With two wins in their last six games, it’s fair to say the Lakers are somewhat improved of late. Much of that can be tied to the resurgent play of Kobe Bryant who has regained his status as the team’s best player. He’s not what he once was, of course, but what he is — at least lately — is a player boasting a PER north of 20 while anchoring the team’s offense with a combination of scoring ability and deft playmaking.
That level of player isn’t enough to carry a good team, but it’s good enough to keep the Lakers in more contests for longer stretches than early in the season. There are still long stretches of bad play — the OKC games and the first three quarters of the loss to the Clippers on Christmas are prime examples — but those stretches are being broken up by some classic Kobe and some good play from the assortment of kids and veterans who flank him.
With Kobe playing this way, Byron Scott has become even more reliant on him though even he admits a better balance must be struck. In the past week Scott spoke of still needing the ball to move and for the team to not settle into simply giving the ball to Kobe to let him work. He noted part of that is on him to continue to get Kobe into spots where he is most effective, but the other part of that is the young players (especially) not deferring as much to him.
Those are nice soundbites for sure, but in practice this is sloppy. Against the Clippers the team’s best play — outside of a Kobe led charge in the 2nd quarter — came from a unit led by Russell and Randle while Kobe sat on the sidelines. The two young bucks seized control of the game offensively while heady veteran work from Brandon Bass and Marcelo Huertas helped steady the ship. This wasn’t enough to win the game, but they did make it interesting and after the contest there was almost universal praise (Scott was not as complimentary) for how those young guys competed.
In any event, the close to that game is being billed as a moment of growth, but at this point we should know that no growth really comes without there being some setbacks too. We know these young players have talent and can impact a game. Getting them to be able to do this consistently is why investing in them now is important. Getting them to do it with Kobe on the floor and mixing their abilities with his improved play is on the all parties (the coach included).
This is the backdrop for Sunday’s game against the Grizzlies — a team doing their own soul searching and going through their own transition. Grit and grind isn’t quite dead, but like your dad’s old leather recliner, it has been moved to the small room at the back of the house and out of the living room. It is no longer the centerpiece, swapped out for the sleeker modern sitting chair that all the hip families have.
If you have not been paying attention, Zach Randolph and Tony Allen have been moved to the bench in favor of Jeff Green and Matt Barnes. The latter two try to provide better spacing and more athleticism for an offensive attack built around Mike Conley and Marc Gasol. The results have been mixed, but head coach Dave Joerger insists this style is here to stay — for a time, at least. This move does feel a bit like fishing for solutions for a team which may have run its course, but when the Grizzlies are 18th in defensive efficiency, maybe working on the offense is the only viable option anyway.
Even though the Grizz are 2-3 in their last 5 games and 16-16 on the season, they are firmly in the playoff mix. This makes them worlds better than the Lakers, so perspective of their struggles must still be placed into the proper context of Sunday’s game. Yes, they played on Saturday (a loss in Charlotte). And, yes, the Lakers will have arrived in Memphis before them. Still, though, it would be silly to expect the Lakers to win. They can compete, though.
Doing so will depend on winning some key matchups. The first is Jordan Clarkson against Mike Conley. The latter isn’t having his finest season — his 15 points and 6 assists on 41% shooting is not at the level we’ve become accustomed to — but he’s still very dangerous. Clarkson will need to be at his sharpest defensively, but will also need to challenge Conley on the other end to make sure he’s making his life as hard as possible. Quick darts into the lane and some made jumpers (both from the mid-range and from beyond the arc) are important.
Roy Hibbert will also be very important when battling Gasol. The big Spaniard leads the Grizzlies in scoring, but his splits in wins and losses pretty much tell the story of this team’s season. When Gasol is aggressive and hitting shots, Memphis wins. When he hangs back and isn’t getting buckets, they don’t. If Hibbert can influence Gasol to be the latter, the Lakers’ chances of winning skyrocket.
Lastly, with the Grizz shuffling their lineup the bench units become even more important. Julius Randle will get a lot of time against Randolph and will need to hold his own. This means working the backboards and using his quickness and athleticism to his advantage. Russell, meanwhile, will need to show well against Mario Chalmers who was acquired from the Heat earlier this year via trade. Chalmers has played well in Memphis and given their bench a nice boost. He can be crafty on defense and hit shots when left open. Russell will need to be smart on both ends of the floor and resemble the player who went toe-to-toe with Chris Paul in the 4th quarter on Friday.
Where you can watch: 3pm start time on TWC Sportsnet. Also listen on ESPN Radio 710AM Los Angeles.
lakerade says
Randle v Randolph will be nice, great chance to soak up some game from a savvy veteran lefty.
bleedpurplegold says
Expecting a close game tonight…i hope DAR will start tonight, he showed some improvement the last couple of games….
Go Lakers!
pat oslon says
#FreeTarik
J C says
It’s weird to be a Laker fan when the core of the discussion is, I hope we can keep it close.
That said, DAR has become one of my favorites to watch. And of course, Kobe’s flashes of brilliance.
It could be interesting to see Randle go up against Z. Randolph, since I thought originally their games and body types were so similar.
In a secret way, I now root for heavy losses because they surely must hasten the departure of Mr. Scott.
Mid-Wilshire says
@ pat olson,
Re: Tarik Black, I agree. In 30 games, Anthony Brown, a rookie, has played only 7 games — the least on the team. Tarik Black is right behind him at only 8 games played.
Furthermore, Tarik is losing playing time to Brandon Bass (clearly, not a true 5) and Robert Sacre (the ultimate 3rd string, end-of-the-bench, emergency center).
Who can explain what’s going on here?
BigCitySid says
-@ J C, Coach isn’t leaving a day earlier than Kobe, it’s in his contract, they’re joined at the hip.
– My hope is to see Russell, Randle, & Clarkson on the court in the last 2 mins of the game…not Bass, Lou, & Kobe. Wonder what the score would have to be in order for that to happen?
Robert says
J C: “they surely must hasten the departure” Losses will hasten the departures of certain people? Unfortunately I think there is a predefined timetable. You get your wish in the summer of 16 and I get mine in the summer of 17. Root for the team. Losses will not hasten the departures and they will not win enough to prevent the departures either.
Snoopy2006 says
Agree with the above calls for Black, he was a gem of a pickup. I think he’s one of those players that can excel in a narrowly defined role.
The Grizz have a couple interesting mirrors for our young players. The Randolph/Randle comparisons were there pre-draft and are obvious. But Conley is a lefty point whose growth took a bit longer than average (I was one who didn’t like the Grizzlies’ extension of him when it first happened); he has a different physique than DAR and is a far more tenacious defender, but he’s carved out a role for himself as a strong floor general without elite athleticism or strength. There’s lessons there to be learned for DAR as he continues to grow and find himself as a player.
Kevin T says
Maybe the team is not playing Black on purpose so when they are making some trades other teams are not asking for him. Who knows, just a hunch. I wouldn’t want to give him up because he is a good piece to grow with the young core.
J C says
Wholeheartedly agree on T Black.
IMO Byron simply lacks the creativity it takes to spread meaningful minutes around.
One of Phil’s strengths was to make even bench guys feel valuable, tuned in and feeling like they were vital to the team’s success. In business this is also a useful strategy and in life it is also a kind and generous approach to take.
Byron has rookies (DAR) and vets (SWAGGY P) alike wondering wtf is going on. I’m sure if I ran into coach Scott on the street he’d be polite and courteous. However, hiding on this blog I feel safe in calling him a very poor coach and sorely lacking in the leadership skills required for success in the NBA.
His hire was a gross error.
If his employment end date is truly tied to Kobe’s retirement, I pity the rookies. Their development will be affected even if only in subtle ways. Or not so subtle (T Black).
Shaq Voice says
Kwame Hibbert
KO says
Kevin what makes you think trades? Why. Purpose?
KO says
Again Roy is the slowest center I have ever seen. Zero lat movement and worst tebounder at 7″2″ in NBA history.
Terrible pickup.
Kevin T says
Purpose of trades, future picks nothing else. Everything is for the future not the present.
rr says
Team: The Lakers are almost certainly locked into the 2nd-worst record, whether Scott is retained and whatever he does or does not do. I do that think he will make it through the year now, barring a revolt/blow-up.
Phil: I expect that it is easier to keep bench guys in line when the starters are putting up 60 wins a year and winning 11 titles. Getting buy in on minutes on a 5-25 team is probably harder. Also at Phil’s exit interview back in 2011, he was asked what the key to his success was. The first words out of his mouth were that he had coached some of the most talented players ever.
Scott: I notice that we are now at the point where even marginally good things that happen—like scaring the Clippers in the 4th quarter—are used as pretexts by some to go off on Byron yet again. As I said in preseason, I never wanted him hired, don’t think much of him as a coach, and didn’t see then and don’t see now how the FO looked at his track record and interviewed him four times and thought it was a good idea. That said, I think people should consider the possibilities that
a) The real problems run much deeper and the Lakers will not get moving again until Buss and Kupchak are gone.
b) The young guys just aren’t going to be all that good.
To be clear, I am not saying that I necessarily believe a and b—I think both issues are at the inconclusive stage. But there is evidence, unfortunately, that supports both points.
KO says
ANOTHER NICE HALF BY DEAD ROY
1 POINT
1 REBOUND
MINUS 15
MORE MINUTES THEN RANDLE
WORST STARTING CENTER IN LAKER HISTORY.
KevTheBold says
Randle’s shot was much better before Murray came. I really don’t believe you should mess with a player’s shot during the season.
Especially so in the case of a rookie, who is already struggling to learn a thousand aspects of the NBA game.
rr says
KO,
I was not big on the Hibbert deal per se, but I was not against it, either (although I wish they had kept the pick) because RH does have a ginormous expiring deal, which was one of the main reasons the FO wanted him.
KevTheBold says
Nance is looking good ! Randle needs to step it up somehow.
Fern says
So the Grizzlies who are not known for their explosive offense, have 90 points and the 3rd is not even over, this is just sad i truly feel like criying at how low out Lakers have sunk, really really hard to watch these games…
Fern says
KO again Hibbert only value is his overpaid deal, that is all, in the era of Ewing, Robinson, Shaq, Hakeem and the Captain he would not even get out of the bench, i never understood how in green earth a 7″2 giant can’t rebound, i have family in Indiana and i trolled them mercilessly about how much of a overrated scrub Roy was even when he was an “all star” guess the jokes on me lol, that contract is the only thing it makes him being worth being in the Lakers, that’s a lot of money that be free next summer, *sigh* tough,tough,tough
tankyou says
It’s hard to even enjoy any of the nice individual offense, when there is NO DEFENSE. It’s like wow nice shot Kobe, or nice play Clarkson, and then the other side of the court it looks like its the all-star game and people are defending at 70%.
I for one miss Ed Davis, I enjoyed watching him block shots and get some nice dunks in the PnR’s. We have basically jumpshot shooting bigs again, except for when Randle drives. I was sick of watching Hill jack up 20 footers last season, but he was actually fairly decent at them.
We best prioritize some defenders, lakers don’t need to be vying for 30th worst defense every stinking year.
the other Stephen says
What did Tarik do to deserve this? No minutes in a blowout, which is honestly the majority of our games.
@Kev,
Tracy is working with Julius on elements of his shot during the season (e.g. getting his feet set), but they will wait until the offseason to fix his actual form. “Next summer Randle will be asked to unlearn the shot he has always had and start focusing on things as fundamental as forming an ‘L’ with his elbow (http://bit.ly/1R2MmqM).”
LKK says
We all realize that this is a bad, bad team. The most disturbing aspect to me though is the appalling lack of defense. Every team just does whatever they want against our Lakers.
Tra says
“Next summer Randle will be asked to unlearn the shot he has always had and start focusing on things as fundamental as forming an ‘L’ with his elbow ..”
—
Really looking forward to see how that will turn out. With him being an undersized PF, with only average arm length, developing a mid range jumper is so crucial to his development.
Kevin says
Does someone know what the FO wants to do with Nance. Did they get him to pair with Randle as forwards — hoping one would develop range? He’s good but unless he can stretch the floor he’s redundant.
I ask because we have so many holes and so few picks and we used one of them on Nance who plays the same position as Randle.
Can Nance be a small ball center? It’s just that we have so many pieces that don’t fit well together.
rr says
Kevin,
I think that the FO just thought that Nance was the BPA at that spot, and he has done pretty well. But one reason that the Lakers do not run the kind of offense everybody wants is that none of the guys they use at the 4 can shoot the 3. Nance, Randle, and BB had tried 15 3s total as a group all year going into today. Kelly had tried 11 in 114 minutes, going into tonight. To what extent that is the FO and to what extent that is Byron is another question. Nance tried 42 3s as a senior at Wyoming, making 14.
In contrast, Boston has 277 3PA from Olynyk, Crowder, Sullinger, Johnson, and Jerebko. Ilyasova, Morris, and Tolliver have tried 340 3s for Stretch-4 maven Stan Van Gundy in Detroit. Not every team focuses on guys who can shoot the 3 playing the 4, but GS has Draymond Green and Harrison Barnes, and SA has Kawhi Leonard and Boris Diaw etc.
matt says
Ok i am officially gonna stop blaming the coach everyone on the team is terrible
Kevin says
rr — so the Lakers are playing ’80s ball in 2015….
If the FO is spending limited resources on players that would work better with the Magic Lakers (run the break vs shoot the three) then we’re in more trouble than I thought. I understand the BPA selection but the Lakers have used their last four draft picks on 2 PFs and 2 PGs.
Is it any wonder the Lakers are widely criticized for having a roster that isn’t balanced, doesn’t lend itself to any offensive style and has very little defensive prowess.
Mid-Wilshire says
Kevin,
I agree with rr. The Lakers, I am fairly certain, were simply selecting the best player available when they (somewhat surprisingly) selected Larry Nance.
The good news is that LNJr and Randle are, in a sense, complementary. Randle is a bulldozer. Nance is a slasher. Randle rebounds by over-powering people. Nance gets “hustle” rebounds, more through constant motion than brute strength. Also, Nance was the defensive player of the year in his conference as a senior. As a result, their games are very different.
This means that when you take one out and put the other in, the chemistry and style of the new unit becomes very different. It becomes the responsibility of the defense to adjust.
Most of this — which, if used wisely, could be a positive thing — may have been achieved more by accident than design. But it doesn’t matter. I think it’s becoming more and more apparent that Larry Nance, Jr. will definitely be a part of the rotation going forward.
It will be interesting, then, to watch for two things in the future re: Larry Nance, Jr. 1) How will Nance develop his game? 2) Will it be possible (if, say, Nance works on his outside shot) to play Larry and Julius together on the court from time to time?
Right now, they both look like 4s, very different 4s, but 4s. Next year, or the year after, things could change somewhat.
One final note, the future core of the Lakers seems to be evolving. What had seemed to be a core of only 3 players (Clarkson, Randle, and Russell) is now rapidly becoming a core of 4. And, in my view, once Tarik Black returns from exile (if he returns from exile), that core could easily become 5. It may take a while for them to gel. But they’re all young. They’ve got lots of time to get to know each other and figure things out.
The fans just need a little patience…which, of course, is easier said than done.
rr says
Kevin,
Ryan Kelly has been a darling of a subset of Lakers fans, and I have seen Scott take some abuse for not playing him. But since getting RK, the FO has drafted two power forwards and signed a 3rd as a FA, all of whom are playing ahead of Kelly and none of whom shoots 3s. If you watch other teams’ sets in comparison to the Lakers’, especially the cool kids teams like Boston and Atlanta, they generally have a big acting as a floor spacer. Memphis had not been doing that, but with Randolph aging and the team in decline, the lineup changes that DS mentioned replaced two guys who don’t try 3s with two guys who do, and Memphis is using Jeff Green as a smallball 4. Even bad teams have guys like this now–like Meyers Leonard in Portland, who shoots 5.7 3s per 36 minutes and plays center a lot on D. One reason the Lakers look different than other teams is that they don’t have guys doing that.
Mid-Wilshire says
Kevin,
You may be a little harsh there. Every team needs 2 power forwards. It’s a bruising position and, ideally, you need 2 who can play the 4. Also, Clarkson is a combo guard, Russell a true PG. Over time, I think they’ll work well together. Bear in mind, they only met each other 4 months ago.
Furthermore, a team can never have enough athletes. Three years ago, we were all decrying the Lakers’ lack of athleticism. Now we’ve got the athletes. Or at least we’re getting them.
All they need to do is grow and mature. That’s a process that we’ve got to wait out. It takes time.
This year is an extended preseason for 2017-18 (and the years after that).
We should be patient and let the Larry Nances of the world grow and develop. So far, I like what I see.
rr says
Mid,
When the Lakers drafted Nance, I said that he seemed more like a guy to take if you had a playoff team in place and needed an energy guy off the bench. As a four-year college player with a NBA pedigree, he was in the help-now category and, sure enough, he is polished enough that Scott is starting him ahead of Randle. So, while Nance is doing OK, I think you could also argue that the Lakers would have been better off signing a Eurostash guy or a project guy, not signing BB, and leaving PF to Randle/Kelly/Black/DLeaguer. Time will tell.
Chris J says
I went into this season hoping for something comparable to the past two Laker “rebuild” periods in my experience as a fan, something somewhat akin to the Peeler/Jones/Van Exel mix in the early 90s or maybe the Prime Kobe pairing with youngsters like Bynum, Farmar, Vujacic and Turiaf. Each of those teams had more veteran talent around which to build, but they were also enjoyable to watch because you could see the coaches working in the young talent and letting them do their part toward integrating themselves into an effective NBA mix. The 1994-95 “Lake Show” and 2007-08 Finals team — even pre-Pau — were two of my favorite teams to watch because the future was developing right before our eyes. I had hoped for the same experience this year.
Instead, we’re treated to Byron doing next to no apparent coaching. There’s never an adjustment and no semblance of a game plan from night to night; it’s abhorrent to see how unprepared the Lakers are versus almost every team they meet.
Likewise, we see lottery picks losing floor time to players like Lou Williams, for what reason? No knock on Lou, but I’d rather watch Russell get burned or thrive while learning than watch anything Lou will add to the team this season. Likewise, let Randle learn on the floor — give us some reason to reinvest as fans. I can deal with losing if it feels as though it’s leading toward progress. But this is feeling more and more like Philadelphia West — “Let’s aim for the lottery and hope we land the next LeBron or Blake Griffin!” What good is adding young talent if you never let said talent carry its weight? What could have been a season of promise just feels like a repeat of last year’s Lin/Boozer limbo. Thanks a lot, Buss kids, for allowing another year of NBA life to go to sh-t for your fans. Your father’s probably rolling over in his grave.
nimble says
Hibbert is like a sleeping giant,SMH.
KO says
Chris your assuming Jimmy cares. How many years did Sterling make millions while Clips were a joke. And he earned the money to buy them!
Jimmy never earned a dollar not given by his dad yet makes multi millions. And the team last 2 years is worst in history
Jimmy is not or ever been a winner so lets not kid ourselves that he cared. It all about them Benjamin’s!
LKK says
@ Chris J….
Instead, we’re treated to Byron doing next to no apparent coaching. There’s never an adjustment and no semblance of a game plan from night to night; it’s abhorrent to see how unprepared the Lakers are versus almost every team they meet.
————–
At this stage it would seem that Scott’s mandate is to tank and lose enough games to possibly keep the pick. Kobe won’t be around next year to fill seats. This is crunch time for the FO. Also, you are right about Scott….he’s doing what comes naturally to him: losing.
matt says
As for hibbert video game nba2k16 has him coming off the bench, guess they already knew
matt says
This team needs to be blown up, retain only youth, everyone over 23 needs to go
KevTheBold says
Great insights from rr, and Mid as usual !
@Chris, Though I too would enjoy viewing the young guns more, I wonder if Scott and the FO, call themselves preserving, and protecting them like precious assets.
I don’t know, but I have seen players like the D’Andre, seemingly attempt to injure them, as a lion will maim or kill other young males in their territory.