Lively should hopefully be back soon. I say “fixed”, since obviously it still doesn’t mean that we are beating teams because of our center rotation. But the hope would be that we no longer loose because of our center rotation.
This would help both in terms of on court production, but it would also help in focusing our limited assets on a wing with size exclusively … ok we also still need to find our long term PoA defender with DJJ on a one year contract, Green is not (yet) reliable.
TLDR: Holmes contributed on both offense and defense in ways not evident in the box score.
He set three Gortat screens to give Doncic open paths to the rim.
He showed patience with the ball on offense, passing to teammates when defenders closed on him.
He rebounded with authority.
He played good switching defense onto LeBron and held his own one-on-one to block Hachimura and deter multiple other shots at the rim. Not necessarily with his length or size, but rather timing his jump and staying vertical without fouling.
He was aware of what the Lakers were trying to do, not only in switches but also where they would be if he slipped the screen. He positioned himself to receive passes and threaten the rim, drawing foul calls when he got pole position.
Overall, basketball IQ was high, so he should get more minutes.