Lakers Fast Break

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Lakers Fast Break - Lakers-Warriors Tuesday Preseason Post Game with LakerTom!

October 13, 2021

The big three were all finally in the lineup as LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis hit the court Tuesday in the Lakers’ 111-99 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Join us as “Gunner” LakerTom from lakerholics.com talks with Gerald about how they looked, the injury bug biting again, and who was signed to a two-way contract. And we reminisce on a year since the Lakers won NBA gold on our latest Lakers Fast Break podcast!

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3 Comments

LakerTom
4 years, 4 months ago

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.
Jamie Sweet
4 years, 4 months ago

-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!!!!!
- LakerTom
  4 years, 4 months ago
  
  -Groundhog Day Response: Melo will not start!
  -Turnovers are killing us!
  -Pool, Steph, and Klay are going to be lethal!
  -We added six shooters to replace Buddy Hield.
  -For now, injuries will make Frank’s lineup decisions easier.
  -Rondo, not LeBron, is the backup to Russ.
  -Baze is a lock to start
  -Turnovers are our biggest Achilles heel.
  -Austin Reaves will be a better player than Alex Caruso.
  -Lakers made right choice in THT over AC
  -Chicken Little: “The sky is falling. The sky is falling.”
  -Could Austin Reaves start tonight?

Jamie Sweet
4 years, 4 months ago

-Warriors are back indeed, team to be reckoned with now.
-Free throws can’t be this bad, simple as that.
-AB’s preseason happening in the regular season.
-Kent was a highlight.
-Been worried about the defense since before preseason, not sure we can look to just AB to fix that.
-AD at the line has become way more of an adventure than anyone ever imagined.
-Laker bench got it handed to them big time.
-The Rondo/Westbrook pairing is a no-go for me, as well.
-The points in the paint is a huge issue but not sloely on Dwight and DeAndre’s shoulders. Dwight and DeAndre played 26 minutes combined and none of those were in crunch time. So that comes down to none other than Anthony Davis and his issue being the primary paint defender and not the elite help defender that he is.
-LeBron had a good game, AD had a good game, rest of the team…not so much.
-Gerald is right, this will not the #1 defensive team in the NBA.
-I’m fine with LT’s proposed starting line up, not sure that’s enough to fix our defense because it’s the perimeter that’s the issue.
-Wasn’t the early part of the schedule supposed to be the soft part?
-Kudos to Kerr for his halftime adjustments and motivational speech.
-Want to add the juice Carmelo brings to the crowd. They light up whenever he touches the ball, awesome. Now he just needs to defend 10% better.

Great show guys! Very enjoyable listen on my lunch break.

LakerTom
4 years, 4 months ago

Great podcasts, guys. Gerald was his usual host extraordinaire and Sean and Jamie piped in with their usual smart observations and classic comments. There were so many ‘great takes’ by Sean and Jamie that I wish I had not been on a hike so I could have written all of them down. Proud to have three of these guys as my partners at Lakerholics.Com

If anybody wants a quick primer of the kind of discussions and fellow Lakers fans they’ll encounter on Lakerholics.Com, listening to this great podcast is the key. Great banter, solid BBIQ, fun ribbing, and obvious preparation that showed up in the smart observations and insightful comments.

Loved that the podcast was more than a hour as I didn’t have to scramble for something to listen to on the last of my daily three mil hike. Great job on the rest of the West. I’ll finished the pod tomorrow to see what you guys think about the East. But great listen, guys. Thanks.

LakerTom
4 years, 4 months ago

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.

LakerTom
4 years, 4 months ago

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.
- Jamie Sweet
  4 years, 4 months ago
  
  Monk and THT are injured, preseason counts man…
  
  In terms of the on-court product the second quarter has been the lone stretch the whole preseason I’d like to bottle and save for later. Blown coverages, confused rotations and generally uninspiring play across the board has been the tone set thus far.
  - LakerTom
    4 years, 4 months ago
    
    It was great to see that stretch of great defense, especially with Dwight at the five instead of AD. This should seal Dwight getting the rest of the minutes at center. DeAndre DNPs.

Jamie Sweet
4 years, 5 months ago

-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…

LakerTom
4 years, 5 months ago

Let’s hope this gets Ariza back to being the contributor we were counting upon. Hopefully, it won’t lead Frank to playing more of Dwight and DeAndre in the meantime or even starting one of them. Doesn’t bode well for our depth at power forward.
Jamie Sweet
4 years, 5 months ago

I have Ariza and Rondo penciled in for the same level of regular season impact: almost none. They’re here for the playoffs and one of them was always going to be this season’s Jared Dudley (gets a procedure done as maintenance early, be ready for some spot playoff minutes).
Jamie Sweet
4 years, 5 months ago

January, almost no doubt in my mind they’ll keep him out until the calendar turns over. Just no need to push it, you’re not bringing him in to play 20-25 mpg in the regular season, same as Rondo. Leadership, mentoring and playoff minutes in that order.

LakerTom
4 years, 5 months ago

While the game turned out to be a bummer, it was great to get together again with Gerald, Jamie, and Sean for our Lakers Fast Break Post Game Podcasts. Missing the fun and frolicking with the guys after the game.

Join us for some Lakers banter and back-and-forths as we talk about the first preseason game and what to expect as the Lakers 2021-22 season is about to get under way.

And don’t forget to give us that 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.

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