TLDR (MY THOUGHTS): I think if we can get healthy, and add a TRUE 3&D AND/OR a starting caliber big to pair with AD, that can defend and crash the class well, then we should be in a good spot. I’d be willing to give Ham the season to see what we got.
As it stands we’re almost at the quarter mark of the season (time flies right?). Lakers are 11-8, 7th in the West, 3 GB of 1st. They’re also in the knockout stages of the in season tournament, after going undefeated in the Group Stage.
This team is hard to read on. Very inconsistent so far but a lot to be desired. Big issues so far involve rebounding, shooting, and perimeter defense.
We aren’t fully healthy, so granted I do think when we’re at full strength, it’ll help with those deficiencies. But even then I think this team needs 1-2 pieces to fully contend.
Darvin Ham is also hard to read on. He’s frustrating in a lot of aspects, but consider what he’s done so far. Lakers had a 47 million dollar liability that hampered the team, and when traded for spare parts, this team went 17-6 to close out the year. And made the WCF. And while we got swept, I wasn’t expecting a one legged Bron and AD to carry against the Nuggets. Especially when we had Tristan Thompson on Jokic.
Looks like we’ll need a trade (personally I’d only trade positional guards for guards etc.) Ham is what he is we’re not gonna fire him halfway through the year. Just need more consistency out of everyone
Fully healthy we can win games off of talent alone for some games. Ham’s inefficiency as a coach will become an issue for games where we need to adjust on the fly. I can’t see us going all the way unless Ham improves.
I’d be more than happy to see someone else as coach. Losing due to lack of key rotation guys is one thing but clearly this team has zero identity on both sides of the court. No adjustments to slow starts or stagnation on Offense/Defense.
I watched the Clippers game boy they dismantled the Kings with ease. Didnt know how tf Zubac outplayed Sabonis, while Sabonis embarrassed AD in all possible ways. Fuck yhem, but I cant help myself but wish that our players are automatic just like theirs. It feels like its automatic when you leave them wide open from 3 or mid range especially Kawhi, PG and Norm. Cant say the same with this team wide open or not I get nervous when we shoot 3s lol. Austin Reaves missed like 4 straight wide open 3s, Lebron and DLo are both streaky shooters. Lebron been struggling from the 3 for like the past 3 games. Dlo come and go. Other than those 3, who else? TP and Rui? Godd luck on that. Whenever Im watching Norman Powell, hes so quick and a great shooter. Feels like he dont miss. PG too even when guarded. Man, we wont win shit if our best shooter is below 40% and streaky
I watched the Clippers game boy they dismantled the Kings with ease.
To be fair the Kings had to play a crazy come back game against the Warriors the night before. They all just looked tired out there.
Fair, but Clips also destroyed Mavericks last game and Clips were on the 2nd game of back to back
The Lakers give up a shit load of second chance points and always seem to be on the wrong end of the 50/50 balls. Getting Vando back would fix those problems. Hopefully the hustle he brings on the court is contagious so everyone would be hustling too.
Darvin is fine. He’s not the best but he’s far from the worst coach. His lack of adjustments is concerning but hopefully he’s learning. We reached the WCF with him so the capability to learn and adjust is there. Besides, it’s not like we can find a better replacement.
I’m not really onboard with trading for Lavine. I’ll get crucified for this but I’m willing to take a shot with Drummond again. He has stone hands but his percentages have been slightly going up and it’s not like he’ll be a part of the offense anyway. It seems like he’s accepted the backup bruiser center role at this point of his career. He can’t be worse than Jaxson Hayes, right?
Caruso, although I love him, doesn’t really fix a lot of our problems. His defense and hustle is elite but he’s not really a volume shooter. I rather give Gabe Vincent a shot first, hopefully his shot starts falling when he gets back.
This team is honestly fine, just need the two focal points of our defense in Vando and Gabe back. If we’re still not a good team when they’re back then that’s when I’ll start being concerned.
Side question: Is anyone else not really concerned about our record? It literally took us 77 games to get to .500 last year and the West looks tight this year again. If healthy I can still see us going 50-32, the playoffs is where this team would do the most damage. Obviously a higher seed is great but because of last year, it gives me peace of mind knowing that this team can play better than what their record says during the playoffs.