minutes per game while shooting 59.1% from the field, 41.7% from three, and 66.7% from the line. That overshadowed a great Finals by Davis, who averaged 25.0 points, 10.7 boards, 3.2 assists, 1.3 steals, 2.0 blocks in 38.2 minutes per game while shooting 57.1% from the field, 42.1% from three, and 93.8% from the line.

Last night, Davis gave us a preview of what to expect from him in this year’s playoffs, posting 42 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks while shooting 48.1% from the field, 20.0% from three, and 88.2% from the line. Over the last 2 games without LeBron James, Anthony Davis has averaged 39.0 points, 12.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.0 blocks while shooting 50.0 from the field, 37.5% from three, and 78.1% from the line.

Those are Finals MVP caliber stats from Anthony Davis, numbers we frankly have not seen at all this regular season. They’re not only a testament AD is 100% healthy but also may finally be ready to take that baton from LeBron. For Lakers fans who’ve seen their championship aspirations fall as the team fell all the way to 7th seed forcing participation in the league’s new Play-In Tournament, that is the best news they could possibly hear at this point.

In a Covid-crippled, injury riddled, schedule compressed season, the Lakers have already been written off by most pundits as they’ve plummeted in the Western Conference standings and the top power rankings for the league. Laker haters are ecstatic over the prospect of LA having to play Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors and then possibly the Memphis Grizzlies or San Antonio Spurs just to make the cut to get into the NBA playoffs.

The last thing the angry haters and hungry competitors want to see is a healthy Anthony Davis motivated to prove to everybody he is ready to take the baton from LeBron James as the LA Lakers’ best player and team leader. Hobbled by the lingering injuries from the bubble, Davis has struggled with his shooting and defense most of this season before sitting out 30 games to get his calf and Achilles 100% healed. Hearing he’s back is going to be scary.

Couple Anthony Davis’ great play the last few games with the encouraging news LeBron James also appears to be 100% healthy and will be returning either tomorrow against the Knicks on Wednesday against the Rockets. Suddenly, the Lakers no longer look like a team in the midst of an injury crisis with their two Superstars. Now the rest of the NBA needs to face the reality the Lakers are their biggest hurdle to winning the championship.

The possibility Anthony Davis could elevate his game to another level and become the Los Angeles Lakers’ best player and team leader and steal the Finals MVP award from LeBron James is something that’s going to happen. While it looked like that was a long shot for this year as both Anthony and LeBron suffered major injuries, the situation has dramatically changed. The Lakers are suddenly back in the hunt for their 18th NBA championship.

Everything is about timing and there could be no better time for Anthony Davis to take the baton from LeBron James and become the Los Angeles Lakers’ best player, team leader, and Finals MVP than this year’s playoffs.