5 THINGS

Talk about making the path forward more difficult than it needed to be. While a win might be a win this one took more out of the team than many, myself included, hoped for or thought it would. The Lakers, after being down 15 in the 3rd quarter, found it within themselves to fight for the better matchup and desperately needed time off. In the end, and in overtime, the Lakers beat the Timberwolves and are the 7th seed for the 2022-23 NBA Playoffs. Let’s dig in.

1. D-Lo’s disappearing act was almost too much to overcome. Credit the coaching staff for basically benching him down the stretch as D’Angelo couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with his jump shot, couldn’t get into the paint to score effectively and really turned in a pretty awful performance. He semi-atoned for his own personally abysmal offense by dishing 8 assists to 1 turnover but this will be something to watch going forward. Russell is an unrestricted free agent and while regular season numbers matter, playoff numbers generally count for more. D’Angelo will only damage his own value by turning in more playoff duds.
2. Dennis picked up the PG slack. He had an injury scare in the first half when it looked like he came up gimpy after a fall but he soldiered through and left it all on the court. He was the catalyst for the comeback and OT win by getting to the line, hitting 3-4 from three point land, and playing great defense. The mirror opposite of D-Lo’s game, Dennis did nothing but boost his value by turning in a gem of a playin game. The rest will only do him and our other vets who are nursing injuries of one kind or another good.
3. Rui Hachimura reprising the Kyle Kuzma role for the Lakers. In our banner winning season Kyle Kuzma was the perfect Swiss Army Knife the team needed. Providing a little bit of everything from scoring inside, shooting the three ball well enough, to defense and just flat out playing hard every minute he was on the floor. Rui played that role to perfection last night and here’s hoping he has more of it in him. We need a consistent scorer off the bench besides Dennis and the list got shorter for who qualifies when we moved Reaves to the starting 5. Beasley is too eratic to be counted on, you basically just hope he’s hot. Wenyan is not a scorer. Bamba is a defensive liability against mobile bigs/small players and doesn’t look, to me anyhow, to have playoff speed or intensity in his DNA. Having a guy like Rui who can pretty much switch onto almost everyone and give them a defensive problem of some kind is a luxury the Lakers lost when they traded Kuzma. Rui, whose defense was one of the bigger question marks when we traded for him, has shown he can rise to that role and we’ll need him to do it more as we go along.
4. How well does Reaves game translate to the playoffs? The high IQ plays across the board, the defensive intensity he brings does, too. But the way he generates offense these days (often by floating into another player and creating contact on jump shots) isn’t a playoff friendly style. Just ask James harden whose FTA’s dry up come playoff time. I’m sure there will be a game here or there where Austin gets that whistle but he’d do just as well by honestly attacking the rim and the paint. He also needs to be a lot more decisive on his drives because the ones that fail (and there were a few last night) are the one’s where he’s driving without already knowing what he’s trying to do. These are his first tastes of the bigger NBA stage and so I expect him to add adjustments and grow over time.
5. Winning without free throws. This is a hard one, and maybe it won’t matter, but I feel like the Lakers rely on free throws a lot to win ball games. This was, again, the case last night and we all know that as the playoffs wear on the whistles sound less. Now, because of the Lakers style of play, we may still end up on the plus side of the free throw line battle but it’s not a stratagem that’s entirely within our control. We need to play better all around defense and execute on offense at a higher level. We can’t have our starting guards and power forward go 5-24 and expect to earn a W every night. That won’t cut it from here on out and the Lakers are lucky KAT faded and Anthony Edwards never got it going. Some of that was good D, some of that was on poor defensive decision from KAT who should have known his team needs him on the floor but, as a team, we’ve really come to rely on free throws. it’s not a workable means of winning going forward.

Next up game 1 against Memphis on Sunday. Same applies across the board. Just because Steven Adams is out indefinitely isn’t an excuse to sleep walk through the first half. The team needs to dig down and figure out a way to play with a solid effort for the full 48 and we need more than 2/5s of our starting five to have good games. if we don’t this series will be both short and embarrassing.

Here’s hoping this is the only playin game we play. If it is that would mean we beat the Timberwolves and are officially the 7th seed in the NBA. Falling to the 8th seed, while certainly better than being wholly eliminated, would represent the most difficult path to the NBA Finals for the Laker’s as it would require playing in two playin games and ending up in the tougher seeding bracket. Beating the T’wolves means we don’t play until Sunday which would be a really great amount of rest for the team. So let’s dig in to some key aspects of this match up and how the Lakers can move on.

1. Take advantage of the missing Minnesota players. While it’s unfortunate that the Timberwolves won’t have their roster available it’s on the Lakers to press that advantage to it’s fullest. Missing key rotation players in Rudy “Mic Check” Gobert (suspended by team for fighting Kyle Anderson in the last game), Jaden “F#$% THAT WALL!” McDaniels (fractured hand after punching a wall), Naz Reid (surgery) and possibly Jaylen Nowell (knee). That’s a ton of talented size that will be MIA tomorrow night. The Lakers have made a living this season driving into the paint and attacking the rim. This generates both easy points and fouls. It’s imperative the Lakers press this exact advantage to the fullest tomorrow night.
2. Use the right defenders on KAT. Karl has been hurt a lot of the season and is probably one of the healthier superstars going into the post season. The Lakers rely on Anthony Davis on both ends of the floor, heavily. I’d maybe start the quicker and certainly more expendable if foul trouble is an issue Jarred Vanderbilt on KAT. Save AD for the second half, 4th quarter and keep his fouls low. KAT might be over to shoot over the Vandolorian but he’ll be hard=pressed to gain a speed advantage over him. I’d throw a combination of JV, Wenyan and maybe even Bamba (although Mo is awfully slow of foot and will likely pick up a grip of quick reach/hold fouls so we’ll see on that one). I’d rather KAT shoot over guys from the perimeter than get it going on the inside where he’s also likely to get to the line.
3. Contain ANT-MAN. Anthony Edwards could start to see his name appearing as a dark horse MVP soon and he really ought to make some level of All NBA this season. Dude single-handedly carried Minnesota to the brink of the playoffs with KAT missing a huge chunk of the season, the team trading D-Lo, and the kind of mish-mash roster you don’t generally see do well in the modern NBA. No single player will stop this man so the question is containment and how to get it done. Like KAT you prefer him shooting from the outside over a defender or two and you don’t want him to live at the free throw line. Just do your best to keep him out of the paint and throw two guys at him when possible, give him different looks every few times down, maybe zone him up when it’s just Anthony and Karl sits.
4. Don’t sleep on Mike Conley. I feel like this will be LeBron’s defensive assignment although with 40% of the starting line up out for the game he might end up on Kyle Anderson or Taurean Prince. I’d try and keep LeBron off the high energy/hustle guys (like prince) so if it’s not Mike I expect it to be Kyle. Both players can hurt you but Mike Conley is sneaking elite. He can light you up for 40. he can rack up 20 assists. he can put a defensive gem in his crown in any game. He’s a top tier point guard who’s healthy right now (frankly that’s my one gripe is he’s often out for long stretches of a season). LeBron is going to be our weakest link defensively. I’ve watched him not close out, not rotate, not switch or fight through a screen all season long and I don’t think he possesses a magical switch to just turn that all on. Not anymore. So you want him on the least mobile or slowest player. Or at least the guy who is most likely to slink into the corner for an open three. LeBron needs to stymie those kind of plays.
5. The Lakers bench has little reason not to dominate. With a lot of their vaunted depth sapped due to stupidity, injuries or stupid injuries the Lakers’ bench has a golden opportunity to define and dominate this game. If they can put together a solid, focused and effective effort we might win this game going away. If they’re not on point, wilt under the bright lights, or simply get out-played it could make for a tough game indeed. Some guys have been sitting a lot and you may find your number called: be like Lonnie and stay ready. You will not get calls going forward barring something obvious. Play through, play hard, and get it done.

The Lakers need to get this done and start to atone for the many bone-headed losses, subpar efforts and inexplicable choices made throughout the season. Get this win tomorrow, get LeBron and AD into treatment and let the team rest a bit with some film and walk throughs. We have the talent and the experience to go on a deep run and the bracket broke very favorably for us. Now we need to take advantage of those fortunate occurences.

Been swamped at work and at home so haven’t had time to dig into every game. Lots to like, some issues persist but one thing is clear: we won’t miss the playin. Had we won out and not lost to the Clippers we would have been guaranteed to slot no lower than the 6th seed. As it stands we’re probably going to have to play at least one extra game and potentially face the Nuggets or Grizzlies in our first round matchup, should we get that far.

1. As it has been for months the daily mantra is “kill ’em all”. Not literally, of course, this is a figurative mantra. The Lakers need to keep applying pressure through winning. We went away from our recent tried and true formula of making AD the focal point with Russell and LeBron on the court against the Clippers as Davis shot the ball only 14 times compared to James’ 20 and Russell’s 13 and Reaves’ 11. Hard to kill ’em all with jump shots when we need to pound teams into submission in the paint. This isn’t as much on the players as it is the coaches. Anthony Davis simply must be the main focal point on offense and our chances of winning will go up with the number of field goals he takes. 20 is the bare minimum.
2. Nagging injuries are the bane of our team. Now D’Angelo is nursing a bad wheel? Geeeeez man. Between AD’s floating bone, LeBron’s lower body and now Russell’s hip, back and foot the Lakers have an Operation game on their hands keeping guys available. Hopefully less travel and time between games will help alleviate that although the Lakers are assured zero home court advantage in any series they participate in.
3. The starting line up is as solid as it’s been all season long. Unfortunately that means the bench is now lacking depth, especially on the guard front. All our best players start and play big minutes so one of the challenges facing Coach Ham and his staff is finding reliable production off the bench. Schroder has looked gassed this week in all our games. Wenyan busts his ass every night but is generally facing a more talented opponent and that gulf will only widen once we hit the playin/offs. Our “laser” isn’t firing very well. Our more dynamic athletes don’t get consistent minutes. Of all our bench guys I think I trust Rui the most because his offense is pretty consistent and his defense seems to have already taken a small step in the right direction. Not too sure how much I’d throw at Mo Bamba but, like LW4, he is an option.
4. Coach Ham still struggling with adjustments. This is one of those things that he’ll be working on for as long as he coaches but we need to see more immediate growth sooner than later or I worry about how we’ll fare in 7 game series. We’re just about one season in under coach Ham and the best I can come up with in terms of identity and philosophy is use our defense to get out on the break and play inside out as much as humanly possible with the focus on the inside. Not to be dismissive but that really is a basketball 101 approach to the offensive side of basketball. Like Vogel before him I think Ham is more comfotrable coaching and preaching defensive principles, which is good, but our offense lacks a dynamic look at times, which is bad. Especially when it comes to freeing up guys like Beasley, Bamba, and even LeBron and D-Lo for three point shots. There doesn’t seem to be a play we run that all but guarantees a shot or a foul. While I doubt that changes this season it’s certainly something I hope he addresses over the summer.
5. What destiny we control. Not gonna lie, the loss to the Clippers coupled with a lot of teams in front of us resting key players makes us getting out of the playin rounds a real challenge. it’s unfortunate that we played LeBron, AD, and D’Angelo at less than 100% and still lost because now hindsight is telling me we should have rested all 3 and sucked up the loss in a sacrifice to better health. Still, there’s a small chance we crack through so keep the love light burring, Lakerholics.

It’s always good to see the Lakers do what they ought to do. Whether it’s playing the game the right way, not playing down to an opponent or taking a game off for whatever reason it can be infuriating when the Lakers challenge the Basketball Gods. So it was good to see them show up and dominate against the Rockets and not let a bad half stop them from competing against the T’Wolves.

1. Dominant Davis. This is the way. It has always been the way. For many years AD himself resisted the idea until no other path made sense. AD at the five, working in the paint and terrorizing teams on both ends. Especially as LeBron ages out and needs a little mroe room to operate having a true center and AD on the floor increasingly makes less sense. Pairing him with a jack-of-all-trades power forward (like JV) makes a lot more sense. Maybe if the other 5 was an elite scorer or defender (like Gobert) one could make a case but the truth is few centers in the league are up to Anthony’s level on defense. Because of his speed and quickness he can compensate for lack of bulk against the Jokic’s and Embiid’s of the league. He can overwhelm smaller players with either size or speed. He can shoot from the outside but honestly the whole team is better when he doesn’t. This is the way. It has always been thus.
2. Reaves as a starter works and needs to be the move from here on out. Want Austin to stay? Offer him as much money as you can and tell him he’s the starter going forward barring injury or steep decline. because it’s not only the right move it’s also the smart move. He fits in everywhere and is just good enough at everything to raise the performance of everyone else while not dominating the ball or possessions. There are better ball handlers, rebounding guards, passers and shooters but few who are above average in all those categories like Reaves has proven himself to be. It took awhile for Ham to come around but it looks like he has and here’s hoping there’s no going back. (or cheaping out come summer…TBD on that one)
3. Dennis Schroder embracing whatever comes his way. We need you to spot start when D-Lo has a hang nail, Dennis. OK, coach. We need you to come off the bench now, D-Lo is back. OK, coach. Would it be OK if- Stop right there coach, I’m here to support the team in whatever capacity I can. This is what makes Schroder so valuable. He has a slow to load outside shot and isn’t the greatest finisher at the rim but he is a pretty solid on-ball defender, doesn’t turn the ball over too much, and embraces the challenges whatever role is assigned to him.
4. Coach Ham’s adjustments are coming around. One game after the absurd hockey line shift substituting we saw that banished. one game of LeBron coming off the bench (one assumes to better align his minutes with finishing the game but still…). Add in playing the right guys in the rotation at the right times and what I consider to be a team-helping injury to Mo Bamba as it’s opened the door for a very effective and efficient Wenyan Gabriel and you can see a playoff rotation forming. That’s one of the goals of the regular season: hone your 10-12 man team down to a solid 9, maybe ten. When Mo comes back one wonders if they’ll slide him into Wenyan’s role, or try to at least. I have my doubts how effective that can be. Wenyan, like Vanderbilt, doesn’t need plays run for him, Bamba does. Or I should say that, unless he just stands out at the three point line he’s not very effective otherwise whereas Gabriel’s hustle and energy provide multiple opportunities for the team. The Bamba vs. Wenyan equation will get interesting come the playoffs, methinks.
5. Speaking of which we are so freaking close it’s astounding. Despite all the games frittered away, the lengthy Russell Westbrook experiment that simply was never going to work the team constructed as such and the lengthy absences to LeBron and AD this team has a legit shot at snagging a playoff spot and skipping the playin. This is a goal that should be achieved at almost any cost as it means extra rest and less wear on our best players. It gives the coaches more time to game plan for a specific opponent especially since we pretty much know who we’ll get. Even the 5th seed isn’t wholly out of reach. However, since neither comes with something resembling home court it doesn’t mean much other than playing against Sacramento and Phoenix. I think we match up decently against either team with Sacramento being deeper but that’s not as important in the playoffs. If I had to pick I suppose I’d say I would want to face the Kings in the first round but I like how we match up with the Suns, too.

Just need to keep winning, getting a better in-division and conference record and accumulating as many tie-breakers as possible. It’s the little things that can trip[ us up. Just need to take care of business and we should be OK.

NBA’s tiebreaker rules:

• Tiebreaker No. 1: Win percentage in games played among the tied teams
• Tiebreaker No. 2: Division leader wins tie over non-division leaders
• Tiebreaker No. 3: Division win percentage, if tied teams are in the same division
• Tiebreaker No. 4: Conference win percentage
• Tiebreaker No. 5: Win percentage against conference teams eligible for the playoffs
• Tiebreaker No. 6: Point differential

This is how it had to start, how it needs to continue and how the season should end: with a W. With the countdown on and the regular season nearing it’s conclusion the Lakers start a 5 (well, 4 on the road and a visitor game against the Clippers) game road trip. They got off on the good foot to kick things off with a dominant 1st and 3rd quarters and held strong for the win. A new starting five and the trio of D-LO, LBJ and AD remains undefeated in three games.

1. The planets were aligned and AD dominated. I can’t go back and forth on this much more. We all know the M.O. When AD plays well, the Lakers usually win. When he takes a back seat, we usually lose. No other Laker affects our winning percentage like AD does. We can say all the platitudes and hyperbolic statements we want but it all comes down to him and his internal fire. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it ain’t. We need it to be there more than he’s likely comfortable with from here on out. Filed under “We’ll see man…”
2. ‘Bron getting his legs back under him. Moving more fluidly then in his first game back, James looked more like the “turn back the clock” player we’d kind of grown accustomed to this season. Still tied for team lead with turnovers with 4 (some how Malik also coughed it up 4 times in just 10 minutes of play…) but everything LeBron did looked like it came easier. He was efficient, go to the line a little, and generally looked and played dominant when we needed him to be.
3. D-Lo is the grease this machine needs. In only three games together the new Lakers “Big Three” is undefeated. Small sample size notwithstanding it’s plain to see on any level how much easier everything is when D-Lo plays. He and AD already have a nice P&R vibe going, he doesn’t force his offense and has an uncanny knack for knowing when he needs to make a play to keep the defense honest on everyone else. Mainly it’s his poise and composure that seem so different than D-Lo as a Laker 1.0. He and Reaves are big enough in the back court to cause some defensive issues for other teams and hopefully that continues to trend upwards.
4. Playing the right players. If it were me the rotation would like about how it did last night except I don’t know that Malik will get rotation minutes in the playoffs. The money he’s potentially due is the main reason he’s getting any time at all because it can’t be how he’s playing. He’s the third one off the bench between Rui, LW4 and himself. Coach Ham went back to the correct player in Hachimura in terms of favoring him over either LW4 or Malik. Rui is bigger and has the most consistent and dependable offensive game. He can defend as well as any of those three so that’s wash. Stick with this rotation, coach.
5. Smart threes, not volume. I get the theory but this team lacks two things that make a volume three point shooter necessary: the proper offensive schemes to best utilize that skillset and time to implement them and the right players to make it work. We’ve auditioned a “Who’s Who” of three point marksmen of various size and skill. Beasley is just another in a long list of shooters who come to LA to sully their reputation. In a way it’s not entirely their fault. The style of play that best suits AD and LeBron is to attack the paint. This is not a surprise. This is why teams will let the Lakers take threes and midrange shots. So when I see 20 next 3PT FGA I don’t panic. The Lakers might, and should, be at the bottom of that particular stat. We function best as a team that forces the ball to the rim. If that leads to an open three, wonderful, but only if that’s actually the best shot. I’ll take AD shooting in the paint over a three all game long.

Friday in Minnesota is as “must-win” as it can get. The Lakers desperately need that win both to move up and maintain positioning as the games dwindle.