5 THINGS

Too little, too late. After digging themselves into a 25 point hole the Lakers came all the way back to tie the game in the 4th quarter only to see it ultimately slip away. Once our again our 4th quarter execution looked more frenzied than focused and our defense wasn’t able to get the job done early. All in all the loss to the Knicks guaranteed that the road trip will be one with a losing record and tonight the Lakers are trying to avoid going 1-4 on the 5 game roadie.

1. If only we were fixing holes and cracks but it really feels like this team is treading water on a nightly basis. The injuries, new personnel, new offensive system and the new roles for AD and LBJ are all tough orders in the shortened training camp era and for Frank to have seamlessly implemented and integrated all those things off the bat would have been amazing. I’d settle for just one of those things above working and, really, none of them are, yet. Hard to see how it gets better other than from within. Had we changed LeBron and AD’s roles alone, kept most of the roster, that feels like it would have been an easy integration for the core squad from last season to adapt to. However we instead brought in 11 new faces, one a ball dominant guard, so that added a wrinkle to everything in that while AD and LBJ were learning their new roles at their new positions they also have to learn how to get the most out of an entirely new roster. Adding Russ in and of itself wouldn’t have been such a slog but then Frank also added a new offense so not only are Russ, AD and LeBron adjusting to one another, new roles, new teammates they’re also learning a new way to score. Then came the injuries. While not an excuse, it feels like the Lakers chose the most difficult path to get back to title contention they possibly could have.
2. That first quarter… The one thing this team does consistently is give up big quarters to, well, just about any team. Sometimes it’s the 3rd, it’s also happened in the 4th, last night happened to be to open the game. Regardless, no matter the opponent, the Lakers have a rep already of giving up 30+ point quarters and they usually come when we can’t throw it in the ocean. I don’t know what to say about this anymore, we seem to lose our focus and execution for a solid 10-15 minutes/game. If this trend continues it will be the defining characteristic to this Laker team as it makes it almost impossible to find a way to win consistently if you’re in the habit of giving up 1 monster quarter/game.
3. THT needs to find something that works consistently. We got a donut from THT last night and, if he’s going to be the starter and we’re going to see less of Kent Bazemore who is the better defender, he needs to bring a lot more on both ends. He was totally ineffective and had one of his most unproductive outings to date as he missed every shot he took, didn’t get to the line, and led the team with a -18 +/-. While some of that are the lineups he plays with but, as a starter, he needs to be a lot more consistent.
4. Lakers 3 point shooting woes continue. Other than Westbrook (3-6) and AD (1-2) the Lakers struggled mightily from three. It wasn’t like the Knicks shut us down, we just missed shots and a decent number of those came in the final five minutes of the game when any kind of score would have helped but empty possessions guaranteed the loss. I get it, the modern NBA is infatuated with the three point shot, 3 points is worth more than 2, and so on. the name of the game is still who ash the most points on the board, regardless of where they came from. When you have a player like AD and Russ it’s astounding to me we don’t run late-game offense through them more adeptly. Our late-game offense has consisted far too much of the laziest shot in basketball: the early shot clock three. Had we gotten a bucket or two from down low, run something through AD on the block I think we would have generated much higher quality shot attempts. For the Lakers I do not believe the answer lies solely in more, or volume, but in being diligent in ensuring the quality of the three point shot is high. That means doing more than passing the ball once or twice around the horn and jacking it up. That’s lazy basketball, not winning basketball.
5. Hey, we’re valuing the ball, though! Take away that first quarter and the Lakers would have had fewer than 10 turnovers last night. You can’t do that, though, and so we still ended up with a very manageable 12. That, beyond anything else, was what helped us claw our back into this game. That and a tighter defensive execution scheme in regards to our zone. Keeping turnovers low with Russ (2nd in the league currently in terms of turnovers/game) and LeBron (averages a round 5/game for his career) is a key to us winning consistently. Happy to see that the team is trying to at least create shots every time down and not coughing it up. Clean up a few more of those and we’re on our way in terms of getting the most out of time with the rock.

The bets we can hope is to come home a .500 team 20 games into the season. The trends are plain for all to see: play down to opponents, give up one monster quarter/game, lack of focus or intensity overall, especially on defense. LeBron coming back or trading for player X might help a little but we’re still a couple weeks away from even being able to trade guys we signed over the summer. Plus, THT has been pretty inconsistent thus far and I have a hard time seeing a team giving up an impact player for a project at his price. Lakers need to find the solution from within and the sooner the better.

Almost 17 years to the day was the infamous Malice at the Palace the Lakers and Pistons got together for an impromptu, unscheduled, old-timey re-enactment. While last night didn’t turn into a “one player against the world” kind of thing it was, by far, the most intense on-court brawl in a long time. At the time the Lakers were down and sinking fast. The Pistons came out after the scrum and scored the first bucket for a 17 point lead. Everything started to change after that and hopefully it’s a change for the better and on a permanent basis.

1. The LeBron James question. Both in the national media and on our Gerald Glassford’s Lakers Fast Break podcast the question has been raised: is Father Tim finally sinking it’s claws into LeBron James. The question is legit as James has been dealing with an abdominal strain that took an extended amount of time off the court to heal, and even when he did play nearly half his shots were from three point land. I actually thought the beginning of the Pistons game showed us that the true LeBron remains. While he was getting hit and slapped on a bunch of his drives he was more balanced in his shot repertoire. 1-3 from three but also three shots in the paint with one midrange step back that he drilled. I am of the opinion that James still has something in the tank and that he’s easing his way into the regular season. This is not only common for players his age who generally play more of a role than lead but it’s been LeBron’s traditional approach for some seasons now. The King will be fine if he can avoid contact injuries and get time on the court with the team. Now, he may end up getting a suspension as a result of his retaliation but that’s up to the League office.
2. Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook found a way. It sure wasn’t pretty but wrestling with a pig never is. Let’s be honest, Detroit’s plan was to junk up the game from the start and the number of free throws shot, the fight that added a 15 minute delay, and the overall feel of the game. Detroit has never been known to field a finesse team, it’s just not in the state of Michigan’s DNA. Piston teams are hard-driving, gritty and play in your grill. It’s why players like Bill Laimbeer and “Big” Ben Wallace are revered there to the degree they are. It took the best quarter of Russ as a Laker and a return to form for AD to pull this one out. Davis swatted 5 shots, Russ started attacking with the purpose to score and not figure it out in mid air. They both played like the superstars they are and we need them to be to have a shot. Davis shot 4-4 in the final frame and was stellar on defense overall. Russ carried the load offensively shaking loose for 15 points. Both guys found each other repeatedly for baskets down the stretch. This is how they have to play all the time, every game. With that intensity and fervor.
3. Carmelo shaking off his road woes. it’s no secret that Melo has mostly struggled on the road. Outside of his game against Boston where he wasn’t much involved but shot well, his road splits have been awful. Last night he came up huge on both ends in the 4th quarter with some aggressive close outs, his shooting and his overall presence which is still one of elite NBA pedigree. While he may not be the Melo of old, he has a ton left in the tank and the young guys react to that in a positive way. Melo is going to be a big part of this team’s successes and it’s been a thrill to watch. I’ve always loved me some Carmelo.
4. Dwight Howard’s monster 13 minutes. We lose this game without Dwight. He was the only one who, early on, rose to the level of physicality that Detroit was playing with. He wasn’t part of an effective unit but he played with the kind of focus and intensity this game required when he was out there. Oh, and he hit 2 threes within the flow of the offense. One to close out the first half as time expired. Clutch.
5. The gritty stats. While we can once again point to a plethora of first half issues defensively we still found a way to win. We outrebounded Detroit by a decent margin (51-39), and did a great job on the offensive glass with 12 boards there (4 of those by DAJ who got the start). Kept the turnovers low when they had crept up early, our defense in the 4th quarter is something I’d like to bottle and save for every single game from here on out and, in general, we found the right kind of hustle this team needs to play with. They stopped relying on talent, stopped begging the refs to bail them out and simply played harder down the stretch for a potentially season-saving and job-saving win. Had we lost (and should we lose either of the next 2 games on the schedule) this will be a losing road trip and ensure we come back no better than .500. Win these next 2 games and everything starts to look a little better: 11-9 with a .500 road record. While not elite, that works for a team that is still figuring out a lot of different things on the fly and waiting for key guys to get back.

The main thing for the Lakers is to avoid the play in which means a top 6 seeding. 4 or higher would be nice but it’s already looking like 1-3 are going to go to Golden State, Phoenix and Utah in some order or another. That means we have to knock one of Dallas, Denver or the Clippers out of the top 6. With 64 games left that seems doable. Who knows with some injury luck on our end and something unexpected happening to one of those 6 teams there is still more than enough time in the season to make a serious move up the standings. I think the team has enough as-is to compete for the title. If we do make a move it feels like this team plays better with a traditional big man, at least to start halves and play spot minutes leading up to crunch time so I would hope that we’d acquire a player to fill that role rather than split it up between Dwight and DAJ. Heck, one potential solution in my mind is to actually try starting Dwight and letting him play 20+ MPG and DAJ is there in case of foul trouble. Super Man has shown he can hit the three, after all.

I don’t see another move the Lakers can make that would have as positive benefits as trading for Turner, moving AD back to the four and LeBron to the three, and playing Russ and THT in the backcourt.

Lakers can’t continue to play Too-Small-Ball instead of Small-Ball-on-Steroids. Best way to fix that is to trade for Myles Turner. He would enable us to continue to play the same small ball five-out style but with monster size like last season.

A Russ, THT, LeBron, AD, and Turner starting lineup would be the biggest small ball team in the league. Thast’s exactly the physically dominating type of team Frank wants with two bigs. AD gets to play his preferred four and LeBron his preferred three.

Considering THT’s jump, he and Nunn and DJ should be enough and we can throw in a pick or Monk to close the deal. It’s the single biggest move the Lakers can make at this time and much better than trading for a bigger 3&D wing or power forward.

Well, with LeBron out we’re not at DEFCON 5 yet but man this is looking like a season of uphill battles thus far. Gone is any lofty talk of a 70 win season, at this pace the Lakers will be lucky to avoid the play-in. If this team doesn’t figure some things out, get (and stay) healthy and begin competing at a higher level you can kiss the banner goodbye and add another wasted season in purple and gold to LeBron James’ resume’.

1. Talen’s big game. The best Laker on the floor last night was THT. He attacked the defense in a variety of ways and his three point shot was on full display. With Vogel announcing that Kendrick Nunn is still “a way’s away” with a bone bruise we desperately need production from Horton-Tucker. The evolution of his three-pointer is a huge key to unlocking his potential as it will force teams to stay on him on the perimeter opening chances to drive the ball into the paint and attack. The next step is getting his teammates activated and involved and continuing to improve on defense. If THT is going to be a force he needs to bring that trifecta of impact.
2. AD getting tossed. This is becoming a theme: Lakers struggle for this reason or that, get into it with the refs, lose game and talk about how they need to stay better composed. Well the time to start that journey is now because this version of the Lakers really lets officiating bother them. From Dwight on the bench yapping to Melo every time down the court to DeAndre Jordan looking for touch fouls in the paint (hint: DAJ…they ain’t calling that stuff bro) the Lakers just need to suck it up and realize the refs aren’t bailing them out of their poor play. Everyone’s unhappy with the officiating so that indicates that at least there has been some level of consistency there. Now did AD deserve to be tossed and/or was he right about usually the refs give a a player a quick moment to re-shoe? Sure, but that ought not obfuscate the fact that the game was all but decided by the time he got tossed.
3. Play with some pride. LeBron alone won’t fix this. He’ll help but until this team comes together and starts sacrificing for one another, selling out for loose balls, and competing at a high level regardless of the opponent it won’t really matter who is on the floor. This team seemingly wants to be able to rely on talent, not get down on it in terms of defense, not focus on the minutiae and execute at a high level and in general has an air of laziness about it that simply won’t get it done most nights. Right now if 2 bench guys don’t get red hot from three, AD doesn’t pour in 30+ points and Russ have an above average game we have no shot to win against most teams. So when LBJ gets back we’ll see less of Monk and Bazemore, most likely. At this point that’s a good thing. While I’m high on Monk and his skillset it’s obvious we need someone to restore order and if it’s not LeBron it won’t be anyone. The trio talked a lot about sacrifice in their dinner where this was all envisioned, now is the time to start.
4. The question of Alex Caruso vs. THT. I mentioned this on the podcast. That i think this debate is absurd as it frames two guys who in and of themselves aren’t the reason the Lakers are in luxury tax land. The reason that happened is we traded for Westbrook and have two other max salaried players. So the idea that the smallish contracts that THT and Caruso signed respectively is just a false narrative that obfuscates the fact that the majority of resources available to the team are dedicated to 3 players. That in and of itself isn’t the problem. The problem is that, after committing so many resources to the three players and trading away the aspects of the roster we could easily retain we were left with 2 players whom we could go over the salary cap to keep, although the doing of that would be costly and those 2 players were AC and THT. If you’re going to build a 3 superstar team you have to do so with the correct mindset. 3 players does not a championship roster make and I hardly believe that could news to anyone inside the Laker front office war room. We needed the skillset of both THT and Caruso in order to field the most competitive team that also has some championship pedigree and experience playing alongside LeBron. So, in my mind, this debate is being framed all wrong. The issue is that the Lakers went big on 3 guys and cheaped out big time after that. End of discussion. Really the reasons don’t matter at this point either as this is the team we have.
5. How can we turn this around? Honestly, I don’t think any one thing can turn this around. James coming back re-creates the same problem we have now which is our offense is fine but our defense is not. We’re not elite in any way except roster payroll, at least we’re not playing elite. Russ doesn’t have the right kind of guys around him to be the best version of himself, but adding LeBron and THT will marginalize Russ (somewhat) so that may be the answer there is just having more guys who can get their won shot on the floor and hope Melo can keep his roll going on the road (although his last 2 games have been drop off games for him). We need 30 points from AD every single night, it would appear, because after AD and The King we don’t have anyone that can score in double digits consistently. Melo, maybe, but Anthony is old and isn’t going to have the mojo every single night. Russ will score in double-digits but the efficiency is a huge issue in regards to those points.

It’s certainly fair to say that I am now in the position of having to re-examine my opinion that adding Russ was the right move. At the time I could imagine how it could work, in reality I have yet to see anything consistent or organic from the team for the most part. This isn’t working, especially against teams that have an identity established or have gelled quickly. The Bulls in many ways were the perfect team to face at this crux of the season: they had a huge amount of turnover, have done the job early against a favorable schedule, and a re playing like champs already but with guys who haven’t won a thing (except Caruso). But thinking of a world where we could have had DeRozan and kept AC and THT is certainly a “hindsight is 20/20” kind of world. We didn’t go that route, nor did we trade for Buddy. We have Westbrook and now the guys have to find a way to make it work.