5 THINGS

Man..I’ve been totally unimpressed by Snyder in this series. Just haven’t seen a whole lotta adjustments..lets just chuck 3’s and hope for the best. And the Clipps were actually seeking out the DPOY with iso ball off those switches on the perimeter. Gotta do better..

Well. That happened. In the end Coach Vogel was right: we did need all 3 centers, not that it made much of a difference which one of them was out there. For what it’s worth, and it wasn’t worth very much, Andre’ Drummond debuted as a Laker. Unfortunately it appears there are already issues with fit but they’re not the biggest issue plaguing the team these days.

1. Ok, ok it was his right toe. Regardless this likely means more Gasol for a game or two. Drummond came to the Lakers saying all the right things: wants to fit into what we’re doing, not looking to steal shine, best shape he can be in. None of that mattered as he struggled to finish from anywhere going 2-6 on shots in the paint, missed both free throws and had more turnovers (3) than rebounds (2). In all honesty he was out-performed by Gasol in less than half the time. Drummond’s 14 minutes did showcase a pretty awesome block and the quick hands we’ve heard about but I wasn’t overly impressed with his game and the fact he’s hurt now made it even more of a bummer. The Lakers are fortunate they don’t need much from Drummond come the playoffs, or at least so we hope, and that Davis will likely absorb a lot more minutes at center than maybe some had hoped for.
2. The S.S. Kentavious has sailed and I don’t think it’s-a-coming back. This has been the most disappointing stretch of many disappointing stretches for KCP. Whether you think missing games due to not showing up for court is worse than being on the court and not showing up there’s little doubt we need more than it would seem Caldwell-Pope is able to provide. Another game where he didn’t make a single shot, only took 4 and in general didn’t do much of anything except run back and forth. Pretty sure we could Jason Kidd a uni so he could that. At this point I am in favor of giving his minutes and role to literally any other player. Davonte Cacock? Sure. Kostas? Definitely. Certainly THT or Caruso could do more the court time than Pope has done since the first couple of weeks of the season. While I would never use the corporate fast-food moniker some like to deploy when talking about the lack of impact KCP has for looooooong stretches of the season it’s become difficult to not see him as no-show since James went down and we needed someone like him to step up. I don’t think he has it in him anymore.
3. More turnovers than a strudel shop. This season-long issue, which some tried to gloss over earlier in the season, hasn’t gone anywhere. Every starter had multiple turnovers last night which was actually mild compared to Talen Horton-Tucker’s astounding 6 turnovers in a mere 17 minutes. Our team assist to turnover rate was 1-1. 22 assists and 22 turnovers. That’s pathetic. Incredibly we scored more points off of turnovers than the Bucks did who also had 22. T’was indeed a sloppy game highlighted by some nice defense by both sides and terrible offense from us while allowing the Bucks to launch from three where they killed us.
4. The three point game. Where to begin? For fans of launching three pointers this was a great game. We took 36! For fans of made shots this was not the game for you. We only made 10… The even bigger issue was that, after the first quarter, we had made 8 of those 10 and only took 13 shots in the doing. That means, as a team, we went 2-23 for the final three quarters from beyond the arc. Yikes. I don’t fully comprehend the philosophy of simply ramping up the three point field goal attempts without attaching the caveat of making some but I’m sure there’s an equation or something that will explain it. That equation has generally proved elusive to the Lakers since the early weeks of the season which I still feel is a team that plays best when it dominates the paint. Let success be your guide. Maybe up Markieff Morris’ minutes since he’s playing well now? Something has to give, we either need to not attach a blanket number of three point attempts and be content with good shots or we need to make more three pointers. The current formula of simply more attempts does not work.
5. The not-so-$25 million-man. Dennis Schroder was awful last night. Sure he did OK on defense but the same could be said for Wesley Matthews and Alex Caruso. They’re not looking for big pay days this summer. Schroder is and right now I would say we got fleeced if we offered him one cent over $15 mil. Frankly that feels like an over-pay. It took him 18 shots to score 17 points ironically making 3 three pointers in the doing on only 8 attempts. He neither plays the contact game to draw fouls nor has strong moves to the basket. If the floater ain’t falling or the jumper is off there’s not a lot he can do offensively. His outside shot is slow to load and he turns down a ton of open looks while probing semi-meaninglessly. Since LeBron has gone down Schroder has looked more like a solid backup PG than an elite starter in line for a massive payday. I’ll be surprised if anyone backs up the Brinks truck and the Lakers would be wise to table their extension offers until the summer.

We have the 2nd toughest strength of schedule in the league to finish the season. After we play Sacramento tomorrow and the Raptors on Tuesday we face nothing but playoff-bound teams until the final week of the season. It’s likely we back into the playoffs with the only question being can we avoid the play-in tourney? While in some ways it’s not surprising given the injuries there’s also the matter that all of the guys on the Lakers are professional basketball players. So they need to dig deep and figure this out, find a way to make some more shots and at least be competitive for 48 minutes. So far that kind of effort has been M.I.A. since the King went down. You want that big pay day? Earn it. You want to be recognized as one of the better NBA players? Prove it. Trying to show that you’re one of the league’s up and comers? Do it. Nothing is bestowed based on hype and right now that’s about all we got going for us.

That felt a lot harder than I thought it would be. You’d imagine that if a team goes on a 1-19 stretch that the game would be a blow out. Not so much in this case. Both teams brought plenty of bricks to the bone yard and together built a small structure. In the end the Lakers were the ones who came away with the win.

1. Ugly basketball. Last night’s game was ugly from start to finish. Lot of wide open looks boinked, bonked, clanged and clattered off the stingy rim at STAPLES it made me wish Andre Drummond had been available to play. He’d have had a field day nabbing boards. As it was we had 3 separate players pull down 11 rebounds: Kuzma, Morris and Montrezl. In a game that lacked any kind of flow we needed those guys to step up and clean the glass and their aggression in that department assuredly helped bring home the W.
2. Marc Gasol’s last game as a starter? We might have seen the last of consistent minutes for Marc Gasol last night. He turned in a familiar looking effort (2-7 shooting, 1-5 from three, 2 boards, 3 dimes and some D) but in general won’t really have much of a role on this team moving forward. If I were Gasol, since He’s under contract with us next season and we won’t have too many other options to fill out the roster at the 5, I would become a as good a mentor to guys like THT and even Trezz as possible. His high B-Ball IQ is still a bonus for the team. You can find other ways to contribute, and who knows? You may end up playing more than expected as Frank Vogel has often a predilection to keeping the status quo. But in reality it will be extremely hard to find productive minutes for Gasol once Drummond is active and ready to play.
3. Three players tuned in double-doubles and they’re exactly whom you think it is: Kuzma, Harrell and Morris. Oh, you thought I was going to say Schroder? Had anyone been able to throw it in the ocean consistently (and in reality Dennis was our 2nd most efficient player behind Trezz) we would have easily had 4 double-doubles but, alas, it t’was not to be. In the end it worked out OK.
4. What’s it going to take to get something resembling consistency from KCP? In reality, if there were a better option I think KCP would have been benched. Matthews can bring the D, THT the scoring but neither of those players offer the promise of both that KCP has. AT least not when Kentavious is playing well. That hasn’t happened much this season and it’s going to be an issue in a playoff series. We need to re-activate the version of Pope we had last year and I really don’t know what it will take. Some games we force feed the guy and he bricks shots, other games he seems like he’s on 15 minute break for the entire game. Just don’t know what’s going on there…
5. Matthews, Caruso and THT’s rough shooting night. We won’t win on Wednesday if we get the same performance as last night from our key guys off the bench. For Talen Horton-Tucker who was rumored to be the sticking point in the Kyle Lowry deal (but who knows what truly went down) one would have though he would come away with a jolt of bonus mojo. Notsomuch, at least not last night where he struggled to finish, but that was par for his fellow bench mates not named Montrezl Harrell. To a man Wes, Alex and Talen struggled to score or have much of a positive impact on the game. Like KCP we need to figure out a way to get the three them to equate average NBA input for the team to have any shot at treading water until James and Davis return. These are your moments to shine, gentlelemen. This is where you make teams consider spending more on you than would be advisable based on what you’ve shown yourselves able to do.

In theory we’re the trap once again when we play the Bucks and it’s bound to be a rough debut for Drummond. The reality is I expect us to get mildly annihilated by Milwaukee who has rounded into form and is playing excellent basketball right now. We are not.

Well it wasn’t beating Philly on what shall forever be known as ‘Vote of Confidence Day’ but it was a needed win nevertheless. All hands were on deck, every player either played their role to the fullest or stepped up their game in a manner becoming of their future desires. All in all we did the things that needed doing to get it done. While not the most epic of opponents perhaps a blueprint can be found in the victory?

1. Trezz. The dude is a beast when fully unleashed, as he has been since LeBron went down. I’m not sure we want to put this beast back in the bottle, either. I know that a lot of our success is created off of LeBron James driving to the basket and Anthony Davis’s superlative shooting. But there has to be a way to incorporate the different kind of gravity Harrell brings to the court. We got him at a bargain and are likely to lose him this summer (most we can offer is a 20% raise and I’ll be stupefied if he doesn’t get a better offer than that) so it’s on the team to maximize this year of Montrezl as best we can. He has defensive shortcomings, generally gives up half a foot to his defender and still finds a way. #unleashthebeast #monstrezz
2. Markieff Morris coming through. ‘Kieff has been taking a lot of flack for a dude making $2.3 mil. But he played so very well in the playoffs on both ends; hitting timely threes and playing excellent defense. This season he’s been more erratic than consistent. His three point shot, like many on the team, comes and goes, we’ve discovered he’s prone to incredibly bone-headed turnovers and he’s been off on defense more often than he’s been on. Last night he looked more like the Morris we all became enamored with in the playoffs last season. He led the team in +/-, canned 3-7 three pointers, and was active on defense making impact plays. Yes, he had 4 turnovers and that aspect of this team up and down the roster is certainly a major issue as the playoffs approach, but he staid the course and helped bring home the win.
3. Schroder pulling his weight. Being a point guard is akin to being a quarterback. While the end result may not come from your pass or you may not score the basket you are certainly the leader of the team. You have the ball the most, make reads as to who has it going and who doesn’t, and in general orchestrate victories. That’s exactly what Dennis did last night. He attacked the basket when the slimmest of seams presented itself. He dished a co-team high 7 assists and was a pest on defense yanking a co-team high 4 steals. Like many his turnovers were waaaaaay too high but we’ll have to live with it. As it is, it came along with a W.
4. The ever expanding game of Kyle Kuzma. We had seen a player more like the Kuz of old: the gunner, the soloist, a player trying to play his way into shoes he doesn’t fit in yet and perhaps never will. Not last night. He, along with Schroder, activated his teammates to the tune of seven dimes which matched his shot attempts. He nabbed 8 rebounds continuing a season-long trend of being aggressive on the glass. While he didn’t make too many of his 7 attempts if one of the aspects of the blueprint is to get the all-around game of Kyle at the sacrificing of some points you can sign me up for the fan club. But that’s the beauty of Kuz this season: we don’t need him to excel at any one thing, we just need him to compete at the level he did last night and play for the success of the team.
5. Talen Horton-Tucker finding his way. It’s been said before and will be said again but it’s going to be said now: this is essentially THT’s rookie campaign. The first time he’s been asked to contribute on a major level on a nightly basis at the NBA level. When he blew up preseason he generated overblown expectations in terms of what he could become. I’m less interested in what he could become but what can he do now. Like Kyle Kuzma before him, THT won’t be defined by this season and has a lot yet to prove. He gets to the rim well, he finishes well and he’s a willing passer. That’s not the end of the court where he struggles though. His defense is an issue that makes him unlikely to see big playoff minutes save for injury. It’s unfortunate that one of the players he has rapport with is Trezz because I don’t think they’ll play a lot at the same time in the playoffs. Not unless they can figure out how to defend better together. Which is certainly a possibility and one that the team overall could use. If any coach can unlock the defensive potential of THT and Montrezl Harrell I feel it would be coach Vogel.

At any rate, there’s still some time left in the season for some of the issues that plague the team to improve. The only thing that will give us any kind of shot in the playoffs is two healthy superstars. But we can keep pace in the west if we improve some of the little issues and compete like we did against Cleveland. In all reality, it’s imperative that we do.

A day later and we know one thing: the roster we got is the roster we’ll live with for the next couple of weeks. Maybe the Don Quixote Calvary will come trotting over the hill in the form of a buyout candidate or two, maybe an overseas NBA vet, but that’s not going to fill LeBron and AD’s shoes. The truth is this team was never meant to go long stretches without LeBron and AD. Lotta shine comes off when the engine and transmission go down.

1. We can kick this team while it’s down all we want but it won’t improve the talent on the roster and it won’t reverse the choices we made at the trade deadline. Those moments are in the past, this is the team we got and the solution either lies within that locker room or it doesn’t exist. We all know this team is built around 2 ailing superstars. That hasn’t changed. So I am going to do my level best not to overly berate the guys on the roster, especially if they are excelling within the parameters of the usual role. So, having said that…
2. Dennis Schroder wants $$$ then he needs to put forth $$$ effort. A 20-25 million dollar player in the NBA doesn’t do just one or two things well. That amount, to me, signifies All Star potential and we have not gotten that from Dennis. As one of the leaders on the team, the guy with the ball in his hands a lot, and because James and Davis are both out, that puts more pressure on Dennis to deliver. His scoring has been up and down but the bigger issue is how inefficient he’s been. Last night was an outlier in that he shot 6-14. The 2-10 effort a couple nights back made that game unwinnable. For the season he’s shooting 43%, 31% from three. I like his defense a lot, his speed and ability to get to the rim and make a play or score are legit. For the price range he sounds like he sees himself in he needs to bring more to the table. When the best players go down and you’re the new #1 we definitely need more and we’re not really getting it from Schroder.
3. Alex Caruso. I’m a big fan of AC but since his concussion he has played terribly. I don’t know if he’s a more than a little banged up but last night most of his errors were of the mental variety. Both he and THT have a tendency to pick the ball up around the logo when they don’t see a quick pass available. AC has to keep that dribble alive, stop making terrible passes (I thought Trezz was going to choke him after that botched lob) and get those hops back. His rim attacks have not been up to his standard and so that’s where I do wonder that if he, like KCP, is dealing with some lingering leg injury. If so…sit dude. Get it right or get surgery if needed. Playing hurt isn’t helping us, obviously, and he’s lost his +/- crown this season. Caruso, when not being a near elite defender and playing well within the system, doesn’t bring the talent to the floor to balance that deficiency out. We need him to execute better on both ends.
4. Markieff Morris. I have to say that during the playoff run I often wondered how ‘Kieff ended up getting waived. This season I now know why. He’s the kind of streaky player where the highs and lows come purely from the mental and engaged aspects of the game. At one point he left an open lane to Tobias Harris to go guard Kuzma’s man…whom Kyle was already guarding…which led to the easiest NBA basket of the game if not season. He made his one 3 and was 2-3 overall in 15 minutes of action but honestly I don’t even know why he plays that much. Once James and Davis return it will be ‘Kieff (or at least I hope it will) who should ride the pine.
5. Treading water has to happen. We cannot afford to plummet in the standings and expect to flip a switch and dominate. While that’s a nice notion it simply isn’t realistic and even getting every single player on the roster healthy won’t fix the issues that have plagued this team all season. We can’t give up 20 turnovers to the best team in the east and expect to win. We can’t miss layups in the paint as both Kuzma and Trezz were doing in the first half and expect to win. We can’t get almost zero production from the center position and expect to win. For crying out loud Caruso out-rebounded Gasol in fewer minutes of game action and it wasn’t even close (6-2). We need another center and I don’t care if it’s the ghost of George Mikan at this point. I am a fan of both Gasol brothers but Pau made the smart choice this year: he’s playing in Spain and having a fine time doing in. Marc is slogging through one of the roughest stretches of his career.

The solution lies within. This team has to dig deep and find their best selves together, the one that executes, doesn’t lose focus and can win a basketball game on a team without LeBron James or Anthony Davis. If they can’t then in a month when we could theoretically get both back (possibly a little sooner in Davis’ case) we could be so far down the standings and playing with such bad mojo it might not matter anymore. If it gets to that and we look like we could fall out of the playoff picture altogether I might be of a mind to get AD and LBJ right…for next season. But we’re not there yet, not even close. Because we’re stopping the losing streak tonight, people! Tonight we are the trap!

Oh and the poetry of Green having the best shooting night of the season ought not to be lost on anyone. Same goes for Howard and his antics and pranks. I’d take either one of ’em right about now. Go Lakers.