New Look LAKERS- Post Kobe Era!

Last season ended with a Bang for Kobe, Leaving into the sunset with a 60 Points on a 44% shooting, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, a steal and a block. Standing ovation from the Laker fans and celebrities saluting the Myth, the only man in today's era who stayed for all his career on the same team, Loyal during the down years and victorious during the championship years. one word to describe the feeling is " EPIC ".

However the media criticized the Laker's season and what was happening because Laker management had hired Byron Scott to basically babysit Kobe Bryant in his 20th season with the team and as result they halted the development of the young core which is the future of the Los Angeles Lakers. The team shot a 45% from the field and a poor 25 % from 3Pts. There were a lot of reports which showed Byron Scott making the Lakers take less threes and preferring isolation basketball to try and appease Bryant. The issue was that the team ran its offense through an aging Kobe Bryant coming back from three catastrophic injures at the age of 38. He was running the offense and we all know Kobe has the Mamba mentality which is Attack first, which at his advanced age and with his injuries wasn't going to work in today's NBA. In order for Kobe to lead the Lakers, he would have urgently needed the Triangle offense to slow the pace of the game down.

Young Lakers Core

Brandon Ingram: Brandon was the 2nd pick in the 2016 Draft behind Ben Simmons. The Lakers got that pick because they had a record of 17-65, they ended the season with the 2nd worst record in the league, only behind the Philadelphia 76ers. Ingram during his brief college career at Duke university averaged about 17.6pts on 44% shooting from the field and 41% shooting from the three point line. He was compared to the likes of Kevin Durant and Giannis Antetokounmpo because of his slim build and style of play. He showed remarkable skills in the summer league and preseason games but the Media looked at Ben Simmons as the better choice for these Lakers because of his size, style of play which is compared to Lebron James.

D'angelo Russell: Russell had a somewhat productive season in the NBA last season. His experience especially playing alongside Kobe Bryant will do wonders for him this season. He ended the season with 13.3 pts a game while shooting 41.4 % from the field. He even shot a pretty stellar 35.3% from the three point line. He is poised to be the new leader of this young Laker nucleus, despite all the drama which surrounded him and his teammate Nick Young who is showing signs of life this season, however that seems to be over for the time being. His upside is pretty high and hopes are pretty high as well for the sophomore but his only disadvantage playing in today's NBA will be his lack of athleticism compared to likes of Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Damian Lillard, etc. Also Russell has shown some carelessness with the ball at times as he tries to do too much increasing his turnovers last season to 2.5 TOPG.

Julius Randle: Julius Randle started his career with a disappointing injury. In his first game he broke his foot which scared not only Laker Nation but the whole sports world. Mostly everyone thought that he will be another bust like Oden and others who were projected to do great yet didn't meet expectations due to the injuries. However this is his first season in the NBA and he is showing health and some very optimistic signs of what to come and a killer instinct while playing. He is playing very well so far as we are 10 games into the season. In my opinion he reminds me a bit of a combination of Kevin Garnett and Draymond Green. He brings energy and intensity to the court like few do, an incident with Demarcus Cousins showed that very clear, he is never scared to bring it.

Larry Nance Jr. : Larry Nance Jr. is a copy of his dad Larry Nance. His athleticism is reminiscent of his dad and even his style of play on Defense. He finished last season with 5.5pts while an efficient shooting 52.7% from the field. He didn't get a lot of minutes last season due to the Kobe goodbye tour but i suspect that under the new style of play from the coaching staff that he will get a lot more touches this season and maybe even double his averages. He brings energy off the bench with his electric offense and hard playing defense. It's true what they say " Like Father, like son" .

Jordan Clarkson : Jordan Clarkson " JC" was a steal in the draft two years ago, his potential is unseen yet. He has shown that if he keeps improving he can be one of the best two way players in the NBA. He finished last season with impressive averages 15.5 Pts while shooting 43.3% from the field, he also has a decent stroke from the three point line 34.7%. Jordan's athleticism is off the chart for a 6'5 guard, his defense is not to be ignored, he can defend against any Point guard, shooting guard and even small forwards due to his versatility and size. He can play on both sides of the floor and he also shows that he can pass very well. 

The Bench: The Lakers bench so far seems to be deep and formidable. They have the right pieces to depend on if the starters are not on their game for a given night. They can switch players around depending on the opponent with success so far. Lou Williams being the 6th man coming from the bench brings a lot of offensive energy and beings a spark plug off the bench to help the Lakers close games because he has shown this Killer instinct, he is averaging an impressive 16.4 PPG. Nick Young is another example, he has shown that he can be a starter and a spark plug off the bench if needed, his averages have improved this season from 6 PPG last season to 15 PPG this season. Media talked about him being on the trading block but he has shown this year that he is coming back to be Swaggy P of old. Then another piece will be Timofey Mozgov who in my opinion despite the increased salary cap was overpaid for what he brings to the table. He is a rim protector and can score at times and shown that he can ignite this Lakers team but he is not the centerpiece which the Lakers need.

Finally, Coach Luke Walton coming from San Francisco to his home team LA Lakers, coming for the hope to take advantage of this young Lakers team and make them the new Golden State Warriors. Last season in the absence of Coach Steve Kerr, Luke Walton took the helms of the Warriors and started winning, he had a record of 39-4 at mid season prior to Steve Kerr coming back after his back recovered from the back surgery he went through. The fans and the Media started asking is Luke Walton a better option than Steve Kerr? Steve Kerr when he became the coach of the GSW, people were saying that he took a ready team after Coach Mark Jackson had an amazing 51 wins back in 2014 season. Media even considered Luke Walton a coach of the Year candidate. I believe that his addition to this young core Lakers will benefit from what he learnt with the Golden State Warriors because of how fast and team based style of offense both teams play. Defense this season has not been the brightest of spots as the Lakers currently are 6-4 and allowing 105 points a game making the Lakers 14th in the league in Points Allowed per game. There needs to be some improvement on the defensive end of the floor. In addition to that his experience as a player while winning rings with Kobe will prove to be very essential to the team's success along with the veterans on the bench like Metta World Peace, his veteran leadership yet questionable sometimes can take these young Lakers team far. 

Accomplishments:

1. Above .500 so far " 13.11.16" : The Lakers have done something which indicates a few things. They have a plus .500 record 10 games in the season. This is not a light accomplishment for these young Lakers. Two seasons back, almost the entire core of this team was playing College and even Highschool ball. To accomplish such a feat this early shows that the team is playing as TEAM. 

Last season and for almost 20 seasons now, the Lakers have had 1 or 2 superstars to depend on to win games hence the triangle offense working so well. However now they seem to be passing the ball at all time high at 21 assists per game, that's 42 points coming from just moving the ball. The Lakers are utilizing their youth and speed very well, they are using fastbreaks to outscore opponents and they are 10th averaging 15 PPG just on fastbreaks per Game. How are they doing that? the answer is Rebounding and steals, the Lakers last season were in the bottom 10 in the League in grabbing Off/Def rebounding, however this season so far, the Lakers are grabbing 52 Rebounds per game which places them 16th in the NBA. Also Steals is one way to initiate the Fastbreak, the Lakers are 8th in Steals averaging almost 9 SPG which is 18 fastbreak points per game. 

Another major change that Luke Walton is implementing with these Lakers is the 3 point line. The lakers were almost season lowest last season from the 3 point line averaging a poor 25%. This season Luke Walton brought the 3 point line back to LA from the Bay Area, it feels like he stole it like the Aliens stole the talent of NBA Superstars in Space Jam. The lakers are generating 28.3 PPG from three on average, that's 9.5 three pointers per game, if this is utilized accordingly, the Lakers will thrive in today's NBA. 

2. Lakers blew the Warriors 97-117 at Home : This is the most impressive accomplishment of them all so far. Based on the previous paragraphs the Lakers applied what they are learning on the team which was coached by Luke Walton last season for half of it. Luke Walton before the game said that he knows the way to beat these Warriors even with the addition of Kevin Durant which I talked about in my first post- link in the bottom- The Lakers started very hot against the Warriors like they had something to prove with an 0-8 run until S.Curry scored on a layup on the fastbreak and then the Lakers put the smack down on the Warriors. The Warriors kept coming at the Lakers cutting the lead down to 7 pts in the 3rd and at this point it showed how inexperience are these Lakers because they turned the over ball a lot and couldn't defend the pick & Rolls but the Lakers went on another run in the start of the 4th. Finally Coach Steve Kerr had to sit down the starters at the 6 minutes mark in the 4th quarter because they knew that this game was over. 

Rest of the Season, Playoffs and 5 Years down the line

The team's predictions before the season started were low, low expectations with a bright future. It seems like these Lakers are learning and adapting fast to the NBA and to this Western conference. Now they are sitting at 6-4WL record, can they keep this form, who know? but one thing is for sure that they can't let this recent form get to their heads and they should keep working hard to reach the Playoffs. A playoff appearance will do wonders for their progress and confidence now and in the future, even if they exit in the first round but to do that they must finish with a positive record. The lakers haven't made the Playoffs since 2013 when Kobe tore his Achilles against the same Warrior less Kevin Durant, when he carried the team to the Playoffs averaging almost 28 PPG on 45 % shooting from the field.

Lastly, Rumors are being passed around of a potential trade down or a FA signing in a year or two which could change the face of the NBA once again, two superstars who could unite alongside this young team to make the Lakers great again in Westbrook and Davis. In their current teams, i don't see them winning anytime soon with the pieces around. Davis is having an MVP type season but his team in not winning, they have a 1-9WL record with a loss to the Lakers in their last game. However a player can't win the MVP award, if his team doesn't make the Playoffs. The Thunder on the other hand are playing well but i don't see them contending anytime soon as they are currently constructed. So can we see a potential Westbrook and Davis pair in LA!? I guess Time will tell. 

NBA

Los Angeles Lakers

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Written by

Hiflya

Hiflya's Blog

My Take on the NBA...Present, past and future.

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