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5 Things: Lakers Drop 1st Game of the Season

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A lot went right in the loss but just enough went wrong that the Lakers were unable to hold two solid leads built up over the course of the game down the stretch. Credit to Phoenix for making shots and staying aggressive for all 48. I’m chalking this one up to “learning how to win on the road” in the schemes and with younger guys and rookies taking a more prominent role but we’re digging in on this one all the same.

  1. Lakers bench got thoroughly outplayed. The bench of the Lakers mustered 8 points and the whole group was outplayed by Royce O’Neal all on his own. Plumlee owned Hayes, too as Jaxson barely got 4 boards in his 13 minutes. Some of that was some good rotational choices made by Coach Bud who dropped Nurkic down to bench minutes territory with just 15 minutes (down from 18 the last time we played) in favor of 23 minutes for Plumlee (up from 19) but it was Royce O’Neal whom the Lakers really didn’t seem to ever adapt to his energy and activity. He hit big shots when our defense seemed designed to stop the “name” players. That’s a learnable lesson because, at this level, anyone can beat you on any given night. In the end we need more than 3 points from Gabe and 5 from Max. DK registered his first donut, along with Hayes, so lot’s for that group to take away mand grow from.
  2. Not enough points in the paint. 42 points (same as Phoenix scored and a lot of their came in transition) won’t get it done, especially on the road. We shot the 3 ball well (43.8%), and a lot…for us… (32), but it didn’t matter as it wasn’t enough to overcome Phoenix’s overall efficiency (46% for the game). On the road you need to lean in even more to your strengths and, for this Laker team, that’s AD in the paint. AD only got 5 FGA’s in the 4th quarter compared to 10 in the first. That doesn’t work for us. That’s another adjustment the staff can look to implement in the next film session: keep AD involved through 4 quarters and have him continue to set the tone in the paint.
  3. LeBron sick game. Bummer, but it happens and he played but he didn’t play well. So it goes.
  4. The question of Max Christie playing over either Knecht or Reddish. Max Christie, whether it’s deserved or not, is going to be one of the season-defining storylines this season. Can he play up to his new deal? The 4 year $32 million ($8 mil/season with a player option in 2027-28….VERY player friendly, overall) was offered relatively quickly when free agency hit. That money could have been used in other ways, we could have let the market dictate his value and matched another offer (or not) or we could have offered him less and see what came back. Maybe shades of Caruso vastly outplaying THT was dancing through Rob’s head and maybe the Lakers really see something in the guy that simply hasn’t manifested in an NBA game, yet. Regardless with players like Knecht in the waiting now, not to mention bigger/faster options in Reddish and eventually Jarred Vanderbilt, it’s a worthy debate to have. I like that they’re giving the kid a shot and this is certainly the best time to do that. The length of the experiment is all that I’m questioning right now and also whether or not Knecht has already earned a bigger role. I’m still undecided but leaning towards more DK.
  5. Christian Koloko is NOW cleared to play. Not last weekend, like Tom insisted was true repeatedly and vehemently on our podcast (and was also flat wrong about it), but today. Now, well, now we wait some more. Dude hasn’t played hoops in over a year so he’ll have plenty of ramping up ahead of him. He’s on an NBA two-way deal and so, as of this moment, can only play in 50 total games and not in the playoffs at all. Everything about this looks like he’s a project player to me but we’ll see what he manages to accomplish this season. One way or the other the Lakers are smart to swap a guy like Koloko who has the potential of NBA bonafide’s over Colin Castleton who never really looked like an NBA player. Expected impact this season: negligible.

Roady continues tomorrow night against in Cleveland. I expect Bronny to get a 5 minute burn or so for the sake of playing in Cleveland but maybe not. Hope LBJ starts to feel better because we need his impact.

5 Things: 3rd Preseason Game, Same Result

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With one odd starting line up and an empty arena the Lakers started off sluggish against the new-look Phoenix Suns. LeBron looked a little rusty, Booker looked like the spectacular scorer he his and in the end…it didn’t matter. We won our 3rd preseason affair 112-107. Phoenix looks like a team ready to move up in the NBA hierarchy and one of the big non-Laker questions if the season is will they bump Portland (and stiff arm Golden State) and ascend into the playoffs?

  1. THT making it happen. Professional sport has plot lines and one of those that always has a place in every season in every type of team sport is ‘will the kid stick?’ Well…this kid is gonna stick. THT has done about as much as possible with his opportunity to shine in the NBA preseason. On a team like the Lakers, burdened with expectation and with eyes on another banner, that’s no small thing. We don’t need to get into the stats, they’re solid across the board, but what I like best about his success is he isn’t forcing the action to get his buckets or make an impact. It’s all within the organic flow of our team which is not easy to do. He won’t be getting the minutes he gets now, that is one certainty, but if he can impact the game at a similar level he will be another 2nd round gem unearthed by the Laker scouting dept.
  2. Kyle Kuzma’s improved game. Kyle looks smooth. It’s a known fact that he generally plays better as a starter but that there is no clear path to a starter role on this team. He showed us that game again last night. Started in place of KCP and responded with one of his better games of the preseason. It’s a flummoxing situation for all involved because you want to see Kyle do well but he does struggle more when he comes off the bench. Maybe, and we say this every year since his rookie campaign, but maybe this will be the season where he really puts it together on both ends and can be another consistent scorer off the bench. His shot looks improved so maybe the short layoff will be better for him in general.
  3. Trezz’s energy. Gotta love it. I also love his midrange game, he’s got a nice 10-15 foot jumper he can splash. But his calling card is his energy which is infectious and helps give the bench an early identity to build around. Between Harrell, Kuzma and THT the Lakers have three really solid bench contributors to go along with Caruso and…maybe Quinn Cook right now as the lead players off the bench. The bench will be called upon, often, in the early part of the season as I expect Vogel to impose an unstated, non-rigorous minutes limit on AD and LBJ. There will be stretches where they both sit and it’ll be guys like Trezz and and Co. that need to come in and make instant impacts. He may be new, may not have won a ring but you can see how Montrezl is already making his presence felt on our bench squad.
  4. Only Laker we haven’t seen is Alfonzo McKinnie at this point. Every one else that was a camp invite has been cut, the 2 Way dudes have all gotten some burn…not Alfonzo. Can’t see anything on any injury reports or any news about him going through COVID protocols so not sure what the situation is there but I had hoped to see him get some run in. One more preseason game left so we shall see.
  5. Oh yeah, AD and LBJ had their preseason debuts. They looked great! neither played in the second half. While we still haven’t seen the entire team play in a preseason (KCP and Caruso out with hip issues, not major) the things that were hallmarks of the championship team remain early on in preseason: team play, solid defense and we have 2 of the best players on Earth at positions that really compliment one another well. So as we make our way to the final preseason affair on Friday the same things that were true and defined the team last season remain true today: we’re going as far as Davis and James take us.

One more of these to go, then the W’s and L’s start to matter. I expect we’ll see as close to the full roster play something akin to regular season rotations on Friday if everyone is healthy enough to go. Next Tuesday we kick it off snd get this party started, Can’t wait. Go Lakers.