5 Things: Lakers Get Vital Win

Last night two important things happened: the Lakers honored an all-time great human being in Pau Gasol and the current iteration of the team won a key game. The win, coupled with some key losses, moved the Lakers into the playin round at 9th place. While nobody associated with the Lakers should be satisfied with where we’re at it’s still a benchmark we needed to reach in order to have a shot at the playoffs.

1. AD in full on beast mode. The fragility of Davis, his willingness to play through injury, and his general ability to be available has been questioned to no end mainly because he’s often injured, unavailable to play, and that happens a lot. Last night I honestly wondered if he would play after taking that elbow to the nose. I hoped it wasn’t serious but also thought the Lakers might exercise caution and maybe get him X-rays before sending him back out. Whether any of that happened or not is moot because AD came back out before the half. It was a good thing he did because Davis powered the Lakers to this win by gobbling up rebounds and scoring inside. This is the player we need for a few months to have any chance at all of making serious noise this season.
2. Coaches can’t seem to get Malik on track. I want this guy to succeed as much as any Laker. The team option this summer is going to be a massive quandary for an organization that will also potentially have to pay Reaves, Walker IV, Hachimura, and D’Angelo Russell. $16.5 mil is a lot for a streak shooter who doesn’t also defend or create or score from more than one area of the floor. Some of it is in Malik to make his shots but it also comes down to creating a scheme he can succeed in. Currently that scheme is someone drives and kicks it out to Malik whose defender they hope sagged off. Coach Ham should breakdown some of Golden States sets that free up Steph and try to incorporate some screeners to free up Beasley because we will need him to succeed at some point. I’m sure for his financial reasons he’d like to succeed, too.
3. Reaves gonna get paid. Austin has played his way into an $8-10 million deal with the only question being from whom. He’s shown he can be a de facto point guard this season, can get his shot from inside and out, and is a decent enough defender when paired with Davis and a ball hawk defender in the back court. He has been crucial in all our wins since LeBron went out and we often lose when he has a bad game. Reaves is at the top of my “gotta keep” list and I would let Malik and Mo walk to retain his services. His last test, executing at a high level in the playoffs, could be looming and if he passes that he could start to creep up towards a $15+ million contract this summer. Love to see these kind of guys succeed, hope the Lakers don’t cheap out again when it comes time to pay the piper.
4. Hachimura’s midrange Magic. Personally I love Rui’s game. I could stand to see him get after it better on the glass and on D but he’s still young and who knows what could happen if we had a whole summer and camp to develop and better utilize his skill set. Rui and Reaves were both huge in last night’s win making shots and rising to the challenge.
5. Viva Gasol. I’ve always been a huge Gasol fan, even on Memphis. I’ll never forget the moment Insaw we had traded for him: The pizza lounge at Harvey’s hotel and casino in Lake Tahoe (Nevada side obvi) moments after attending a Phish concert. It was also a great concert but that moment made me believe that the Lakers would a) keep Kobe in the fold b) were actually serious about winning c) would contend that season. While he didn’t threepeat due to Boston being ready for NBA Finals intensity he did help lead us to back-to-back titles and got his revenge 2 seasons later. I was never for one second in favor of the trade for CP3 that was revoked by Stern. You don’t trade big for small especially when the bugs are elite passers and can score from anywhere. Pau ended up adding the three point shot to his arsenal and having a lengthy post Laker career. I’ll always think the Lakers did wrong by he and LO but it’s all water under the bridge now. The Lakers did right by Pau last night and he didn’t disappoint with what was both an emotional and inspiring speech.
   

Toronto coming up Friday. We are, in some small way, now in control of our destiny. Win and you hold position and hopefully move up. Lose and you go back to relying on someone else to help you by beating a key opponent. I like being in control so let’s see if the Lakers can win a few games in a row.