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.
   

There it is, the first of what should be many more wins for this iteration of the Lakers. The Lakers gutted out a gritty win over the Grizzlies from Memphis and in the doing quieted some of the chatter surrounding the cohesion, chemistry and composition of the team. While the issues that were troubling remain so (points in the paint, defense without fouling, turnovers) the Lakers, as a team, were able to overcome those and bring home win #1.

1. What a game by Carmelo Anthony! On a night he passed Moses Malone on the All Time scoring list to move into the #9 slot Carmelo also sealed the win with a couple of free throws and paced the team in scoring with 28 points. There will be nights where Melo won’t be able to throw it in the ocean and not be up to the task on defense. But then there will also be glorious nights like last night where you just think it’s going in when it leaves his hands. We needed every one of those highly efficient 28 points to overcome Ja and the pesky Grizzlies. Anthony went a superb 10-15 from the floor, 6-8 from three and chipped in 3 boards, 2 blocks and an assist and a steal leading a stellar effort in general from the Lakers bench.
2. Malik Monk had a solid bounce-back effort. Monk is fighting to prove he should stick in the rotation when some guys get back healthy. Frank went with a shorter, 10 man rotation last night and Monk featured prominently in minutes that had been going to Rondo. He did well on both ends and shot well from beyond the arc. His 4 assists were a boon and were a big part of the benches success last night as the second unit did a great job moving the ball and not letting the rock stick. Malik did pretty well on defense which is where he needs to prove he can contribute consistently if he wants a prominent role.
3. Austin Reaves continues to impress. It’s getting harder and harder to come up with reasons as to why Frank doesn’t play Reaves more. While he will certainly go through some growing pains, especially on defense, it makes sense for the Lakers to get through those as early as possible because the kid has what it takes to be a force in the NBA. Maybe not an All-Star, but certainly a key cog on a team with banner expectations. In just 18 minutes Reaves played some decent defense and kept the ball moving by finding the open man for 3 dimes. Again, as with Monk, it’s the defensive end which will determine the extent of his role but the intangibles Austin brings are already having an impact.
4. The starters are still struggling. Not one starter logged a positive +/- in what has become a fairly consistent pattern thus far. I’m sure there are metrics and measurements Frank and his staff use that allow them to justify this starting group but from my perspective it’s not working very well. I’m guessing this is pretty much set in stone at this point, barring injury, though. Frank is not one for changing things up, likes a set look and adapts to things in-game. While we could go on and on discussing the pros and cons of that approach it is the way things are run at this point. Therefor the best we can hope for, as fans, is that Frank, LeBron, Russ and AD can figure out how to make it work with DeAndre Jordan to start halves. I’m not thinking that there is anything else to hope for.
5. While getting that first win was great the issues that are worrisome remain. We gave up an astonishing 62 points in the paint, got out-rebounded 49-36 and allowed the Grizzlies to shoot 53% overall. We were a Ja Morant missed free throw away from OT and who knows what happens then. It would appear it doesn’t mater which player plays at the five, we can’t stop anyone at the rim and teams are feasting on easy shots against us. They’re also killing us on the glass. If we want to reach our goals that area needs to improve as we’ll lose more games than not if that trend becomes the status quo.

Fun fact, I happened to be at the Forum last night to see Phish and it’s always nice to be back in that building. We’re going to need a little old school LA magic for this to come together quickly and the quicker it does the more we can get around to the business of seeing what this team is really capable of. I think it will happen but the defining question of our season is when. When can this group put it all together on both ends consistently? We have a nice stretch of games coming up that feature teams we ought to beat. We pick up a couple wins, improve our defense and cohesion in the doing, and things should start to look up. While it is just one win, as the first two games were only two games, maybe this will be the thing that helps to start bringing it all together. We get another chance tomorrow night. Go Lakers.

Thanks for the fiver, Jamie. It pretty much sums up everything that went on in the game.

The game against Phoenix was the worst Lakers game I have ever watched. It goes without saying, that is why the preseason is very important in building chemistry. Our stars were left out of the lineups in the preseason instead of trying to integrate every one in the early going. It should have been known to everyone that a team with so many new parts need more than just the first week of the season to get started. The preseason should be treated as ” we need the preseason” instead of “the preseason needs us.”

The loses to the Warriors and the Suns shouldn’t come as a surprise. Those teams already have built-in cohesion and continuity, and to think you are going to use them to prepare yourself at the start of the season, you are literally acting like drunkard begging for a knock out punch which is exactly what they got. The Lakers were completely punch drunk in these two defeats.

There is hope with these Lakers team, and I mean a lot of it. They just need time to get this chemistry issue taken care of. There are 79 games to go for the season and this team will eventually explode in every team’s face. I like how they grind out the win against the Grizzlies. There will be more games like this as we go on.

Just like the super team of the Miami Heat that went 9-8 to start the season, this Lakers team has the potential to eventually embark on harassing and tearing up teams as if they were asking for every team to hand in their resignations or else they will be smothered. This team will come alive at some point and it wont be good for many teams.

There are a lot of wrinkles that need to be ironed out in terms of rotations and substitution patterns before the team reaches its potential, but we will get there.

Finally, I want to thank everyone for the contributions to the blog.
By the way, I am still recovering from my shoulder replacement surgery. So I am having difficulty typing with my left hand. That is why I have not been commenting that much.

The balanced and cohesive Golden State Warriors proved to be too large a load for the Lakers as the home team fell to the visitors 121-114. The Warriors are returning the majority of a core that surprised some but came up just short of making the playoffs last season as they lost both of their play-in games and failed to qualify. They looked a lot more like a playoff team last night than we did but, take heart, it’s still early in the season and great things take time and effort. Still, the road to greatness will likely be filled with potholes and landmines so buckle up.

1. The Grind. I’m not talking about the regular season, which is indeed another kind of grind. I’m talking about the length of time a process like this takes to come to fruition. When the Lakers traded for Westbrook they assured themselves of one thing: that the gelling process would be a major aspect of the regular season. Whenever multiple, ball-dominant, All-Star/HOFers are on the same team the question arises and it arises quickly: who will be the lead dog? Generally talent wins out in that debate and it should here, as well. LeBron James is still the best and most complete basketball player on planet Earth, thus, he should and needs to be the lead dog in order for the Lakers to attain their goals. The question raged all summer as to which Laker ought to change their game to accommodate the team best. Frank Vogel answered that question in his post game comments when he labeled Westbrook as both the new guy and the one who had the most to catch up on as well as being the one to fit in. That reads correctly to me, Westbrook is almost beyond elite in the areas in which he excels but where he doesn’t excel he has middling impact. I believe Russ will get there but that it will take some time. The big question being ‘how much?’
2. The Warriors bench kicked our benches butt. Warriors starters 66 points, Lakers 85 points. Dubs bench 55, Lakers bench 29. The legendary Stu Lantz has a pre-game segment called Stu’s Views and he often has a View called ‘No New Stars’. That would have applied to last night’s game as we saw guys like NeManja Bjelica, Damion Lee, and old man Andre Iguodala all score in double-digits. Of the three I felt like Bjelica did the most damage as he often out-fought Davis, Howard or anyone else that tried to grab a rebound when he was nearby. Can’t let guys like that beat you. Injuries have affected the composition and rotation of the Laker bench but the bottom line is when you are called upon you gotta go out and deliver.
3. Playing defense without fouling. We sent the Warriors to the free throw line a staggering 30 times and they made 25 of them. Now, while a point could certainly be made that they made more free throws than we took (19) we didn’t do ourselves many favors by missing 10 of those freebies, with Anthony Davis shooting a disturbing 2-7 from the free throw line. AD needs to be better, he struggled from the line last season, too, but doesn’t have the quick turnaround excuse handy any longer. We won’t get where we want to go shooting 47% from the free throw line. Can we do a better job of getting to the line more? Not really, that kind of thing ebbs and flows throughout the season based on the refs (which weren’t great last night, especially the travelling call on Russ that could be called on any guard in the NBA all game long). Can we do a better job of playing defense without fouling? Absolutely.
4. Hey, that’s Avery Bradley! Dude almost came in and helped swing the win our way with no preseason, no camp, and not much time to even say hello to the new squad. AB was one of the guys I felt like got away to our detriment after the Bubble Banner and I, for one, am happy he is back. Knows our defense, can run an offense and is class A dude. Welcome back, Avery.
5. TIME TO HIT THE PANIC BUTTON!!!!!! Well, not yet, while the same trends that had been disturbing continued from the preseason into last night I did see enough improvement, especially in the first half, that gives me a lot of hope for the future of this team. The things I’m not fond of are seeing Russ and Rondo share the floor. Rondo will dominate the ball and we need Russ to get time with the ball in his hands, some shooters and a screener for him to get comfy. Put Bradley on the floor for those minutes and save Rondo for his best season: the playoffs. Same goes for DeAndre Jordan as a starter. “The Stein newsletter be damned!” says Frank and while I agree that there a small number of compelling reasons to start off with a traditional big man it shouldn’t be DAJ. You’re not doing him any favors playing him only 13 minutes, basketball is a game of rhythm and no player will get into a groove barely playing, better to give those minutes to Dwight or Melo. Malik Monk needs to see the floor more, as well, especially since he’s healthy. Maybe they were easing him back, I didn’t hear that but it seems logical. Regardless, it can’t be all old guys; we need some youth.

All in all, I had this pegged as a loss and there it is. I didn’t like a single thing about our 4th quarter except Avery Bradley. Too many lazy threes when we just needed to score points of any kind (too many threes in general). We started the 4th down 85-83 and came out and missed several threes as the shot clock wound down, another bad carryover from last season where we fiddle seconds away while Rome burns. The turnovers were OK, still a lot of unforced turnovers which is maddening. NBA playoff rematch on Friday, might be a rough start to the season, I need to see Phoenix/Denver tonight before I form an opinion but if you asked me now I’m seeing another loss on Friday while we continue to integrate.

Go Lakers.

Last season the Lakers scored 109.5 points per game. LeBron James scored 25 ppg, Russell Westbrook 22.2 and Anthony Davis scored 21.8 which would, when totaled, add up to the tidy sum of 69 ppg over the course of an NBA season. By my math that means we have to account for account 40 more points to bring us up to the scoring potential of last season’s team. Let’s just say that the 3 superstars above will be able to replicate their performance from last season, that they will score roughly the same amount of points despite there being more players of gravity on their squad than last season. Where will those other 40 (or hopefully more) points come from?
The Others.

1. The Other guards. Much has been made of the shot-making potential of the guys we brought in this offseason. Much like last season, really. The Lakers last season brought in guys coming off career seasons from three (Schroder, Wes Matthews) a stretch 5 (Gasol) and saw decent marks from returns KCP and Alex Caruso in terms of efficiency. This season we brought in Kendrick Nunn, Malik Monk and professional shooter Wayne Ellington along with the trade for Russell Westbrook to shore up the guard position. With Russ we got instant intensity and the ability to get to the rim or out on the break. In Nunn and Monk we got guys who have shown themselves to be decent three point shooters albeit in a small sample size. Wayne Ellington is the only proven commodity among the three when it comes to scoring from the outside and his inside game is nascent, at best. As a trio, Nunn, Monk and Ellington averaged 35.9 ppg on teams where they had defined roles. If they can come anything close to that as Lakers our offense will look great. Coupled with the 69 ppg we hope to get from the Trio if they manage, as a group, to average 30 ppg (accounting for fewer minutes since they won’t all be playing 20+mpg every game) that would get us right about to where we stood last season. I don’t think it likely as at least one of those three will be fighting for minutes and you can expect there to be a fairly sizable dip in production for at least one, if not all, of our guards. They each averaged 20+ minutes per game (Nunn at 29 mpg stands to see the biggest decrease). If one slots THT as a guard those numbers from those three will take a bigger hit and put more pressure on the 20 year-old Talen to show off an improved jump shot, or a floater, or something to up his efficiency. In short, I expect the guards to average fewer points than they collectively put up last season. One of the reasons being the flow/super-star driven nature of the Frank Vogel “offense”. The Lakers, as a team, really don’t know where their shots are coming from. For guys like Ellington that’s a killer, professional shooters like Wayne seem to function better when they know where the butter for their bread is coming from. Can the opposite prove true? Of course. Time will tell which way this breaks. Oh yeah, Rajon Rondo. I don’t expect him to play much, I think he’ll be this team’s better version of Jared Dudley. Seeing as he averaged 5.4 ppg last season I’ll be happy if he’s not hurt, racking up some dimes and hitting a couple shots a game. Not offense saving stuff.
   
   Prediction: 25 PPG averaged between the 3, 35 if THT mostly plays at the 2.
2. The Other forwards. We added some big names to the forward spots and, to a man, they’re all getting up there in age for the NBA. Combo guard/forward Talen Horton Tucker goes a long way towards reducing the cumulative age of the forwards on our team at 20 but after that the youngest one is Kent Bazemore at 32. Ariza is next at at 36 and not far behind him is Carmelo Anthony. This trio averaged 30 ppg last season but where I take some hope is that they each are reprising roughly the same role just on a different team. Here again a breakout season from Taken Horton-Tucker could really boost the forward’s scoring fortunes if he can either simply improve upon what he was able to accomplish last season or show us all a little something new. The minutes here will also be impacted by how much LeBron plays at the 4 and so, until we get a better sense of how that will factor in (since, as of preseason game 1, we saw AD at the 4 and LBJ theoretically would have played at the 3) so, depending on Frank’s rotations, one of these guys could essentially sit out every game or so. My theory is Trevor will start on the IL, let him really ease his way into the season. He’s battled several injuries over the last few seasons and I think we’d all rather see him effective in the playoffs rather than come out of the gates hot and fade. Bazemore and Melo ought to have fairly sizable and stable roles.
   
   Prediction: 20 ppg between the 3, 30 if THT mostly plays at the 3.
3. The Other centers. or the only centers, depending on how Frank plays this thing out. The biggest storyline of the Lakers offseason is easily the news that AD is willing to play more (when he talks sounds like a lot more, when Frank talks it sounds like not to much) center. How that shakes out will affect the other line ups on down the roster. More AD at the 5 opens up more minutes for Melo at the 4 backing up LeBron when he either slides back to the 3 or even potentially seeing the return of Carmelo Anthony: starting NBA player. The more we rely on Dwight and DeAndre Jordan to score the worse our offense will look. Both are past their NBA primes, both averaged just over 7 PPG last season and neither has any range to their game. It’s dunks off of lobs and offensive put-backs or it’s nothing. OK, OK, the occasional Dwight Howard three-bomb. Point is, neither of these guys even has much of a traditional low post, back-to-the-basket old school game. They really do rely on the guard setting them up or crashing the glass. So, based on how many minutes AD takes away from this duo it’s hard for me to see even 10 ppg coming from the other Laker centers. If they come close to 15 we’ll have what appears to be an elite offense in the making. 5 more ppg from Dwight and DAJ doesn’t necessarily mean fewer shots for anyone else, just that they’re doing their jobs well providing a paint release for drives or cleaning the offensive glass.
   
   Prediction: 10 ppg…if we’re lucky.
4. What about all the three point shooters we picked up? Frankly, I don’t see us transforming our offense or playing much differently than we did last season. We’re not going to lead the league in 3 point FGA, we’ll be in the top 1/3 most likely. We shot 32 three pointers/game last season, I don’t see that number going up too much. We hit 35.2% of those. If that could creep up over 37% it will help open up the paint a little bit but the honest truth is that, with LeBron and Russ handling the ball 90+% of the time, teams will dare us to make threes. They are not going to open up the paint for those guys to breeze to the rim from rim-rattling dunks or crowd-juicing lobs. It’s not going to happen no matter what kind of line up we trot out. The Lakers will need to prove that they can hit three pointers at a high clip to alter ay of the tried and true stratagems against Russ and The King.
5. But won’t AD playing at the five make our offense better? In theory, yes. More Davis means less Dwight or DAJ and so that means a more dynamic offense. But AD likes to shoot inefficient step backs and off-balance twos. A lot. Couple that with Russ who is not a knockdown shooter and LeBron who can get hot from the outside but is far better at scoring in the paint and we have a lot of guys who like to play an older brand of basketball, which suits me fine, just that we’re seemingly built for a newer brand. That’s where Frank and his new extension come into play. While not relegating him to lame-duck status Rob didn’t cement his status as long-term future coach of the LA Lakers, either. Frank is going to need to show a little something more, especially on offense, than he has in seasons past.
   
   So, if you add up my predictions we seem to have the potential to score an amazing and near NBA record 124 ppg this season! Don’t bet on it, my predictions are based on feel and notion as much as anything else and we haven’t even seen the full team play, yet. It’s going to be hard for each group to hit my predictions simply because there likely won’t be enough shots to go around. For a little dose of reality we didn’t even crack the 100 point mark in our first pre-season game. For another dose of reality the top scoring teams in NBA history are all from before the 90s. In fact during this, the glorious offensive renaissance of basketball, no team from the 2000’s cracks the top 50 list except for two: The Milwaukee Bucks from last season and the season before. Yeah, that’s right, that misbegotten group of not the New Jersey Nets, or the high octane Mike D’Antoni Phoenix teams or the Shaq/Kobe Lakers are the only modern NBA team to crack the top 50 highest scoring teams in the regular season.
   
   That’s because they do it with defense as much as offense. Which is exactly what we better do. More on that point next time.
   
   Go Lakers.