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Run Houston’s shooters off 3pt line is good strategy for LA.

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Could that lead to Complacency? I wil be very worried if the team does not take every game seriously simply by thinking they could repeat. No team is going to hand them out anything for free and there is no such thing as cake walk. Every win must be earned. Infact, didn’t we remember teams use the Lakers as their measuring stick most of the time? When it comes to the Lakers every team give it their all. So the Lakers must always come out ready to play.

However, I completely agree with LeBron the team could repeat, if not three peat.

How Lakers are messing with NBA’s best one-on-one superstar

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On lots of possessions, the Rockets no longer had to run

plays for Harden — no longer had to engage in things we used to know as basketball. They began to view picks, one of the game’s fundamental building blocks, as a hindrance.

“We used to talk about the screen as an escort for a double-team,” Daryl Morey, Houston’s GM, told ESPN last season. “Why even give the defense the option?”

…

But as I wrote in reference to the battle between Donovan Mitchell and Jamal Murray, the correct leaning might be toward amped-up pressure in the back half of the shot clock — pressure that makes it so the superstar surrenders the ball without time to get it back. It is not manic pressure for the sake of it. It is aggression designed “to make everyone else beat you” under time pressure, with the shot clock acting as a sixth defender.

The Lakers’ timely traps have deterred James Harden from his usual basket attacks. Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports
And it is how the Lakers have contained Harden and the Rockets in wresting control of this series in Games 2 and 3. Houston has still scored 111.6 points per 100 possessions over those two losses. That’s good! It would have ranked ninth or 10th in the regular season. Harden had 60 points on 17-of-35 shooting combined in those games. But those numbers are manageable for the Lakers now that Frank Vogel has loosened the spacing for LeBron James and Anthony Davis on offense by mothballing his centers. (Playoff Rajon Rondo soaking up a lot of those center minutes has been huge.)

Much of the talk surrounding this series has been about how that lineup adjustment might provide oxygen for the Lakers’ half-court offense, but this team made defense its bedrock all season. The Lakers ranked third in points allowed per possession, and No. 1 in the Western Conference. LeBron bought in from day one, and the rest of the team followed suit. Credit Vogel for reinforcing this culture, and Vogel and his staff for crafting a killer game plan after Houston snatched the opener.

I can imagine the Lakers’ mantra for its trapping defense might be: Defend one pass. If you can snuff that first catch-and-shoot opportunity out of the trap, you have a chance to reset your defense and force Houston to manufacture a worse shot — often without further involvement from Harden.

Lakers Fast Break- NBA Playoffs Day 21 Wrap Up!

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Gerald is solo today as he recaps TOR-BOS and DEN-LAC. He also talks about a possible new date for the NBA Draft and previews LAL-HOU game four.

Don’t forget to Subscribe to our shows and leave us that 5-Star Review with your questions on Apple Podcasts or e-mail us at lakersfastbreak@yahoo.com!

Presented by our friends at NBA Draft Junkies, lakerholics.com, Pop Culture Cosmos, Zero Cool Films, the novel Congratulations, You Suck (available for purchase HERE), and Retro City Games!

Four Changes Frank Vogel Could Make to Improve the Lakers Starting Lineup!

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There’s a reason why Los Angeles Lakers’ fans and pundits continue to call for Frank Vogel to change his starting lineup against the Houston Rockets. Without fans and home court, the Bubble Playoffs are all about matchups.

It might be a different story if the Lakers had a dominant offensive center like Shaquille O’Neal who could even the slate and make the Rockets pay for going small but that’s not JaVale McGee’s or Dwight Howard’s strength. Regardless of what Vogel contends, JaVale and Dwight are not the right matchups against a Rockets’ team that spreads the floor, plays five-out basketball, and transforms them into liabilities on offense and defense.

What’s frustrating for Lakers fans and pundits is Vogel’s continued refusal to bench JaVale McGee against the small ball Rockets despite the fact he has not played well either in the regular season seeding games or the playoffs. In the seeding games, he averaged 4.6 ppg and 5.1 rpg in 15.3 minutes with a -8.1 plus/minus and -23.8 net rating. Against Houston, he’s averaged 2.0 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 10.3 minutes with -1.5 plus/minus and -5.0 net rating.

Despite the critics, the poor performances, and the devastating stats, Vogel still claims McGee and Howard will be major factors against the Rockets. Here are four changes he could make to improve the Lakers’ starting lineup:

1. Kyle Kuzma replaces JaVale McGee.

Davis at the five and Karma at the four has been the Lakers’ favored closing lineup to finish games for most of the season so it makes sense to use this lineup to make sure the Lakers start each game and half with their best five. Replacing McGee with Kuzma would enable the Lakers to match up on defense with the Rockets’ five-out offense and conversely let them spread the floor and create spacing on offense for LeBron and AD to attack the rim.

2. Markieff Morris replaces JaVale McGee.

The beauty of starting Morris for McGee is the Lakers not only add a 3-point shooter and perimeter defender but Markieff can also play center, which allows Anthony Davis to remain at his preferred power forward position. Morris may not be the elite defensive rim protector McGee is but he brings an offensive versatility and defensive toughness to the center position that gives the Lakers a better matchup against the small ball crazy Rockets.

3. Rajon Rondo replaces JaVale McGee.

The most remarkable stat of Playoff Rondo’s last two games is that he did most of his damage alongside rather than without LeBron James. In fact, the Lakers’ top three 5-player lineups had Rajon and LeBron together. There’s a strong case based on those stats for Frank Vogel to consider starting Rondo next to James to optimize that relationship. Playoff Rondo starting could be the key to the Lakers winning the championship.

4. Alex Caruso replaces JaVale McGee.

The often overlooked and underappreciated combo guard Alex Caruso deserves to be in the discussion as his numbers confirm he is the Lakers’ best perimeter defender and has the team’s best defensive and net ratings. Starting Caruso would give the Lakers another fast and quick defender who does a great job staying in front of his man and has the ability to shoot fthe three, attack the rim, and make plays for teammates on offense.

Since Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel did not start JaVale McGee in the second half of Game 3, the big question is will he do the same for the start of Game 4, when he went small and started Markieff Morris instead? Frankly, that might be the most comfortable adjustment for Vogel to make since Morris plays excellent defense, allows the Lakers to dominate the boards, and can create spacing by stretching the floor for LeBron and AD.

Since Rajon Rondo is likely still on a some form of minutes restriction and Kyle Kuzma and Alex Caruso have well defined roles off the bench, my bet’s on Frank Vogel starting Markieff Morris in Game 4 like he did in Game 3.

Markieff played 23 minutes and had team-leading 91.1 defensive rating

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There’s no doubt in my mind that Keef was the key to transforming AD at the 5 from a great idea to a juggernaut lineup in the playoffs. The difference was not only creating space on offense but also creating speed, quickness, and better rotations on defense.

When you combine AD activity pushing for the Lakers to prioritize re-signing Morris and the Lakers’ decision to dump Dwight and JaVale, I wonder if we’re going to see a lot more of AD at the 5 with Morris and the 4 or AD at the 4 with Trezz at the 5 for the non-Gasol minutes.