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The Lakers Bench is Destroying Opponents

November 15, 2016 by Darius Soriano


The Lakers are a surprising 6-5 through 11 games this season. Considering their Vegas over/under was 24.5 wins, being on pace to win almost close to twice that many games isn’t something many (any?) people saw coming. I know I didn’t.

There are several factors which are contributing to the team’s early season success, but I’d argue none are more important than the performance of the team’s bench. The unit of Lou Williams, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr., and Tarik Black is destroying opponents. Seriously. It’s not hyperbole.

Just consider this: In 73 minutes together this season, the team’s bench unit has outscored teams by 29.0 points per 100 possessions. They are posting an offensive efficiency of 112.8 and a defensive efficiency of 83.8. To put those numbers into context, the Lakers’ bench unit is scoring about as well as the Warriors league leading offense (112.9) and is nearly 10 points per 100 possessions better than the Clippers’ league best defense (93.0).

They are running up against other team’s second units and obliterating them. There’s really no other way to put it.

I understand this is where the “small sample size” caveat needs to go. It has been 11 games and only 73 minutes of court time. At some point, you would expect these numbers to revert more towards reasonable numbers on both sides of the ball. I do.

That said, what’s become clear to me is that the Lakers actually have a group of players on their 2nd unit who complement each other well offensively and defensively.

In Lou Williams, they have a gunning type of guard who is great at creating his own shot, but also shows enough skill as a passer to keep his big men involved. In Clarkson they have a similar player, but who is more of a slasher than shooter and can do work both on and off the ball. Ingram is showing some point forward skills as an initiator, but is doing his best work as a scorer when working as a spot up option who gets either stand still jumpers or drives against closeouts. Nance and Black are both good screeners and dive men in the P&R, but are also dependent on the guards/wings to create shots for them via dump offs or swing passes.

Defensively, this group also works well. Williams is the weakest link defensively, but he’s got quick hands and reads passing lanes well. Clarkson is much improved as a defender — especially in funneling his man to help. Ingram’s length works wonders when closing out and challenging shots. Nance and Black both have good feet when switching onto wings, make early rotations on the back line, and can challenge shots at the rim. All of these players can battle defensively and they have enough versatility to switch and not get exposed over long stretches.

All credit to Luke Walton for making decisions early in camp which set things in motion for this group to find each other. Moving Clarkson to the bench has worked out masterfully so far. Deciding at the end of camp that Nick Young would start at SG and moving Lou back to the bench has had similar results. Determining that Black would be the primary backup at C which prompted Yi to ask for his release has uncluttered the front court rotation. And, finally, empowering Ingram as a ball handler and removing Calderon/Huertas from every game minutes has helped optimize the group’s defense.

Again, I’m not sure how long this sort of dominance will continue from this group. Over a larger sample we are likely to see the defense loosen and the offense not be as explosive. However, I think it’s also safe to say that this mix of players just works and that even if they’re not as great as they are now over the course of the full season, they are still likely to be a weapon which can not only keep the Lakers in games, but turn them in their favor some nights.


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Comments

  1. John Citizen says

    November 15, 2016 at 1:10 pm

    Deng seems either injured or bothered by something, he cant be that bad.

  2. david__h says

    November 15, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Darius:as you say,
    credit should go to coach Walton and his staff for putting together a
    formidable 2nd unit whose chemistry and complementary pieces play
    together at an extremely high level during this first 8th of this
    nba season.So far the 2nd
    unit brings a totally different look and frankly are the better defensive unit.their movement as a unit looks more fluid in
    transition and to me the man in the middle, not black but nance jr is the guy
    that makes them look like a well oiled machine so far.
    Keep up the good work guys.Tonite also another winnable game.
    Go lakers

  3. FredP says

    November 15, 2016 at 6:15 pm

    It looks like it is getting time to put Ingram in with the starters and Deng with the second unit.  Ingram would give the first unit better height and athleticism to help balance Randall’s normal length arms.  His scoring would not be any worse than Deng’s and he would benefit from the open looks behind the 3 point line.  The second unit would suffer but Luke can continue to mix and match to end games.

  4. Pbz06 says

    November 15, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    I’d like to see Russell get more minutes with Black/Nance/Ingram. Feel like Deng/Mozgov slow the first unit down a bit.

  5. Busboys4me says

    November 16, 2016 at 3:31 am

    Yes it’s called age and overuse coutesy of Thibs…

  6. Busboys4me says

    November 16, 2016 at 3:39 am

    The 2nd unit reminds me of the Bench Mob back in 2008-2010 seasons. They were an uptempo squad with Sasha and Farmar as the main gunners, Shannon Brown as the Uber athlete, Mbenga as the muscle and Lamar as the glue (engine) that made it work. Clarkson, Sweet Lou, Nance, Black and Ingram can be even better than those guys. The only one who will be hard to match is LO. That dude was awesome IMO…

  7. Busboys4me says

    November 16, 2016 at 3:41 am

    Too soon, he’s still learning and Deng doesn’t require the ball, Ingram would. That is why Clarkson is the 6th man, Russell needs to establish himself.

  8. matt24 says

    November 18, 2016 at 9:10 am

    Deng’s small usg rate makes him a good fit, but we are getting destroyed by opponents wing player, hopefully they can figure out a way to sneak some steroids into deng’s diet

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