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Lakers are currently 5th in ORTG which is an improvement from being 11th last season but this could be masking what is changing on their approach bec of their improved 3pt shooting AND A VERY LIGHT SCHEDULE of facing way too many non playoff teams the first 15 games, losing to the Clips and Portland and 2 other teams that would likely be out of the playoffs.
Main culprits of course is Vogel who wants to AD to take MORE 3pt shots in the hopes of preserving his body from blows, body/shoulder checks, elbows shots etc which sounds LOGICAL.
But enigma is actually that AD is actually taking LESS 3pt shots than last season from 3.5 to 2.8 but has INCREASED HIS SHOTS from 3 to 22 feet. His attempts from 0-3 feet has gone down from 34.3% to 26.6% of his total attempts while he is taking a total of 55.7% of his total shots from 10 to just inside 3pt line.
He is actually LEADING the team in attempts from 10-16 feet AND 16 feet upto inside the 3pt line WHILE IS CURRENTLY 9TH IN TS% WHILE Lebron is 10th!
btw his FT attempts are down from 8.5 to 4.9 attempts.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/LAL/2021.html

It is a marathon not a sprint and they were dealt a hand of almost 2 months short of the rest of other champs. Minutes being down, lack of forcing free throws, and sitting guys when hurt speaks to that.

The they are only playing weak teams thing doesn’t vibe because they played a winning Minny team, they played Portland with Nurk and CJ and now both are out, Hardens rockets, and not the Spurs three times in a week. That’s the hand they got dealt. Yes the Warriors got them but they can get anyone and are going to be in the playoffs as a top 6 or by taking out a play in team long as steph is there

Need more shooters. The 4 best scorers on the team are all best inside the arc and I can see teams taking advantage of that in the playoffs. Montrezl and Schroeder are fine in the regular season but unconvinced how they will be in the playoffs once teams start to play D

And no doubt Lakers are worse defensively this season so margin for error on offense is lower

kblo247 wrote:It is a marathon not a sprint and they were dealt a hand of almost 2 months short of the rest of other champs. Minutes being down, lack of forcing free throws, and sitting guys when hurt speaks to that.

The they are only playing weak teams thing doesn’t vibe because they played a winning Minny team, they played Portland with Nurk and CJ and now both are out, Hardens rockets, and not the Spurs three times in a week. That’s the hand they got dealt. Yes the Warriors got them but they can get anyone and are going to be in the playoffs as a top 6 or by taking out a play in team long as steph is there

The winning Minny team you are referring to back then was 2-0 beating the Utah team with Towns, then poof, he's gone vs the Lakers. They beat the Spurs twice without LMA, then he comes back, viola beat the Lakers. Yes, you have to play the hand and face the teams in front of you good or bad but my point is that their "improved ORTG" is being masked by playing bad defensive minded teams AND their insane 3pt shooting % with Caruso and KCP hitting above 53% and Kuzma(40), Gasol (39)and Matthews above 38%.
As a Laker fan, I wish they can maintain that high clip but let's be realistic here.
Letting AD take 3's is not a horrible idea, but my point is, he is actually taking LESS and instead decided to take a TON of 16 footers resulting to him ranking 9TH for this team alone in TS%, DOWN from 61% TS% last year.
Yes, it's a marathon, I understand that AD shouldn't be risking injuries by ramming his body to the teeth of the defense etc for it is my opinion that they can get much better with their approach by designing better set plays with multiple options instead of just settling for a 16 footers. I'm not sure if you read that silverscreenandroll article about AD.
https://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2021/1/10/22221756/anthony-davis-midrange-jumpers-stats-less-dunks-lakers-frank-vogel-analysis

Davis typically blows by his obstacle with one of his many — and simply unfair — go-to moves, then detonation happens. A sonic boom. Two points, a roar, and back down the floor everyone goes.

But this time, that’s not what happened. On this possession, Davis squares up Jakob Poeltl with an in-between dribble and instead of attacking forward, he steps back. His jumper bangs off the cylinder and the loose ball is swatted out of bounds. The defense exhales at the anti-climatic ending.

Some fans here last season FIRMLY BELIEVED that Vogel was saving his "unstoppable/indefensibile Lebron/AD screenroll action for the playoffs but it didn't happen.
But anyway, they get the Bucks next and Sixers and Celtics at the end of the month, so we will see what happens.

Yes, I think we are too perimeter oriented. Learning bad habits soon as a team. Rest can be handed out with minutes, shouldn’t be done with low intensity play during long minutes.

I’d like to see Vogel challenge LBJ’s and AD’s minds by installing a few triangle sets like blind pig and other basic sets with LeBron, AD, Marc (in the post). I’d bet money on that no NBA team stops a well run triangle set played by those three. They’re the triangle trio of Phil Jackson’s wet dreams.

One can hope PJ is thinking, “I could become Vogel’s Tex ...?”

Jeannie, ask Phil if Vogel can consult. With 11 rings, he might have thought of something Frank hasn’t focused on yet.

For instance, he’d tell him to challenge the minds of LBJ and AD at a new level during the boring regular season. They both seem checked out right now.

The Champagne hangover is over, Rover.

stan francisco wrote:Yes, I think we are too perimeter oriented. Learning bad habits soon as a team. Rest can be handed out with minutes, shouldn’t be done with low intensity play during long minutes.

I’d like to see Vogel challenge LBJ’s and AD’s minds by installing a few triangle sets like blind pig and other basic sets with LeBron, AD, Marc (in the post). I’d bet money on that no NBA team stops a well run triangle set played by those three. They’re the triangle trio of Phil Jackson’s wet dreams.

One can hope PJ is thinking, “I could become Vogel’s Tex ...?”

Jeannie, ask Phil if Vogel can consult. With 11 rings, he might have thought of something Frank hasn’t focused on yet.

For instance, he’d tell him to challenge the minds of LBJ and AD at a new level during the boring regular season. They both seem checked out right now.

The Champagne hangover is over, Rover.

Phil never dealt with such a short turnaround either after having to keep their minds focused in a bubble for so long. In fact Phil hasn’t ever had to deal with a lockout shortened year before let alone this. And lebron despises Phil.

It’s hard to engage someone when you can’t practice or film session or shoot around or have team meetings. They are essentially playing pickup games

I coach a group of young professionals. Yes during lockdown. Even more important than ever for the coach to keep their minds challenged and extra engaged in geeky things.

stan francisco wrote: They’re the triangle trio of Phil Jackson’s wet dreams.

Lmao..

Phil or the Triangle are not happening anytime soon around Lebron bro, but interesting thought for sure. I'd love some easy Brad Stevens sets being installed to get our role players going though.

I'm not sure how the excessive 3 pt heavy offense is a bad thing. Isn't it better we get our points easily in the regular season, while allowing dudes like THT, Kuz & Caruso to get more confidence & reps to shoot in real games. It's the damn 3 pt era. Nobody's winning the chip without it. And it's not like we're forcing bad 3 pt shots either.

We've been running a top 5 offense while playing our stars less than 30 mins a game. AD & Lakers have been in super cruise mode so far and blowing out teams by the 2nd - 3rd quarter. They turned up for the Houston games and those were both wire to wire 30+ pt blow outs. Yea Harden didn't wanna be there, but he was averaging 36 ppg before those games and Caruso just flat out embarrassed him.

The lapses against Clips, Dubs & Blazers mean less than nothing to me. They are in cruize mode, and crushing the f*ck out of it.

I am really pleased about the great ball movement on offense and effing giddy about the defensive supernova switch we seem to have when we need. Reminds me of the 2012-14 Heat teams.

My concerns are -
- Schroeder's fit - His vision & ability to pass. Lebron loves him despite those, which kinda sucks unless things change. Just to clarify, I think he's great value and complementary to Bron's aging legs. Great attitude and work ethic on defense too. Just not a perfect fit for everyone other than Lebron, which is crucial if you're the designated PG. Maybe a Ricky Rubio kinda true PG (10 pts- 8ast)would've fit better than him. Someone who can exploit the insane P&R abilities of Trez, AD & Gasol. Someone who can dictate and execute simple sets in non-Lebron minutes and keep everyone involved.
- Kuz still dribbles
- The possibility of a dumb trade that ruins chemistry. Although, Rob's not done anything less than perfect so far, so not much chance of that happening.

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Yes the Lakers have become a more three point shooting team. However, they can adjust to a low post game using Gasol, Davis James Kuzma or Harrell and KCP or Schroder. The Lakers are winning and whatever works determines how a coach will use his assets and any liabilities adjustments have to be made to keep winning. Great teams will use combinations that will keep the team winning. Coach Vogel needs to keep the entire team ready.

Give it to AD in the post a little more, I like he extended his range, but I feel like AD is more efficient around the rim, they could use his shooting to stretch the floor but use the AD post up as the go to option because he was killing dudes in the playoffs with his size. A free 30ppg. At his best, he's the best offensive weapon in the league, him and Bron are really what kills everyone's hopes in the West because even if a team like the Jazz or Nuggets get past the first round, their superstars dont match the firepower Bron and AD give in the playoffs. We talking about two guys who are 250lb + can do anything on the court and proven they can be clutch together. I think Lakers are taking it easy in the regular season but LeBron wants to shut people up so I expect them to turn it up a notch and show their whole arsenal over time. Schroeder/Gasol/Harrell so different from the previous guys they had in Rondo/McGee/Howard