5 THINGS

The Lakers had another sluggish first half against the Utah Jazz last night that culminated with another injury, this one a potentially serious ankle sprain suffered by Anthony Davis. For a team that can’t seem to catch any breaks at all the good news was that, despite the apparent severity of the injury (James Worthy couldn’t watch replays) the ankle was not broken and the return time is 2-4 weeks. Frankly, it looked worse than that and I, again, would rather AD come back feeling strong on the ankle rather than tentative and maybe injuring his knee. After the half the Lakers started to slow in the 3rd then, finally, found a competitive gear and, unlike so many other late, spirited comebacks this season, managed to eke out a win.

1. I thought it fitting that in his first game since passing Cap for combined points scored in the regular season and playoffs LeBron scored 33 points which is also Kareem’s number that hangs in the rafters of The Crypt. LeBron finished a pretty efficient 14-23 from the field, 3-8 from three and was pretty under control with only 3 turnovers to 6 dimes. Again I felt like LeBron earned more than 2 trips to the free throw line continuing a season-long theme. Still, we came out with the win but it’s astounding to me that James, who frequently takes it hard to the rim, doesn’t average more FTA/game.
2. Russell fitting in. There’s only one way to manage Russ at this point: let him roll and hope for the best. The dude is chaos incarnate, which is certainly a blade that can cut two ways. But you’re not going to get good value for him this summer or into next season if you don’t let him loose or bench him in the 4th. You’re just going to damage your chances of trading him this summer or beyond and you’re not trusting unique talent. Russ is a fantastic rebounder (4 offensive rebounds last night) and he applies pressure to a defense that forces it to collapse. When we’re in sync he can hit trailers off a screen for lobs, kick out to shooters or (try) to score at the rim. It’s that last one that, if he can improve just that area of efficiency, we can build on.
3. Reaves earning his role the right way. I love guys in the Austin Reaves mold: tough, not trying too hard to make an impression, finding shots in the flow, defending as well as they can. Austin took some critique from LeBron at one point and you could see he maybe kinda disagreed with it by watching his body language. THT often gets the same look when he funnels a guy the wrong way and one of the vets comes over and informs him of his error. Reaves didn’t let it faze his confidence as he calmly stepped into the game-sealing shot last night. While not as epic as his game winner earlier in the season this was maybe a bigger shot as it helped the team go into the break with a win hopefully setting up a resurgent end to the season.
4. THT’s defense. The last few games we’ve finally started seeing the THT we all would like to see on a more consistent basis. The one that rebounds, makes plays and defends. Talen made 1 shot and missed all of his threes. He still found a way to impact the game positively which has often been a major struggle for him. Shots don’t always fall, you often don’t get the call but you can’t let those things effect you’re ability to impact the game through basic basketball. Rebounding, defending, moving the ball to the open man…none of those are elite level skills. That’s just called playing the right way. THT did that last night even if his point tally wasn’t great.
5. My favorite starting five. Well, for one game we saw my preferred starting five of Davis, Johnson, James, Monk and Westbrook. While it was likely due to Avery’s injury and may not be the look we see every game from here on out I think that line up offers a great blend of defense, size and scoring. Stick with it Frank, at least once AD comes back.
   
   Well, here comes the ASB. We need to come out of it roaring and fighting or we might fall out of the playoffs altogether. if this team misses the playin or gets booted out of it…

Well, there’s only one more in-season chance to hit the reset button. All Star Weekend. Unfortunately the guy whom I think needs to hit reset the most will playing as a Captain in said game. The Lakers lost again, still grasping onto the next-to-last playin spot, in what was a most winnable game. The reasons why we lost are enough to make one think.

1. You have to win games in which you contain the opposing star player. It’s NBA 101: if you contain the number one guy on the other team you need to find a way to win. In this case we let not just one but two other Warriors absolutely go off on us. One, Klay Thompson, is a known. Congrats on working your way back from a catastrophic injury but did you have to rediscover your mojo versus the Lakers on national TV? Kuminga is a different story. We’ve had issues all season with athletic bigs and Jonathon Kuminga fits that mold to a T. Lakers have had a hard time containing no-names all season, it would be odd for that trend to stop now.
2. So very many missed free throws. 11 misses at the stripe (although in truth GS wasn’t much better with 9 misses of their own). LeBron James was the biggest culprit here on a night he sorta kinda not really passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on some sort of total points scored in all sorts of games stat. Wake me up when he hits Kareem’s regular season milestone. It’s the more impressive stat. Lakers been missing free throws all season, it would be odd for that trend to stop now.
3. Can’t put this one on Russ. Two games, one he played in and the other he did not, and the losses look about the same to me. I’ve thought it too convenient that we lay the entirety of the Laker woes at the feet of Westbrook on the court and Vogel regarding his rotations. Of the two it’s Frank that is the bigger issue by far but his weird rotational choices should be obfuscated by the terrible job GM Rob Pelinka has done from the summer to date. Lakers been old all season, it would be odd for that trend to stop now.
4. The disappearing Anthony Davis. I’m sure he’ll say all the things we’ve come to expect when he no-shows like this. His jumper, free throws and overall intensity went MIA in a game we could shoulda won. This is not new and I don’t see it changing. Anthony Davis has been inconsistent since we won the title, it would be odd for that trend to stop now.
5. At least the bench showed up, for the most part. THT, Monk and Reaves all had solid games. Ariza? Notsomuch. He continued his ‘once every four games or so’ good game pattern. It’s like some games his body is up for an NBA game but more often than not he just looks, well, old. Reaves’ block on Klay was the highlight of the game, Monk just seems to find ways to try and lift the team, and leave it to THT to rediscover his game post-trade deadline. The one bright spot from last night was how well the bench played but, honestly, we need Reaves to be a little more aggressive and for Monk to start. The Lakers have odd line ups all season though so, you know, it would be odd for that trend to stop now.

If you sensed a theme with this post, congrats! If we miss the playin my bet is Jeannie cleans house, LeBron might demand a trade and Russ might choose not to opt into returning to this shit-show. Naw, Russ opting in 100% guaranteed.

We saw what a champion looks like last night. Problem is wears a different uniform and hails from Wisconsin. The Lakers folded early, tried to make a game of it late, but never seriously challenged the Bucks after the first couple minutes of the game. Small issues have ballooned into large ones, issues that were large to start have become colossal and there is plenty of blame to go around. But you know all that already.

1. The Bucks game. Honestly, not one good thing to say. Nobody played the entire game with the right energy or focus required to win in pro sport. It’s unacceptable. Frank lost the team weeks ago, LeBron looks ready to sign elsewhere and AD has no clue what to do because he’s such a nice dude. Nothing is working right now. Reasons: too many to list in five things. We all know what they are, anyhow, they’ve been the same all season long. Just now teams who have something to play for are playing harder than us, young teams looking to prove themselves have played harder than us all season. Nothing is given, it must be taken.
2. The Three Superstar Philosophy. In my opinion it doesn’t work. Not when all three are max salaried players. It’s not like Miami where everyone took less to fit under the cap and Miami had a ton of home-grown talent they could sign over the tax. We lost all of those tools via trade or stupidity. Oh, except future All-Star and current Bust (depending on the day) Talen Horton-Tucker. We kept him. Thank Klutch for that… Three max salaried players simply occupies too many resources to field a proper contender. You sacrifice too much team. Takes a team to win. Since we are too cheap to go deep into the luxury tax we need to build a better team around 2 super stars. You know, like how we did when we won the title?
3. The state of the team. Between the Rambii leaking that Vogel could be replaced, Rob handing the reigns of the franchise over to LeBron and AD and ownership looking cheaper and cheaper it’s time for Jeannie to clean house this summer. Sure, we might make the playin. Heck, if things break right we might even push as high as a 6th seed (we won’t). Regardless it’s become quite plain to me that the principles and standards guiding the Lakers are no in alignment with championship level basketball. James chose us, Klutch forced AD here, the best thing Rob ever did was (build a functioning team around AD and LBJ, for some reason, broken up right after it worked. The Bucks know what they’re doing. We do not.
4. The Fans. Much has been made of the booing of Russ and the team in general. To me that’s as much a symptom of the current reality (where the cost of things ever increases but the money most people make stays the same) as displeasure. The real thing I think fans are booing is energy, or lack thereof. As a team the Lakers energy hasn’t been right al;l season long. That takes a toll on the passionate Laker fan base and it’s showing. So, for my part, I think this has been a slow burn up to this moment and not that all of a sudden the fans are angry. We’ve stunk all season long.
5. How to fix it all? Nobody will like this answer but I say wait until the summer. Don’t double-down on dumb and trade Westbrook for Wall. It fixes nothing, absolutely nothing. It just means you have an expensive, broken down player signed for even longer on an even more untradeable contract. That’s it. Solutions don’t look like that, they don’t increase the length of the problem. They make it go away or resolve it internally. If you can break Russ’s deal into a few players, or someone who’s contract expires this summer now you’re talking about a real solution. Wall is not the answer.

We’ll probably win against Portland since it’s A) on the road and B) Portland. Thursday will pass without any deals being made in my opinion. I don’t even know if I hope I’m wrong to tell the truth. I’d rather ride out what’s left of a bad season, find a deal that actually improves the team, or even somehow convince Russ to accept a buyout or not to pick up his extension than bring a player in just as expensive but who hasn’t played in over a year. I see that as about the worst idea possible, worse than trading for Ben Simmons (which I am still opposed to). We made a mistake, yes. The way we fix that isn’t making a bad trade, again.

Anyone still out there preaching patience? I didn’t think so. The Lakers Road Trip From Hell ended the way so many things have ended for the Lakers this season: with a loss followed by some clichés. We’re well past the point of clichés and moral victories. Team Oxygen gave life to another sub .500 team. If only we could breathe some into ourselves…

1. A tale of two AD’s. Davis in the first half? Nigh unstoppable. 6-8 from the floor, 6-6 from the free throw line, 1-1 from three and beasting like we know he can. Second half AD? Borderline non-existent going 2-8 including letting a lob from Westbrook he just let slip through his hands. Add in missing all three free throws, grabbing a meager 5 rebounds overall and you have a recipe for why the Lakers came up short in this game. Davis has a history of pulling a Bilbo Baggins: when the going gets tough, AD magically vanishes. The outliers, at this point, are the times he can find a higher gear and kick into it successfully; like hitting the game-wining three against Denver in The Bubble. When you see his rebounding numbers without a traditional center on the floor it’s kind of amazing. The guy seems to rebound better when there is another big man on the floor. When he’s the main guy down low it’s like he forgets to box out, forgets to jump, or gets stuck on the perimeter guarding a PG on a switch and his man is just rolling hard to the rim. That last knock is for the team and not AD specifically, you gotta cover your big man when he covers for you or else there will be a dunk scored on you in the near future.
2. Keep Monk no matter what. The one thing I can say with certainty about this season is that we need to keep Malik Monk on the team at all costs. Come Hell or high water that guy needs to stay in the purple and gold. Monk had a career high as a Laker last night, shot a ridiculous 8-14 from three and hardly got a shot attempt during the last 5 minutes of the game except for a three which got us close again. Frank needs to do better and it’s well past time he started along with LeBron (whenever he comes back), AD and Russ. 5th starter should be match up-based. End of discussion.
3. The ever-shrinking THT role on this team. Only problem with that is he’s played his way right out of any meaningful trade scenarios one cares to concoct. At this point I’d basically hold onto him in order to possibly help facilitate a Russ trade this summer, free up cap space to sign Monk, or just wait and see if he plays better in year 4. 14 minutes but he did make most of his shots. However, it’s the defensive end that is the reason for his ever-shrinking minute allotment. THT hasn’t taken a step forward this season as the Lakers banked he would, to the team’s detriment on all fronts.
4. Onyeka Okongwu…ALL STAR!!! At least he looked like it down the stretch as he made dunk after dunk after dunk after dunk after…well, you get the picture. 6 straight dunks down the stretch of the 4th quarter most of them with Davis “guarding” him. The Lakers had absolutely zero answers for the Young Okongwu pick and roll or the team failed to box him out and he grabbed an offensive rebound late, as well. Team Oxygen strikes again.
5. 11 points given away at the free throw line. Sure, the Hawks and whiny, floppy Trae Young shot 9 more free throws than we did. Doesn’t seem like more free throws taken was what we needed, just needed to make more of the ones we got. Every starter that took one missed one, AD and Russ each missed three. Hard to win on the road when you lose the free throw battle, the points in the paint battle, the rebounding battle, the fast-break points battle and oh wait…we won the three point battle. Whee.

Not gonna lie, just don’t see much getting better until LeBron comes back and even then…I don’t know. This team doesn’t defend very well, maybe they will a little better when healthy but we basically have to outscore our opponents cause we ain’t stopping jack this season. We don’t force bad shots, we sieve points in the paint no matter who plays center, and we can’t get out on the break like we know this team needs to in order to have success because we don’t force turnovers. Trade THT for _________ who makes $10ish million? OK, sure, feels like a lateral move unless it’s for a solid center who can let AD slide (slink at this point) back to the 4. We don’t need a volume three point shooter who won’t defend any better than guys we already have, we need help in the paint to stem one of the three major areas we hemorrhage points from. To me that means a center, I don’t give a fig if he can shoot a three pointer or not. That is not why we need them or what this team needs more of. We need defense.

It’s been awhile but the three centerpieces the Lakers envisioned leading a ragtag squad of vet minimum deals to an NBA championship took the floor together for the first time in a long time. Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the Lakers to a needed win over the Nets who were without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Paul Milsap and Joe Harris. The Lakers know the injury routine and did the right thing by not allowing the Nets to get anyone other than James Harden going. Here’s hoping the trio stays healthy and grows together over the rest of the season and start finding a way forward.

1. A starting five that makes sense to me. If you look at the total points scored by the starting 5 (69) and the fact that 33 of them were scored by one man (LeBron James) that the line up is unbalanced. While that could prove true on offense defensively this line up works. Taking Ariza out and inserting Stanley Johnson at the 4 allows LeBron to play his preferred position of small forward. With a front court of Davis, Johnson and James you have size, strength and speed. All three can guard 1-5, with help, and it allows Russ and Bradley to work on forcing guys away from their strengths on the perimeter. Nobody stops a good NBA player, you take something away. Bradley is good, if not still great, at doing that. What he’s been missing, as has the entire team, has been an elite defender in his prime in the paint. Dwight isn’t that guy anymore, he needs to be used in match ups that allow him to be bruising and vertical, he’s not as mobile as he was even two seasons ago. COVID hasn’t helped him, either, as he looks like he’s getting winded quicker than I’ve ever seen him.
2. Ariza’s DNP-CD. I applaud Trevor for being a gamer and going out and trying his hardest. It’s not his fault he’s old, it happens to everyone. But Trevor needs to work on his shot off the floor and get his legs back in some meaningful way before he sees a bigger role. Spot minutes up until the All Star break, garbage time minutes and role of “break glass in case of emergency” are what we need from him right now. I think he can be helpful in certain situations in a 7 game series and his presence in the locker room as both an NBA champ and vet is useful. On the court his game needs a lot of work and it feels unfair to demand a lot of him right now. Keep your head up, keep working, that shot will come back and hopefully you can make some plays in the playoffs when your number is called.
3. Malik Monk microwave scorer. While I think Monk works as a starter it’s probably better for the team if he comes off the bench in a role like we saw last night. The ebbs and flows of an NBA game are real, when starters go out and the bench come in the dynamics of the game change. Guys let down a lot of the time when they see a superstar take the pine for a break. Monk can exploit those moments better than any other Laker off the bench right now. Maybe Nunn could as well, he hasn’t played and who knows how long it’ll take for him to get up to game speed when he does. Frankly, we can’t keep waiting for guys anymore anyhow. Monk was the second leading scorer for the team off the bench in a performance that reminded me of super sub Lou Williams. One of three Lakers to reach double figures in scoring with 22 and he shot the ball great. If w can count on Monk for something akin to this every game, maybe get some spot starts depending or if a guy needs a game off or something, we have some pieces on the board we can start to count on consistently.
4. Gotta love Melo. They’re not all smart or good shots, he’s borderline absurd when it comes to shot selection honestly, and his defense can be more of a grabbing pushing kinda thing but…I don’t care. You need a gunner with no conscience and with Anthony you get that. There are things he doesn’t bring to the table and I get that, not every player is perfect…well, maybe LeBron is…but other than that you get warts of one kind or another. That’s where the coach comes in and, as we’ve seen, Frank may not be the best regular season coach but is great at adjustments in 7 game series.
5. The young guys. I don’t count Monk in this one, he’s in his 5th year. THT and Austin Reaves are whom I consider to be the young guys and are what will potentially be the building blocks of a future version of the Lakers or chips to cash in on a trade. I don’t see much happening simply because our best offer is essentially a salary dump. Monk and Nunn don’t come with any kind of Bird Rights and will be difficult to retain in the summer for almost every team, THT has honestly taken a pretty large step back in his game and doesn’t feel worth the price we’re paying for him. Reaves has hit the rookie wall, at least in terms of his shot-making ability although he still has a lot of hustle. Those are the trading chips. The ghosts of Kent Bazemore and DeAndre Jordan aren’t making a GM any more excited than any of us get when we hear their names. I actually like Kent and am glad he’s on the team, I still see him having an impact at some point on down the line and both he and DAJ have accepted their fate with grace and style. But including either in a trade is ridiculous, honestly, nobody wants those guys. Reaves and Monk move needles but we’ll need them so unless it’s for someone who improves the defense and the offense you have to say no.

Another good test against a more complete team looms in Philly tomorrow. We need to keep winning now, the Clippers have found a groove, Denver is playing better and better, the Timberwolves are playing their best basketball in years and Dallas has caught fire. That’s the competition right now. We need to win 30 games before we lose 27, obviously the fewer the losses the better. Need to move up the .500’s towards a .600 winning percentage if we want to be taken seriously and create the foundation for a winning culture this season. Treading water is no longer an option.