Aloha,
There has been a lot of talk lately about who the Lakers could go for in a trade or who might be available on the buy out market. Usually the chatter centers around 3 point shooting and rim protection. For me I’m far less concerned with who we can get, then I am about the team playing the right way.
Earlier in the season when the 3’s were falling, the ball was popping, really moving and guys were getting good looks. Then it just stopped. I don’t know if we hit a wall due to the short off season but the energy on offense seemed to disappear. There is a lot of LeBaron holding the ball and us getting into a set, late in the clock. If you listen to Stu on Spectrum you know he complains about this every game. All game long. I’m hoping that rest will help bring the energy back on offense. If it doesn’t it won’t matter who we acquire.
As for rim protection, I would like a little depth at the 5 with a guy that can block shots, but I’m not that concerned. When the playoffs get here AD will be seeing most of his minutes at the five anyway, just like last year. I believe AD at the 5 with Kuz starting is our best chance at
Repeating. Speaking of Kuz, he is a proven scorer, yet most of his points comes from hustle. When AD went down I thought they would run more for Kuz but that hasn’t been the case for the most part. I think our offense would be more successful and less predictable if they ran more actions for Kuz. He is one of the few guys on the team that can get his own shot and we kind of waste him. I think of Kuz when we talk of landing a 3rd star. Where is that 3rd stars shots going to come from? I’m not sure.
I think we will be fine come playoff time. Last years team didn’t gel and look like a champion until right before the shutdown and I’m hoping that this years model will be a repeat of last years squad when they morphed into a powerhouse after the break.
Aloha, Michael,
Playing the right way is obviously critical but as we’ve seen when key players are out and shots aren’t falling, that can go away in a hurry. Sean made a great point in the last podcast that the in a way, everything fell in place perfectly for the Lakers in the bubble. The Clippers and Bucks stumbled. Frank made all the right moves. LeBron and AD dominated. KCP, Keef, and Rondo played brilliantly. The result was three 5-game series and a 6-game Finals. 16-5 record and the Lakers 17th NBA championship.
So even though I’m always the glass half full proponent looking for the silver linings in every cloud, I think there is no question the Lakers are going to have a much tougher challenge to repeat. No home court, an AD who has not looked like the DPOY this season, a team that suddenly can’t shoot straight, a better Clippers team, and a Nets team most prognosticators rank as favorites to win it all with three superstars vs. our two. Even though LeBron and AD are the best two of the five superstars who will be playing in that Finals, we’re going to be playing 2 against 3 or 1 against 2 for the entire series.
Hence, I still believe the Lakers need to make major moves to improve their rim protection, upgrade their 3-point shooting volume and percentage, and add a third star who can even the odds when we play the Nets in the Finals. I also am convinced Rob Pelinka and the Lakers understand this and will be looking to go all-in to fill the above three holes in our roster. Lakers have always thought big and, assuming the right opportunities arise, I think they’ll make major moves to improve the roster before March 24th. They’re not going to waste a chance to win another championship by standing pat. They clearly understand that this is not last season and the bar has been raised and the Lakers need do respond.
I completely agree with Michael on Kuzma and especially LeBron running out the clock before the offense could be set. It usually ends up with rushed shots or turnovers. That’s one of the biggest headaches I have to deal with. So, yeah, we have to play the right way to remain viable.
“If you listen to Stu on Spectrum you know he complains about this every game. All game long.” – Yes he does and I agree with Stu on this 100%. Basketball is a game of flow and when we get into our offense with 10 or fewer seconds on the clock we are not in a flow of any kind. I don’t put the onus on James, he’s doing what he does and the man is dog tired. This needs to be where the coaches tell the team the PG is someone named Dennis Schroeder: get him the ball on inbounds plays and let him do PG things. On the break there’s no better human to start, continue or finish a fast break than LeBron James. Anyone of James, Schroeder or Gasol are adept at downcourt passes to streaking Lakers. This is not rocket science and should have well drilled into the team by now. It has not been. We stifle our own plays searching out LeBron and we squander untold seconds dribbling out the clock when some in-paint exploration by any number of players would be more fitting to the moment. This is one of my biggest issues with Frank as a coach. Simplistic offense that overly relies on LeBron James and, to a lesser degree, Anthony Davis.
More could be asked of several players, Kuzma among them. Guys who have a clearly defined role on the team aren’t making shots, especially and specifically from three. This is killing our efficiency and creating turnovers and fast break points (also known as open threes or points in the paint). Until we solve the issue of efficient offense our defense, no matter how well it’s ranked, will have extra pressure applied to it. Pressure that is by and large avoidable.
I would still like a more mobile/athletic 5. We saw how we could at least stymie Jokic with Dwight (who also was DPOY one time and multiple ALL NBA Defense, not an easy skill set to replicate as excellent defense is more than jumping high or running fast). While AD will certainly finish games at the 5 and may even play the bulk of the minutes there we need insurance against injury, COVID and even plain old foul trouble. Currently, even with Damien Jones on the roster, we don’t really have that player in the fold.