LAKERHOLICS PODCASTS

Join the fun. Lots a great banter between Gerald, Jamie, and me plus additions from the Lakerholics Facebook group. Give us a listen. I know you’ll enjoy the give and take and learn more about your beloved Lakers and what to expect in the regular season.

Fun podcast even though the Lakers lost. Great discussions about how to fit Russ with LeBron and AD, Austin Reaves replacing Alex Caruso, Melo’s role, how Rondo is going to be needed more than thought, and how the key to making the three superstars work is LeBron James, the maestro of figuring out how to make teams win.

-I like Melo starting, he gives them some real scoring punch. He’s not afraid to take the shot (any shot), he’s stout on D, if not mobile or fleet of foot, and we’ll need his confidence during this opening stretch.
-Turnovers, by the big 3, have become the issue that concerns me the most.
-Poole making people believers, Sean called that one last season.
-Tom’s observation that our guys who we brought in for volume are not going to get the shots they got on this team is the point I think I made 4 or 5 times this summer during the dog days. You can’t plug Nunn, Monk or Ellington’s numbers from last season into this team and say “that’s what will happen!” Fewer minutes, shots but more focus on the misses: who succeeds in that environment and can defend at something like NBA decent will separate themselves from the pack.
-Ellington, Nunn, THT and Monk are all going to be out for at least a couple weeks. Not the recipe for building the foundation we all hoped to see built. Just means everything will take more time and when the games count it magnifies every little thing that goes wrong.
-I have to agree on the topic of needing Rondo, he will be there to stabilize the younger squads and possibly be the lead guard to close games with Russ at the 2.
-Ahhhh Gerald, thinking Frank is going to set anything in stone. Lol, fools gold on that one. If injuries are going to mount like they have been there will not nearly as much stability or chemistry building as I’m sure we’d all like to see.
-Kent is my starter at the 2, all season. LeBron at the 3/4 with Melo or Wayne at the 2/3 with Kent works, whichever way Frank leans.
-Generally I feel the worrisome points remain: defense is not in any kind of shape worth debating as it’s generally poor, injuries (aka roster age/wear and tear) are really rearing their head but the worst part about it is that it’s mainly our young guys who are going down but to me the issue looming largest is the turnovers. 20 turnovers
-AUSTIN for 28.5 MPG!!!! He ain’t no Caruso, not yet. He’s shown promise, like THT last season. Let’s see how he handles the grind of the season. But you need to still try and develop some kind of youth movement both for trades or to stay on the team in a longer term capacity. 100% agree with LT in regards to Caruso not compromising his game-team guy through and through.
-Still would have kept Caruso over THT. All day, every day. No question.
-Funny how the best 15 man in the league ain’t playing in the league anymore…enjoy the suit gig, J-Dud, you earned it.
-Actually it is the turnovers, we’re giving up 10 more FGA per game to our opposition and that won’t abide no matter what guys start, finish or whatever. Need to get them under 20 and we need to do it sooner than later.
-I’m not sure that the question of who has to change the most is the correct one. You really don’t want anyone altering their game out of character and losing their way. But we need to quickly discover the way to maximize the blended elements of that trio and make it work on the court. I can read all the talking points out there about patience, learning pace, and so on and so forth but the fact of the matter is these are pros and they need to play like pros. Value the possession, create the best, easiest shot, and defend at a high level to get out on the break and unleash the best version of this team. Turnovers run counter to all of those points and we’re no turning it over due to crazy ball pressure or elite team defense. We’re sloppy and our timing is totally off. Will that magically change when the games matter? Empirical evidence tells us no, that these games are the games where foundational habits are built. The turnovers were a consistent issue last season and I called it out in preseason and had the whole blog onboard on that topic by season’s end after much early season derision and dismissive comments. I certainly hope we can get the TO’s down to 13-15/game and soon but based on what I’ve seen so far that’s unrealistic.
-I take it back on Reaves…33 MPG!!!!!

As I explained during the podcast, Lakers fans just need to chillax because preseason doesn’t count unless it’s injuries. Lakers will be fine. Losing games to teams like the Suns who have great continuity with their entire team coming back is expected.

On the other hand, there was a devastating 14-0 run in the second quarter with Russ, Wayne, Kent, AD, and Dwight on the floor that showed the kind of defense this Lakers team is capable of playing. Rewatch that stretch if you’re worried. It was reminiscent of the Lakers dominating D in the bubble.

It may take this team a few weeks to get everything working with 11 new players and an entirely new approach on both offense and defense but the moves being made by Frank Vogel and the coaching staff in reimagining the Lakers as a small ball on steroids team is going to win our 18th NBA championship.

-No D is the biggest current issue.
-No rebounding is another huge issue.
-Once again turnovers plague the team. THT with 5, yikes!
-Shooting threes in volume, wheeee…making them is another matter.
-For all the laurels folks heap on Monk he was second on the team with -19 +/-.
-Since we now know TA will be out for a couple a months we are now a small team, like really small, I think we’ll see more Melo and more Dwight and DAJ to slot AD at the 4.
-If rebounding continues to be an issue we’ll move AD back to the 4 no matter what he wants and let him weakside rebound off DAJ and Dwight boxing out. Some of this may improve with Russ and LBJ when they play as they are both good rebounders…but that requires somebody to box out so we’ll see…