Aloha,

Of course Franks is on the hot seat, even though the there was continuity issues coupled with a revolving door of players, the lack of energy this team has played with for much of the season is unforgivable. I can get past his love of the twin towers concept and I can even look past his inability to create looks for 3 point shooters but the lack of energy is something that as a coach he can not allow to happen.

But that seat is actually a long bench with room for many. You can start with Magic. Yes the same Magic that tweeted his disappointment with the team. Many of his blunders still haunt this franchise today. Everything from using DLO at the height of his trade value to dump salary, which of course he admitted was a mistake , to drafting Lonzo instead of Tatum, the staff favorite, to letting Randle walk for nothing, to dumping promising young players like Thomas Bryan’s and Zubac for cap space that was never used. Imagine if we would have had Tatum, Dlo, Randle, BI, Kuzma, Bryant and Zubac available when we traded for AD, we certainly would have a few valuable pieces left to develop or trade.

And then there is Jeanie pinching penny’s like a small market team. It is supposed to be all about championships. Hopefully she won’t let Stanley walk to save a few bucks.

This brings us too our current roster construction. A 3 star model is very difficult. You almost always have had to draft at least one star. The Nets are the exception not the rule. And they had to get lucky because the Rockets turned down Simmons for Harden just to spite Morey and Harden.

Since Dr Buss the Lakers have always been a star driven franchise but what our championship teams had in common was star role players. Rob forgot that part . The 3 stars also have to fit together, Rob forgot that part as well.

Russ was supposed to take the playmaking burden off of LeBron but they forgot one thing. LeBron is going to be LeBron. We would have been better off with a secondary ball handler like Caruso who played well with LeBron then a true point guard. I know we panicked last year because of injuries but we haven’t been any better with Russ and if LeBron or AD were to go down in the playoffs like last year, it wouldn’t matter if we had a 3rd star or not.

We have had a massive turnover in personnel since LeBron arrived. There has been little continuity that has made all the injuries even more glaring since this team has never played together.

LeBron maybe the GOAT but GM LeBron isn’t very skilled. Perhaps he feels he is so good that he can make any player fit. That’s not the case. He is also more concerned with resume than fit. And this lack of player evaluation has hurt every franchise he’s played for.

AD and until this year has refused to play the 5. Even though he is one of the best centers in the game. We won a ring with him at center. I don’t buy the argument that he gets too beat up inside. 80% of the centers in the league would have been fours back in the day. AD is as big or bigger then most centers. This team might have a different look if AD had agreed to play center last year.

This team would be a true contender if we had added Guys like Malik, Melo and eventually Nunn to the players we shipped out or let walk. Even Wes is thriving with the Bucks. A deep team with star role players would have been the much better option to our failed 3 star model.

You don’t get do overs in the NBA but going forward my only hope is we don’t compound our problems with more stupid moves.

Aloha,

Game ball to Stanley! The Lakers have to sign this guy into that open roster spot. And if they are smart they give him a 2nd year even if it’s a team option.

We finally saw some defensive energy against the number on offense in the league and It was
our young guys that actually won this game. LeBron was the only starter with a plus. +11.

Stanley +18
Malik +17
THT +15
Austin +13
They brought energy to both sides of the ball. It maybe the young guys that will turn this season around. With AD cleared for contact and a Nunn getting closer this old team just might have a couple more younger guys to energize this team.

Aloha

Our role players continue to impress. Kuz continues to build his case for most improved with a 15 point 16 board, 4 assists, 3 blocks and a steal game. KCP chipped in 14 points, while Harrell added 18 points and 7 boards! What a great group, oh… never mind. But hey we got Russ! 👍

Aloha,

We suck. I remember the days when we were losing with all the young guys.I enjoyed watching that group much more than this one. They lost a lot, but they generally played and and often kept it close against often superior teams. I think we won 3 of 4 one year against the Warriors. This team gets blown out by mediocre teams.l, because we just can’t seem to bring enough energy.

Normally you can point to one or two guys that played well. Not this time. This was a group effort from the coaching staff down. Well perhaps Dwight was okay.

You can start with the coaching staff and their total lack of in game adjustments. Stu said something that I agree with. He said he wouldn’t have doubled Jokic. He would have let him get his points. Instead he had 13 assists in 28 minutes, most of them lay ups or 3’s.

When you are a great defensive team you can have an off offense and stay in the game. When your defense sucks you have score a lot and it’s like the coaching staff has no clue how to make that happen.

Dwight was punishing him in the 1st quarter. Dwight is quicker than the Joker and I would have liked to see us play through him more. Perhaps he could have gotten the Joker in foul trouble.

Malik got 5 shots, one from 3. Malik is a very good playmaker but was the game plan? “Hey I know Malik is our hottest shooter but let’s fool them and make him a playmaker “ Right. I can’t believe that that the coaching staff would not figure out a way to get our hottest shooter more than 5 shots.

And it wasn’t just Malik no one on the team got more than a handful of shots as LeBron and Russ got nearly half the shots.
What we saw tonight was LeBron ball. That’s when LeBron has the ball and everyone watches. And we saw old LeBron again. Old LeBron is when LeBron settles. He’s 5 for 21 from 3 over the last 2 games and like last game he had quite a few momentum killing missed 3’s.

I could go down and critique every player but I really don’t want to devote two hours to a game like tonight. I will say that while it’s always up to the players to perform, this coaching staff doesn’t seem to have a clue.

Aloha

Well another loss to a bad team. So what’s new? We just can not seem to get it together. It seems like one can just post the same thing over and over again. Just a few thoughts, ya pretty much the same as usual.

Defense of course. Non existent transition defense and 70, yes 70 points in the paint. I thought Frank has not been doing a very good job with in game adjustments. We needed a shot blocker in more. Dwight was +9 in his 15 minutes. When there was such a size difference Dwight should have been on the court at least another 10.

We do not have a big 3. Westbrook just has not played like a star player. He’s been good at times but rarely has he looked like a star. Tonight he was awful. He does rebound and he can muck up a play on defense occasionally but the guy can’t keep players in front of him. And it would be okay if he made it up on offense but he was even worse. 2-14 with plenty more missed shot at the rim. And after the Laker cut it to 4 with a little more then minute. Then we get a rare stop! So what should we do? Perhaps we look for Malik or Austin who had combined for 10 for 17 from 3? No something better. Give the ball to LeBron and let him attract the rim? No! Russ decided to take a 3. Of course he missed again to add to his previous 4 misses from 3. Long rebound, Kings run out for a transition 3. Game over. Russ is now 8 for 40 from field over his last 3 games. AD or no AD we will not win a championship if Russ doesn’t improve.

It’s not often that a player scores 34 and has a sub par game but I thought LeBron did. He was able to get to the rim but settled way to much for 3’s. 3 for 13 from 3. He kind of fueled the Kings run when they cut into our 14 point lead. He missed 3 straight 3 point shots and the Kings scored each time. And 5 for 10 from the free throw line. Defensively he made some good plays inside but was constantly late on his close outs.

So a couple of good things. Malik was 6 for 9 from 3 for 22 points. It’s a shame that he got into foul trouble and only played 29 minutes.

I thought Austin had the best all around game tonight. He score 19 but I thought he was the only guy on the team that gave 100% on the defensive end. Another gem for our scouting department.

So considering how we have played so far it leaves me with one important question. What’s the protection on our first round pick this summer?

Aloha,

Well we are half way through the season and we are no closer to knowing our potential then we were the first day of training camp. Of course our task has been challenging with a seemingly never ending revolving door of players, making any kind of continuity nearly impossible. And with our big 3 playing only a few games together, we really can’t begin to judge how that will look once we are healthy and have a chance to play a consistent rotation. I guess that’s where I find my optimism. We haven’t really been together enough to develop a rotation or an identity. But then again, finding hope in the unknown is kind of sad.

But yesterdays game was another example of why we have lost as many games as we have. We came out flat, with no energy. I had been encouraged lately because we had been playing with energy, even in the losses but last night pointed out one thing that can be corrected. Playing hard every night.

Of course we are seeing the annual click bait trade proposals popping up on the web, but without a high energy level it wouldn’t matter even if we landed one of those pipe dream trades.

As I’ve posted before I find swinging a trade for a star player highly unlikely. Many of the teams that are also listed have more to offer then we do. Our biggest issue is draft capital. You can grease the wheels more with draft picks. I will never say never to a weird trade, I remember Pau, but all things point to perhaps small trades at best. We have two small trade exceptions and some 2nd rounders that may come in handy. I don’t know if there will be much help on the buyout market as well. With the play in tournament, there are just to many teams with a chance to get in. Im not seeing them cutting vets that could help.

So what can we do besides playing with more energy. Get healthy of course. AD coming back is a must for us to have any chance. And he has to look more like bubble AD than what we have seen this year. His stat line has looked okay but he’s shooting has fallen way off and the eye test shows me that he’s just not the same. I remember that TWolves game where Cat destroyed him. He has to be much better then that.

Nunn coming back will in itself be huge. He was the talk of training camp with his defense. He also has a 3 level offensive game. I could see him replacing Avery in the starting line up and playing the point when Russ rests. It sounds like he’s close. The sooner the better.

While we are the oldest team in the league, our rotation could actually be fairly young . Monk, THT, Reeves, Nunn and Stanley gives us 5 sets of young legs to go with the Vets. So the big issue here will be consistency. Except for Nunn of course, all have shown us some real potential. With a healthy line up and time to know their roles and gel, I believe they could be an excellent supporting group. And if Malik proves to be real, he could take a lot of pressure off of Russ to score. He could in a sense be that star acquisition everyone yearns for.

We also need more consistency from vets like Melo, Trevor and Ellington. I will give Trevor a pass, this is still his training camp. But Wayne played himself out of the rotation. It was good to see him knock down some shots against the Griz even if it was against their Subs. Melo also needs to find some consistency. He’s either hot or cold but rarely in the middle. I would take more middle then his rollercoaster ride. And then there is Russ, volumes have been written about him, so I’ll just say he needs to find consistency more then any one else on the team. He was brought in to help carry the load to help LeBron and step up when there is an injury to another star. So far he’s done neither. Like AD he has to be better for us to have a chance.

One interesting thing for me and something that is encouraging is LeBron at the 5, even though like Jamie pointed out Stanley has been playing more 5 than LeBron. AD as a big ball line up and LeBron leading the small ball group, along with Dwight when a banger is called for gives us what might be the best center rotation in the league. Now if could solve our lack of size at forward that would be huge. Perhaps with some reps, Stanley can fill that role.

So if anyone is looking for any specific suggestions, well I have none and I won’t until we are healthy and have had time to play together. Then we can see how we look.

Aloha,

Usually by this time of year, I generally have had an idea of how good the Lakers are. Last year we got off to a great start and played enough games together before the injury bug hit to have an idea of how good we could be. This year the injuries began in training camp and it’s been a revolving door of players ever since. So how good can this team be? I have no idea. The big 3 have only played together a hand full of games and all of the role players have missed time.

Still there have been enough glimpses of promise to give me some hope. So what needs to happen? A lot of things. I won’t even mention LeBron because he is the one constant that if healthy will just do what he does.

1st 2nd and 3rd AD has to come back from injury and avoid another injury the rest of the year. His sprained MCL will be reevaluated in another week or so. With luck he will be cleared and can be back on the court by the end of the month. But he has to be more then he was prior to the injury. His jump shot has been inconsistent and his 3 ball has fallen off a cliff. The good news is his dominance in the paint. Now that it’s apparent that we are moving away from an old school starting a center it’s going to be a plus having AD at the 5 moving forward.

One thing I’ve noticed over the last few weeks, is we are finally playing with energy. We’ve lost so many games for lack of energy that we really dug a hole. We need to keep the energy level.

I don’t believe we have trade chips to land a star player, there maybe a small deal or a buy out player but for the most part we will need find the answers with this group. Stanley might help fill our biggest need, a versatile defender with size.

That said we really need Malik to continue this hot streak. And what’s been impressive is he is playing at a much higher level then we have seen.

THT has had a rough start with injuries and Covid. Frank made a few comments that hinted that THT might have had some symptoms and is now getting back. Hopefully that’s true, a consistent THT will go a long way in turning this season around.

Getting Nunn back can be huge. He was having a great training camp before he was injured. On offense he gives us another 3 level scorer, a playmaker and on defense a quality on ball defender. Getting him back could be the same as a trade bringing in new talent.

We are solid at guard, set at the 5 with LeBron, AD and Dwight. If Stanley continues to play well he could fill are biggest remaining hole.

We still have a lot of work to do. Our defense has to improve and we have to solve our defensive rebound problem. But if we can stay healthy and learn to play together, we still have enough time to turn it around. It’s so important to win all of our winnable games until AD returns.

Dave McMenamin
@mcten
The Lakers will likely sign small ball big man Stanley Johnson to a 10-day contract on Thursday, league sources told ESPN. Johnson, 25, recently completed a 10-day hardship exemption contract with LAL and the SoCal native made an impact with his on-ball defense and toughness

Aloha,

Well that’s 3 in a row and 4 of the 5. While the Kings haven’t been winning they do have some talent and they had most of their team available. Just a couple of thoughts.

The team gave Dwight the game ball and for good reason. The complexion of the game changed when he came in. A 14, 14 double double was needed. The kings had 9 offensive boards but only one on Dwight’s watch and Dwight had 7 offensive boards himself. When the kings are playing as big as they were we needed a big body in there, especially when LeBron rested. While playing super small, it’s important to make adjustments when needed and it was needed.

THT had a great game, on both sides of the ball. And I think the key was, he slowed down and didn’t force anything. I know he was frustrated and was pressing. The 19 points was great but I really appreciated the 6 assists.

LeBron didn’t put on the cape until the 4th quarter. But once he did, it was game over.

Malik had another great game. There are all of these trade proposals for another star, that all these different writers come up with. Well if Malik keeps up, we have our star.

Aloha

A thought occurred to me. One of the knocks against the Lakers this year was the age of the team. But once Nunn is back we may have an answer to that criticism. Nunn was considered one of the steals of free agency and he looked good in preseason. I also fully expect the Lakers to sign Stanley, his defensive intensity could take minutes from Trevor. Once these guys get to play together and gain some confidence and consistency we will have young legs we can sprinkle in with the vets.

AD 28
Nunn 26
Johnson 25
Monk 23
Reeves 23
THT 21

It could turn out that we may not be that old after all.

Aloha

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s always nice to have a blow out win, even though Portland was dealing with injuries and Covid protocols like we have been, I’ll take it with a grain of salt. But what is more important it’s games like these that allows a team to find it’s rhythm. Every player that played, seemed play well and that can help build confidence. Just a few random thoughts.

LeBron at the 5 is a thing for sure. I still believe matchups will dictate when and how much we see it. The floor opens up for the offense and on defense we can switch everything. Still there are a few problems to be worked out. First and foremost is rebounding when we go small. Portland had 21 offensive rebounds. That just can’t happen against a good team. Also while LeBron is a great weak side shot blocker, he is not the rim protector that AD is, so we need to bring more help when players get in the paint.

Stanley Johnson. Wrap the guy up now. Since he was an emergency 10 day, we could actually offer him two more 10 day contracts. But the way he is playing isn’t going unnoticed. other teams might offer him a permanent roster spot. With Trevor back it gives us two guys with size. Which also helps our small ball line up. He doesn’t have score a lot. 10 to 12 points a game would be gravy. It’s his intense defense that we need. And at buyout time we have other guys we can cut to open up a spot if needed. Stanley falling into our laps could be a real difference maker. Like I’ve stated I have little confidence in any big trades happening. So Stanley could be the best difference maker we can acquire.

I have stated that I like Malik off the bench but I’m beginning to question that. Malik’s offense takes the pressure off of Russ to score. Russ can actually facilitate and pick his spots on offense instead of forcing it as he’s prone to do. It would be great to keep Malik next year but that may not be possible. The only possibility is the cap around the league. Only 4 teams have projected cap space. The year after we would have the space. Perhaps the MLE for a year? Unlikely but one can hope.

As mentioned above Russ as a facilitator first worked great last night. We have scoring punch on this team. Russ is much better when he’s not forcing his offense.

THT had an all around nice game last night. He had been lacking in confidence. Hopefully a game like this will help him to start regaining it. Wether you want to keep THT or trade him, he has to get that confidence back.

Nice to see Austin back. The kid just plays hard. Like Caruso, he is a testament to our scouting department. Now all they have to do is find two or three more like him.

This is a very important stretch of games coming up. The next 6 are winnable with 4 at home. AD’s sprained Mcl will be reevaluated around the 15th. If it’s good he could be back for the last week or so of the month. It’s important to win these games now.