That was a hard game to watch. That might have been the worst energy/pride effort of the season. Even without AD and Schroder you need to put the work in, you need to compete and you need to leave your ‘quit’ in the locker room. You need to bring the energy.

1. The biggest difference between this season and last? Health. We had great luck with health last season, I think AD and James missed fewer than 15 games in total, granted the season was 11 game shorter. This season we’ve had key players out (AD, Schroder, and AC) for extended periods, KCP has been banged up and the compressed nature of the schedule doesn’t do our team any favors with the short turnaround. We can point to a lot of isolated issues on the basketball court but, in my opinion, health hasn’t been on our side as much as last season. SO, to that point, the health of AD is paramour. If he’s limited, or worse can’t go, in the playoffs the odds of repeating dim considerably.
2. How do we open up the floor with out our best shooter? It’s become plain to see that this offense doesn’t function for extended stretches without Davis as a release valve. He’s our best perimeter shooter, our best finisher and his impact on the defense is sorely missed, as well, which helps trigger our fast break. Without Davis the Lakers are finding the easy points that were a large part of success last season and earlier in this one very hard to come by indeed. The obvious answer is “someone has to hit some outside shots and it can’t all be on ‘Bron”. But, once again, we struggled to hit from deep. KCP continued his up and down season by going 0-4 from deep, the bench was 3-13 (but the regulars off the pine were 2-10) and Morris went 0-1 but had a decent game in other areas. If the answer doesn’t lie within we’re going to have to make a move, which feels more likely by the day.
3. Talen is a bright spot, or at least as bright a spot as could be found in this game. I loved seeing THT in the starting line up. KCP and Wes don’t work, one would imagine it would be better than it’s shown itself to be but we end up starting slow because teams key in on LeBron. When his shooters aren’t knocking down their shots nothing works for the Lakers on offense, doesn’t really matter who is on the floor. But THT was both decent from three (2-5) and had a solid all-around game. Might have pressed a bit in committing those 3 turnovers and could have shot better (I want him to learn to turn that step back 21 footer into a step back three and live with it and Rudy forces everyone to miss shots, that’s what an elite defensive center with athleticism can do for a defense) but those are the things that happen against elite defenses like Utah. There really isn’t much more that could be asked of from THT in what is, for all intents and purposes, his rookie season as an every game NBA player. If Schroder can’t go in any games going forward I hope it’s THT who gets the call to replace him, it’s the smart move.
4. One of Kuzma and Morris needs to be better off the bench. When Kyle starts, he has a good game. Frank has him come off the bench, not so good. Morris got benched for a spell when we were rolling and his return has coincided with some of our worst basketball of the season. However, ‘Kieff had a pretty solid game last night, especially on the offensive glass. The Lakers can’t have only one of those guys show up every night, we need them both. Trezz plays great off the bench, we need that energy boost off the bench and I don’t think we’d get much more out of him if he started so I liked the notion of getting Morris going by starting him. I just would have rather seen KCP go to the pine and not Kuzma who is, in every measurable way, having a better season than Caldwell-Pope is. So if KCP is entrenched in the starting unit, like it feels like he is, than one of Morris and Kuzma needs to figure out how to better contribute off the bench.
5. The dudes on the Lakers Fast Break podcast gave Quinn Cook a shout out and I wanted to echo that. Cook did all we asked of him, mainly cheer teammates and play spot minutes off the bench. I don’t expect he’ll find his way back to us this time but I also won’t be surprised if he ends up on a contender. Guys like him, solid locker room dudes who know how to be a pro when your number doesn’t get called most nights, are invaluable. But his NGC made him expendable and J-Dud fills that role on our team, as well. SO best of luck Quinn, see you on down the line.

The Jazz look a lot like we did last season. Guys making the smart extra pass, finding the open man, movement on offense. A defensive anchor in the post who sets hard screens, finishes well and defends at an elite level around the rim and in the paint. Reminds me of someone… Someone who was on our team last season… Someone who wasn’t stretch five… Anyhow, we’re not that team this season and nor are we likely to be. The Jazz beat us in every category last night but the way they play off one another is why I consider them to be the biggest threat to us in the west. Seeding might not matter in terms of home court but it certainly matters in terms of whom you play and when. We’re setting ourselves up for a tougher playoff run than need be. Here’s hoping we can right the ship and get this turned back in the correct direction: up the standings.

This train is now headed in the completely wrong direction. First off, I want to give credit to the players who are clearly trying. I thought the overall effort was good. The Lakers are obviously missing Schroder and Davis and, as such, will struggle to manufacture easy looks. Especially when LeBron runs out of juice in, yet another, overtime game. LeBron needs to stay hydrated, get his fruit juice in, keep his system happy.

1. The points in the paint defense is a huge problem. While Marc Gasol is certainly a part of this problem it also does not end there. The Lakers made a choice in the offseason, one I have never fully gotten behind for reasons that become more obvious as the season winds along. We pretty much completely ditched the formula for regular season success on defense we used to earn the best record in the Western conference and went with what worked for 2 and half playoff series in the Bubble. We moved away from a drop coverage defense to a more energetic, thus tiring, man defense. We either chose not to retain or let slip away stellar on-ball defender Avery Bradley (who has subsequently been dealing with a balky leg so call that one even), Dwight Howard (who is essentially reprising his role from last season with Philly) and JaVale McGee (same in Cleveland). Instead we signed energy and more prolific scorers in Schroder and Harrell. We also ended up with Marc Gasol as our 7 foot consultation prize. I would have preferred to sign Howard over Gasol, I said it early, I’ve said it since and I’m going to keep right on saying it. The fact of the matter is what works in the regular season doesn’t always work in the playoffs. The same is true for what works in the playoffs not necessarily being the best recipe for success in the regular season. Especially one as compacted as this one is. The energy this defense requires is not doing LeBron any favors. Furthermore, with Markieff struggling to make an impact on any end of the basketball court consistently the linchpin of that defense usually sits when we need it (and him) the most. Finally, without AD that scheme is borderline unworkable with the players left on the roster. By going all in one type of defense we have left ourselves exposed to injuries, fatigue and reliant on personnel incapable of sustaining that level of defensive intensity for 72 games. Will it work in the playoffs? Maybe, depends on health and chemistry. Two fragile things in professional sport.
2. Free throws and the myriad of issues we always seem to have from the stripe. Should the Lakers, especially the one with ‘James’ on the back of his jersey be shooting more free throws? Absolutely, yes. But we also have to make the ones we get , which we are not doing. We’re 24th in the Association in terms of team free throw percentage. We’re not the dominant paint scoring juggernaut we were last season, punishing teams with lobs, rebounds and put back dunks. We’re still a pretty good rebounding team but the guys finishing those rebounds aren’t getting up for dunks, they’re shooting contested layups, floaters and shots that are more skilled and thus unreliable. So, all of that being true, we need to be better as a team from the free throw line. Without AD our margin for error, even against teams we think should be easy, is very slim indeed (pro tip: it’s the NBA, no team is a pushover, these are pros who play with pride, they’re pretty good at basketball, they deserve focus, attention and respect).
3. We’re playing the modern way, why do we keep losing? In the last few games we’ve upped our three point field goal attempts considerably, shot 44 and made 15 for a decent 34.1% last night, for instance. But, because we sieve points in the paint, we need to hit even more threes than it would seem this team is capable of. James and his tired legs are the biggest culprit here, he went 2-10 from deep and has been cool from deep for awhile now. Kuzma did his job (4-11) and every starter made at least one except Wes Matthews (0-3). I honestly don’t know what we can do to fix this outside of making a trade. The guys off the bench aren’t really considered knock down threats from three, they’re playing the right way and taking the open shot in the last 2 games and you can’t ask for more than that. Morris has fallen off considerably from distance and is approaching his career low in terms of % (currently at .309% for a career .343% shooter), Wes is down and shooting one of the worst %’s of his career, save for the season he only played 2 games due to the Achilles injury. Both those guys are being relied on to help open up the floor with the threat of the three ball. Hard to do when there isn’t really a threat worth worrying about. Caruso, while still sporting a healthy looking % has fallen off of late and KCP has been so up and down his season looks like an ugly NBA yo-yo. If we do make a move it really ought to be to bolster our paint D and improve our three point shooting. Bonus fault to our coaches for not creating an offense that generates smart looks, another culprit in a season-long problem.
4. More THT. In 16 minutes THT was 3-4, 1-1 from three with a steal and 2 blocks. His 2 turnovers and 4 fouls are likely why he didn’t play more but at this point what do we have to lose? We’re already on severe losing streak, Wes and KCP are no-shows half the time and THT plays well with both AC and Schroder. He needs to be promoted and it can’t happen soon enough. We’re getting almost nothing from our off gourd on a nightly basis. KCP had a solid game last night, so maybe…hopefully…fingers crossed…he’s moved past his annual slow start or his ankle has turned a corner or whatever the case may be. We need a lot more from our starting 2 than we’ve gotten for a good chunk of the season. If not THT (which I get, lotta growing pains there) I say we go with LakerTom’s suggestion of starting Kuzma. While it weakens the bench it gives us our best five players on the floor (when healthy) to start the games. Kyle can hang with quicker dudes and brings a balanced skill set. Gotta try something, though. This ain’t working and I’m not sure it’ll get all that much better when Dennis comes back.
5. Lakers making a move? We’re currently 3rd in the WC sitting a game up on Phoenix who has countered our 3 game losing streak with a three game wining streak. Assuming we don’t find a miracle cure to what ails this team (mainly missing two key cogs) against Utah we’ll be on a 4 game losing streak when Phoenix gets the Bulls. By the time we get Schroder back, assuming we get him back by Friday for Portland, we could be sitting in 4th place with Phoenix and possibly the Trailblazers just a game behind as well, depending on how their week goes (they have it a bit harder than Phoenix does, they face the Nuggets tonight). So, while Kuzma may have a point in the notion that seeding doesn’t matter, confidence and chemistry does. There are plenty of guys on this squad that didn’t win a ring last season and the boost from that has surely worn off this squad. This is the grind, the dog days of the regular season where trade tumors, the threat of being waived, the All Star break within sight but just out of reach all pile on to weigh you down. It shows on this Laker team. We don’t want to limp into the playoffs as the 6 or 7 seed, we certainly don’t want to have to play our way in (unlikely but depending on how long AD actually sits or effective he’ll be when he returns it’s viable outcome at this point). So we need to start by finding our energy and focus as a team and beating Utah and finish that up with another win on Friday when we (hopefully) welcome Schroder back. Winning will do wonders to clear the stank surrounding the Lakers right now. Then we need to get into the break and take mental vacation from the grind before we close out the regular season.

A lot of this will be resolved if we get Anthony Davis back solid and healthy. Some of it will improve just by getting Dennis Schroder back, as well. I’m not sure what moves Rob is planning but you can bet he’s seeing what we’re seeing and more. The one thing I know to be true is this: when we’re healthy I take the Lakers in a 7 game series over anyone in the NBA. It’s just that “healthy” caveat that is worrisome…

Go Lakers.

That series was over even before it started. Losing Jalen Brown was the end of their run.

The Lakers are hurting these days. AD is sidelined, KCP hasn’t looked right in weeks, Schroder is out for a few… That leaves The King and his Court of role players. His shoulders are indeed broad, his endurance truly mighty but he be only one man. So, in a not surprising turn, the Lakers lost to Brooklyn last night. But this game mattered more to the NBA hype machine than it did for the identity the Lakers are striving to create as a team. So, in short…

1. Anthony Davis update: AD will be out 4 weeks, minimum. That’s a huge hit to the Lakers. Davis has gravity on both ends of the court as an ALL NBA defender, major offensive talent and a player possessed of elite skills. There is simply no replacing what AD brings without shipping out major talent and even then the return on that investment is likely to pale in comparison to what a healthy AD means to the Lakers. Health is the biggest obstacle that the Lakers will face, when healthy our talent, skill and focus is enough to go head-to-head with any other team in the Association. Getting AD right needs to be priority #1 for the franchise and it sounds like they’re taking a conservative approach. Here’s hoping they get it right.
2. Schroder out due to Health and Safety protocols. The Lakers are one of handful of teams that have not missed games due to COVID-related issues. With Dennis we have a total of three players that have had to go through the NBA H&SP process and for the Lakers this couldn’t have come at a worse time. We really could have used Dennis to match up better with Kyrie and to put more pressure on the defense against Brooklyn. Unfortunately he wasn’t cleared to go and that job was left to guys more suited to fill a role than fill the stat box. Hopefully it’ll be a quick turnaround and we’ll get him back by the end of the weekend.
3. Kuzma stepping up on a nightly basis in different ways. Kyle is the official Swiss Army Knife for the Lakers. He defends, he scores, he rebounds, spaces the floor and is doing all of that without forcing the issue of his own personal offense. I truly can’t say enough about haw far Kuz has come this season. Last night he was the 2nd best player on the floor after The King. He and Marc Gasol were the only Lakers to hit multiple three pointers and Kuzma led the team in rebounds. Loving everything about Kyle’s game these days.
4. The bench did not step up last night. With so many key guys out the old adage ‘next man up’ comes into play. Unfortunately nobody on the Laker bench got the message. They all basically played to form: Trezz doing his damage in the paint, Caruso playing gritty, THT driving to the rim, ‘Kieff missing open three pointers, but with Schroder and Davis out we need more from all of those guys. Not-a-one could muster an average (to say nothing of an above average) game to support LeBron. The normal bench rotation couldn’t hit from deep (Morris, Caruso, THT went a combined 0-5). The more heralded Laker bench was outscored 35-28 (but that’s not an accurate picture of how dominant the Brooklyn bench was, our key off-the-pine guys only contributed 19 points, Quinn Cook and Alfonzo McKinnie tossed in 10 in garbage time). When guys go down we need more from the guys who are trying to push through to another level in the NBA.
5. LeBron “I just want my damn respect” James. How LeBron only went to the line 6 times is something mildly astounding to me. The fact that the Lakers only shot 14 free throws to Brooklyn’s 24 was another sore spot in a game full of them. Trezz? 0 FTA, mainly plays in the paint and takes hits on his put backs. Should have had, by my count, two ‘and-1s’ and a straight trip but got nothing. Also got called for a foul on one of the cleanest blocks I’ve ever seen. Kuzma? 0 FTA and in a game where he had 5 offensive rebounds, hard to see how he didn’t garner at least one trip to the line. LeBron being LeBron was “rewarded” for his hard play and tenacity with a meager 6 trips to the stripe. The Lakers are not a whiny organization like Dallas or other NBA franchises that repeatedly and publicly gripe about free throw disparity. Maybe it’s time that changes.

Bonus point: who the &$%# is going to step up at the 2?! Last night our 4 guards not named Quinn Cook or Alfonzo McKinnie contributed a grand total of 22 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists (thanks mainly to AC and THT), 3 steals, and 1 block to 7 turnovers and 8 personal fouls. That’s a meager 5.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 dimes per player. Both KCP and Wes Matthews turned in total dud performances. AC needs to find a little more aggression on offense. THT needs to find that slower gear again where he lets the game come to him but credit the kid for balling hard all night. Depending on how long Schroder is out we’re going to need a lot more from the main rotation guards. I’m looking at you Kentavious, Wes, Alex and Talen.

The news coming from the medical evaluations seems to be trending positively in regards to Anthony Davis’ calf strain. The loss to Denver and the warts it revealed played a distant second fiddle to the Lakers star power forward’s injury. This train will have a hard time reaching it’s destination without a healthy (or at least consistently contributing) AD. While we did end up winning against Minny it’s safe to say this team still has a lot of work ahead of it.

1. Time for a change at the 2. In my opinion we need to switch KCP out of the starting 5. Teams are closing out on his shot, running him off the three and he seems incapable of adjusting. While his current stats are still pleasing to the eye they’re all way down from his torrid start. He’s not really making up fir his lack of offense on the other end of the floor, either. I think it’s his ankle he sprained a few weeks back not being 100% (tweaked it again last night) coupled with his current fairly one-dimensional approach to basketball games. Some of this in on the coaches for not getting him activated (you could see the team force feeding him shots last night with not much to show for it) but with AD out we need more production from every starter. KCP still doesn’t look ready to deliver that, yet.
2. More Marc Gasol. I was wary of losing Howard and consoling ourselves with Gasol. I thought we lost a formidable defender who opened up the pick and lob game. No Laker really replaces what Dwight did for us, especially in the regular season. So when AD went down I resorted to a tactic I rarely use: considering trades from Laker Tom. Luckily the burlier and younger Gasol stepped up and I was able to shelve that idea, for now. Marc had one of his best outings of the year last night and I think the answer to unlocking the best version of Gasol resides inside the game stats. Specifically minutes played. Basketball is a rhythm game and it’s hard to get one when you play 20 or fewer minutes per game. Especially for older players. You’re just getting warmed up and you’re yanked out. I’d like to see Marc play closer to the 30 minutes we saw from him last night and see how that alters the game for us.
3. THT has officially been scouted. This was what I was waiting for. For all intents and purposes this is Talen’s rookie season. He played sparingly for us at the NBA level last season and certainly far less was expected of him in his true rookie season. That he has the role he does now is incredible in and of itself. What THT is going through now happens to every player at least once in their careers. You play enough that the rest of the Association knows what your pet moves are, what direction you like to drive, and any cute tricks you might deploy in order to shake loose for a score. It’s obvious that Horton-Tucker prefers to drive the ball into the paint and collapse the defense or slink around the defense for a tricksy-doodle layup. He likes it so much he’s passing up open three pointers to drive the rock into the teeth of the defense with extremely mixed results, of late. He’s good enough to get the shots off but the degree of difficulty is high and when you pass up an open three created off someone else’s drive you’re wasting all that hard work they just put in for you. Take the open look. It’ll open up the rest of your game.
4. The turnovers are going to improve at some point…right? In the 1st quarter we gifted the T’Wolves with 6 extra possessions by way of turnovers, that doesn’t count any offensive rebounds they may have gathered in the first stanza. This trend continued throughout the game, as it has for most games this season. The Lakers coughing the ball up is one of the few consistent things the team does. I try to ignore it, play it off to guys still finding their way. However, it’s not getting better and this will be a huge issue come the playoffs if we don’t clean it up.
5. Kieff’s big game. Morris showed up large last night and with no AD he’s going to be key to us treading water in the standings and staying roughly where we are. Markieff has struggled for most of the season so it’s been nice to see him coming around now and especially to see that three ball falling with more regularity.

The Lakers are banged up and have to be looking forward to the All Star break to get nagging injuries as right as can be expected, take a mental break and load up for the stretch run into the playoffs. I don’t expect to see a big trade and maybe not even a small one. With the Lakers so close to being hard-capped they don’t have a ton of wiggle room and so salary matching will be an issue along with the injury to AD making it hard to lose the players that are going to be taking his minutes. The Blake Griffin buyout situation could be real and a saga worth watching. We’ll see.

You know the drill, you make the fold over desk holder for all the Valentines you’re going to get in school, take home far too many chalky ‘Be Mine’ candies that end up in all nooks and crannies of the house and the folks spend all night getting yours ready for you to give out. Here are my Laker Valentines.

1. LeBron James “Love U”. What isn’t to love about the season The King is turning in? It defies logic, it defies modern sport science and there’s no sign of it stopping any time soon. While he may not lead the league in any single category, win MVP or receive the accolades from pundits he ought to it doesn’t matter to me to me. James is having one of the best season’s for a sporting figure his age in any sport. Except, maybe, golf.
2. Anthony Davis “U R Special”. Anthony Davis has been the first one to critique his play on both ends of the court. That’s what you want to hear from your superstars. Nobody likes to see the highest paid, most-talented, up-and-coming best player in the league whining about the coach or his teammates. AD does not disappoint on most nights, especially when he’s healthy. Like LBJ he may not win the gaudy end of season awards that make the cover of magazines or inspire Zach Lowe to write nice things about you on ESPN+ but if he’s holding another Larry-O in June I don’t think he’ll care.
3. Alex Caruso “U Rule”. There are few players that impact a basketball without scoring the way Alex does. It’s why he’s my favorite player these days. If there’s a role player that defines the Laker team values at this point in the franchises history it really is The Carushow. His defense helped win a banner, and could do so again. He started hot from 3, came back to Earth, and promptly didn’t let that effect his game in any way.
4. Kyle Kuzma “Be Mine”. Everyone is starting to take notice we have been talking about here pretty much all season long: Kuzma has found a peace on the court that he didn’t have in past seasons. Whether it’s extreme focus on rebounding at an elite level, playing within the offense or continuing to improve his overall team game Kuzma is having his best season of professional basketball.
5. Frank Vogel “U R Awesome”. Someone who gets far too little credit for the success the Lakers are enjoying is coach Vogel. The Coaching Carousel we were forced to ride since Phil retired has come to a stop. That it would ever have landed where it did was so far beyond anyone’s wildest guess that I ever read or heard is kind of on par for this version of the Lakers. Thanks Frank, your hard work does not go unnoticed.

Looking to continue the win streak tonight but it’s bound to be a tough one. Denver is still looking for some playoff payback and is likely to come out gunning. If we can stick to our defense, maybe hit a few more three pointers than we have of late and weather the opening salvo I still like our chances. Of course that’s true most nights. Go Lakers.

Well…at least they’re wins. Not much great to say about the game against OKC. We won being the best of the superlatives. Lets dig in and look ahead. Maybe playing a tougher opponent will act as a beacon in the fog for the Lakers general lackluster play of late.

1. Gonna kick this off with a tip of the cap to the Thunder. They played us tough in every game this season, we swept them (as we ought) and in the doing the plucky squad from Oklahoma earned the respect of none other than the King himself. James had praise for how well the Thunder are coached, how hard they play and in Horford they have a solid vet to help this talented and raw team of youngsters take the step in a season or two to playoff contention. They suited up 8 players and it still took OT for us to win. To me that says as much about their talent and skill as it does about our inability to play with energy consistently.
2. 41. The much too high number of minutes LeBron James played. Even had we not played OT the 36 he would have played would have felt high after the double OT win against the Pistons followed by the OT win against OKC on Monday. In the name of the playoffs and by Adam Silver’s glasses, let’s get that number under The Captain’s jersey #, 33.
3. How long do we stick with KCP in the starting line up? Whether it be Matthews or THT who replaces him I am more and more of the opinion that Kentavious needs to get his ankles right. He’s not moving with ease, tweaked his ankle again on the first play of the game and in general looks nothing like the clutch playoff performer we saw a few months ago. I’ll never use his corporate fast food inspired moniker, professional athletes (hell, professionals in general) deserve better than that. I’d rest him the week leading up to the ASB. Give him two weeks to get treatment, get the ankle right and recalibrate for the second half of the season. In my opinion we should start THT, see what he can do but in reality it would more likely be Wes Matthews. Either one would work for me. We’ll need Caldwell-Pope in the playoffs, we have options to cover for his absence during the regular season.
4. You are who you are. I’m coming to a peaceful play where I accept, or at least don’t overtly gripe, about the Lakers turnovers. James averages 3.5 for his career, he’s at 3.7 this season. THT is learning and is going to cough it up. I’ve had the longstanding opinion that KCP is good for one wholly unforced turnover/game and the Lakers are getting every team’s best effort on D. All of that equals turnovers to the tune of 14.4 turnovers per game. Good for 5th most in the NBA. What I am not going to abide and will overtly gripe about, however, is the complete and utter lack of paint defense we have. This isn’t such a big deal in the regular season. I think it could end up being a major weak spot in the playoffs when teams look to force even more action in the paint. If you’re going to cough it up a lot you have to counter by forcing stingier shots.
5. We’re witnessing the best overall season of basketball by Kyle Kuzma. Some may disagre, point to the fact that his scoring has dipped in each season he’s been in the NBA. For my part, I can’t say enough about how impressive I think Kyle is playing these days. He’s rebounding with toughness and focus to add to the better defense and team play on offense he’s added in the last couple seasons. He starts well called upon to do so but still excels in his role off the bench. He’s filling in and supporting his superstars which is all you can ever ask a role guy to do.

We’re coming to the end of the 1st half of the NBA season. Below are my predictions for the remaining eleven (sorry Gerald, but I’m in full Admiral Akbar mode these days):

7-5. I think we’ll sputter to the finish line because we looked utterly gassed these days. Hopefully they’ll do better than my pessimistic take. A lot depends on when/if we get Anthony Davis back for any of these games. I think he’ll sit tonight to be (hopefully) fully healthy for Denver. Go Lakers.

As we look ahead to the other bookend of our final game against the Thunder from Oklahoma I also want to look back at a game filled to the brim with lessons the team can take away from another near disaster of a loss. It was another game where young legs almost did the slow-tempo Lakers in. Another game where we gave up a ton of paint points. Another overtime game. Another triple-double for The King.

1. How long can LeBron keep this up? His one man wrecking crew act has long been a staple of LeBron’s bonafide HOF career. His latest triple-double came at the expense of the plucky Thunder who didn’t really have an answer for James on defense, a problem most teams suffer from in the NBA. His 50% shooting from the field was largely done on drives to the paint as he joined his teammates in shooting atrociously from three (2-10 for LeBron). When he shoots that many threes I take it as a sign of exhaustion. The man might be bionic but I am experiencing concern for the amount of energy he’s expending this early in the regular season.
2. Welcome back Wes Matthews! With AD and AC sitting with injuries the door opened wide for Wes and he stepped right on through with his best overall game of the season. Passing Steve Nash on the all time three pointers made list was a bonus and his defense was top notch. It’s the last category, along with making an occasional open three pointer, that will bring him back into the rotation.
3. Good thing we brought Trezz home from the road trip. Montrezl Harrell was an unstoppable force in the paint. Dunks, jayups, put-backs off of rebounds and running hooks were all deployed to great effectiveness. He missed his “I’ll shoot one a game” baseline jumper but his effort, energy and rebounding were crucial in our pulling out the win. While his overall defensive impact isn’t what we’ll need in the playoffs his regular season mojo is solid.
4. Whatever happened to Markieff Morris? If anyone though a starting shot would jump start Kieff’s season you were left disappointed, again. The younger Morris twin has shown lackluster effort in just about every game he has played in. At this rate I won’t be too surprised if we waive ‘Kieff. Same thing happened last season, for what it’s worth. Morris slept walk through the entire regular season, got waived, we picked him up and he earned a spot on this season’s team with a solid playoff showing. If he’s still with us come the playoffs I sure hope he can find it within himself to replicate that effort because I have yet to see anything close to that, yet.
5. Three point shooting has landed…back on Earth. For all the razzle dazzle we showed from three earlier in the season the last month or so has seen the Lakers revert to type from distance. Our 9-38 mark was due mostly to Wes Matthews every other Laker made only 1 while also shooting multiple threes to get there. We don’t need to lead the league but we do need to get better at making the wide open looks LeBron, Schroder and our other playmakers create off the drive. If those dry up like they have of late we’ll be in trouble come the playoffs.

Once again this wasn’t so much of a “what’s wrong with the Lakers?!” as it was us playing down to our lesser opponent again. We’ve showed we have a switch we can try and turn on. In some ways that’s as bad as it is good, maybe even more bad. For my part I’d like to see more THT with Schroder and Wes Matthews and about 10 fewer minutes per game for LeBron than he’s averaged over the last few. If we can keep James in the 28-32 minute range that feels like a sweet spot for keeping him fresh. That needs to be as big a goal as winning games.

The Lakers eked out a win over the plucky Pistons and the team can breathe a sigh of relief as we won’t be facing them again this season. Even without Blake Griffin or D-Rose the Pistons gave us all we could handle with a couple of extra helpings of “WHYYYYYY?!?!?!?!” in the form of double OT. So no LakerTom Load Management where AD and LBJ get to sit out the 4th.

1. Lakers looking gassed mentally and physically. Maybe it was the recent news that the All Star break won’t be a break for our superstar tandem, maybe it was the long road trip catching up, or looking forward to what turned out to be one of the most boring (or so I heard, didn’t watch it) Super Bowls ever. The Lakers look a little rundown. You can see it in their body language, in their lack of movement on offense and in their general lackluster play of late. They’re relying on “The Switch” far too often. The talent level and overall team cohesion and chemistry is generally enough for us to pull out wins. This was the case against Detroit.
2. If The King is running down he needs to turn the keys over to Schroder more often. Dennis was 7-9 from the field, a perfect 8-8 from the free throw line for 22 points. He found his teammates for 8 scores while coughing it up only 3 times. The man can handle more of the playmaking and orchestrating. Free The menace.
3. THT maybe ought to have played more. THT hit a driving backhand layup followed a few possessions later by a nifty 10 foot jumper from Schorder. After those 2 shots we came up empty for over 6 minutes of game time stretching between the 4th quarter and the 1st overtime. During that span the Lakers barely moved on offense when the ball crossed half court, everyone looked like they were lagging and we relied solely on James making something happen. The good thing about Talen is he’s young, he’s not coming off a long championship run with lots of responsibilities to manufacture offense. I’ll live with a rookie mistake or three this season in the spirit of future growth and saving James for the playoffs. THT is bringing more than KCP looks like he can these days. My theory is that ankle sprain he suffered a few weeks back has never fully been dealt with. Watch Pope with the basketball, he makes no basketball moves these days. No cuts, no drives to the rim he just kicks it in the corner. That’s either a grievous coaching error or a player who is lacking in mobility.
4. Thank goodness we had Alex Caruso. #ACFresh has been in a shooting slump of late, had missed a bunny finger role in the 4th and along with the rest of the guys playing looked like he had somewhere else to be rather than competing in an NBA basketball game. He made a smart cut, canned a three and suddenly we were back in business otherwise this might have been a brutal OT loss to the woebegone Pistons.
5. Finding ways to rest key players. The 9 man rotation, while effective, works against this notion. It means more minutes for the same guys, more AD at the 5 banging when he wants to be Gazelle-like, and a lot of LeBron doing everything he can. It’s a lot. Between the 71 day break between championship game and the start of this season, no break for the weary during the ASB, or just being a superstar with a ton of miles on his body James needs to find some time to rest and keep his mind and body right.

Got some more “easy” games on the docket coming up this week. In theory the Lakers ought to sweep the week, get some 4th quarter downtime for Davis and James and we should see some major Cook minutes. Here’s hoping.

This is a late fiver, apologies on that front. Had a work week chock full of…work and didn’t get’ round to watching the Denver game until late last night. That was an incredibly fun game and rather than go into the in-game minutiae I’m rather going to highlight what certain plays mean to me in terms of this team’s overall growth. But that was an incredible 45-17 lock down run to basically end the game.

1. The Double Dive. Dennis ended up on the floor a few times last night but the double dive was emblematic of how coach Vogel wants the team to play. I know this because Frank dashed onto the court to help his 27 year old point guard up off the deck. Schroder had his typical sneaky good game. He canned multiple threes for the first time in almost 20 games, dished and dove with aplomb and was a general force on defense all night long.
2. The LeBron triple-double effect. I’m not sure that, outside of Magic Johnson, I’ve seen a player accumulate triple doubles with the ease that The King does. The most ot ever looks like he’s going for it is if he’s a pass or two away near the end of the game. Other than that he just grabs his rebounds, makes the right play and doesn’t overtly force the issue. James is having one heckuva season and has a good chance of being the MVP of the Association if he keeps this up. I actually expect his stiffest competition to come from the 5 spot this season in the form of both Jokic and Embiid with Jokic edging Joel in my book simply because he runs the Nugget offense as much as any guard does for their respective team. For my part the fact that LeBron is doing this at a point in an NBA life when most dudes his age would be getting their spot minutes in addition to any towel waving or team hyping they cared to engage in. A truly historic season among many for James.
3. Talen’s big game. This was really great to see. Prior to his 4 game DNP-CD stint on the bench THT was having some issues on defense. Not so much in terms of his effort or energy but his being in the right place as dictated by the staff. That is, in my opinion, the biggest reason why he got the 4 game bench vacation. The other was likely to see if either Wes or ‘Kieff could be jump started with more minutes or a larger role and we saw how that turned out. If he minds his on court P’s and Q’s, does what the staff asks and doesn’t push his attack on offense when there are plays that can be made in front of him I don’t see another stretch on the bench of Talen. That’s why you stay ready and don’t pout all you kids reading this, this life we’re living is one big old lesson that starts at zero and ends when you’re dead. THT kept his head, kept learning, kept grinding and was rewarded by being a part of what looks to be an elite 9 man rotation.
4. Robert Horry and I had the same reaction when we looked at the stat sheet: “Alex Caruso was -2?!” That is the Caruso effect for you, in a nutshell. He missed all of his shots (only took 3 all from distance) and only played 17 minutes. But his third quarter defense on Murray, Morris or whomever he got switched onto was a big reason for our epic 45-17 run where we pulled away and turned the 4th quarter into garbage time. If I had to pick a player to compare Alex to it would be Tony Allen because I can’t think of another guard/wing who could effect a game to the degree they do without scoring the ball once.
5. The trade deadline. Unless we trade someone outside the 9 I don’t see one happening. It’s not that we don’t have needs to address, we do, especially at the center position, but I don’t see us moving any of our key figures. Here’s why: with almost no time for practice based on COVID scheduling, the defense finding it’s groove and the synergy our two superstars have with their supporting cast a trade kind of doesn’t make sense. Whomever comes in might not even start, or even crack the 9. From my perspective you’re going to give up too much to get a role player when our role players already fit like gloves into our team identity. The best thing I could imagine would be trading Gasol for Howard straight up. Since Philly is leading the East with the team it has I don’t see that happening. So I expect the Laker moves to be relegated to scanning the waiver wire and rolling the dice with the squad we have rather than make a move for a player that barely moves the needle, if at all. That being said, it’s the NBA and I expect Rob and the front office to explore every available avenue for improvement.

Sorry Nuggets fans, Denver must feel like they’re still in the Bubble (heck, they played us tougher in the Bubble) but take heart that Jokic, Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are going to be a force to be reckoned with for a good long time. Nikola will probably win an MVP at some point when he starts pushing his scoring average into the 20s, Murray is a lights out/knockdown shooter and MPJ has a huge ceiling of untapped potential. Wasn’t enough last night.

The Lakers kept a lid on Trae Young, didn’t allow any of the non-stars to play like one, and Anthony Davis was unstoppable on the block and from distance as the Lakers beat Atlanta and set their sights for Los Angeles.

1. Vogel sticking with what works. The short rotation was back and the result was another W. Might not see Wes or ‘Kieff save for back-to-backs or if someone needs a rest day. Maybe they just want to try and get a practice in and iron out the issues they’ve seen in the film room. Regardless the same 9 guys who played in Boston finished the roadie by beating the Hawks. This rotation has a lot of defense and selfless play to it and I have a hard time coming up with reason why Frank ought not to go with it.
2. Laker defense fueled our offense and helped give us a big advantage in fast break points. That advantage may well have helped swing the game in our favor. On a night where Clint Capella was a man on a mission and our own transition defense couldn’t quite get a handle on the transition three game the young Hawks play we were able to get key stops and get easy buckets as a result.
3. Anthony Davis is fine. He hit shots on the block, lob dunks, hooks and step back jumpers from everywhere. He didn’t make a three and the Lakers struggled from that distance all night, but AD had that shot falling and nobody on Atlanta could get him off his game. Inspired effort from AD.
4. KCP’s continued struggles and how he’s going to get out of them. You could tell from the get go the Lakers wanted to get Caldwell-Pope going. They force fed him jumpers, tried to find him on the break, and mainly seemed to make a little extra effort to involve him in the offense. While he didn’t respond with the best game of his career he did shoot 50% from three and was solid on D. The only way you get out of a slump is to keep shooting, playing hard, and filling your role to the best of your abilities.
5. The bench mojo. I like this version of the Laker bench for a lot of reasons. Kuzma is playing so cool, so within himself. If he gets minutes he produces, if he only plays 19 minutes he does what he can with the minutes he gets and moves on to the next one. Kuzma is becoming a pro before our very eyes. Caruso kind of came in with a pro mentality but it took his game a lot longer to get the minutes it needed to show what it can be. It’s defense and smart offense. No flash, no highlights (for the most part) just tough defense and make the play in front of you. Trezz is like the living embodiment of a body blow. he just punishes you inside mercilessly.

Day off, maybe a practice. Tough one against Denver on Thursday, Jokic comes into town with a decent MVP campaign hype machine in tow and playing out of his mind. The Nuggets are tough and will be looking for a little playoff payback. Here’s hoping we hold our own and get a W at home for once.

I kid, the trap game in Detroit will leave a mark for a spell but in my mind it’s better we work out these sort of issues early rather than have them linger on into the season. A line up issue is like a lingering injury. You start to compensate, can injure or break something else as a result, and the issue persists and can even grow worse with time. This isn’t so much an indictment of the play of Morris and Matthews (although both have been fairly underwhelming thus far) but rather an acknowledgement that the shorter rotation looked and played better. The numbers bear this theory out, at least for the one game. Let’s hope this is a launching point for some regular season dominance.

1. Stellar bench play. With 2/5ths of the starting 5 contributing 1 point it fell on the bench to bring some passion and energy to the game and they did not fail to deliver. Whether it was the smooth shooting from Kyle Kuzma, the ‘little bit of everything’ game of THT, the super efficient scoring by Trezz or the incredible, game-saving defense of Alex Caruso the bench stepped up when it was called upon. For the game Caruso led the team in +/- with +14 but it was his defense in the waning seconds that was the defining moment of the basketball game.
2. Anthony Davis’ bounce back game. After taking some shots in the media from Joel “I Only Win at Video Games” Embiid or his own public self criticism, AD has a rough start to the 2020-21 campaign. With his numbers down across the board, the Lakers suffering some uncharacteristic losses to under-manned teams or what AD has just looked…off. Last night he was pretty solid for the most part getting force-fed by his team for buckets in the second half and pulling down a game high 14 rebounds. We won’t go far in the playoffs without the best version of Anthony and he knows that. We go as far as he and LeBron take us.
3. The Lakers are playing slower this season. The Lakers are down about 4 points per game in fast break points so far in 2020-21. That in and of itself isn’t a concern but when you factor that we’re treading water in some areas we ought to have improved on as a team (three point shooting is about the same, turnovers are about the same, scoring about the same as last year’s squad) and you can begin to understand why our margin for victory feels a little slimmer this season. The funny thing? It’s not, we’re actually outscoring our opponent better than last year’s team did, so far. So, while we may not be getting out on the break and scoring in quite as fantastic a manner as last season we’re still winning games and doing the little things that it takes to be successful in the NBA.
4. Morris and Matthews. Both have been fairly underwhelming this season. Both have had moments in which they shined but neither has cemented himself in the rotation with consistent play. ‘Kieff is having one of his worst scoring seasons ever. Wes is continuing to show the lingering effects of his Achilles injury and seems unable to find other ways to contribute. Neither is a lost cause and I think the solution itself lies in the shorter rotation. Play nine guys, any nine. THT might not play every night in this scenario but that’s life in the NBA. Feels like Caruso and Kuzma are locks to play barring injury, as it should be. They helped win a ring and have shown that they don’t need to score to be effective. So, in order for the other guys to get the burn they need choose another guys (because Trezz is playing) and roll with them.
5. This season is a different test. It’s the in-game vibe of The Bubble now with more travel, buses and hotels! Not a recipe for fun. No crowds but with all the travel rigor of a normal NBA season. The Lakers have done pretty darn well at avoiding the COVID bug thus far but you can see on this road trip how the travel affects the older players, especially LeBron who looks a little gassed. I’m sure he’s ramping up his activity and isn’t in peak game shape, yet. For the Lakers, who enjoy a little home crowd boost in every other NBA arena (we don’t lost to Detroit if the house is 2/3rds full of Laker fans) it’s a double whammy. Just another minor obstacle but as those add up it amounts to a small mountain the team needs to overcome.

All in all, this is now guaranteed to be a successful road trip. Atlanta is going to be tough but my gut is telling me we’ll eke out another W and since they don’t award those style points they’re all equal in the eyes of the playoff seeding. In the end, that’s all that matters. It would be nice to sit atop the west, again, but I’ll take top three and another Bubble NBA playoffs.