Another road game, another loss. 5-11 on the road (not counting the IST in Vegas) and the Lakers couldn’t look more different than the team we saw raise the inaugural cup in Vegas. Worse, the excuses, er, reasons are piling up now.
1) Excuse #1: Were not healthy. Oh, really? Welcome to pro sports. Perhaps this was maybe-kinda-sorta true when we were missing 1/3!of the team. Now? That excuse rings hollow. If someone who should be playing isn’t that’s on the coach.
2) Excuse #2: Were not familiar with one another. Outside of Vando everyone played in camp and preseason, they had a Vegas mini camp together, and have played over 1/3 of the season. If the issue is the rotations that excuse sounds like a very thinly veiled knock on the coach.
3) Excuse #3: The Coach is blowing it. Up until the trade, and now again this season, many fans wondered openly big Ham has the chops to coach bay this level. While I think he does, my issue is that he seems slow to adapt. One glaring example is the Taurean Prince minutes imbalance. I cannot figure out what has created this wealth of trust the staff has in TP that isn’t shared amongst proven playoff players Rui or Vando. I’m not saying any of these are all that much better than the other. But Vando and his defense were a huge component of us even making the playin last season. Rui showed he can rise to the moment. Prince has been fine. Streaky, as all shooters are, and generally not really up to the task on D. The other semi-concerning issue with Ham is that he’s parroting the “we need guys back” excuse. That dog will never hunt, your whole job is to figure out a way to win given the resources at hand. It is a shitty job but you took it. So get to it. Also ditch the 5 out sets unless you can talk shooters into either getting back in D, matching up in transition and crashing the glass when the shot goes up. We’re getting killed because mall our guys are standing at the three point line for some dumb reason.
4) AD is balking out. This is the best I’ve seen Davis play in years and since he took the second half off against Denver I think he’s been pretty consistently great. We’re seeing him pop for some jumpers and his three ball is coming around.
5) Feels like a trade is inevitable. I just don’t see the inherent inconsistencies that some guys bring going away. DLo is perfectly content to be an after thought on offense, Rui’s scoring vacillates wildly from game to game, and we’re not going to waste LeBron and AD’s best season since The Bubble Banner. So whether it happens sooner or later it feels almost certain something will change.
Great fiver, Jamie. Not a single thing I disagree with you. Need to move DLo ASAP. If we can swap him for Rozier without giving up a pick, I’d do that in a flash. D’Angelo needs fresh start and Lakers need him to be gone. Rozier’s speed and volume 3-ball are better fits for Lakers thanDLo..
That might give us enough time to wait until Jan 15 to trade for a second big to start next to and back up Davis at center although I’d try right away to see if we could get Gafford or Olynyk as that second big.
Hard to see us trading DLo to a contender so Charlotte fits the current criteria. It’s a bummer cause Inreally wanted DLo round 2 to work out like it did for Dwight.
Terry’s $$$ means including 2 players and we can’t make TR our only OG tho
I understand how you feel, Jamie. I am more frustrated than anybody on this blog about the state of the Lakers. The Lakers’ inconsistency can be mentally exhausting, especially when it seems like just when the team is getting it together, a new issue arises. It’s frustrating to see a team with such potential struggle to find consistency. I agree there has to be some kind of trade if the team is to overcome these challenges soon.