I dare anyone reading this to find a better historical record of two Franchises whom…it doesn’t matter who owns them, who coaches them, who plays for them…it don’t matter, they will find a way to wither away.
Anthony Davis
Five Reasons Why the Lakers Should Embrace Playing Small in the Playoffs
The plan in the playoffs is for the Lakers to start Andre Drummond at the five so Anthony Davis can start at the four. Unfortunately, that plan is likely to crash and burn early and the Lakers likely to copy last year and go small.
There are many reasons why the Lakers going big with Andre Drummond at the five is not going to work and why going small with Anthony Davis at the five is the smart move, especially since it won the championship last year. Davis proved in the last playoffs he was willing to play the five when needed despite preferring to play the four. He understands he will again have to play the five close to half the time for the Lakers to repeat as NBA champs.
In the end, Vogel’s going to give the Go Big option a short leash and won’t hesitate to quickly and decisively turn to the Go Small option with AD at the five that won the championship last year if the Drummond experiment fails. Vogel already reverted to closing with AD at the five as the Lakers tried to comeback from down 20 against the Washington Wizards. Regardless of who starts at center, the Lakers are likely to close games with AD at the five.
With LeBron James possible returning tonight against the Kings at Staples Center, the Lakers will have only 10 games to figure out whether to go big or small in the playoffs. Here are five reasons why they should go small:
1. Optimizes Superstars James and Davis
The two players who took greatest advantage of the Lakers playing small in the playoffs to elevate their games were their superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who dramatically improved their shooting and defense.
During the 2019–20 regular season, LeBron averaged 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks in 25.3 minutes per game, shooting 49.3% from the field, 34.8% from three, and 69.3% from the line. Playing small ball during the playoffs, James averaged 27.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 36.6 minutes per game, shooting 56.0% from the field, 37.0% from three, and 72.0% from the line.
Meanwhile, Anthony Davis averaged 26.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.3 blocks in 34.4 minutes per game, shooting 50.3% from the field, 33.0% from three, and 84.6% from the line for the regular season. Playing mostly center in the playoffs, Anthony averaged 27.7 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks in 36.6 minutes per game, shooting 57.1% from the field, 38.3% from three, and 83.2% from the line.
Spreading the floor with five 3-point shooters on offense and locking down opponents with five mobile and athletic defenders freed LeBron James and Anthony Davis to showcase their best superstar versions in the playoffs.
2. Opens Lanes for Schroder and Horton-Tucker
Dennis Schroder and Talen Horton Tucker are the two Lakers whose offensive games rely on their ability to get to the rim, something that is much easier when the Lakers spread the floor with small ball lineups.
Playing small ball is critical to optimizing Schroder’s and Horton-Tucker’s aggressive play as the only time they struggle in games is when opposing defenses pack the paint with multiple defenders or an elite rim protector. Teams know both players thrive attacking the paint and have learned the best way to slow them down is to take away their lanes to get to the rim and force them to shoot from the perimeter rather than from in the paint.
Talen Horton-Tucker and Dennis Schroder led all Lakers guards with 2.4 makes out of 4.1 and 4.5 shot attempts per game within 5 feet of basket. No other Laker guard even took as many as 2.0 shots per game at that range. Opposing teams know packing the paint with multiple defenders and rim protectors is the blueprint for forcing the Lakers to become a jump shooting team. Playing small ball opens up the rim for Dennis and Talen.
Dennis Schroder and Talen Horton-Tucker are both point guards whose playmaking ability in the playoffs will hinge heavily on the Lakers playing small ball so they’ll have lanes to attack the basket to score and assist.
3. Puts Additional 3-Point Shooters in game
One big advantages of the Lakers playing small ball with Anthony Davis at the five is it gives them the opportunity to put five 3-point shooters on the court and reverse what has been a negative 3-point differential this season.
During the regular season last year, the Lakers averaged 11.0 made threes out of 31.6 attempts per game, both of which ranked 23rd in the league. Their 34.9% shooting percentage from three was only 21st in the league. Playing more small ball in the playoffs, the Lakers raised their made threes to 12.1 per game and attempted threes to 34.2 per game, both of which ranked 11th, and shot 35,4% from three, which ranked 12th in the league.
This year during the regular season, the Lakers averaged 11.1 made threes, 24th in the league, out of 31.5 attempts per game, 23rd in the league. Their 35.3% shooting percentage from three was ranked only 22nd in the league. That leaves the Lakers in the same position as they were last year when they needed to take and make more threes in the playoffs to win. Fortunately, playing small ball will give them more 3-point shooters to do that.
Unfortunately, this year’s playoff opponents — Nuggets, Jazz, Clippers, and Nets — are higher volume 3-point shooting teams than last year’s, which means the Lakers will need to play more small ball if they want to win.
4. Intelligently Narrows Rotations for Playoffs
Playing small ball allows the Lakers to intelligently narrow their usual 10–11 man regular season rotation down to a tighter and more reasonable 9–10 man rotation for the playoffs similar to what happened last postseason.
Right now, Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell combined average almost 70 minutes per game at center, which is more than the 48 minutes available at center in a game not even factoring in Anthony Davis’ center minutes. Realistically, there is no way the Lakers can keep three players who can only play the center position and narrow their playoff rotation to 8–9 players. Doing so would require them benching valuable guards and wings.
Playing Davis half of his projected 36 minutes per game at center would still leave 30 minutes of playing time at center for Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell, which should be distributed among the three based on matchups. The result would be two of the three centers would be included in the Lakers 9–10 player rotations for the playoffs while one of the three would get an automatic Did Not Play Coach’s Decision each game due to matchups.
Playing small ball would then enable the Lakers to narrow their rotation to 9–10 players, including James, Davis, Schroder, Caldwell-Pope, Kuzma, Caruso, Morris, Horton-Tucker, and two of Drummond, Gasol, or Harrell.
5. Because Our ‘Small Ball’ is Not Really ‘Small’
Categorizing the Lakers’ lineups with Anthony Davis at the five as ‘small ball’ lineups is a misnomer. While the AD at the five lineups are more skilled, they are anything but small when it comes to size or length.
A Lakers’ small ball lineup of 6′ 3,” 170 lb Dennis Schroder, 6′ 5,’ 204 lb Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, 6′ 9,’ 250 lb LeBron James, 6′ 9,” 245 lb Markieff Morris, and 6′ 10,” 253 lb Anthony Davis can bang and hang with anybody. The Lakers also have the versatility to include 6′ 10,” 221 lb Kyle Kuzma, 6′ 4,” 234 lb Talen Horton-Tucker, or 6′ 4,” 186 lb Alex Caruso as part of their small ball lineup depending on specific game needs or matchups.
Superstars Anthony Davis and LeBron James were the dynamic duo that anchored the Lakers’ lock down small ball defense, two unique players who can physically defend all five positions and at all three levels on the court. Davis was the rim protector and James the ‘middle linebacker’ directing the Lakers’ trapping, switching, and rotating defense. Unlike other superstars, both James and Davis were able and willing to defend other teams’ stars.
Looking ahead at the teams the Lakers will likely meet in the playoffs, small ball lineups with Anthony Davis at the five will have more than enough size and length to matchup opponents at both ends of the court.
Time to Bench the Rent-a-Centers and Play Small Ball With James and Davis
Is there anybody out there who still believes the Los Angeles Lakers are going to repeat as NBA champions this season with Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol, or Montrezl Harrell starting and closing games at center?
The bad news is the grand plan to upgrade the center position so Anthony Davis could play his preferred power forward position full time has been a failure and should force the Lakers to rethink their playoff plans at center. The good news is the Lakers still have the best two-way center in the NBA in 28-year old 6′ 10,” 253 lb Anthony Davis who can dominate offensively and defensively in the paint, from midrange, or beyond the 3-point line.
It’s time for the Lakers to admit they need Anthony Davis to repeat his role from last year’s playoffs and devote half of his 36 minutes per game playing center rather than relying on Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell to play the five. The plan could have worked if the Lakers had traded for an elite center like Myles Turner, Chris Boucher, or Christian Wood last offseason but not with Rent-a-Centers like Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol, or Montrezl Harrell.
Sticking with the Drummond and Harrell center rotation in the playoffs would be a mistake. Both pack the paint and make it difficult for LeBron and AD to get to the rim. Both are subpar shot blockers and poor rim protectors. Frank Vogel needs to realize starting Andre Drummond vs. the Nugget’s Nikola Jokic in the first round or the Jazz’ Rudy Gobert in the second round of the playoffs would be playing right into the Denver’s and Utah’s hands.
Anthony Davis is the only center the Lakers have who can match up with Nikola Jokic and play Rudy Gobert off the court by pulling him out of the paint. The Lakers should start and finish playoff games with AD at center. The Lakers are better at both ends with Anthony Davis at the five as they proved in last year’s playoffs with their 5-out sets opening up the floor on offense and their trapping and rotating defense suffocating offenses.
Frank Vogel and the Lakers know the recipe for the Lakers winning in the playoffs is starting and closing with Anthony Davis at center. Like last year, the Lakers need to plan on AD playing at least half of his minutes at the five. Assuming he plays 36 minutes per game like last playoffs, Davis could play center 18 minutes per game or the first and last 4 to 5 minutes of each half, leaving the remaining 30 minutes to be split between the other centers.
Starting and closing games with a ‘small ball’ lineup of Davis, Morris, James, Caldwell-Pope, and Schroder allows the Lakers to create space by spreading the floor on offense and trap, switch and rotate on defense like last year. One of the problems with the 3-headed center the Lakers used this season to limit Davis from having to play big minutes at the five is he’s only played 7 minutes per game at center, which could hurt us in the playoffs.
While it’s easy to understand why the Lakers would like to minimize AD’s minutes at the five, Vogel also needs to realize that Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell are not going to be favorable match ups in the playoffs this year. Davis had no problem playing half his minutes at center last playoffs. He should be well rested and ready to do the same in this year. It would be a huge mistake for the Lakers to try to rely on anybody but Davis at center.
Heading into the playoffs, the Lakers need to start and close halves and games with their best center. If AD plays 18 of his 36 minutes per game at center, there would still be 30 minutes for Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell. The Lakers should spend valuable minutes these last 11 games playing small ball lineups with Davis at the five and Morris or even James at the four to get ready for the playoffs rather than devoting that time to the Rent-a-Centers.
While I expect Vogel to continue to try and start games with Drummond and to play all three centers in the playoffs, I expect to see a repeat of last year’s playoffs when McGee and Harrell became unplayable and were benched. Hopefully, Frank will be as decisive and proactive as he was in last year’s playoffs and he’ll make similar moves for Anthony Davis to take over the center position both as the starter and closer once we’re in the playoffs.
The path to this year’s NBA championship is going to be one of the toughest in years and the Lakers will need to be better than last year to repeat. The only way they can do that is to prioritize Anthony Davis at the five.
Will Not Wanting to Play Center Keep Anthony Davis From Becoming Great?
Anthony Davis’ desire to play power forward instead of center is the only thing that could prevent him from joining Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain and becoming the next great Lakers’ center.
Anthony Davis is a enigma in that he’s a basketball player who does not want to play center, the position at which he’s arguably the best at in the world. He believes playing power forward is better for his game and career. The truth is center is Davis’ best position and more that he plays center, the better the Lakers become as a team. AD always said he would play center when needed and did so for 50% of his minutes in last year’s playoffs.
Since signing Davis, the Lakers have worked hard to accommodate their superstar’s preference not to play the five. They’ve tweaked their roster so he’s only had to play center 7% of the time this season versus 25% last year. The Lakers also signed 27-year old center Andre Drummond from the buyout market to play big minutes in these playoffs and protect Davis from having to spend half his time at center like he did in the playoffs last year.
Coming off a calf injury that cost 2 months and 30 games, Davis and the Lakers will both be looking for ways to continue limiting his minutes at center in the playoffs, though that might not be the smartest thing to do.
THE MODERN PROTOTYPE CENTER
Anthony Davis is the prototype modern NBA center, a gifted physical big with the skills and tool set of a guard. He’s a superstar who can score and defend buckets at all three levels: at the rim, from midrange, or from three
A modern center trapped in a world where positionless basketball has made traditional low post centers obsolete, Anthony Davis’ unprecedented skillset on offense and defense have freed him up to redefine what centers can do. Not limited to scoring and defending in the paint, Anthony’s range enables him to extend his skill set to the full court, making and blocking shots at the rim or taking and challenging jumpers from midrange and three.
While Davis is the ultimate unicorn in game of basketball, his preference to play power forward rather than deal with the physicality and banging of playing center full time has dominated the Lakers’ roster building efforts. From last year’s tandem of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard to this year’s hybrid duo of Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell and recent signing of Andre Drummond, the Lakers have struggled to find a center to pair with Davis.
Rather than trying to accommodate his preference to play power forward, maybe the Lakers should focus on figuring out how to optimize Anthony Davis superstar potential by empowering him to play center all of the time.
EMPOWERING DAVIS TO PLAY CENTER
Is Davis not wanting to play center blasphemous or simply recognition centers in the modern NBA have evolved into a multi-positional players who have to be versatile enough to able to play and defend the four and the five?
Let’s be honest. It’s not that Anthony Davis doesn’t want to play the five. He just doesn’t want to be tied down to playing ‘old school,’ low post basketball where he doesn’t have freedom to utilize his full skill set as a modern center. He just doesn’t want to have to bang in the paint and defend bigger physical centers, which is something the Lakers could address like they did in the playoffs last year when Davis played the five and Markieff Morris the four.
If center is Davis’ best position and the Lakers are at their best when he plays center, shouldn’t the priority then be to figure out how to make that work rather than futilely chasing different options to replace him at center? Traditional centers who clog the paint on offense and lack the mobility to switch and rotate on defense are not the answer as the Lakers found with McGee and Howard last year and Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell this year.
The Lakers’ goal should be to free Anthony Davis to play the five. The only ways to unleash his potential is to go small and pair him with a stretch 4 power forward who can defend like Markieff Morris or even LeBron James.
AD MUST PLAY CENTER IN PLAYOFFS
Regardless of the addition of Andre Drummond and the desire to limit AD’s minutes at the five, the Lakers are going to need Anthony Davis to play the center close to half of the time if they hope to repeat as NBA champions.
The Lakers’ likely playoff opponents are the Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, LA Clippers, and Brooklyn Nets, which means Anthony Davis’ likely center opponents are Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert, Ivica Zubac, and Blake Griffin. None of these are centers whose physicality and banging in the post should deter Anthony Davis from defending them and all of them are centers who’ll struggle mightily to defend Davis outside of the paint or from deep.
Anthony Davis and the Lakers need to realize that limiting the minutes that he plays center is the last thing they should be doing in the playoffs. They need to be strategizing how to get Davis more minutes at center not less. Playing Davis at the four with Drummond, Gasol, or Harrell at the five only weakens the Lakers defensively as none of their three centers are elite rim protectors and Drummond and Harrell lack the ability to space the floor.
Going big doesn’t work when none of your bigs can protect the rim or rotate quickly enough to play the aggressive defense Vogel prefers. The Lakers need to change gears and look to go small in the playoffs with AD at the five.
The Lakers efforts to accommodate Anthony Davis’ desire to play the four are threatening to undermine the Los Angeles Lakers’ chances to repeat as NBA champions because none of the centers on the roster complement AD.
If the Lakers are going to win the championship, they need to abandon the mistaken idea that Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol, or Montrezl Harrell will be capable of giving them what they need from the center position to win. Anybody watching this team can tell you right now that Drummond, Gasol, and Harrell don’t have the defensive mind set or skill sets the Lakers need. Anthony Davis is going to have to play center if the Lakers want to win.
While Anthony Davis may not want to play big minutes at center, the Lakers are going to need him to do that in the playoffs this year just like last year. The sooner they realize this and make the needed adjustments, the better. Should that mean that the Lakers go small with Davis at the five and James, Morris, and/or Kuzma at the four, then so be it. The Lakers are not going to win the championship with Drummond, Gasol, or Harrell at the five.
Anthony Davis playing center is the key to the Lakers winning their 18th NBA championship and Davis joining Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Wilt Chamberlain and becoming the next great Lakers’ center.
How Much Better Will Anthony Davis Make the LA Lakers Without LeBron?
Anthony Davis to the rescue. After missing two months with a calf injury, Anthony Davis returns to the court tomorrow night when the Los Angeles Lakers meet the Dallas Mavericks in a crucial Western Conference series.
The big question everybody will be looking for answers to in Dallas is how much better will the return of Anthony Davis make the LeBron-less Lakers? Will AD’s return elevate the Lakers and stop any slide lower than 5th seed? Considering Davis will be on a minutes restriction and hasn’t played in two months, will his addition be enough for the Lakers to dominate and sweep the 2-game series with the Mavs and doom them to the Play-In Tourney?
The Lakers are in 5th place in the Western Conference with a 35–23 record with 14 games left in the regular season. The Mavs are now in 7th place with 30–26 record, 1 loss behind the 6th place Blazers and 3 behind the Lakers. The 2-game back-to-back series between the two teams is critical for playoff positioning as the Mavs are desperate to move up to 6th place to avoid the do-or-die Play-In Tournament between the 7th through 10th place teams.
With LeBron James not likely to return until the first week of May, the Lakers are facing a challenge heading into the playoffs similar to last year, when the league resumed play with 8 regular season games before the playoffs. Despite only having a few games to get ready, the Lakers had no problem getting their conditioning and chemistry back and having both superstars fully healthy and rested proved to be a huge advantage in the playoffs.
There’s a good chance a rested and healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis could give the Lakers a similar advantage in the playoffs this year, considering how tough the short offseason and schedule have been. However, major changes in the Lakers’ roster, especially the addition of Andre Drummond, and a tougher path to the NBA Finals than last year combine to make the Lakers repeating as champions a bigger challenge.
Anthony Davis only played 8% of his minutes this regular season at center versus 40% last regular season and playoffs so one of the big unanswered questions is how many minutes will AD play the five in this year’s playoffs. Last playoffs, head coach Frank Vogel was forced to bench centers JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard as their inability to defend on the perimeter essentially made them unplayable against many of the Lakers’ opponents.
Frank Vogel will certainly face a minutes crunch at center in the playoffs this year as Drummond, Harrell, and Gasol all have serious defensive issues inside and outside that can only be fixed by Anthony Davis playing center. Like last year, I think we’re going to see Vogel alternate starting Drummond and Gasol depending on the matchups and closing most games with Davis at the five. Odd man out in the minutes crunch may be Montrezl Harrell.
How well Drummond and Davis play together is going to be a critical key to whether the Lakers can repeat as champs. Opposing defenses have been able to focus on and force Andre to take bad shots or turn the ball over. With AD on the court, teams aren’t going to be able to easily double and contain Drummond. With AD and LeBron on the court, the Lakers hope Drummond can become the wild card to allow them to dominate teams.
Tomorrow night’s game will be the first test of whether the Lakers can reprise their brilliant closing run of last year and ride a fully healthy and rested LeBron James and Anthony Davis to win the NBA championship.