In this episode of the Laker Film Room Podcast, Pete and I talk about Kyle Kuzma, his struggles start to the season, and try to get to some of the roots of his issues and what he could be doing better.
In talking about Kuzma’s return from injury, we also discuss differences between issues that are related to missing training camp, preseason, and the start of the regular season and issues that might be inherent to Kuzma and things he’ll need to “grow out of” or areas where he can mature as a player — particularly to be part of closing lineups on a defensive oriented team that has championship aspirations.
Related to this, we also discuss the balance that needs to be struck when trying to deploy and optimize Kuzma; that there are certain elements of his game that you’re just going to have to live with because the upside of what that can bring you is so great. This particularly applies to Kuzma being, as Pete called him, a “bucket getter” and how that scorers mentality informs ideas like shot selection.
After talking Kuzma, Pete and I then answer some mailbag questions from our Patreon subscribers. Those included questions about whether LeBron and AD should take games off for “load management”, what the Lakers can do to improve their offense, whether switching should become a more regular part of the team’s defense, and more.
You can listen to the full discussion below.
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