Following 2 dismal games by Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell and facing a key 5-game stretch that could determine playoff seeding, should the Lakers be considering reinstating Marc Gasol as their starting center?
On the surface, it looks like the league may have figured out that packing the paint and forcing Andre Drummond and Montrezl Harrell to go against two or three defenders is the smartest strategy to shut down the Lakers’ centers. The Knicks and Hornets not only held Drummond and Harrell to 3.5 and 3.0 points per game respectively but also outrebounded the Lakers 47–33 and 45–38 and dominated them in points in the paint 54–38 and 50–32.
The defensive tactics exposed a major weakness in both Drummond’s and Harrell’s games in that both struggle to score when surrounding by multiple defenders. That resulted in the Lakers being totally dominated in the paint. The Lakers return home to a critical 5-game stretch that starts with a single game against the Celtics, following by a pair of 2-game back-to-back series against the Jazz and Mavs that could determine their playoff seeding.
Realistically, the Lakers need to split their 2-game series with Utah and Dallas. Sweeping the Jazz or Mavs is unlikely without LeBron James or Anthony Davis but getting swept could dump them into the play-in tourney. The Lakers are 5th in the West, 1 loss behind the 4th place Nuggets and 3 behind the 3rd place Clippers but only 2 ahead of the 6th place Blazers, 3 ahead of the 7th place Mavs, and 4 ahead of the 8th place Grizzlies.
With just 17 games left in the season, the next 5 games could determine the Lakers’ playoff seeding and there’s a good argument that Marc Gasol could be a better fit because he can pull opposing centers out to the 3-point line. The NBA is a copy cat league and Celtics coach Brad Stevens, Jazz coach Quin Snider, and Mavs coach Rick Carlisle saw what Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau and Hornets coach James Borrego did to shut down the Lakers.
Starting Gasol could enable the Lakers to pull opposing centers out of the paint and create space for Schroder and Horton-Tucker to get to the rim. Gasol is also a better passer and playmaker than Drummond and Harrell. Over the 7-game road trip, Gasol’s 97.0 defensive rating was best on the Lakers and his 4.8 net rating the best of the team’s centers. He averaged 8.0 points, 5.5 boards, and 3.5 assists in 19.7 minutes shooting 60% from three.
While Vogel’s notoriously reluctant to change his starting lineup, the Lakers are at a point where starting Gasol instead of Drummond could be their best option to survive the next five games and remain in the top 6 in the West.
Knowing Vogel, I think he sticks with Drummond as the starter Thursday night against the Celtics but if Andre has another uninspired effort with single digit scoring and the Lakers get killed on the boards and in points in the paint, he might blink before we play the Jazz and Mavs. Having Gasol to pull Gobert and Porzingis out of the paint could be valuable to get Schroder and THT room to attack the rim.
The irony is that as soon as the Lakers signed Drummond, Gasol started to finally play a lot better. His stats for the road trip are his best stats so far this year. The best defensive rating on the team over the 7-game road trip and 6 of 10 from deep. Lakers cannot get swept in those 2-game series against the Jazz and Mavs. Marc could be the key. Even if he doesn’t start, Frank has to give him major minutes if we’re going to earn even a split.
I see the next 5 games as the big speed bump over which we need to prevail to avoid getting dumped into the play-in tourney. It’s also a test of Frank Vogel’s coaching expertise. If he believes in defense, then the stats say Gasol is the one to play. If he believes in stretching defenses, then Marc is the one he needs. Lots of politics here with Drummond signing so it’s going to be interesting to see what he does.
Are there ways to solve the problems Drummond and Harrell are having scoring and taking care of the ball in a crowded paint? The big solution is to rain threes and force teams to spread their defenses. Easier to do that when you have five guys who can shoot the three on the floor rather than just four. Going to be interesting to see what Frank does. Our season may be on the line.
I like the idea of starting Gasol. Vogel needs to give it a try. I completely agree with the fact that Drummond and Trez are having trouble operating when swarmed by multiple defenders. You made a very good point. My question is, is it possible to play Trez at the 4 and Gasol at the 5 at the same time with the second unit?
I think it’s possible and Vogel has mentioned it but never actually tried it. The problem is Trezz can’t stretch the floor, which means his man is going to sag and clog the middle. which defeats what we gain from Gasol stretching the defense.
I like the idea of Marc starting and then Dre and/or Trezz coming off the bench depending on who the opposing center is. We need at the least to make sure we surround Dre and Trezz with four willing 3-poin shooters when they’re in the game.
Making threes is going to be the only way we can give them chances 1-on-1 to score. Otherwise, opponents know they’re both easy to double and triple and force to take bad shots or turn the ball over.
All of these are valid points. I remember when Gasol subbed in the Knicks game he gave the team a jolt, but as soon as he went back to the bench, the Knicks resorted to the same game plan of double-teaming Drummond and Trez. The results were the same – more turnovers, getting outrebounded, and getting outscored in the paint. So I would definitely give Gasol the start for the next five games and see how we fared. When AD and LeBron get back they should make life easier for Drummond and Trez. Very good points, Tom.
The fly in the ointment is the Lakers promising Drummond a starting position when they recruited him so I expect Frank to continue to start him. The best we may hope for is Marc backing up Andre so we can see the difference he makes in stretching the defense.
The problem to me is both Andre and Trezz do not handle doubles well. Their shooting percentages go down, shots get blocked, balls get stripped, and turnovers ensue. That’s going to be a problem that I don’t think is solvable. Gasol is going to be our best option in the playoffs unless AD is willing to play big minutes at the five, which he may have to.
I agree.
I would argue ‘Yes’ for more than few reasons.
-Fit. Drummond is a throwback style center, more like JaVale McGee than either Gasol or Howard. He needs to operate in the paint and once AD and LeBron get back that won’t necessarily be a strength. However, I think it can work given more time which brings us to…
-Time, or lack thereof. There won’t be many practices to get everyone acclimated to one another. Gasol has the benefit of having been here since camp and knows what we’re doing on both ends. Dre’ has a large hill to climb in that regard.
-Star or Star on a Bad team? I think Dre’ has legit NBA star qualities: lightning quick hands, a good nose for the ball, and some cool post moves that I personally appreciate. But that’s, unfortunately, not the modern game. Gasol can hit the three which opens up the paint for James.
But, in the end, I also agree that Frank is going to stick to his guns and leave Drummond in with the starters. Trezz will be the first man up and the only thing that could change that is losses in a playoff series. Same as last season.
It’s the Ghost of Byron Scott still haunting the Lakers…
I’d give Frank more credit than that. Frank adjusted when it mattered most and the way he stuck with last season got us to best in the west. Byron Scott is still mailing folks about installing the Princeton offense, lol.
Frank’s a great coach who’s done a great job, especially with the defense. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of room for improvement on the offensive side of the ball, with or without LeBron and AD. The one huge blind spot for both Pelinka and Vogel seems to be failure to value volume 3-point shooting and what it could do for this team and for LeBron James and Anthony Davis. That’s why the Ghost of Byron Scott applies. Still fogging up the Lakers thinking and keeping them from embracing the modern game. Still a sense that great 3-point shooting is incompatible with great defense. The pendulum is still not in balance. Hopefully, we’ll see the proper adjustment this summer. That’s all I’m saying.