I heard this so many times growing up. Another way of saying actions speak louder than words. We’ve heard a whole lotta words about AD’s “desire” to play a buncha minutes at center. But the ACTIONS of the past and the move of adding Dwight & DeAndre paint a different picture to me. I think everyone (AD, Frankie, Rob, Rich, LeBron) is on the same page and they want that big traditional 5 who can grind & catch those lobs which was the formula to winning the Covid Cup.
We all know the team is better with AD at center but that still doesn’t mean he wants to spend the majority of his minutes there. All you have to do is look at the Naomi Osaka situation to understand the mental aspect of this thing. Being the best at something doesn’t necessarily make you happy.
And honestly, what does it all matter? The regular season is just something to endure. Nobody cares if you win 73 games; just get to the playoffs healthy. As was shown in the Cup, it’s not hard for AD to move to the 5 on short notice. All this hand-wringing is unnecessary.
It’s ironic and expected that our opinions on AD playing the five would lead to us completely differing in our opinion of the move to replace Gasol with Jordan.
To you, Mongo, it’s evidence we’re going back to our 2020 championship formula with two big centers to limit the time AD played the five, meaning we’re going to repeat the JaVale/Dwight rotation with the DeAndre/Dwight rotation.
That would make sense had we not made a move to bring in a point guard who can’t shoot the three. You can’t create any spacing with only a single elite 3-point shooter in the lineup. That’s why AD said he would play more 5 when he and LeBron met with Russ.
The argument of starting Gasol had merits. It worked last year in the regular season and it did create more spacing than a low post center in the dunker position would. But Russ changes everything. AD MUST play the five now. Anybody can see that. The Lakers may play around trying to bully ball everybody but teams will pack the paint with glee and hope the Lakers miss, which they won’t as much this year. Problem is still you need a shooter with 3-point gravity with Westbrook at the 1.
Nah..I just don’t think it’s all that important during the regular season. We’re gonna win our fair share of games no matter where AD plays and no matter who the other 2 starters are. Let AD play where he’s comfortable and then ease into the move late in the season and into the playoffs. And it’s not just AD..I think Frankie is more comfortable coaching with those traditional roles and he’s shown he’s kinda rigid in how he does things.
One thing I do know for sure is Vogel has a serious jigsaw puzzle to deal with when it comes to sorting out his rotation this season. What I am also seeing in the makeup of this roaster is the meticulous plan and attention given to the marathon season by having insurance at the five. There is no way I would expect AD to play the five throughout the season even though it is our best option. There will also be certain matchups that will not work in his favor. So to prepare for those situations is where I count on our traditional centers. After all, we had success with that formula in the bubble. The only question I have is are we going to settle for three centers? That part hasn’t been clear yet. Hopefully, we will find out sooner rather than later.