1) Injuries
2) Chemistry (or lack thereof, massively affected by point #1)
3) Too much salary in LBJ, he’s earned it but he’s not worth it, if you get my implication. That’s 2, maybe 3 young players we could be developing. Or Reaves and Hayes.
4) Took until March for the coaches to figure out defense. Unacceptable. Glad they got there tho.
5) Luka needs to keep working on his body. This kind of injury, in the same leg as his balky calf, can have a high frequency of re-occurrence. That’s the last thing we need.

What playoff hopes the Lakers had took a serious hit when the left hamstring of Luka Doncic seized up on him. The MRI revealed a grade 2 strain (grade 3 is the most serious and avoiding a tear was awesome). What does this mean going forward?

1) Out for the regular season. 5 games left (about a week left) and the week of playin games which we will miss no matter what. 15 days from today, 17 from the time of injury. Typical recovery time is 3-6 weeks, often more for professional athletes. Recent cautionary tales are Aaron Gordon, Peyton Watson and Jalen Williams. We’ve seen players comeback quicker but they often are ineffective and the risk of re-injury is high. In my non professional opinion the Lakers are looking at mid May, at best, for Luka to be able to return to the court and that’s if he responds incredibly well to treatment.

2) Same leg as the calf injury he suffered last season. Both soft tissue injuries. This is something I hope and think the Lakers want to get right. A tear would be disastrous, an injury to another body part like the knee or Achilles if he compensates for the hamstring would be disastrous. This is about more than one season.

3) Lakers can’t let other issues cloud their judgement. Yes, we all want to see the trio of James, Reaves and Luka get busy in the playoffs. Yes, Reaves’ fit w/Luka is a huge question, especially in the playoffs. Of course this could be LeBron’s last dance as a Laker, or even NBA player. Again, this is about more than this season.

4) Things will be much different next season. Lakers have glaring roster holes, fixing a few in the summer could go a long way towards helping the team for years to come. This was always a long shot season with OKC at full strength, Wemby coming of age fast and Boston not taking the gap year.

5) Save the coach and player from themselves. This smacks of Riles running the team into the ground before the NBA Finals against Detroit. Coaches and players always want to push through, not having heard from Luka we can only assume he felt good enough to go but for the life of me I don’t see why he was playing at all down 31. The team needs to do better.

1) That 2nd quarter would have did us in a month ago. No plucky comeback, no opportunities for last second heroics. That’s tangible growth on an important front: grit and toughness.

2) Tired Legs: 5 games in 8 nights on the road…still, no Cade…call it a wash and we do end up losing what was a winnable game. Can’t get too pumped for moral victories.

3)?Defense kept us in it. That’s another thing that wouldn’t happen a month or so ago. If we didn’t light it up from three in a game we got behind in we lost. This was more of a grinding, playoff style comeback. Better for what’s to come.

4) Not loving the out of time out/out of bounds plays these days. They’re predictable and I can’t tell if it’s the play or the execution because not much of either seemed to happen at the end. Something to improve on in these last few games.

5) One more. Then our other epic roadie is in the books, we can close it out with the 3rd seed and face Houston in the 1st round!

Had a cool post, accidentally deleted it…suffice to say we’re kicking ass at the exact right moment.

The loss last night dropped us a game and a half behind Denver for 5th and 14-19 against teams above .500. We’re a worse team at this point than we were last season with not too many signs of turning it around. The same old same did us in.

1) Too much whining. If I could have the coach do one thing it would be to fine any player that stops to talk to a ref during a live ball. You can yell, you can shake your head, but it better be while your a$$ is running back down the court on defense. You stop to whine? $5,000.

2) Not all that much sustainable intensity. The intense guys aren’t very good and the good guys aren’t very intense. Everyone says the right things and, if you watch post game interviews, they seem contrite and comprehend that there is an effort and focus issue. The effort being on defense being physical and matching the opponent’s aggression. The focus on just being active and present in the moment. Catch the ball, make the solid pass, finish the layup. Play the game.

3) The blame game. We have a lot of excuses as to why we have lost this season. Injuries, lack of chemistry, inherent moodiness, bad officiating, and on and on. The leadership in this team, from the locker room on up, doesn’t feel up to the task of winning a banner. Too many self-inflicted wounds have established a pattern and appearance, if not true, dysfunction. I hope that we can either discover a winning mojo like yesterday or dig deep into what is missing from the team and organization and replace it. Be it player, coach, GM or whatever.

4) LeBron passed Cap in all
Time made field goals and will probably pass Lance Parrish for All Time regular season games played. Crazy. Still, and not diminish any aspect of his accomplishment because I think the modern NBA accounts for a lot more wear and tear, he started his career at 18. All the same, historic dude, that LeBron James. No denying that.

5) Reaves looks off. Just not able to get past his man. Also not shooting great from three. He, along with half the team, has awful body language. The early season joy and verve had been replaced by a dour vibe. If he’s hurt and gutting it out he should consider sitting. Whatever chance we have in any playoff series will come down to having a mostly healthy team.

Another under-manned opponent, another Laker loss. The team looks very dispassionate, moody and like they want the season to be over. Hustle seems like it’s optional. This has gotten hard to watch.

1) Too much Luka. It’s a fine line to walk. Too many shots and you’re not passing enough, hogging the ball. Don’t shoot enough, you quit on the team. In this case I think that there’s a problem with our lack of play calling. Can’t have Ayton getting only a handful of shots, or he’s going on the banana boat in his brain.

2) Reaves too passive. Might still not have his legs back yet, probably still knocking off some rust, but he’s not really driving and attacking like we know he can. As a result he’s become more of a release valve than creator.

3) So many dumb turnovers. Whether it was one of our guards dribbling the ball off their foot, Marcus Smart not getting the ball across the timeline when absolutely nobody was guarding him, or the listless passes that were easily picked off, this game was not a pretty one in terms of execution.

4) Too many offensive rebounds surrendered. At some point you have to look inside and say “I need to put some effort into this, those other guys are actually jumping for the ball and stuff!”. Inexplicably we lost the rebounding battle despite Mark Williams being in foul trouble and Jordan Goodwin not playing.

5) Time is running out. Nobody cares that we haven’t had the time to develop wonderful and beautiful chemistry as a team, that Luka, Reaves and LeBron nigh not play 30 games together this entire season or any other excuse one might care to cobble together. It’s either important to you and worth sacrificing for or it’s not. Petty issues with refs, teammates, coaches or your role won’t help right now. Reddick has to figure out how to get this team to play harder. He may also want to consider putting the league’s leading three pointer shooter by percentage in when you need a game tying three…I’m sure Maxi Kleber was hot, though…while Kennard sat.

I can think of several words to describe last nights woeful outing against the under-manned Celtics but I’ll settle on one: pathetic. Not worth the watching but I did anyway. Only thing to take away from this loss: we aren’t a contender.

1) Too much whining. Sure, the Celtics got away with 2 obvious goaltends and 2 obvious offensive fouls. Evidently that was enough to take the team and coaching staff out of the game. Luka is going to complain, LeBron has earned the right to complain. Marcus Smart flapping his yap for 3 minutes just to get a tech doesn’t need to stay in the game plan. Any player who just lays on the floor and whines should be benched next time…except our coach whines as much as the players do. Weak.

2) Speaking of Marcus Smart, fine time for a donut against the team that once called him
it’s heart and soul right before shipping him out and winning a title. So much for getting revenge or playing for pride… At this point I hope he opts out, the negatives aren’t outweighed by the positives, IMO. He’s clearly a step slow on D, takes it out on the officials, and shoots far too often based on his ability to actually make shots. Play Kennard more if you need buckets or Vando if you need stops. Have him slide into a mentor role or whatever.

3) Same goes for Ayton. Please, please opt out. We don’t need your skillset on this team and we need someone whose head is in the game for more than 7 minutes. It’s a 48 minute game, dude, show up for more of them or just go away.

4) Reddick got vastly out-coached. The Celtics pressured us full court all game long and we let them, they outhustled us and we stuck with our slowest, most myopic players in the 2nd half. Pat Riley could have done a better job coaching these guys, not 80’s Pat Riley, the near fossilized one that showed more pep than our entire team last night during his speech.

5) Reaves checked out early. Evidently he just can’t keep up with Payton Pritchard. Dude got outplayed by Payton for the full 48 and whined a lot while it happened. Reaves might get paid a lot of money this coming summer but games like this make me wonder if it should be us…

Games like this make me wish our record reflected the effort this team puts forth. Honestly, this is a playin team riding on the coattails of early season success and injuries to key players on other teams. It’s sad that this is how LeBron will go out as a Laker because I’m not seeing a lot of reasons for him to put himself through this ever again. I fucking hate losing to the Celtics but I really hate the way we no-showed a big game last night. Just proves what a lot of us have seen in this team since last summer. Which is to say not much. I suppose there’s time to turn it around but this feels like what the team it is now. Weak, slow, and no heart.

A Lakers team without Luka failed to muster enough firepower to win. While disappointing it should also come as no surprise. The defense couldn’t find a groove and we lost to the champs again.

1) Jake LaRavia finally made some baskets! Started cold, finished cold, but in the middle, when we pulled ahead, he scored 8 points on FG’s and hit the majority of his free throws. It’s not easy finding a groove playing next 2-3 high usage players and your job is to bail them out when they pass you the ball, just ask Rui, but I still like Jake sticking in the starting 5.

2) Reaves got in his own head. He was a shadow of himself after that tech for arguing the non-call. Dude knows better but sometimes it’s hard when you feel like it’s 8 on 5.

3) Not enough of LeBron down the stretch: Reddick copped to this post game and I agree. LeBron was exploiting the defense in the 3rd and in the 4th we went…everywhere else. 3 total FGAs for James, he made 2, but this one had all the ingredients for a “turn back the clock” game. We just didn’t impose our will hard enough.

4) Know your enemy. It’s not just a catch phrase or a Rage Against the Machine tune, it ought to be in the notes for the coaches. Going to Maxi Kleber against the Lilliputian Warriors or the slow of foot and small besides Embiid 76ers was a good move. Watching him get out-gazelle’d by Thunder big men was quite easy to see coming. For my money I even thought we played Ayton too much (and him sitting out another game means he could have used some more R&R and gone with the key guys who sparked us in the 3rd: Vando, LaRavia snd Hayes. Jake got 4th quarter minutes. The other guys…not so much. We failed to learn the matchup lesson.

5) Make your free throws fellers. What good is whining about the refs if you don’t take advantage of the ones you were given? C’mon man….

Curious move, plenty of players that can help now available and we rush to secure…a G Leaguer?! If we’re gonna do that why not lock up Nick Smith Jr. or Drew Timme? Weird.

I don’t mind when the team wins ugly. This was another fairly ugly 1st half. A stellar 3rd quarter propelled us to a back-to-back home win and we need to grind out 3 more before the All Star break.

1) Welcome Luke Kennard. 6-7, 2-4 from three with the first shot being a nifty quick flick release on a close out. More impressive was how he adapted to the defense quickly with drives to the rim. He got blown by a few times on D but it’s his first game. We’ll chalk it up to that.

2) LBJ and sloppy excellence. Back to back double-doubles for the this season. Far too many unforced turnovers in some of the worst passes I’ve seen him throw: the ASB is coming soon, though. We’ll chalk it up to that.

3) That 3 man defensive unit of Smart, Vando, and Kleber has been getting after it. Add in Rui and Reaves and you wonder if there’s a world where Reaves can see his way to playing off the bench. I think he would have to ask for it to happen and it would have to be very personally organic because Reaves off the bench truly does solve a lot of problems. It’s a contract year and I’m not sure Coach has that level in him, yet. Wish he did or would figure out how.

4) Speaking of Maxi, release the Kraken! Dude is all over the place and moving as smoothly as I’ve ever seen him. Back to back solid outings where the box score doesn’t show you the true level of his impact.

5) Three games to go, close it out solid. No SGA? Don’t show any mercy. If Luka is out until after the break (my personal hope) come hard at the Spurs with this grind then down energy we’ve been showing of late. Smart and Vando have been a big impact on D. This team needs to get the TO’s under control and continue to embrace this level of defense. There’s enough scoring to win if they can.

Not really expecting the Lakers to make much noise. Not for lack of desire or need, far from it. We clearly have needs on both ends of the court. But there are built in and self-inflicted reasons why I expect there the deadline to come and go without much action on our end.

1) Not much grease for the wheels. 1first round pick 5+ years out when Luka will still be on the team and we ought to be contending isn’t really worth much. Packaged with other picks it’d be better but all in it’s lonesome it’s not a trade needle mover.

2) Lack of coveted young players. We’d be covering them if we had them. As it is it’s Reaves and then a loooong gap between Hachimura. Neither is really all that young, either. Nobody wants Knecht, even if someone did why pay now when you can simply wait until he’s an unrestricted free agent this summer when his option goes unclaimed? Their o has been underwhelming when he’s even available to play. This concludes the list of young assets.

3) Everyone had the same needs as we do but also have more to work with. The Lakers clearly have needs at the 1, 3, & 5. Guess what? So does the majority of the league! As such the competition for those players is steep. Based on our war chest, or lack thereof, it’s hard to see us beating offers from other interested teams.

4) Rob is inept. Old “Master Class” couldn’t shit or get off the pot I terms of making a move for DeAndre Hunter perfectly encapsulates the Rob Pelinka era as GM. He was savvy enough not to blow the Luka trade and after that his signature move was the Russ trade which really just hacked him out of his own mess he made. Hunter would have been a slight upgrade over Rui, IMO, but it’s even more of a bummer we couldn’t be in in the Ellis move. Some of this isn’t Rob’s Fault, per se, although he is the one who has traded first round picks for subpar players or players we simply let walk multiple times. It’s why I’m not too optimistic that Rob can be the GM we need during the Luka era.

5) Nobody wants to help the Lakers. We generally seem to overpay in these scenarios or don’t get invited to the party at all. That’s the way it is when you’re one on the most iconic brands on the planet.

All in all, if we can trade our unprotected FRP 5+ years out for a couple OKC picks (lightly protected) that would feel like a win. I hoping/expecting for a more exciting summer for us, anyhow, and adding fuel to that prospect seems savvy.

Still unable to get to the site at work, evidently it’s being blocked. So I gots to use the phone lol. Anyhoo, as we pass the halfway point on the road trip and near the trade deadline there are some things to get into.

1) Jake LaRavia is the best starter. Of the 3 candidates to start at the 3 (Rui, Vando and Jake) LaRavia has been the best fit. While it could be argued that Vanderbilt hasn’t been given a shot at the starting spot his impact off the bench remains steady: LaRavia off the bench isn’t as impactful as it is as starter. So, despite Rui’s superior shooting, I feel like Jake impacts the game on both ends more.

2) LeBron decision won’t be made in-season. Lotta fuss being made over a dude who has earned the right to end his career when he’s ready. He got emotional during a tribute, no big whoop. He’s not pulling a CP3.

3) Dalton Knecht is HILARIOUS!!! Dude…you don’t need to demand a trade. Writings been on the wall since last season. You might not even get a deal next season man.

4) Lakers defense isn’t up to playoff standards. We can shuffle guys, make tweaks, but this group of guys and this coach need 3 things to work if they’re going to win; make threes, get to the free throw line, and have the other team miss open shots. That’s how we’ve been winning a lot of games lately and it’s not sustainable in the playoffs.

5) Sea Change Summer. At this point I’m just hoping that we see a massive amount of change around the roster this summer. I have zero faith in Rob and never had much in Reddick. I’m personally convinced neither has what it takes to succeed at a high level in the NBA consistently. Reddick can’t coach an NBA level defense and Rob can’t build a complete roster. Is it possible a different GM could better align with the coach on staff? I suppose…but the basic issue seems to me to be a lack of focus on that end. Basic stuff like “guy who wants to right is allowed to go right…all…game…long” have been issues since Reddick Day 1. I’m willing to give JJ another shot with a different GM but neither the coach or GM has inspired much confidence in me.

5) Threatening to be a playin team. Which is inexcusable given the talent currently on the roster. We’ve had injuries, sure, and so has Denver that didn’t miss a beat without Jokic and Gordon. Or Boston that actually blew up their roster because effort and execution will defeat talent every time. Or the fucking Clippers who, once they bought into Lue’s vision, have rocketed up the standing despite injuries to key players. The issues with this team are, by snd large, top down driven. There are some roster weaknesses, especially with our drafted players, but those are small compared to the issues with the front office and how we play defense on a philosophical level. Don’t see a tweak trade changing that.

At the halfway point we’ve seen a lot of different looks from the Lakers. Multiple starting lineups, multiple rotations off the bench, all sorts of injuries and lots more questions than answers. Let’s start with at least one solid answer.

1) Luka is the future. For all my issues with Luka’s defense and carping to the refs I still make the trade for him 10 out of 10 times. He needs to keep discovering when to empower his teammates vs. getting himself going. He tries on D and needs roster help on that end. There is no over stating his ability to impact the game. He needs players that better compliment him on both ends.

2) LeBron James is a wonder and also a huge question mark over the next season or two. The last 3-4 games James has looked himself on both ends, making smart athletic plays, timely scoring all while continuing to blaze trails in every NBA record book. The problem here is there is no future for the team with his salary on the roster, at least at this amount. The LeBron question will look over and dominate the summer but now that’s he’s gotten his legs under him he is right back to playing at an All NBA level.

3) The front office needs to figure out a vision and an identity they’re striving to build. They have a roster built more for Darvin Ham, they have a coach that is more wonky with concepts than charismatic managing personalities and team built for neither of its superstars while mulling retaining a future 3rd superstar. None of it works very well together. The front office needs to truly start building a Luka or Luka/Resves team. If there are current players that don’t fit that mold they need to be aggressively moved simply to open up the space needed to try other players out. I don’t see much action for us on the trade front but if you can move any of these guys simply for some second round picks that needs to strongly be considered. The league is getting younger, we are not. It’s a problem we don’t have an obvious answer to.

4) If Reaves is the future we can’t keep Rui. I like Rui but he lacks aggression and is too content to lay back and simply do what’s asked. However, if there is indeed a ceiling at which the Lakers aren’t willing to go past to keep Austin then they need to trade him. Losing Rui for cap space to keep Reaves is acceptable, losing both for nothing would be an unmitigated disaster.

5) We could use some health luck. If guys are sitting with minor aches and bruises they need to stop. We’re on the verge of loaf managing (not a typo, I straight wrote loaf managing) our way into the playin and a difficult summer. Get tough, Lakers, that starts with Luka.

Still can’t get to the site at work, something in our security is blocking it.

Anyhoo, some thoughts on the last 2 games and Rich “Clickbait” Paul.

1) It might not be “fair” to Rui but Jake LaRavia is better in the starting 5 as currently constructed. When Reaves comes back and Smart goes back to the bench, Jake should stay in the starting 5. Our energy picks up, our toughness picks up, and it’s clear that Jake is at least Rui’s equal and has more ceiling. Jake has plenty to work on (passing and his handle come right to the front) but his fit with Luka, Ayton and LeBron is legit.

2) Smart, Vincent, Vando, Rui and Hayes make up a solid bench. Thiero is hurt a lot already, Knecht can’t connect, and the talent drop off is vast after that. That’s a serviceable bench for the season until we get some off-season clarity on exactly what LeBron is doing (likely it mostly depends on how he and the team finish). There’s a lot to be said for the bench being gritty snd tough to compensate for the formula one vibe the starters have.

3) Rich Paul needs to stop flapping his yapper. He’s not doing LeBron any favors and seems intent on pulling a Diddy: throwing the folks he reps under the bus in lieu of pushing his own agenda, no matter how silly or petty. The Grizz would need a monster haul to trade JJJ, less so for Ja (who is an AWFUL fit here in LA). We don’t have a monster haul. You can put the Nets, Heat, Portland and maybe even Milwaukee before the Lakers in terms of what they can put into a trade. The Thunder, too, just hard to see them move on from either Chet or IH in their respective roles. Regardless, Rich Paul needs to find a better hobby.

4) Ayton needs to be a little more of a focal point, he’s too much of a threat to just be left to finish broken plays or missed shots. When engaged he’s a monster. It’s the keeping him engaged part.

5) This is your Lakers team. We have a decent stretch of games against middling/low end team. Time to regain some momentum and swagger. LeBron looks better every game, LaRavia as a starter really works, adding Smart, Rui and a healthy Gabe give the bench some pop. Maybe we end up a 3rd team as part of a larger deal but my gut tells me we’re finishing the season with this squad. Time to just make it work.

Milwaukee needs a statement game, let’s not give it to them.

Still having issues, depending on the device, logging in or even loading the page.

Anyhoo, hoping to see some toughness tonight and turnovers under 14. That feels reasonable…

The problems with this team are all upstairs and inside of their chest’s. Their sense of urgency and passion to compete have to be questioned after yet another double-digit loss to a contender.

1) We beat mediocre and bad teams and we can hang with older teams, sometimes, but young talented teams have our number. OKC, Phoenix, Houston and now Detroit. The Lakers seemingly expect young teams to succumb to their age and experience. It’s not happening.

2) Points off of turnovers is where we lost the game. 30-12 advantage to Detroit.

3) No easy buckets in transition while giving up a ton. The 31-12 Fastbreak point differential was the other key. A lot of that is our live ball turnovers off of lazy passes from Luka. This is on him and it’s probably the 3rd or 4th game we’ve given up because Luka just gets into trouble and tries a ridiculous play. LeBron had his share of bad passes and gaffes and add that in with a decent amount of TO’s from other players and we’re giving up too many easy baskets to overcome.

4) Bench needs a better backup guard. This is where the loss of Reaves hurts a lot. When Austin, LeBron and Luka are all available we have 3 solid playmakers. Nick Smith Jr. is too streaky to be relied on, sometimes if that comes down to lack of reps but in general guys like him run real hot and cold. A general lack of strength for us is consistent guard play, especially when we don’t have Austin.

5) Just fucking compete. Every team, every player and coach can come up with a reason why they lost. Everyone’s got something to work on and improve. Hustle and heart come from effort. You either give it or you don’t. The results generally indicate which choice was made.

4 weeks, 15 games until the grade 2 calf strain is re-evaluated. That will remove Austin from post season award consideration, likely from being voted in as an All Star and basically marring what had been shaping up to be a career defining season into one defined by availability or lack thereof.

As a result, the Lakers that can play need to pivot and find a new set of rotations that will allow them to be more competitive than they’ve been in the last 3 games.

1) Starting 5: Luka, Smart, Vando, LBJ, Ayton. The LBJ/Ayton/Rui minutes are slaughtering us these days. There’s only one position that can really be tweaked. You could argue that Nick Smith Jr. could start but I’m not sure why you would. He’s streaky and not a good defender. Smart is streaky and an above average, potentially elite defender. Same goes for Vando. You could swap LaRavia for Vando and hope starting jump starts his offense.

2) Nick Smith Jr., Bronny (or Smart), Rui, LaRavia, LBJ. LeBron is gonna have to play some center. The Lakers should look to put him at the top of the key with the ball and let him pick the defense apart and have guys moving all the time.

Honestly, there’s not a good, clear way to replace Austin Reave’s production and skill set. He had become that essential to what we do and need. There’s not a guy on the bench threatening to break through, we don’t have many other guys who can score and make plays. This is a challenge for the coaching staff.

Garbage Xmas present.

1) Reaves out midway. Another calf injury. Hard hit.

2) Too many turnovers. Shooting ourselves in the foot.

3) No D. The coach doesn’t have a good plan and the effort and heart aren’t there. Pathetic all around.

4) LeBron only contributing empty calories. The numbers alone look OK but the impact is lacking. He needs to either focus on D or be more involved in playmaking.

5) Vando hitting threes. Up to 33% for the season, hopefully we can build a defensive identity of some kind around he and Smart.

The Lakers lost to the Suns, Dillon Brooks wasn’t able to bail us outta this one. The defense was nonexistent, the heart and energy was at a minimum and the loss, as a result, was unsurprising.

1) No D. No matter the lineup the Lakers conceded any shot Phoenix wanted. 50/40/90 FG, 3 pt FG/FT% from a team means the other team isn’t feeling you.

2) Return of Reaves and Ayton. Simply put, it wasn’t enough.

3) The offense is fine. We made 2 fewer three pointers than the Suns. We shot more free throws. We played our game and executed our offensive game plan. Defense, or lack thereof, is the Lakers biggest issue right now.

4) Lakers dropped back-to-back games for the first time. 2 underwhelming games in a row…

5) Xmas vibe. It’d be great to beat Houston but we don’t have a chance if we half ass the game like we did the last 2.

Phoenix is a good test for our team, especially in defense. Can we keep ex-Laker Jordan Goodwin off the offensive glass? Can we force Phoenix into contested 3’s and/or long twos without giving up open lanes? Will an adjustment come from the guys currently in the rotation or will the coaching staff adjust roles and minutes?

Hoping we can punch back at Phoenix for the recent loss and not lose two in a row but Phoenix isn’t a great matchup for us. They play fast, hard and loose.

Fun game and it was good for the Lakers to get a win against a team with a winning record (an elusive feat of late. Plenty to get into so let’s not dally. The WordPress editor is acting funky so it’s a short one one on the Blog.

1) Rui Hachimura’s first-ever buzzer beater. For someone who seems content to lurk in the background, Rui Hachimura was placed front and center last night when he caught a pass from a driving LeBron James and smoothly canned a three pointer over the leaping arm of Brandon Ingram. It was his first buzzer beater and it helped the Lakers remain undefeated in the clutch, not lose back-to-back games and ended LeBron’s streak of scoring 10 points in a game.

2) LeBron’s streak of scoring 10 points in a game ended. LeBron took it like one should: -12 fucks given. Look, it’s a cool streak and one that’s unlikely to be replicated any time soon…but it’s just not that important to me. I thought it was mildly silly when Redick put him back in during the blowout to Phoenix just to get it. This was a nice way for it to end.

3) Reaves putting the team on his shoulders. The luxury of having Reaves and Luka reveals itself all the time. Having 2 guys that can orchestrate an offense for themselves and others at a a high level while efficiently scoring is an amazing thing to have on an NBA team. Reaves had another great game last night and he did it without really forcing his offense. He knew when he needed to score to keep it close, he didn’t just call his number every time down and we won because of that nuanced difference between he and a lot of players.

4) Nick Smith Jr. The staff needs to figure out a way to get this guy some minutes. He could be the off the bench scorer this team desperately needs. His 12 points in 14 minutes on 7 shots (2-3 from three) were monumental last night. Love how the kid stays ready in the face of multiple DNP-CD.

5) Development for the future. One of the reasons I was excited about Redick becoming the coach was his seeming focus on developing our younger players. Turns out it was mostly lip service being played as none of our younger players seem to get minutes anymore…until last night when we finally saw the return of Thiero (a whopping 10 minutes) and Smith Jr. (14 minutes) to the rotation. Not sure why we play Maxi Kleber at this point. I’m sure he’s a nice guy and he seems to have decent instincts but he’s gun shy, doesn’t rebound, and is a mediocre defender who is slow of foot. There’s not a team that wants or needs him out there, he’ll likely retire from the NBA and play in Germany next season. There’s no world where he’s a part of the Lakers future (and you can honestly say the same about Gabe Vincent and Marcus Smart but at least one of them can shoot…kinda and the other one can defend…when he’s healthy enough to play) so why not give his minutes to our first round pick and see what he can do? Same goes for Nick Smith Jr. who seems capable of lighting it up in a small allotment of minutes. In a league that is trending younger and faster, the Lakers and Redick seem stuck in the old way of giving the vets enough rope to hang themselves three times. I don’t count Vando as a young player, although he’s on the cusp, because I feel like he is what he is. In the right defensive system he’s an elite defender. In ours he’s just the first guy to get switched off so that ball handler can attack Reaves or LeBron. And while he’s shooting a better % from three than Marcus Smart, currently, it’s not his strong suit and he still isn’t finishing well. If he cleaned up either one of those areas I think his situation on this team would be different. If we didn’t play a very predictable brand of defense he would be more valuable. Until one of those things change, he’s not able to be the best version of what he is on this team.

1) Don’t push it. It’s a long season, you’ll make history in your 1st game and then continue to pile up the accolades. So ease into it, man. Whether planned or not, this could truly be the last season in a number of different ways. The team has gelled and there’s no real reason to upset the apple cart.

2) In the starting line up. If LeBron can improve our transition scoring and catch and shoot three’s it will go a long way towards making this look elite. We’re the worst team in the league on catch and shoot threes, I believe.

3) Augment the playmaking. Now there is no excuse: one of Luka, Reaves or James should be on the court at all times. Staggering their minutes shouldn’t be too difficult. Adding Smart snd, eventually, Gabe Vincent to that trio should help us become a solid team in offense.

4) Captaining the D. When he was leading the way on defense last season we saw a glimpse, albeit a small one, of what this team could be capable of and that was with only 3/4 of Luka. Some guys down the roster will take a minutes hit but if LeBron can help make us just a top ten defense through IQ, reads and talking we have a much higher ceiling.

5) Small ball 5. There will be games where we need Ayton and Hayes but, if LBJ can play he should be the 2nd “center”, especially in small ball lineups where he’s both strong and fast enough to cover and rotate. Toss in that he’d be an elite stretch five in a small ball lineup and one of our big weaknesses becomes a strength.

A man who gave basketball his all, thanks for everything, Lenny.