Aloha
HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s always nice to have a blow out win, even though Portland was dealing with injuries and Covid protocols like we have been, I’ll take it with a grain of salt. But what is more important it’s games like these that allows a team to find it’s rhythm. Every player that played, seemed play well and that can help build confidence. Just a few random thoughts.
LeBron at the 5 is a thing for sure. I still believe matchups will dictate when and how much we see it. The floor opens up for the offense and on defense we can switch everything. Still there are a few problems to be worked out. First and foremost is rebounding when we go small. Portland had 21 offensive rebounds. That just can’t happen against a good team. Also while LeBron is a great weak side shot blocker, he is not the rim protector that AD is, so we need to bring more help when players get in the paint.
Stanley Johnson. Wrap the guy up now. Since he was an emergency 10 day, we could actually offer him two more 10 day contracts. But the way he is playing isn’t going unnoticed. other teams might offer him a permanent roster spot. With Trevor back it gives us two guys with size. Which also helps our small ball line up. He doesn’t have score a lot. 10 to 12 points a game would be gravy. It’s his intense defense that we need. And at buyout time we have other guys we can cut to open up a spot if needed. Stanley falling into our laps could be a real difference maker. Like I’ve stated I have little confidence in any big trades happening. So Stanley could be the best difference maker we can acquire.
I have stated that I like Malik off the bench but I’m beginning to question that. Malik’s offense takes the pressure off of Russ to score. Russ can actually facilitate and pick his spots on offense instead of forcing it as he’s prone to do. It would be great to keep Malik next year but that may not be possible. The only possibility is the cap around the league. Only 4 teams have projected cap space. The year after we would have the space. Perhaps the MLE for a year? Unlikely but one can hope.
As mentioned above Russ as a facilitator first worked great last night. We have scoring punch on this team. Russ is much better when he’s not forcing his offense.
THT had an all around nice game last night. He had been lacking in confidence. Hopefully a game like this will help him to start regaining it. Wether you want to keep THT or trade him, he has to get that confidence back.
Nice to see Austin back. The kid just plays hard. Like Caruso, he is a testament to our scouting department. Now all they have to do is find two or three more like him.
This is a very important stretch of games coming up. The next 6 are winnable with 4 at home. AD’s sprained Mcl will be reevaluated around the 15th. If it’s good he could be back for the last week or so of the month. It’s important to win these games now.
Great post Michael and I agree on the Stanley Johnson front. Like Bradley you just want those guys to shoot the shots KeBron and Russ work to create for them. Make or miss, you have to shoot open shots or your toast in this league. How long LeBron sustain this? Anyone’s guess, I think he just wrapped up the December WC Player of the Month and he’s proving everyone (me included) wrong fir showing any doubts. Need to stay around the 5-6 seed until AD gets back
Aloha, Michael,
Happy New Year to you and yours.
It was great to end the year with what was undoubtedly our best game of the year. What Lakers fan doesn’t enjoy a good blow out. My wife doesn’t understand why we wouldn’t want a close win instead. How do you explain it to somebody who isn’t a true sports fan? Anyway, last night was more than just one win.
I love LeBron at the five. While I think there’s a case to be made for him to continue to start at the five when AD returns, I do expect Davis to start at the five once he’s back. But how we fare with LeBron at the five could change the dynamic since we’re still four to six weeks away from AD’s return. Something to keep an eye on. At some point, LeBron will become the Lakers starting center.
Vogel’s comments about the Lakers likely relying on AD and LeBron as their centers going forward was great news as it confirms the Lakers are committed to playing small ball with AD or LeBron at the five. What the announcement also implies is the Lakers will try to have LeBron or AD at the five for the entire game, which by its nature means less time together on the floor. That might be the best option because it means LeBron and Russ pairings and AD and Russ pairings.
You’re right that there may still be times when the Lakers want to start a big center like Dwight, which is why I still think there’s a chance the Lakers trade for Myles Turner, who would enable Frank to play his preferred two bigs and AD his preferred power forward while giving the Lakers the tools to go monster sized as well as small ball on steroids. Dwight played well last two games but we may need to find a younger bouncier center to go against Jokic and Embiid.
Stanley is the perfect fit for this team and the Lakers are a perfect fit for him. Great move to have him on the SB Lakers as it’s made his transition to the varsity a snap. I want him not to gamble as much as he’s failed to steal a pass numerous time which has resulted in wide open threes for the other team. He’s true small forward size with the weight to play the small ball four. While he’s not a great outside shooter, he’s competent from the corners and knows when not to shoot. We just traded Rondo for the roster spot for Stanley. I find it intriguing that the Lakers seem hesitant to guarantee the roster spot to Johnson. Letting him walk would be another Damian Jones. Unless the Lakers have bigger fish in mind or other moves that might require a roster spot. Come January 15, we’ll find out.
I’ve been in the same spot as you with Malik, having him slated along with Melo as our punch off the bench. I like your point about Monk allowing Russ to be more of a playmaker and less of a scorer. For me, that means Reaves comes off the bench, which could be good balance with Melo and shooters coming in. Need some defense off the bench because of so many offense-only players.
I have us winning the next six games before we meet Utah in the middle of January. That would give us a season high 7-game winning streak. Act like this is the team we have, so go out and win. AD and Nunn will be like a surprise midseason trade to push the team over the top. Test is does the team know this and can they go out and do it beginning Sunday. We have the players now so all we have to do is play the right way and win.