In the year of our lord 2020, Rajon Rondo was a critical on-court contributor to a team that won the NBA Championship. If you’d asked most contributors to the NBA conversation (aka people who watch and analyze the game for a living — or even just for fun — but don’t work for or are […]
Lakers Analysis
In Appreciation of Markieff Morris
The history of players who join a team after being bought out isn’t really great. Every year fans all around the league get excited about some player who was once probably pretty good getting bought out and joining their playoff team to help put them over the top. Rarely, though, does that actually happen. Markieff […]
When the Pressure was the Highest, the Lakers got Defensive
It’s often said that when pressure is at its highest, at its most overwhelming, a person will revert to who they naturally are. There is no room for faking it in these moments, there are only instincts and you acting on them. There’s no deciding what you’re going to be, there’s only doing what comes […]
In the Aftermath of a Lakers Loss…
There is no path of least resistence to an NBA Finals win. If no other lesson is learned from the Lakers game 3 performance, this is it. Rather than play hard and smart and be prepared for the different tactics the Heat would employ to try to save their chances in this series, the Lakers […]
LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Most Malleable of Stars
One of my favorite niche movie characters is “the Keymaker” from the Matrix trilogy. If you’re not familiar with him, you can read up on the character, but a cliff’s notes explanation is that he represents is the idea of creating a path to a solution that was not there before. Or, said another way, […]
Lakers vs. Nuggets: Western Conference Finals Preview
It may not be what we expected, but it’s what we’ve got. The Lakers were supposed to face the Clippers in the Western Conference Finals starting on Friday. But instead of the other LA team making history by finally advancing out of the 2nd round, they made a different type of history by blowing a […]
Hello There, Playoff LeBron
It was just over 18 months ago now that LeBron James received skeptical looks and, in some circles, outright jeers. He was coming off a badly pulled groin on Christmas day that kept him out 17 games and looking to course-correct the Lakers back into the playoff hunt in his first season with the team. […]
A Small Adjustment to Help LeBron vs. the Rockets
If you want more of an instant reaction with deeper analysis to the Lakers game 1 loss to the Rockets, please give a listen to our LFR Pod recap that went up earlier today. Pete and I went long on what the Rockets were doing to get the Lakers out of sorts, our issues with […]
Lakers vs. Blazers Playoff Preview
It’s been a long time coming, Lakers fans. For the first time since Kobe Bryant ruptured his achilles to carry his team there, the Lakers are back in the playoffs. It’s been an arduous path back. I won’t go through all the ups and downs now, but there’s been many fits and starts, many ups […]
Are the Lakers Problems Real or a Product of Apathy?
In the six games they have played since the NBA’s restart the Lakers have been one of the NBA’s worst teams. With a 2-4 record, only the Grizzlies, Kings, and Wizards have won fewer games. Though they boast the league’s 3rd best defensive rating during this stretch, they’re last offensively and their -7.1 net rating […]