Lakers Roster & Rotations

[TJM217]

So are people still low on DLo? He's had a great pre season so far. The hate he got last year was a little too much imo

[Godfather13]

So are people still low on DLo? He's had a great pre season so far. The hate he got last year was a little too much imo

I've been pleasantly surprised by his effort on defense, which has largely gone unmentioned on the major outlets, despite how much they've been fawning over his offense the last 3 games - rightly so. He mentioned in one of his preseason interviews that he realized how his defense proved to be a major detriment to the team in the playoffs & had worked on his off ball defensive technique this off season. I liked hearing that from him. And it shows. He looks more deliberately active, being in better positions, using his hands more & doing the little things.

We don't need him & Wood to be lockdown guys. Their primary value lies in their offense, and it's a foolish to want that from them. We just need them to not be leaks in our defense, by buying into the winning philosophy and pitting in the work to become just passable. Basically, start giving a ****. lol. Fortunately for them, defense is mostly just about effort rather than skill. It's what will go a long way in building or destroying their long term reputation & income in this league.

Questions that we will see answered this season -
- Can DLo keep this level of defense up in the regular season? Or does he regress to his lazy ways >> back to being a liability on that end, ergo a waste of good salary & a roster spot by the deadline?
- Can Wood learn to do it for the first time like DLo? Context : This is the first time Wood is on a team with a good defensive identity, a coach who demands it of him & one that is a real contender for the title. His minutes & long term future would directly depend on how sustainable his defense is. Will he realize this and buy in, or continue to be an clueless empty stats moron nobody cared enough to even hand out a Tax MLE?

The good thing is they're both fairly nice trade chips, if it doesn't pan out by the deadline.

As for DLo's offense, I 100% expect it to regress back to normal as he faces more critics & ball pressure in the regular season. Just not buying into a 3 preseason games sample over his entire career's body of work. He is a wildly special offensive talent who also happens to be wildly inconsistent & that's that.

I think the inconsistency is congruent to the pressure he faces to perform, going by the discrepancy in his regular season & playoff splits - 43-36-79 & 39-33-78 respectively. But it's a small sample of 3 playoffs & only two series before 2023, so no point reading too much into it. The exacerbated impact of his poor defense forcing coaches to bench him and take him out of his rhythm could also be a cause for it. Which happens to be something he can positively change to his own and the team's benefit.

[TylersLakers]

So are people still low on DLo? He's had a great pre season so far. The hate he got last year was a little too much imo

He's been excellent. I think peoples expectations for him are just too high. He's going to be a really good playmaker at all times and he's going to have lots of nights where he's super hot and then other nights when he's cold. When he's cold and can't make shots, he doesn't get to the free throw or have a great diversity in his offensive game.

His defense will be what it is which is average at best.

We just need him to make his open threes at a good clip and be a secondary playmaker after LeBron and Reaves. He's got a great spot to step in and just play high quality basketball.

Defensively, he'll guard up most times on bigger guards and he just needs to play good team defense. He's going to get beat off the dribble by smaller guards, that's completely okay.

[stan francisco]

So are people still low on DLo? He's had a great pre season so far. The hate he got last year was a little too much imo

He's been excellent. I think peoples expectations for him are just too high. He's going to be a really good playmaker at all times and he's going to have lots of nights where he's super hot and then other nights when he's cold. When he's cold and can't make shots, he doesn't get to the free throw or have a great diversity in his offensive game.

His defense will be what it is which is average at best.

We just need him to make his open threes at a good clip and be a secondary playmaker after LeBron and Reaves. He's got a great spot to step in and just play high quality basketball.

Defensively, he'll guard up most times on bigger guards and he just needs to play good team defense. He's going to get beat off the dribble by smaller guards, that's completely okay.

The rub on D Lo was never his offense. I think he’s a top 20 distributor and playmaker amongst all guards. The hate is not hate, it’s a complaint about defensive inability.

No laker fan here thinks he sucks offensively, simply because he doesn’t. It’s a straw man argument being made.

He plays no defense, and that makes it necessary to trade him, regardless of his offense. Playing 4 on 5 on one end gets you eliminated before getting to the NBA finals. All pro coaches know this. The smart ones (see what Malone did to D Lo) will exploit him until he’s benched. benched.

What’s good about his offense when benched?

I respectfully disagree that his defense is acceptable. I’d even go so far as to say fans who only watch one end shouldn’t opine on the end they don’t watch.

Can anyone find a D Lo defensive highlights video, please?

I’d argue that he’s one of the worst defenders ever to play guard in the NBA. Perhaps bottom 20 all time. He Does Not Play Defense Ever. That means no championships for us.

Trade him on December 15.

[tamaraw08]

Cam Reddish comes back and immediately takes the most attempts, Lakers struggle shooting, down 11 with 6 mins to go in the game

[tamaraw08]

Cam Reddish comes back from injury and messed with Lakers offensive flow, took the most attempts, tied with most missed shots with SPJ.

[stan francisco]

But hey, D Lo played defense for a quarter today. Bravo! I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen him play defense. Not great but at least he really tried. I’ll take that any day!

Hayes, Wood, Castleton played both ends well. So did Christie and Lewis. Pippen’s defensive attitude and smarts are great, his offense sucks. Lewis has a great future, I think. Raw, but plays with great energy and focus. I’ll give Reddish time to calm down. He thinks ge needs to dominate. Someone tell him this is the NBA, that ge has to adjust his OOC game. Prince is money as a floor stretcher from the corner three. Rui is a badass. AD looked great. He played the wing a lot, which I think is great. Wood and AD is a devastating twin tower combo to defend. After watching tonight’s game, I’m convinced the starting lineup in my sig is the right one. Even Valerio played well. We finally have depth at C. Castleton’s rebounding and ability to handle the ball on the break at 6’10”(?) is very promising.

We’re deeep. Practices will be very competitive. I think tonight’s game bodes well.

[tamaraw08]

But hey, D Lo played defense for a quarter today. Bravo! I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen him play defense. Not great but at least he really tried. I’ll take that any day!

I’ll give Reddish time to calm down. He thinks ge needs to dominate. Someone tell him this is the NBA, that ge has to adjust his OOC game.

.

Reaves averaged 36 mins/game in the crucial 16 playoff games, that's how much Ham relies on this guy. Hopefully he plays around 30 mins/game or a few mins less but that leaves about 18 minutes for the back up SG. Reddish canNOT take minutes away from a very promising guy like Max Christie IMO.
Ham is also trying a combo of D'Lo and Vincent at the same time, so that could even result to less minutes to Max..

[stan francisco]

But hey, D Lo played defense for a quarter today. Bravo! I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen him play defense. Not great but at least he really tried. I’ll take that any day!

I’ll give Reddish time to calm down. He thinks ge needs to dominate. Someone tell him this is the NBA, that ge has to adjust his OOC game.

.

Reaves averaged 36 mins/game in the crucial 16 playoff games, that's how much Ham relies on this guy. Hopefully he plays around 30 mins/game or a few mins less but that leaves about 18 minutes for the back up SG. Reddish canNOT take minutes away from a very promising guy like Max Christie IMO.
Ham is also trying a combo of D'Lo and Vincent at the same time, so that could even result to less minutes to Max..

Agreed. Reddish needs to slow himself down, focus on fundamentals and filling a role, not try to be a dominant impact player.

Christie makes no mental mistakes, plays both ends, is long and has a very good looking jump shot. Lewis looks promising.

The aggressor wins. That goes for coaches, too. Ask PJ. Starting a frontline of AD, LBJ and Wood will put every coach on notice, force them to adjust, take them out if what they want to do. That’s why I’d prefer the starters and rotations in my sig.

LBJ, AD and Wood coming at you on the fast break is a scary look to defend.

Defense.

Thrilling to see D Lo digging in on D for the first time, like ever. Practice makes perfect, keep it up!

[tamaraw08]

But hey, D Lo played defense for a quarter today. Bravo! I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen him play defense. Not great but at least he really tried. I’ll take that any day!

I’ll give Reddish time to calm down. He thinks ge needs to dominate. Someone tell him this is the NBA, that ge has to adjust his OOC game.

.

Reaves averaged 36 mins/game in the crucial 16 playoff games, that's how much Ham relies on this guy. Hopefully he plays around 30 mins/game or a few mins less but that leaves about 18 minutes for the back up SG. Reddish canNOT take minutes away from a very promising guy like Max Christie IMO.
Ham is also trying a combo of D'Lo and Vincent at the same time, so that could even result to less minutes to Max..

Agreed. Reddish needs to slow himself down, focus on fundamentals and filling a role, not try to be a dominant impact player.

Christie makes no mental mistakes, plays both ends, is long and has a very good looking jump shot. Lewis looks promising.

The aggressor wins. That goes for coaches, too. Ask PJ. Starting a frontline of AD, LBJ and Wood will put every coach on notice, force them to adjust, take them out if what they want to do. That’s why I’d prefer the starters and rotations in my sig.

LBJ, AD and Wood coming at you on the fast break is a scary look to defend.

Defense.

Thrilling to see D Lo digging in on D for the first time, like ever. Practice makes perfect, keep it up!

I don’t want Cam Slowing down or calming down, I want him buried in the bench and not playing at all. Preferably Christie subbing for Reaves to play next to Gabe, Rui, Wood and Vando or James or D’Lo playing with the bench players if needed be. Or like you said play big using twin towers etc. Boston has been using 2 bigs and it’s fine with them.

[Godfather13]

But hey, D Lo played defense for a quarter today. Bravo! I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen him play defense. Not great but at least he really tried. I’ll take that any day!

I’ll give Reddish time to calm down. He thinks ge needs to dominate. Someone tell him this is the NBA, that ge has to adjust his OOC game.

.

Reaves averaged 36 mins/game in the crucial 16 playoff games, that's how much Ham relies on this guy. Hopefully he plays around 30 mins/game or a few mins less but that leaves about 18 minutes for the back up SG. Reddish canNOT take minutes away from a very promising guy like Max Christie IMO.
Ham is also trying a combo of D'Lo and Vincent at the same time, so that could even result to less minutes to Max..

Agreed. Reddish needs to slow himself down, focus on fundamentals and filling a role, not try to be a dominant impact player.

Christie makes no mental mistakes, plays both ends, is long and has a very good looking jump shot. Lewis looks promising.

The aggressor wins. That goes for coaches, too. Ask PJ. Starting a frontline of AD, LBJ and Wood will put every coach on notice, force them to adjust, take them out if what they want to do. That’s why I’d prefer the starters and rotations in my sig.

LBJ, AD and Wood coming at you on the fast break is a scary look to defend.

Defense.

Thrilling to see D Lo digging in on D for the first time, like ever. Practice makes perfect, keep it up!

DLo has been digging in. Can say the same about Wood to a large extent. It's been a great to see. Its all you can ask for.

Not saying either have suddenly become lockdown defenders. lol. Far from it, they're probably still hinging around D- on defense, but what this does is make both of them PASSABLE. D- is miles better than what DLo was last season, which is a hard F- or worse. An F- can singlehandedly tank an otherwise B+ defense to an average or below average level.

The problems I'm still noticing are lifelong habits for these two insanely gifted offensive players, who have never really cared much about the other end of the court. Most notably these are the key areas both need to clean up, which isn't all that inconceivable if they are motivated enough to do it -
- Concentration - It was back-cut galore for the Bucks in the 1st quarter when both of them were on the floor together. I thought it was the only reason Bucks managed to stay in the game, instead of it being a 1st half 20 point blowout. Both can not be put on the court together against a half decent team - PERIOD!
- Bravery to get physical/take charges(DLo). MFer makes too many business decisions for my liking. Not cool for a role player that's bounced around 4 teams in 5 years.

As long as Darwin doesn't insist on playing them together, which he most certainly will do , we get to keep 4 good defenders around them so we're not leaking points like crazy.

[stan francisco]

https://youtu.be/3whM5OZ3c_Q?si=6WGPhBHdFZlZeBeL

Video for Wood, Hayes, D Lo, Reddish to watch on loop.

[Ball so hard]

I’ve been very impressed with Dlo’s defense. I hope he keeps it up. Reddish is a scrub and shouldn’t see a single minute of game time.

[Godfather13]

I’ve been very impressed with Dlo’s defense. I hope he keeps it up. Reddish is a scrub and shouldn’t see a single minute of game time.

I'll flip Reddish for Stan the Man in December without a second thought, if he doesn't drastically improve. What a tragedy, considering the talent.

Just need some system players who wanna box out, rebound, play defense, set screens and shoot when open. The final quarter and a half were painful last night.

[TimeisIllmatic]

https://youtu.be/3whM5OZ3c_Q?si=6WGPhBHdFZlZeBeL

Video for Wood, Hayes, D Lo, Reddish to watch on loop.

This video is amazing! If I ever coach basketball, I'm showing the whole team this video.

[stan francisco]

https://youtu.be/3whM5OZ3c_Q?si=6WGPhBHdFZlZeBeL

Video for Wood, Hayes, D Lo, Reddish to watch on loop.

This video is amazing! If I ever coach basketball, I'm showing the whole team this video.

Yeah. I wonder why they never watched it. They clearly didn’t. Maybe they never cared to look for it. Or maybe they know it all too well and just don’t want to because of diva / Prima Donna attitude.

You can’t unthink those simple basic fundamental concepts once you’ve been exposed to them. Unless you choose to do so. Of course they know. It’s the NBA.

It’s expected that a professional chef knows how to use knives, or that an actor knows how to act, or that an electrician knows how to ground an appliance. The not so glamorous parts of all of our work is still a part of it. I’m in the entertainment industry, where personal sacrifice is one of the center components to all of what we navigate every week.

What makes D Lo and them so special they don’t have to do the ‘dirty’ or ‘difficult’ part of their work? Defense is half the job. How a pro ball player can frown upon or shy away from an opportunity of shutting down their star opponent is beyond my comprehension. No balls?


Tip to D Lo, Hayes, Wood:

Want to become a fan favorite in Los Angeles?


Do what the fans do for a living. Work as hard as they do. Max effort, high aspirations. Get knocked down? Stand up! Repeat for decades until you get there. They will eat you up, you’ll be a Laker legend.

If you don’t do that, they’ll yawn and want you traded by December 15.

Don’t be fooled by the shiny facade of Tinseltown. LA is full of hard workers who persistently sacrifice greatly. Just drive on any freeway and you’ll realize what people are willing to give for their dream. When they see that type of sacrifice on the court the roof lifts off of Stapl… Crypto. Defense is what the LA crowd wants to see — simply hard effing work. Play some badass defense until December 15, like you’re actually invested in winning, or let’s part ways.

Defense is a mindset and a skill, which are both easy to acquire if there is a will. What legacy to leave behind…? Jeeez, let’s see. ‘Oh you mean millions of fans notice when I ‘hide’ on defense?’

[Liam_Gallagher]

I don't like Darvin's rotations so far. When he takes out LeBron, AD, and Reaves all in the first quarter it's shaky and questionable at best. Jaxon Hayes is a lob threat, he's not going to do anything out there with D-Lo, Vincent, Reddish, and Rui. He should either be the starting centre next to AD or not playing at all, probably the latter (unless injuries). The rotation should DEFINITELY be:

G - D-Lo [32]| Vincent [20] | JHS
G - Austin [34] | Cam [10] | Christie
F - LBJ [32] | Taurean [19]
F - Vando [16] | Rui [22]
C - AD [35]| Wood [20] | Hayes

Wood should be finishing the game at the four, and Prince and LBJ should only share three minutes together, they're too small. Let's use our size. Rui should be playing at least 22 minutes a night. Vincent at 20 is solid.

[Danny Darko]

I liked the big lineup vs the clips and I guess Max come on down for increased minutes

[tweet]https://x.com/LakersReporter/status/1720282354973859895?s=20[/tweet]

[stan francisco]

I liked the big lineup vs the clips and I guess Max come on down for increased minutes

Read on Twitter

Yep!

Hope Vincent gets back soon so he can get into a groove.

[BasketballAnon]

So the Lakers are going to completely overhaul the roster again before All-Star break, right?