5 THINGS

This should not have been a surprise. With so many players out, Carmelo getting tossed and the Suns rolling through the NBA this was, to me, an expected loss. The Lakers are who they are now in terms of being a team but dealing the amount of players out, including coach Vogel, meant this was a hill that would have to be climbed perfectly. That was something that did not happen. The themes surrounding the blowout are familiar ones.

1. No interior defense worth mentioning. I mean…Melo and Rondo got a blocked shot apiece but none of our “centers” managed to block a shot or deter the Suns from burning us in the paint all night long. The 2 centers from the Suns, DeAndre Ayton and JaVale “looking pretty useful to my eyes” McGee abused the Lakers down low to the tune of 14-18 shooting combined for 29 points (Ayton got to shoot a free throw for the odd numbered tally), 22 rebounds (4 offensive rebounds with JaVale accounting for 3 of those) and a block. We had no answer for Ayton who feasted off of crisp passes from his teammates and abused whomever we slotted to defend him. The Lakers are simply too small to hang with a team like the Suns and, in general, suffer from an abysmal interior defense.
2. A team versus a group of guys. The Lakers, to date, play more like a group of guys who showed up at the gym, picked sides and let it roll. The Suns look like an NBA team poised to challenge for the title. A lot of people wrote the Suns off last season they way they wrote the Heat off the previous season which, in my opinion, is a mistake. You do not reach the NBA Finals on luck alone or by accident. It takes a collection of talented individuals who play together well and with purpose. It’s not a fluke kind of thing to achieve. That teamwork was on full display last night as the Suns got what they wanted, when they wanted, how they wanted indicated by their 29 assists with every starter getting at least 1 dime and several bench players moving the rock efficiently, as well.
3. The pace we want to play. There is a myth the Lakers want to play fast and loose. This has not been the case as we play kinda fast but not very loose. We run through 2 guys and one of them plays at a high pace and the other, well, notsomuch. Russ has frenetic frenzied aspect to his game that has worked for him his entire career. LeBron has a more controlled and at this point sometimes plodding aspect to his game which has also worked for him quite well up to this point. The problem is figuring out when and how to deploy which player’s skillset. Thus has been made more difficult with the injuries and games lost for a variety of reasons. If the Lakers want to get anywhere it is beyond imperative that they figure when to play fast, when to play methodically and maybe how to manage more than 15 fast break points for a team that’s supposed to be burning up the floor according to the coach and players.
4. While we didn’t turn the Suns over a ton we did a great job turning those miscues into points. We punished the Suns in points off of turnovers, though not necessarily via the fast break. While it didn’t alter the complexion of the game in a meaningful way it was a bright spot.
5. An overdue welcome back. Isaiah Thomas is back in the purple and gold. His first game back, his second game back was largely forgettable. He and the newly returned Talen Horton-Tucker went a combined 2-24. Just…wow…it’s incredible to imagine two players on the same team reaching almost the exact level of poor shooting. IT is a replacement player and we’d need to waive someone to keep him on the roster. I don’t really see the logic as we are already small, old and bad on defense. We need size and we need defense, desperately, IT checks almost zero boxes we need to check but does continue Rob’s theme of “old and slow but we really want play fast somehow” theme for the season. THT is basically our best tradeable contract but let’s be honest in regards to his value for a minute. It’s not high now and really never has been. He’s a solid player, not a future superstar just waiting for the right situation to come along. He can get hot from the outside but is not a shooter. He can score inside but isn’t a slasher. He can make plays for others but isn’t a playmaker. He is a good role player and, as such, we should expect the market for him to be about that high. You can attach Nunn or whomever you want to the deal but THT isn’t a sweetner or a haul for another team. He fills a role, could fill more than one because of his diverse skillset, and that should be the expected level of player we could potentially trade for him. I don’t see a trade as being too likely though for the reason LeBron voiced in regards to this team: we have no idea what it’s truly capable of because the team has barely played together. Not in camp, not in the regular season. basically the LBJ Vegas mini-camp was the only time the whole group of guys go together and could scrimmage or whatever they did together. We aren’t alone in that regard, many other teams have fared better against a stronger schedule facing similar obstacles. Our limitations go beyond a lack of chemistry and cohesion. There are physical obstacles (age and size) that I really don’t see a way to coach or game plan around. I also don’t see path to trade our way out of them as we’d likely be giving up whatever young players we do have for someone older but hopefully bigger and better at D.

We got a winnable game on Thursday against the Spurs then it’s the traditional “Lakers on X-mas” where we tend to fall short. Doesn’t matter if it’s Kobe, Randle or The King the Lakers tend to lose on Christmas. The one thing to hope for is that we continue to tread water. We have yet to win more than 4 in a row and we have yet to lose more than 3 in a row. So, with the 3 game losing streak attained, here’s hoping we switch back to our winning ways and beat San Antonio and avoid a long losing streak which could well doom the season, even this early.

LeBron James turned back the clock (or slept for 12 hours depending on your sources) and notched his second triple-double in 3 games, the 101 of his career and the Lakers pulled away in the second half to easily beat the easily beatable Orlando Magic. With the Magic missing Markelle Fultz, Jalen Suggs and Jonathon Isaac (all injured) this was the kind of team the Lakers had to date played down to, allowed to hang around, and generally struggle to win against this season. Whether last night’s game ended that absurd behavior or was a one off remains to be seen. Plenty of good vibes though as the Lakers look to match their longest winning streak of the season tomorrow night at 3 games.

1. How long can LeBron James play the hero? Who cares, he’s still doing it and we’ll need it all this season. LeBron’s line has become fairly common-place which is a testament to his consistent greatness. 12-20 (3-7 from three and 3-4 from the line), 11 rebounds, 10 dimes, 3 team energizing blocks with the only blemish being his 6 turnovers. When the rest of the line looks like that, you accept the turnovers as an aspect of functionality. The way The King played both energized the arena and his team, bringing the bench and STAP, er…The Crypt… to it’s feet. Evidently a large dose of sleep was one of the catalysts for the breakout game as LeBron quipped in his post-gamer about his 12 hours after jetting all over the country to both play and watch his son Bronny hoop. More of this and LeBron will, once again, at least put himself into the convo for MVP.
2. Talen tapping into his two-way game. A career high 6 steals punctuated THT’s solid contribution as he looks to fill roles left for him by both Caruso and Kuzma. We’re asking a lot of the 21 year old and his defense will determine his success more than anything else on this team. We got guys who can get buckets, and we got a couple of able and willing defenders…but we’re lacking on dudes who do both. Against the Magic THT was a true two-way player as he had active hands, shot efficiently from everywhere, and promptly landed on the NBA H&SP list due to a positive COVID test. Hoping for a speedy recovery for THT.
3. Limiting FTA. One of the foundational principles to a good defense is not bailing out guys by fouling them on shots. Make them can a tough bucket, no bail out reach fouls. The Lakers had been giving up a ton of free throws to start the season and, of late, they’ve been managing a better defensive focus. This continued last night as the Lakers wracked up some impressive team defense stats (12 steals, 11 blocks, and 37.5% shooting overall for Orlando) and held the Magic to under 20 FTA. Getting the job done on D doesn’t often result in a Sports Center highlight (do those still exist? They must…) but it helps the team put up W’s.
4. The right kind of offense. It is, of course, helpful when LeBron brings his monster game to the arena but the Lakers overall have started to tighten up some loose ends that had been dragging the team down. One of the big gripes here at the blog is Frank not getting the right guys the right shots and, too, has started to improve albeit only slightly over the last few games. Whenever the team shoots 46.8% from three it makes the rest of the game a lot easier. The Lakers did right by themselves in that they took a very succinct 28 three pointers (making a lucky 13 of them) and everyone who took one made one except for Malik Monk, who had a down game when compared to his recent play. No threes from Russ means he spent the night in attack mode and didn’t force his outside shot. All good signs.
5. Beating the beatable. After struggling against the youthful vigor of some of the younger teams in the NBA the Lakers have flipped that script of late by beating OKC and now the Magic. We need these bunny games, like anyone knows the bear needs to fatten up before the winter nap and the Lakers a re very bear-like this season. GOt to add some more bulk and beat the teams we ought to beat, be they young, injured or both we can’t afford too many more let-down games this season. Luckily the western conference is having a kind of down season, thus far, and the Lakers are still holding onto the 6th seed at 15-13. The Lakers really need to turn it around at STAPLES/The Crypt where they are a mediocre 10-7.

With Luka out the Lakers need to bring the heat and beat Dallas, keep pace with our cross-crypt rivals, The Clippers, and not let Memphis gain any separation. While not monumental in a singular sense, all of these games matter in terms of building good habits, chemistry and keeping pace in the standings. Can we equal our longest winning streak of the season? Here’s hoping. Go Lakers.

Third time was the charm for the Lakers to finally overcome the comeback mentality of the OKC Thunder. Behind a dominant game from LeBron James and solid showings by Avery Bradley and Austin Reaves the Lakers cruised to a comfortable victory. Still, despite the win at this point it would appear Laker fans need a little more than that to start to fully believe in the potential of this team.

1. A dominant and explosive LeBron. It was really nice to see how balanced and aggressive The King was throughout that game. 6 three pointers is a good amount and he kept the defense off-balance by using his step back and bully drives in a variety of ways. This is the version fo LeBron that needs to carry forward, In control, playing in the paint and not settling for lazy shots. I’m hopeful that the version of LeBron we’ve seen is born more of a need to work himself up to true game shape rather than a portend of things to come.
2. Avery Bradley’s rewards Frank’s faith. I am of the opinion that Bradley in the starting line up is just fine. It allows Monk to get going against other bench guys, gives the starters a defender that can have an impact and when he’s on he can get a nice roll like he did against the Thunder. There are certainly younger, more athletic and, likely, better shooters that could be put in the line up over Avery. The thing is there really isn’t anyone that blends his shot-making ability with defense who can also get his own shot or create for others, although that isn’t his main strength.
3. Dwight stepping up. The box score didn’t accurately reflect the big game Dwight had and there will always be the potential for Frank to revert and go back to playing a center next to Davis. I was watching the Backstage Lakers show on Spectrum the other day and it was all about DeAndre Jordan’s contract signing day and first couple practices. There was Rob Pelinka touting DAJ since his Clipper days and saying AD had told him “thank you, less minutes for me at the 5”. Enter Frank Vogel in all his excitement to coach the big man at long last. So, if we are going to have a big play I’d rather it be Dwight and when he does I want him to have a high degree of impact on our D. Dwight checked that box and needs to keep doing that whenever his bell is rung.
4. Three point guys getting up three point shots. Much has been made of our lack of offensive schemes to get Ellington, Monk, Melo and the other “3 and…?” guys shots in the flow. Well, for one game, the Lakers solved that riddle pretty darn well: Melo 1-6 three pointers, Ellington 3-9, and Monk 1-6. While those guys may not have made the looks seeing 6+ attempts shows us that the team is at least trying to get these guys shots in the offense. A few more makes and this game would have been even more of a blowout. While the overall volume of attempts (42) is a tad high for my tastes (I’d rather see a few more rim runs and the 3 point FGA around 35-40, tops) it’s still a positive to see the right guys taking their shots.
5. THT doing a little bit of everything. I’m not on the “Talen is a superstar in the making!” train but rather “let’s hope he can contribute consistently this year!” train. That’s exactly what he did last night. While no single stat jumps out at you (11 points, 3 boards, 2 assists and a steal) he got that very efficiently and controlled. That’s what we need from him this season. In some ways THT is the new Kuzma: the young Laker on a movable contract with some good and bad things about his game. If Horton-Tucker can focus on filling in the gaps he’ll be just fine on this team, we don’t need him to be superstar #4.

Shout out to Auston Reaves who had a good game in front of his home town crew. Also another positive outing in garbage time for Kent Bazemore in which he made the only shot he took. If that shot can come back we could certainly use his defense. Need to string some wins together to show everyone, myself included, that this team can be a force.