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This train is now headed in the completely wrong direction. First off, I want to give credit to the players who are clearly trying. I thought the overall effort was good. The Lakers are obviously missing Schroder and Davis and, as such, will struggle to manufacture easy looks. Especially when LeBron runs out of juice in, yet another, overtime game. LeBron needs to stay hydrated, get his fruit juice in, keep his system happy.

1. The points in the paint defense is a huge problem. While Marc Gasol is certainly a part of this problem it also does not end there. The Lakers made a choice in the offseason, one I have never fully gotten behind for reasons that become more obvious as the season winds along. We pretty much completely ditched the formula for regular season success on defense we used to earn the best record in the Western conference and went with what worked for 2 and half playoff series in the Bubble. We moved away from a drop coverage defense to a more energetic, thus tiring, man defense. We either chose not to retain or let slip away stellar on-ball defender Avery Bradley (who has subsequently been dealing with a balky leg so call that one even), Dwight Howard (who is essentially reprising his role from last season with Philly) and JaVale McGee (same in Cleveland). Instead we signed energy and more prolific scorers in Schroder and Harrell. We also ended up with Marc Gasol as our 7 foot consultation prize. I would have preferred to sign Howard over Gasol, I said it early, I’ve said it since and I’m going to keep right on saying it. The fact of the matter is what works in the regular season doesn’t always work in the playoffs. The same is true for what works in the playoffs not necessarily being the best recipe for success in the regular season. Especially one as compacted as this one is. The energy this defense requires is not doing LeBron any favors. Furthermore, with Markieff struggling to make an impact on any end of the basketball court consistently the linchpin of that defense usually sits when we need it (and him) the most. Finally, without AD that scheme is borderline unworkable with the players left on the roster. By going all in one type of defense we have left ourselves exposed to injuries, fatigue and reliant on personnel incapable of sustaining that level of defensive intensity for 72 games. Will it work in the playoffs? Maybe, depends on health and chemistry. Two fragile things in professional sport.
2. Free throws and the myriad of issues we always seem to have from the stripe. Should the Lakers, especially the one with ‘James’ on the back of his jersey be shooting more free throws? Absolutely, yes. But we also have to make the ones we get , which we are not doing. We’re 24th in the Association in terms of team free throw percentage. We’re not the dominant paint scoring juggernaut we were last season, punishing teams with lobs, rebounds and put back dunks. We’re still a pretty good rebounding team but the guys finishing those rebounds aren’t getting up for dunks, they’re shooting contested layups, floaters and shots that are more skilled and thus unreliable. So, all of that being true, we need to be better as a team from the free throw line. Without AD our margin for error, even against teams we think should be easy, is very slim indeed (pro tip: it’s the NBA, no team is a pushover, these are pros who play with pride, they’re pretty good at basketball, they deserve focus, attention and respect).
3. We’re playing the modern way, why do we keep losing? In the last few games we’ve upped our three point field goal attempts considerably, shot 44 and made 15 for a decent 34.1% last night, for instance. But, because we sieve points in the paint, we need to hit even more threes than it would seem this team is capable of. James and his tired legs are the biggest culprit here, he went 2-10 from deep and has been cool from deep for awhile now. Kuzma did his job (4-11) and every starter made at least one except Wes Matthews (0-3). I honestly don’t know what we can do to fix this outside of making a trade. The guys off the bench aren’t really considered knock down threats from three, they’re playing the right way and taking the open shot in the last 2 games and you can’t ask for more than that. Morris has fallen off considerably from distance and is approaching his career low in terms of % (currently at .309% for a career .343% shooter), Wes is down and shooting one of the worst %’s of his career, save for the season he only played 2 games due to the Achilles injury. Both those guys are being relied on to help open up the floor with the threat of the three ball. Hard to do when there isn’t really a threat worth worrying about. Caruso, while still sporting a healthy looking % has fallen off of late and KCP has been so up and down his season looks like an ugly NBA yo-yo. If we do make a move it really ought to be to bolster our paint D and improve our three point shooting. Bonus fault to our coaches for not creating an offense that generates smart looks, another culprit in a season-long problem.
4. More THT. In 16 minutes THT was 3-4, 1-1 from three with a steal and 2 blocks. His 2 turnovers and 4 fouls are likely why he didn’t play more but at this point what do we have to lose? We’re already on severe losing streak, Wes and KCP are no-shows half the time and THT plays well with both AC and Schroder. He needs to be promoted and it can’t happen soon enough. We’re getting almost nothing from our off gourd on a nightly basis. KCP had a solid game last night, so maybe…hopefully…fingers crossed…he’s moved past his annual slow start or his ankle has turned a corner or whatever the case may be. We need a lot more from our starting 2 than we’ve gotten for a good chunk of the season. If not THT (which I get, lotta growing pains there) I say we go with LakerTom’s suggestion of starting Kuzma. While it weakens the bench it gives us our best five players on the floor (when healthy) to start the games. Kyle can hang with quicker dudes and brings a balanced skill set. Gotta try something, though. This ain’t working and I’m not sure it’ll get all that much better when Dennis comes back.
5. Lakers making a move? We’re currently 3rd in the WC sitting a game up on Phoenix who has countered our 3 game losing streak with a three game wining streak. Assuming we don’t find a miracle cure to what ails this team (mainly missing two key cogs) against Utah we’ll be on a 4 game losing streak when Phoenix gets the Bulls. By the time we get Schroder back, assuming we get him back by Friday for Portland, we could be sitting in 4th place with Phoenix and possibly the Trailblazers just a game behind as well, depending on how their week goes (they have it a bit harder than Phoenix does, they face the Nuggets tonight). So, while Kuzma may have a point in the notion that seeding doesn’t matter, confidence and chemistry does. There are plenty of guys on this squad that didn’t win a ring last season and the boost from that has surely worn off this squad. This is the grind, the dog days of the regular season where trade tumors, the threat of being waived, the All Star break within sight but just out of reach all pile on to weigh you down. It shows on this Laker team. We don’t want to limp into the playoffs as the 6 or 7 seed, we certainly don’t want to have to play our way in (unlikely but depending on how long AD actually sits or effective he’ll be when he returns it’s viable outcome at this point). So we need to start by finding our energy and focus as a team and beating Utah and finish that up with another win on Friday when we (hopefully) welcome Schroder back. Winning will do wonders to clear the stank surrounding the Lakers right now. Then we need to get into the break and take mental vacation from the grind before we close out the regular season.

A lot of this will be resolved if we get Anthony Davis back solid and healthy. Some of it will improve just by getting Dennis Schroder back, as well. I’m not sure what moves Rob is planning but you can bet he’s seeing what we’re seeing and more. The one thing I know to be true is this: when we’re healthy I take the Lakers in a 7 game series over anyone in the NBA. It’s just that “healthy” caveat that is worrisome…

Go Lakers.