Heading into training camp, Byron Scott seems to have a better grasp as to how he wants to handle his roster than what ended up being the case last season. If you read the comments made to Bill Oram, it’s clear he has some plans on how he envisions handling certain players on the roster. Kobe Bryant will not be overextended by playing heavy minutes and Julius Randle and other young players may not start right away.
These comments on Kobe and Randle are important if for no other reason than they represent an already in-place plan about how Byron envisions some of his rotations going. This is meaningful for a variety of reasons, but mostly because last season the head coach perplexed many — or at least he perplexed me — by how he handled his rotations, specifically how he shifted around his starting lineups as often as he did.
Throughout last season, the only consistency with how Byron deployed his lineups is that they were not consistent. Every 20 to 25 games, Byron unapologetically made wholesale changes to his starting group and the rest of his rotations. Jeremy Lin, Ronnie Price, Carlos Boozer, Ed Davis, Wes Johnson, and Ryan Kelly (among others) played musical chairs, shuffling in and out of the lineup and, sometimes, falling out of the rotation completely.
It’s important to note that injuries and the resulting lack of availability of viable NBA rotation players for long stretches played a major role here. The fact the team’s chances of competing for anything beyond a better chance at keeping their lottery pick were certainly a factor too. After all, if you’re not really playing for wins, getting a better handle on different personnel groupings and what may or may not work makes some sense.
This season, though, those things are much different. Scott has a stable of veteran players who have proven their value (for better and, in some cases, for worse) in this league. He also has a slew of young players whose development is important toward long term goals. Balancing these two types of player groups will take careful thought and consideration, but the talent level is much improved and lends itself to finding workable groupings and deploying them with more consistency.
This will take more discipline from Scott, though. Last season he seemed to truly use the season for the purpose of experimenting with the players in a way where he could learn what they could and could not do; what their strengths and weaknesses were within the context of an NBA game. In what became a lost season, this likely didn’t matter much. In fact, it probably aided in the team losing enough games to keep their lottery pick.
For the upcoming campaign, there are higher stakes. Even if you disregard wanting to send Kobe out on a high note, the team surely wants to take positive steps forward in developing their youth and in grabbing enough wins to positively affect how they are viewed by free agents heading in a crucial summer for the organization’s rebuild.
Achieving those goals will depend on how Scott manages a slew of variables small and large. But none may be bigger than whether he shifts his lineup management from last season’s round-robin approach to something more stable*. Those decisions don’t need to be made now and should be influenced by how players perform in training camp and in the preseason games. But they must be made and a plan must be put in place which creates an environment where players know what’s coming and can fall into their roles accordingly.
*No one is arguing Scott cannot tweak his lineups or that, should injuries or other circumstances strike, wholesale changes cannot be implemented. He’s the head coach and that requires flexibility and a responsiveness to the issues facing the team. But last season’s (seemingly) arbitrary approach to making lineup changes cannot continue into this year. It’s simply not a viable approach to building a consistent performing team throughout the course of the year.
Rico Tico says
You are suppose to experiment with the line up to see how different line up works.
Also, to find out which players are better.
Also, to see who plays better with who. It was obvious last year with Jeremy Lin and Ed Davis or Jordan Clarkson with Jabari Brown.
Also, too see which starting 5 have the best chemistry. Which bench 5 have the best chemistry.
This is a development year with about 10+ players with 1 year or less experience. How else are you going to find out if you don’t experiment with the line up.
Robert says
“the team surely wants to take positive steps forward in developing their youth and in grabbing enough wins to positively affect how they are viewed by free agents”: Those two objectives might at times – be in conflict with each other. So if I were a coach who had a team that was 21-61 last year, was seen by many to win about 26 games this year, I had to keep Kobe happy, I had to develop at least 3-4 young guys, and oh by the way, I need to win 35-40 games even though I am supposed to win 26? Well – I would make sure I had a guaranteed contract : )
J C says
I can see Randle coming off the bench because we picked up Bass. Randle can still play 20-24 mpg.
But if D. Russell doesn’t start I’ll be surprised and irritated. He needs minutes at the PG to grow.
If Russell comes off the bench and Clarkson starts at the 1, does Kobe start at SG?
So now who’s the 3?
Or does Lou W start at the 2?
The team drafted a PG second in the draft so I doubt they see Clarkson as a long term answer at the point. He’s got the mindset of a shooting guard anyway.
Delaying Russell’s development will be a waste of time and IMO evidence of Byron’s short-sightedness. Unless Russell plays very poorly in practice, which I doubt will happen, he should be our starting PG until further notice.
Ed says
This season has more ?? than ever. The pre-season games will give us a better idea on who will dress,and what the rotations will be. I think the team will very different on both ends when either Kobe or Hibbert on the on the court and when they`re not. If there is going to be any progress it has to maximize their skills by surrounding them with the best mix of players.
Renato Afonso says
Totally right. Changes can happen and will most likely occur. I also believe that sometimes you need to adjust your starting lineup to better match your opponent, especially if you’re the weaker team. And he also needs to discover what works and what doesn’t. But regardless of that (and barring any injuries) by December our lineup shloud be more or less set unless if he wants to adapt to a specific opponent.
We’ll have to wait and see.
bleedpurplegold says
I dont really want to condemn byron for changing his rotations last year. It was a process of finding guys who can help long-term, so it was just logical to me that he changed his lineups and rotations every few weeks. After all, clarkson may still be a 5-10min max guy had it not been for that kind of strategy(which coach plays a 2nd rounder more mins than that his first season?!?)…we also found young pieces like jabari, who might be able to find a niche on this roster… so i dont blame byron for that
Having said all of that, i think our rotation is already set for next season, i expect it to look like this:
D’angelo 25-30
Clarkson 30
Kobe 25
Bass/randle ~20 each
Hibbert 30
That leaves about 40mins for backups at guard, 23 at sf and maybe 20-25 for our bigs of the bench
Lou 20-25
Jabari 10
Huertas 5-10 (sign that man!!!)
Young 20
Black 10-15
Upshaw 10 (at least i hope he will play instead of sacre)
This makes a lot of sense for me to start the season off with a rotation like that^^ lou wont play less than 20, maybe even more like 30 if hes on….swaggy as another instant o option off the bench, black as a hustle guy, huertas if we need some more structure in our lineup and upshaw as a perfect hibbert light….
GO LAKERS!
Todd says
bleedpurplegold – Hibbert has never averaged 30 MPG in his entire 7 year career. I doubt he starts doing so this year.
BigCitySid says
-@ Robert, your post on 9/20 at 3:11 says it all…perfect! You’re already in mid-season shape.