The Lakers are hurting these days. AD is sidelined, KCP hasn’t looked right in weeks, Schroder is out for a few… That leaves The King and his Court of role players. His shoulders are indeed broad, his endurance truly mighty but he be only one man. So, in a not surprising turn, the Lakers lost to Brooklyn last night. But this game mattered more to the NBA hype machine than it did for the identity the Lakers are striving to create as a team. So, in short…
- Anthony Davis update: AD will be out 4 weeks, minimum. That’s a huge hit to the Lakers. Davis has gravity on both ends of the court as an ALL NBA defender, major offensive talent and a player possessed of elite skills. There is simply no replacing what AD brings without shipping out major talent and even then the return on that investment is likely to pale in comparison to what a healthy AD means to the Lakers. Health is the biggest obstacle that the Lakers will face, when healthy our talent, skill and focus is enough to go head-to-head with any other team in the Association. Getting AD right needs to be priority #1 for the franchise and it sounds like they’re taking a conservative approach. Here’s hoping they get it right.
- Schroder out due to Health and Safety protocols. The Lakers are one of handful of teams that have not missed games due to COVID-related issues. With Dennis we have a total of three players that have had to go through the NBA H&SP process and for the Lakers this couldn’t have come at a worse time. We really could have used Dennis to match up better with Kyrie and to put more pressure on the defense against Brooklyn. Unfortunately he wasn’t cleared to go and that job was left to guys more suited to fill a role than fill the stat box. Hopefully it’ll be a quick turnaround and we’ll get him back by the end of the weekend.
- Kuzma stepping up on a nightly basis in different ways. Kyle is the official Swiss Army Knife for the Lakers. He defends, he scores, he rebounds, spaces the floor and is doing all of that without forcing the issue of his own personal offense. I truly can’t say enough about haw far Kuz has come this season. Last night he was the 2nd best player on the floor after The King. He and Marc Gasol were the only Lakers to hit multiple three pointers and Kuzma led the team in rebounds. Loving everything about Kyle’s game these days.
- The bench did not step up last night. With so many key guys out the old adage ‘next man up’ comes into play. Unfortunately nobody on the Laker bench got the message. They all basically played to form: Trezz doing his damage in the paint, Caruso playing gritty, THT driving to the rim, ‘Kieff missing open three pointers, but with Schroder and Davis out we need more from all of those guys. Not-a-one could muster an average (to say nothing of an above average) game to support LeBron. The normal bench rotation couldn’t hit from deep (Morris, Caruso, THT went a combined 0-5). The more heralded Laker bench was outscored 35-28 (but that’s not an accurate picture of how dominant the Brooklyn bench was, our key off-the-pine guys only contributed 19 points, Quinn Cook and Alfonzo McKinnie tossed in 10 in garbage time). When guys go down we need more from the guys who are trying to push through to another level in the NBA.
- LeBron “I just want my damn respect” James. How LeBron only went to the line 6 times is something mildly astounding to me. The fact that the Lakers only shot 14 free throws to Brooklyn’s 24 was another sore spot in a game full of them. Trezz? 0 FTA, mainly plays in the paint and takes hits on his put backs. Should have had, by my count, two ‘and-1s’ and a straight trip but got nothing. Also got called for a foul on one of the cleanest blocks I’ve ever seen. Kuzma? 0 FTA and in a game where he had 5 offensive rebounds, hard to see how he didn’t garner at least one trip to the line. LeBron being LeBron was “rewarded” for his hard play and tenacity with a meager 6 trips to the stripe. The Lakers are not a whiny organization like Dallas or other NBA franchises that repeatedly and publicly gripe about free throw disparity. Maybe it’s time that changes.
Bonus point: who the &$%# is going to step up at the 2?! Last night our 4 guards not named Quinn Cook or Alfonzo McKinnie contributed a grand total of 22 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists (thanks mainly to AC and THT), 3 steals, and 1 block to 7 turnovers and 8 personal fouls. That’s a meager 5.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 dimes per player. Both KCP and Wes Matthews turned in total dud performances. AC needs to find a little more aggression on offense. THT needs to find that slower gear again where he lets the game come to him but credit the kid for balling hard all night. Depending on how long Schroder is out we’re going to need a lot more from the main rotation guards. I’m looking at you Kentavious, Wes, Alex and Talen.
Thanks, Jamie. The first thing that caught my attention in this fiver was the free throw disparity. Glad you mentioned that. I thought I was the only one not to like that part of the officiating. I can’t say how surprised I am at Kuzma’s improvement, that he has a nose for those rebounds and becoming a complete all-round player, is pure joy to watch. As for the bench, it seems like pre-season again. Everybody, besides the established ones, seems not sure what their exact role is. That’s why Vogel needs to do a lot of experimenting before AD and Dennis return.
Every once in a while there’s a game where nothing seems to go right and everything seems to go wrong. That was last night, starting with the last minute announcement that Dennis Schroder was out right after Frank talked to the press about how he was looking forward to him defending Kyrie.
The referee calls were clearly going against the Lakers all night long. LeBron seemed to get hit every time he attacked the rim but no calls. On the other end, Kyrie seemed to get a whistle every time he was bumped. Lakers were clearly frustrated with the calls, which only works against them as usual.
Finally, the bumbling of the ball out of bounds by Caruso after great hustle, Kuzma kicking the ball out of bounds after a great offensive rebound, shots going down and coming up, Harris luckily banking in a three in the midst of a string of killer 3’s. Bottom line, it was just one of those days with the emphasis on the word ‘one.’
I’m really starting to dislike the Nets. I always thought all three of their stars have serious mental personality flaws. Kyrie has always been whacked and jealous of LeBron, KD insecure and jealous of LeBron, and Harden prone to total collapses. It will be fun playing them in the Finals. And sending them fishing. ‘F’ the Nets. ‘F’ all of them.