The new look Lakers took the floor against the Golden State Warriors on their home floor where they have been extremely tough to beat and win despite a game that saw Anthony Davis handicapped by the refs as much as anything the Warriors. New faces (one old) all found way to contribute and the Lakers came out of the Bay Area with a much needed win.
- Anthony Davis stymied by “tough” D. I felt for AD by the end of the game. Dude was fighting hard and just couldn’t get a call in the paint. Probably settled for a few too many midrange shots but he was usually open and he’s got to take those shots or drive it in. With the whistles being MIA it was hard to fault him opting for the jumper. Which was mostly off target.
- D’Angelo looked like D’Angelo. A little stronger, a little less greedy in getting his shots, and still playing smooth. He won’t collapse the defense like Russ did or defend like Patrick can but if he just plays his game within what we do it should balance out to net neutral.
- The art of flopping. It’s unfortunate that the NBA doesn’t reward strength, toughness or good fundamentals. You want the call on that moving pick you have to fling yourself sprawling to the floor. It’s silly, I don’t like it, but it works.
- Jarred Vanderbilt is just what this team needs. I loved pairing him with Wenyan for a tall, active front court tandem. Could play those two with LeBron, D-Lo and Malik or any number of combos. He reminds me of a less polished, more active Lamar Odom and his play against the Dubs reinforced my feeling that he was the steal of our trade activity.
- Ham learning. Called some late time outs instead of letting the players just feel it all out. Still went to some small lineups but also played AD and Vanderbilt together (unlike AD and TB which never saw the light of day or barely did). Better late than never.
Can’t keep winning a few and losing a few. Need to put together a 5-7 game win streak. At least need to go into the ASB on a winning streak. Honestly, wouldn’t mind LeBron sitting up to and through the ASB.
Call dang fouls! Pretty much a hack-a-AD!
The good thing about this win is that AD was a shell of himself, yet we won. He still hasn’t gotten his legs and rhythm back since he came back from injury.
For the first time since the Bubble, I felt good about our depth. I had to agree with your take on the referees. So many blown calls on those hack-a-AD plays. That got me frustrated.
Like you said, we now need to string together a winning streak through the all-star break to have a chance in the second half of the season.
Good fiver, Jamie.
1. AD is an enigma and doesn’t seem to be the same player he was before he got injured. Not sure if we will see that but at least he got his defensive act together at the end of the game. We may not need him to be the second coming to win a championship if we have a dominant LeBron and dramatically improved roster.
2. I’ve always liked D’Angelo both for the skillset and edge to his game. He’s one of those guys who could have gone either way, a braggadocio type player whose mouth is bigger than his game or a brash confident kid who grows into a savvy winning player. I think DLo and we are going to find out which he becomes.
3. l think the only thing you can do to fix the refereeing is to expand the use of replay even if it slows down the game. Better to get it right than to have fans, players, and coaches lose confidence in refs. Give each team 2 challenge and require the refs to look at any controversial play in the game’s last 2 minutes.
4. Vanderbilt is probably the steal of the trade deadline for the Lakers just because of his contract, age, upside, and fit. We’ve been desperate for a bigger wing defender to guard the bigger wing scorers like Kawhi, KD, and Luka. Can he play more minutes without fouling out? Can we surround him with enough shooting so he could start? Want to see Mo Bamba before I declare Vandy the steal of the draft.
5. I’m worried a little about Ham. I wish he would just understand he has three situations where he needs to stagger pairs of players so that he always has:
One of his two superstars on the court.
One of his two point guards on the court.
One of his two rim protectors on the court.
Don’t know if we have enough time to make a championship run but winning the next two games with or without LeBron is an important first step. Go into the break 28-31 just 3 games under .500 with 23 games remaining.