5 THINGS

Well that felt like it was closer than it needed to be. A lot of extraordinary things happened in last night’s game but perhaps the most was the fact that the refs decided to just lose 2 points the Lakers had as a result of their terrible officiating. In the end it didn’t mater (barely) and the Lakers came away with the W. More important to me is that after holding a Houston team to 85 points that exact same team blew up for 116. Defense is still a work in progress.

1. The Legend of the Missing Points. So the refs made a mistake. Cool, it happens. The way they “fixed” that mistake was absurd. To simply remove those points from the board doesn’t fix a damned thing it only penalizes the Lakers in the form of a lost possession for something they didn’t do. This needs to be addressed by the NBA on down the line but at the end of the day it is not a team’s fault, nor should they be essentially punished for, an officiating error. Players don’t get do-overs. Coaches don’t get do-overs. Officials shouldn’t either. A cooler, in-house way of dealing with that would have been to tell coach Silas about the error and let him know there would be some gift free throws coming his way. but to take away the points, and thus the possession which nobody can say how it would have worked out, is just plain wrong. NBA refs have a tough job, agreed, but they still need to do it well and they are not handling much of anything very well at this stage in the season.
2. In reality, those two points shouldn’t have mattered, The Laker defense was by far the uglier issue fromm last night’s win than the blown officiating. We almost let the young Rockets run us off the floor, with some transition buckets off our own made baskets and with some terrible three point close outs. Credit the Rockets for a bevvy of adjustments but also you have to worry about a defense that is still giving up a ton of points. The issue is the bench and centers not named Anthony Davis. However, since the roster is essentially minimum contracts, the onus is on Frank to make it work. The man has his work cut out for him. Getting some guys back in the next couple weeks should help as well as more film sessions but at the end of the day defense is a heart and hustle stat and the Lakers as a team need to show a little more and rely on talent and past accolades a little less.
3. Best game by the trio to date. This game did give us one particularly awesome highlight: solid games by Russ, LBJ and AD. They all scored 27 or more points, as a trio they only turned the ball over 11 times (considering what it’s been in some games this is a vast improvement and one that I hope continues) and chipped in 22 rebounds, 20 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks (AD handled the blocking all on his own). That is gonna work more often than not to bring home a W. The rest of the team only scored 35 points so the balance between the Trio and The Others is still a work in progress but give me solid games from those 3 every night and we’ll have a chance to win. Nice to see them gelling.
4. The Lakers three point shooting. I’m sure it’s no secret that I don’t have a strong belief in the power of the almighty three in the modern game. It’s an unreliable scoring mechanism unless you have the following: elite shooters at multiple positions, a well-integrated offensive system that enables and maximizes those specific shooters, and the will to let it fly in the face of absurdity. We have had decent three point shooters on this roster for years. Be it Danny Green, Wes Matthews, Wayne Ellington, or whome-ever the Lakers have brought in they, to a man, seem to regress here in LA. That is, in my opinion, because of points 2 and 3. Much was made of the new offense Frank installed but on the court, in reality, I’m not really seeing much of a difference. We come down, guys screen, the ball moves from strong to weak (often with an ill-advised cross court pass) sometimes we dump it into AD at the post, sometimes Russ asks for a screen, sometimes LeBron does LeBron things. Really, to me, it looks very much like the same offense we run which is to say a pedestrian one at best. 5 out sets could be the answer, I suppose, but the team has to commit to running them and they don’t seem to be. But the real issue is point three: let it fly in the face of absurdity. This isn’t just from the coach but it definitely starts there. Mike D’Antoni, I’m sure, talks about defense when he’s coaching. I’m sure he spends just as much, if not more, time talking about how if you see daylight you shoot. That you will never be taken out of the game for missing a three, that there are no bad shots, and he drills that into your head. I don’t think Frank is that kind of coach, at least not on offense. I’m sure he drills defensive terms and conspets in a similar fashion and then, of course, talks about how it would be great to shoot the open shot. But not in the face of absurdity, he wants the quality shots, the good looks and not the “I’M FEELING IT MAN!!!!” shots. In truth there is but one, maybe 2, Lakers who are possessed of the correct shooters mentality and that is Carmello Anthony and maybe (we’ll see) Wayne Ellington. Hence the 6-25 from three because that wasn’t great Rockets defense, just bad shooting on our part and a lot of that comes from within.
5. The Kent Bazemore effect. While I’m not sure that Avery Bradley as a starter is set in stone I feel like Kent Bazemore has etched his name into the Stone of Lakers Starters for the season or until something displaces him. The dude has been beyond solid on D, takes and makes the shots that are created for him and flat out plays the game the way you want to see when sharing the court with multiple HOFers. I don’t think Kent has had a single “Wow, look at Bazemroe go off!” but rather has been the model of stability and even-keeled contributions. That low level of variance in his play is a huge factor in my wanting him to stay a starter. Melo has all the tools and all the credentials but a lot of his impact relies solely on his shot falling. That can’t be counted on every night. Bradley has a lot of the tools but is on the small side and we have a PG in Westbrook and a need for a better-defending playmaker off the bench to keep Rondo on ice until the playoffs. Monk is just too inconsistent on both ends. I’ll be surprised if Frank sticks with AD at the 5 but we’ll see soon enough, still i think it likely that both the matchup provided by Houston and the injury to Dwight are what’s pressed Vogel to this point, I suppose the only thing we can collectively hope for is that he likes what he sees so much that he lets it roll for a few games. Bottom line for me is, even when Nunn and THT and Ellington come back (and eventually Ariza but I’m thinking we want to keep him on little bit of ice until the playoffs, as well), I think we need Kent on the floor to start games. Maybe someone comes on like gangbusters and changes this equation but nothing I saw in camp, which was admittedly limited because of injuries, makes me think his fit isn’t nigh perfect for the style of basketball we want to play.

2 wins against a team we ought to beat. Good enough to keep me pleased if not ecstatic or willing to declare this team anything but one that is slowly improving. if we can improve while we win, so much the better . Seeing the Trio thrive the way they did last night was awesome, more of that please but with better contributions from the bench. Go Lakers.

Before anyone tells me about how the Rockets are in rebuilding mode I’m gonna say it doesn’t matter. That’s an NBA team with potential All Stars, solid young pieces and a good coach. They are, in short, an NBA team. Just as the loss to OKC was an indictment against the veteran team, keeping the pressure on a young team shows the kind of poise one should expect from this version of the Lakers. In what is quickly becoming an improbable theme: Carmelo Anthony led the way.

1. Settling for the team you are or becoming the team you are destined to be? In some ways this was a game that was going to define the early-season Lakers. Lose and suddenly you can’t say the loss to OKC was a fluke but rather the beginning of a trend. Win and you can start to build some early season momentum, which has certainly been lacking up to this point. I doubt anyone expected the Lakers to come into this contest at .500 and needing to prove that they can beat a team like Houston with defense and not just watching the points crank upwards and hoping we end the game with more. But in many ways this game was as must-win of an early season as there could be for a team loaded with banner aspirations and with the caliber of talent and vets. The Lakers did right by their expectations and themselves with perhaps their most complete defensive effort to date by holding Houston to a mere 85 points.
2. Adjusting to the new rules and how the refs and each crew interprets them. It’s far too easy to lay the blame of a bad game or bad stretch at the feet of the referees, it’s why I really go out of my way to explicitly not do that. But this getting absurd. I’m fairly certain this is the 7th straight game where we haven’t shot anywhere near the number of free throws as the opposition and it’s not because we’re a jump-shooting team. Nor are we a team populated with drifters, leg-kickers, sideways jumpers or any of the other clues the league is trying to crack down and limit. So…what gives? LeBron gets hit across the head on a layup? Nothing. Ad gets hit on his way into the paint and across the arms on his shots? Nothing. Russ gets mugged driving the ball? Nothing. This one of those things that one would imagine would balance out over time but it’s definitely affected more than one game in this young season and it’s hard to see how it’s based on reputations.
3. AD started at the 5! Likely this was due to the injury to Dwight Howard (stiff neck) but it still happened and it definitely helped set a more intense defensive tone early and made it easier to keep that vibe going through out. Adding Avery Bradley to that starting group helped as well in that it gave the team a legit ball hawk to start the game off. I really hope Frank sticks with this line up moving forward. It takes pressure off of Russ and LeBron to make every play happen, gives us plus defenders in the paint and the perimeter and AB can score when called upon. Add in Bazemore or Ariza (when he’s healthy) and that’s a solid defensive line up that can also score in a variety of ways. It just sets us up to play the brand of basketball we want to see from the jump and, unless the play of Dwight or DeAndre warrants it, I don’t see why we should go back.
4. Valuing possessions. One really easy way to keep the lid on a young team is to value the ball and make the most of every possession. With only 14 turnovers the Lakers did just that which is good because it seemed like every time we coughed the rock up Houston went down and scored to the tune of 32 points off of turnovers which helped get them back into the game. The Lakers used their own defense to force 27 turnovers and stymie the run of the Rockets even if we couldn’t pull away like one would like to see.
5. Carmelo Anthony 6th man of the year. Let it begin now: Melo should definitely be in the running for the 6th man of the year award if he continues to play at this level. For the season AD is leading the way with 179 points, Russ is behind him at 128 and LeBron and Melo are neck and neck with 119 and 117, respectively. This is the 2nd time Anthony has led the team in scoring off the bench and often in fewer than 30 minutes. He’s shooting a blistering 52.2% from three and 50% flat from the floor. He’s playing decent D for Melo and he’s fitting in perfectly. He also blocked 4 shots tying a career high. While it’s likely Carmelo cools off eventually and has a down game or stretch of games it is quite enjoyable watching him hoop. Love Melo as a Laker and I’m just gonna keep right on saying that.

Lakers should win on Tuesday but they have to beware of the trap-like nature of this game: we just beat the Rockets, they’re young and scrappy and we still have a lot of room for improvement. Shave off some of that room by coming out and dominating the Rockets for a full 48 and win going away. Go Lakers.

It took awhile for the Lakers to show the kind of defensive intensity that we’ve all grown accustomed to from a Frank Vogel coached team and having a generally healthy LeBron James didn’t hurt, either. The Lakers got back to .500 with a solid second half defensive effort that, if truth be told, really started with a couple minutes to go in the first half to bring the two teams back to a tie going into the break. Keyed by a stellar scoring night from Carmelo and the dominant interior presence of Dwight Howard the Lakers won at STAPLES for just the second time in 4 tries.

1. The stealth impact of Avery Bradley. Not much was made when the Lakers claimed AB off of waivers save for some folks to quip about the overall age of the team just keeps on creeping north. While there are issues with the team age adding Bradley should have been a no-brainer who saw how he was able to flourish on the floor with LeBron and AD in the regular season prior to COVID-19. That has continued in his second tour and he was one of the keys to last night’s win. I’m sure Frank will dust off Rondo on occasion, break the glass when the ball stops and we need a little more on court savvy, but for the most part those minutes should go to Bradley for the time being. Getting back THT and Nunn might change that but for now I don’t see sense in not putting Bradley on the floor especially when Russ is running the show. He plays the slow-control Yin to Russ’ hyper-force Yang. It gives us another defense minded guy who can hit from the outside and run a set play.
2. The juice Carmelo brings to the arena. Is it just me or does it feel like Laker fans have waited about 20 years for Carmelo to suit up for the Lakers? I remember when he was out of basketball being utterly mystified we didn’t make him an offer. Well, here he is and he’s kicking booty. Yes, you will get some bad shooting performances. Yes, you will get some lackluster defense. You also get the equivalent of an old west gunfighter who has never lost a quick draw. The man can flat score the basketball and he can do it from anywhere. As soon as he gets off the bench the crowd gets juiced, even in most away arenas since Laker fans dominate planet Earth. Last night he missed his first shot and missed not but 2 more out of 12 going a deadly 6-8 from three. In short, Melo is a joy to watch hoop. Even for crusty, defense-first guy like me.
3. Getting the King back out there. I know one of the big reasons we got the third superstar caliber player to go along with LBJ and AD was to give us a cushion for when one of them goes down, needs to sit, foul trouble, etc. But…c’mon, this is LeBron’s team people and it has been since he signed here. He says things that indicate otherwise but the Lakers need LeBron like Earth needs an atmosphere. We need to do everything we can to not replicate the issues the Brooklyn Nets have faced with their big three in that they have barely played together and frankly that may end up being the only legend they forge at this point depending on how long Kyrie chooses not to sit (hint: until NYC changes it’s vaxx mandate). The Lakers are going as far as AD, Russ and LeBron take them and in the spirit of that the Lakers need them to get time together and for Frank to figure out what works when they’re not on the floor in the flow. In terms of last night’s game, James didn’t blow the roof off the arena but his presence is so stabilizing. On defense he can be a game-changer and he is the engine that drives our offense, this was all on full display last night as he continued his dominance over the team that drafted him #1.
4. Davis chipping in, too. Davis has been focused a lot more on playing in the paint and it’s starting to become a weapon. Fewer step back, fade away shots and more drives to the rim. He was 1-2 from three which we will also need. But he can be, and is, such a dominant paint presence even playing the style of basketball he prefers. AD was a big part of our defense which was key in a game where we once again gave up 20+ free throws to the opposition. He was also a big reason why we reverted to type and dominated in the paint, again.
5. Some interesting numbers: 27 being the number of threes we shot which is right in line i regards to that being the number of attempts we ought to be shooting. Much more than 30 and I feel like it reveals a lazy, unorganized approach on offense. 60-44=16 being the difference in paint points we scored which helped offset the 6 points we gave up at the free throw line. 9 which was the number of field goals we made more than the Cavs as our offense executed at it’s highest level to date. Lastly, and most importantly: 16 which was the total number of points the Cavs scored in the 4th quarter. The Lakers need to bottle that quarter and send it to the brewery or wherever basketball mojo is brewed because I could stand for a lot more of that kind of thing.

We kept a team under 100 for the first time this season in any game played. We had our best defensive effort so far and we got the majority of the roster playing together. Could this be the page-turning game we’ve all been looking for? The one where the Lakers as a team can overcome the individual warts in the singular games of each of it’s players? Where superstars known more for scoring can chip in and play decent defense? I sure hope so because up until this point there just hasn’t been much that’s fun or exciting to watch. I’ve started the process of talking myself into accepting that 20 turnovers is an acceptable number for this team since you basically have to spot LBJ and RW 5 each which leaves 10 for the rest of the team. At any rate, solid win and one that is to the form we hope to see from the team going forward. Go Lakers.

I hearken back to last season in moments like these. Moments when I was ridiculed, berated and told to “stop worrying” when I brought up the incredible number of turnovers the team coughed up last season. In the moments that I thought to myself, “Maybe I am worrying about nothing…?” I would, as I generally do, stick to my guns and continue to insist it was an issue that could (and ended up being a major culprit in) derailing our repeat title hopes. This season, since we solidified the roster, the defense has been my #1 concern as it would seem both on paper and in reality that this team couldn’t stop a hobbled turtle from escaping. In short, this Laker team has some major issues to address.

1. 115. That’s the minimum number of points the Lakers have allowed in every single game this season. Don’t worry, we’ve allowed even more in some games, too! This continues a trend in preseason (which some believe doesn’t matter at all, I feel differently) where we gave up an average of 119.3 points per game. So, while one might assume that things would improve once the intensity of the regular season became a factor and the games really matter, in reality it’s gotten slightly worse as we now are giving up 119.6 points per game. That’s a number that will get coach Vogel canned sooner than later. If a defense-first coach can’t get a team to buy in and/or execute the defense then the defense-first coach becomes expendable. Especially when the roster has been filled out with minimum contract players.
2. The minimum contract players. I was worried about the composition of the roster before preseason and it’s a full blown concern now. The issue isn’t that the roster doesn’t have talent, one could actually make a point that the talent level is possibly too high and we need more yeoman type of guys to put forth the proper effort on defense. The issue is that these guys are all defined already, some of them are fighting for their first ring, Dwight wants a parade, and so on. Only a handful are young players still looking to prove themselves. We have 5 bonafide first ballot Hall of Famers on the team (LeBron, Davis, Dwight, Russ and Carmelo), role players that have championship pedigree and guys who have accumulated the ancillary NBA accolades. It just feels like we lack the right kind of fire and hunger that you want to see in a team that can go all the way.
3. The lack of composure. Russ’ late game meltdown (which I felt was unwarranted, with 1.5 seconds to go and being up only 3 that dunk sealed the win for OKC and was not pouring salt in the wound) is just the latest in an early string of surprising losses of composure from what should be a veteran team. Dwight and AD fighting, Russ losing his mind at a game sealing dunk, and the loss of guys like Kidd and Lionel Hollins and…yes…Jared Dudley have all eroded the locker room chemistry that even through the litany of injuries and myopic play last season stayed strong. At least to the public. No longer. Like a daytime soap opera the drama is on full display for all to see and it’s getting ugly real quick. This one circles right back to the coach, again. Vogel seems content to let the team police itself, that he seems to feel his job is to set forth the plan and then yell at refs. Would Phil Jackson have allowed the spirit and harmony of the team to get to this point? Certainly not, he would’ve come up with an obscure ceremony that helped put things in perspective and then benched the young guys, of course.
4. Wasn’t there a game last night? Yes, and we lost it in stunning fashion to an 0-4 team we were up 26 points to. The issues above have been here from the start and I didn’t even touch on Russell’s quadruple double that he achieved via 10 turnovers or our inability to generate a quality shot over the last couple of minutes in the 4th quarter or our mediocre three point shooting (but with volume!) or inability to defend without fouling (the Thunder shot 29 free throws last night, were the more physically aggressive team and beat our azzes, kudos to them but we should have won this game going away). If we can’t solve these basic, core issues this team will win a decent number of games and be bounced out of the playoffs within two rounds. I don’t care how much center Anthony Davis plays or how many threes we shoot. If the spirit of the team isn’t right, if we can’t defend or come up with something resembling a quality offense, this season is going to be another wasted one for LeBron and the Lakers.
5. Well Mr. Grumpus what do YOU think we can do to fix this? Get healthy and that’s not happening soon. By the time we get guys like Ariza, THT and Ellington back we could be in quite the hole in the loaded western conference. Depending on how truly severe LeBron’s ankle injury is (listed as questionable for tonight and nobody saying the kind of things like “if it were the playoffs I’d play”) it might not really matter anymore. Our 2 wins came in the form of Ja Morant missing a free throw and failing to force overtime and against the Spurs…in overtime. The Spurs are another rebuilding team and it’s feeling to me quite lucky that Ja missed that free throw or this could be `1-4, at best. Luckily for Frank we won those games because the last Laker coach to start the season 0-5 lost his job by the 8th game. If that happens this season, with the roster not having any continuity at all, I don’t think much will improve. Firing Vogel won’t fix what ails us at this point, or at least it’s not likely to fix it soon enough. The truth is that this will fix itself if, and only if, Russ, LeBron and AD can figure out a way to dominate as a trio. Other than that we just don’t have what it takes on the roster.

The only good thing is that we’re not 10 games in and it’s possible we’re getting all the bad mojo out of the woodworks early. Dwight and AD seem to have truly squashed whatever beef that they had, LeBron isn’t likely to be out for the whole season as I think they’re just waiting for him to not feel limited with the ankle, and Russ will get better. Time is the Lakers enemy right now. The more time it takes for things to coalesce the harder the road gets. We need to feast on these rebuilding teams and treat them like the pond scum they are. If we can’t fatten up on the early portion of the schedule and build a little cushion for ourselves it just means the tight rope gets longer and higher as the season wears on. Best to get across it early.

It’s no secret that the Lakers are figuring this out on the go. Already behind the 8 ball a bit due to new faces, injuries and with Frank introducing a new offense the Lakers haven’t looked like a team with championship aspirations out of the gate. It’s games like the one last night that we need to win, regardless of how it happens. With the easier part of our schedule coming over the next couple of weeks the Lakers would do themselves a big favor by feasting on some of the bottom-feeding teams they’re slated to play. Lose those games and you could put yourself in the unenviable situation of having to fight uphill for lower seeding. Win, keep pace with the west, all while improving and you set yourself up to be a top four seed. This is our chance to get off on the good foot after a rough start, time to seize the moment.

1. Anthony Davis playing large. Davis did a lot more damage inside, had a phenomenal game on the glass and was a presence on defense with 4 blocks. With LeBron sitting out to manage a sore leg after another collision the Lakers needed their other two superstars to step up and help bring home the win. That box got checked in a big way last night. After the 3rd quarter it looked like LA was going to squander a winnable game as a result of defensive breakdowns and poor execution. AD was everywhere in the 4th quarter and OT, grabbing boards and playing big. While he missed all his three pointers in the game I’d prefer AD to be dominant in the paint where we need him to be a consistent force. Even when LeBron comes back I feel like the Lakers are at their best when they play through AD and force the other team to contend with his size, skills and talent. When he plays in the shadows we’re a weaker team.
2. Russell Westbrook finding his way. Small surprise that Westbrook asserted himself with LeBron out, it’s that exact kind of situation that Russell thrives in: ball in his hands, big man screening and presenting a lob target and the defense having to choose. #0 uncorked some vintage moves in the paint last night and was a force equal to Anthony Davis and had it not been for some of the shots he set up not going in it’s likely he would have had a triple-double last night. On a ight where we needed every possession to be a good one Westbrook also had one of his better games thus far in regards to taking care of the ball. 3 turnovers is quite livable when it comes to a guy like Russ. In a game where we needed another high wattage player to get us over the hump, Westbrook delivered.
3. Here one game, gone the next. The Laker bench, which was such a strength in our first win, was almost non-existent last night. At least in terms of scoring. Carmelo couldn’t throw it in the ocean, Reaves and Rondo struggled defensively and Monk was pressed into starter duty (at which he excelled, more on that later). Of the 4 guys who came off the bench only Dwight had a positive impact and it would seem the on-court dust up was enough for him to get back focused and contributing in a positive way. Where they did show some mettle was on the glass and that’s a good thing. The Lakers have been getting out-rebounded which, for a team that starts DeAndre Jordan and grants Dwight Howard major minutes alongside AD and with superlative rebounder Westbrook in the fold, is unfathomable.
4. Austin Reaves had a great growing pains game. While Austin got lost on more than a few pick and roll coverages (and he wasn’t alone, either, as a team the Lakers are really struggling out of the gate defending simple pick and rolls) he was our most efficient three point shooter and got major minutes. The quicker we can get some of the younger guys like Reaves, Monk and Nunn acclimated into our system and how we want to defend P&R actions, where their shots are going to come from and how to fit in alongside three superlative NBA talents the better. While Reaves isn’t likely to make fans forget the impact of Alex Caruso any time soon he has a chance to forge his own “gritty glue guy” legend in his own way.
5. Malik Monk had his best game as a Laker. While he didn’t have the most efficient game Monk was huge in that he kept the pressure on with his outside shooting helping keep the middle of the floor open for Westbrook to attack the rim. Monk is basically playing for his next deal which, because of how the CBA works, all but assures it won’t be as a Laker. Still, Monk can up his value by contributing in the exact way he did last night. We have a lot of guys that fit this mold and may be one year showcases on the most popular team in sport. Since there are so many guys on minimum deals it limits what we can offer them this summer to stay and, should a better deal come along it’s all but certain they’ll take it. Still, a legacy can be formed in a single season and if Monk can show he’s up to the task the big deal he didn’t see this season may be out there next summer.