5 THINGS

Winning back-to-back games at Crypto after dropping 10 out of the last 13 games was beyond essential. It derailed what looked like a disaster of a homestand in the making (now it could end up just being disappointing), and has kept the Lakers at the absolute back end of the playin picture. Lakers look like a team waiting for the other shoe to fall, even in wins, which is a bad look for a team trying to break into another level of respect.

1. Coach Darko had a lot to say about respect after the game, likely earning him a fine at some point in the next 24 hours. Coach Darko should just save his money, the league ain’t gonna do jack about the disparity that occurs in some games. Jaylen Brown will get no investigation (and the Last Two Minute report didn’t even work out in the Celtics’ favor, either, after they lost to a Haliburton-less Pacer squad) and the fact is every team has games like this where it feels like 8 on 5. At least 6 of those 4th quarter free throws were intentional by the Raptors as they tried to work the clock, guys like LeBron and Barnes make it hard to call fouls for them because of the way they initiate contact and in the end I actually thought it was a decently called game. There were some no-calls on what could have been fouls and some ticky tack fouls on both squads.
2. AD earning some big time respect. Even during this down stretch AD has been the one player who is consistently great, if not excellent, every game. His defense has been exceptional, he’s playing with as much force and decisiveness as I think I’ve ever seen, and on top of that his jumper is finally coming around which will just open up his game to whole other level. This is as much of a torch passing stretch as anything we’ll ever see as it looks like LeBron is the one slowing down a little, picking his spots more, and deferring to AD more than at any other time except for crucial possessions. That is exactly how it should be.
3. LeBron respects his old coaches..not so sure if he really respects ours. Much has been made of the effusive praise James heaped upon Ty Lue (coached him during his dream NBA Finals where they overcame a 3-1 deficit, beat the Warriors who had broken the regular season record for victories that season, had Durant, the Splash bros. and “Nutshot” Green on the team and healthy and still managed to win. His equally effusive praise for Spo and his big time money extension also drew some pearl clutching moments. Personally I’m reading less than nothing into those comments. Lue is a friend of James, has been for years (even before he was the coach of the Cavs) and they paired to make a lot of history. Broke the Cleveland champion curse, won the Cavs their first and only banner, to date, and made history in the NBA Finals by being the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to clinch the Larry-O. LeBron went to the NBA Finals every time he was in a Heat uniform and won two, one of them being his first. So, like, no-freaking-doy he’s going to say he’s happy for Spo. The bad water he left when he re-signed with the Cavs kind of out of nowhere has long been washed away. It’s rare for players, any player, to come out with full-throated support of the coach of their current team. At best you’ll get the kind of lip-service praise we heard from the Raptors following Coach Darko’s tirade, it’s rarely the kind of thing where you see a player like Jokic (who offers warm if not enthusiastic, praise for Michael malone who has a great track record of coaching big men). This goes straight to the “Uh-huh, cool, moving on now” file.
4. Reaves struggling to find his shot. Austin has been struggling over the last handful of games to score the rock, especially from deep. So, while his 7 assist to zero turnover game helped mitigate that ineffectiveness, it was funny to see him shrugging at the Basketball Gods when he finally sank a clutch three from one of his favorite spots. What was a little more surprising was that DLo didn’t play at all down the stretch as Austin kept missing. That in and of itself might be all anyone needs to see to know Reaves ain’t getting traded this season.
5. Christian Wood playing well, again. Hayes being out may have been a blessing for the Lakers but certainly a boon for Christian Wood who found his shot and what intensity he brings at the right time. While I like Hayes he’s a too prone to fouling, would do better on a young team with less expectations, and just isn’t what we need at the backup 5 with AD playing the way he is. Frankly, when AD plays like this at the 5 the need for another center when placed against our issues at both guard spots seems almost non-existent. C-Dub played his normal defensive game (mediocre) but was key hitting some timely shots to keep the offense from stagnating. That’s his role and when he plays it well and can avoid driving the ball into the defense for awkward scoop shots (like he did last night) it’s even better.

One more at home against the Suns before we head out to Utah to face the Jazz, win out from now until Sunday when we play Brooklyn at Crypto and we can start to feel better about this ship turning around. Lose to Phoenix or Utah and it’s a double whammy as they’re chasing us in the standings (and not far behind, either). We basically just replicated the woeful 2-10 start to last season by going 3-10 since the IST. Can we recover like we did last season? Will it take a trade to shake things up? Time will tell.

With pretty much everyone back but Rui we really can’t use injuries as an excuse anymore, never really should have allowed themselves that luxury to begin with but here we are. With a clear-all film session and some practice time at home the lack of familiarity shouldn’t be an excuse, see above and so here we are. We have a some more hom games coming up and don’t travel further than Utah for a couple weeks and come the end of january up to the deadline we’ll be on the road so this stretch is essential for us to right the ship and get back to playing like we did on the weird court. The time is now.

1. Whether he starts or comes off the bench D’Angelo Russell is a huge part of this team’s success. Honestly, I prefer him starting over Reaves and I’m personally still curious as to why the lineup that bulldozed it’s way to the NBA Playin isn’t getting a shot but one way or the other the Lakers need an active and engaged DLo. He’s the one player that I think truly gives LeBron on-court rest. He played well on offense down the stretch, was able to hold his own on D, and we needed that to pull out that win against the Clippers.
2. Coaching for the moment in the moment. Sometimes I think Coach Ham puts 5 guys in around the 5 minute mark and just let’s it roll. He rides and dies with one group of guys, a lot, while often times the other coach is swapping offense for defense, running bread & butter plays for easy buckets, and working hard to orchestrate a win all while our coach looks on with his hands in his warm ups. This is why our good friend and colleague, Magicman aka Sean Grice (who could use some good mojo these days) has dubbed him Pockets. T’was not to be against the Clippers as we saw solid defense for offense moves made when he subbed Vando in for DLo and I prefer Vando to Cam when it comes to overall defensive impact. Cam is more of a gambler which is great. When it works; however those gambles can lead to some of the easiest buckets a player will see in their career if he comes up empty. Vando is a better in-scheme defender and we stymied the Clippers enough down the stretch to pull out the W. Coach ham made good moves with his players down the stretch and it was a welcome sight indeed.
3. Reaves forcing/fishing les is a good thing. I thought that Austin started to force his game as the losses mounted and it didn’t help the situation. I’m sure he would love to prove he’s worth every penny of his new deal as soon as possible but the truth is he just needs to play his game, the one that got him that deal in the first place. So while Reaves didn’t have much of an impact on the box score and his personal stats don’t jump out at you I thought this was one of his better games of late. He stayed aggressive and led the Lakers in FTA (in a game in which neither team shot many), missed every three he took but didn’t hang his head and kept the ball moving so the next guy could make a play when he saw the defense key in on him.
4. Stats are funny. They almost never tell you a true story. Against Memphis we dominated most categories and lost big, but vs. the Clippers we played them pretty evenly and won. That’s why the only stat that really matters is the final score.
5. Need to make a push in the standings. Golden State probably won’t be imploding forever, Utah is more like the Pacers than people think (they don’t mind winning now and making the playin would be awesome for that team) a lot of teams folks seem to write off are storming up the standings while we’ve been plummeting, time to switch that up and play tough against the Warriors (“Nutshot” green should be back any day now), Jazz (11-4 in their last 15) and Rockets (the new OKC with enough youth to not give a fuq and the vets to help make it all work) in the coming weeks. We didn’t find our footing at home right away, we need to start piling up wins and do well on the road trip that leads up to the deadline. Once that date comes and goes, however it works out, the Lakers need to keep their cool and force their way back into the playoff picture one game at a time.

Shout out to Max Christie who had a solid game and Christian Wood who has (rightly, IMO) replaced the mostly ineffectual Hayes off the bench. Again.

Do not adjust your TV set, this is exactly how the Lakers look right now: disjointed, dispirited and disappearing from the western conference playoff picture one game at a time. Despite having most of the core that went to the WCF’s on the floor for the vast majority of the season the coach continues to list injuries/health as the main culprit in these losses. Digging further down gives us a different picture, though.

1. AD and LBJ showing up, mostly. You can see Davis is playing maybe his best regular season basketball as a Laker, ever, right now. He’s manning the paint, altering shots, rebounding as well as can be expected and he’s not slouching on offense either as he leads the team in PPG. This is what passing the torch should look like on AD’s end. James, since the IST, has looked like he’s in some kind of cruise control mode and is still managing to post a respectable line every night. So, while the days of leBron putting s team on his shoulders and willing them to a decent seeding in the playoffs are well and done it’s hard to ask for much more from the Lakers’ super star duo.
2. Coach keeps talking about injuries, most of the guys are back, are we that banged up?! In a word: no. While D’Angelo Russell was certainly considered a major piece in the offseason his minutes have been steadily declining for weeks now and he rarely played int he 4th quarter all season long. The two way dream for him, while vastly optimistic, is indeed DOA. Russell himself has labeled his skill set as “scorer” with his “I know how to do one thing well” quote. Gabe Vincent has barely played at any point and Rui was out last night with another injury. Still, if Reaves, Cam, Wood and vando aren’t enough to help AD and LBJ get a W when the heat were without Jimmy-B and a host of their own quality role-players then the Lakers are cooked already when it comes to hope in the playoffs. It’s sadm sorry, busted-ass excuse and Coach Ham needs to suck it up and admit the team isn’t playing hard or for one another right now and that starts with him. Keep trotting out “health and innuries” and you’ll be hearing “thoughts’ and prayers” in regards to your coaching career.
3. Why haven’t we seen the neat-O starting five that got us to the playoffs in the first place? Good question, one I ask myself fairly regularly, and the answer is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. In this instance the availability of that particular has, admittedly, been spotty. Still, when the chance has arisen for them to play as a unit that has not really happened and that, again, is on the coach. That lineup has the chemistry, defense, scoring and playmaking in balance. It allows for Rui, Cam and Wood to feast on bench guys while playing with one of Lebron and AD and one of Reaves and DLo. Yet we’ve seen just about every other lineup other than that one, some mystifying in nature.
4. Wood’s best game in weeks. I like Wood as a post-passer in set plays, it gives the defense a hard choice when he gets the ball on the block and it allows for AD and others to cut to the rim for an easy bucket. C-Dub put up a nice line while also managing to join the brick parade from three. He, along with every laker not named ‘Reaves’ or ‘Christie’ missed every three pointer they took which led to some easy offense for Miami and that, in a nutshell, was the game.
5. When it comes to the three ball let success be your guide. We’re not a good three point shooting team and the volume we’re taking them out after the IST is putting us in a massive hole from which no amount of defensive adjustments can dig us out of. Consider that in 2023 we shot 34.9%, this after adding shooters and empowering the ones we had to let it fly and that’s up from last season by .5%. So now that we can’t blame Russell Westbrook for our terrible awful shooting, since we added the legendary offense creating five-out sets and since we have a healthy LBJ and AD actually shooting a decent clip from three…what the heck is going on? My answer is too many threes, especially when you’re clanging shot after shot after shot after shot. I get that the only way to make one is to take one but that’s also how you score the basketball from literally any and every other spot on the floor. Floater/ Can’t make ’em unless you take ’em! 12 foot pick and pop from the spot you’ve been shooting from since you were 12? Can’t make ’em if you don’t take ’em! And so on. We basically scored off of every single turnover we created (10 TOs, 22 points), out scored them at the free throw line by 10, killed them in the paint 60-42 and outrebounded them by 11. All of it was for nothing because our half court sets basically ended up in three pointers and not drives to the rim. Think about this: out of the 35 made FGs 10 of those were in transition off of turnovers or rebounds, we took 83 total shots, 30 of those were threes accounting for 36% of our attempts. The 22 turnovers (which Miami only scored 6 points off of) didn’t help either but had we kept that number in the low twenties not only does the efficiency improve but so, too, does the quality of shot taken…for this particular team. Again, if someone is hot let it fly. please and by all means. But just consider, give it a thought, attacking the paint when that three ball is clanging and banging.

With the “disconnect” report coming out and the Lakers clinging to the final playn spot over the equally pathetic Warriors there is increasingly little room for error. Someone needs to rally the troops, somebody needs to galvanize the locker room, so far nobody has.