Lakers Finally Get The Starters Right?

Lakers Finally Get The Starters Right?

What’s going on everyone so we are vastly approaching this back end of the NBA season and the Lakers leading into this Allstar break uh were on a six out of seven game streak uh which is huge they’ve even won 11 out of the last 15 which is even bigger and they need to

Kind of keep that pace I think that they’re going to need around 45 wins uh if they’re going to want to get that six seed currently uh the Lakers are the ninth seed they are two games back of the which they play them twice coming up in

The next like few weeks um got to get both of those wins that could move us into the eighth seed and now only need to win one play in game uh but obviously the idea is to get to the six seed uh they currently right now are three and a

Half games back at the Suns and the Pelicans it’s really like three games cuz the Lakers have the tiebreakers over both of those teams so Lakers handle their business do their job they could end up uh moving into that at sixth or fifth seed uh but this starting five

Real question is like have they gotten it right right they are currently since moving ruie into the five and going with DLo Reeves LeBron ruie and Anthony Davis uh that fan unit is currently 5-0 uh the Lakers as a team have won six to the last seven as I mentioned uh they’ve

Been 11th in defense during that stretch which is incredible considering Lakers have missed four of their top five defensive players uh so the fact that they aren’t like 20th is very impressive and is a team that I do believe once everybody’s back once everyone’s healthy once they kind of figure out you know

The the rotation fully I really could see this team being top five offense top five defense you might be thinking top five offense well yes top five offense during this stretch they are second in offensive rating off first in assists and first in turnover percentage so they’re taking care of the basketball

They’re sharing the basketball guys are getting good looks they’re scoring the basketball their offense clicking things have been really good for the Lakers in that regard and they really need to keep it up now I do have questions and this is me personally I do have questions

Come the postseason of how does this starting five look now offensively I definitely think that they will be awesome right but once you get into the postseason I have concerns that now you’re playing the elite teams now you’re playing the best teams and you have a lot of holes in this starting

Five particularly on the defensive side of things now Austin Reeves has been much more serviceable lately DLo has been very serviceable uh ruie tries but I just have concerns come to postseason ruy hachimura is not good defending out on the perimeter against the quicker twitchier athletic guys uh he’s not good

Uh navigating through and over screens he gets put in that action and more times than not he’s lost or misses the assignment uh and then on top of that we’ve already seen what teams are doing to Austin Reeves and just kind of targeting him and how does the starting

Five look in the postseason when teams go okay let’s just put ruy in pick and roll action all game let’s just put and Target him with quicker athletic twitchier guys and then Austin Reeves is another guy that we can go and kind of bully and Target I have concerns in that regard it

May not be a problem at all the Lakers may be totally fine I do think matchups matter too like I think ruy would be fine against a a a Minnesota or an Oklahoma City Thunder something like that right but if we end up playing like the Clippers do you really want ruy

Garden Paul George and Kawai do you really want ruie defending against a uh say Michael Porter Jr or something I don’t know I mean it might be tough or like a Kevin Durant I I I just I have concerns that they just put ruy in a

Bunch of action and he just kind of gets lost out there at times but again time will tell we got to continue to see it’s been a five game sample size really that’s not really enough to know if this is this is the answer or it isn’t but

It’s definitely a step in the right direction um obviously ruie isn’t the only reason this starting five is is working uh ruy again has been great in this stretch especially without LeBron uh we just saw the 36 G 36 point performance from ruie during that

Stretch but a lot of it is also been d’angel Russell and Austin Reeves right d’angel Russell has been spectacular this I mean really the last like month uh if not you could argue month and a half um so that is a big reason because you’re getting his offensive production you’re

Getting his three-point shooting uh he’s shooting uh a impressive uh 46 a half% from the field uh and averaging 17 and a half points but he has really again picked it up over this last stretch of games he shooting like 42% from three-point range which is massive uh and then Austin Reeves

Again during this stretch of last like 10 games or so Austin Reeves has really picked it up nicely as well Austin Reeds was struggling mildly on both sides of the basketball earlier in the season but these last like 10 games or so he’s really done a nice job of kind of

Writing the ship and turning it around a little bit um these last 10 games or so he’s shooting around 41 almost 42% from three-point range uh last 10 games he’s shooting 41.7% from three which again is huge he’s also averaging 6 and a half assists

Per game 1.2 steals uh and 19 a half points that’s a big reason for the turnar around oh and he’s also almost shooting 50% from the field so you have DLo and Reeves looking like DLo and Reeves both shooting 48% from the field uh and then both of them are shooting 40

Almost 42% from three-point range it’s a big factor it’s one of the big reasons Beyond ruy uh for why this offense is clicking I think even if Jared Vanderbilt was in the starting unit I think with the way Reeves and DLo are shooting the basketball and scoring the

Basketball along with LeBron and AD I think we’d be up there as far as offense goes again I’m not trying to take anything away from ru haimura he has been very good um but he is best at the four right when he gets when he gets to

Play the the four spot is when he usually has his biggest games and his biggest moments and his biggest offensive outputs um and he’s just kind of the the fifth option out there in the starting five but again I I don’t want to take anything away from ruie ruie has

Been spectacular and it it’s one of the things that like is unfortunate my opinion because he’s such a mismatch seriously he is he makes things look so easy when he gets the opportunities right but you look over the last 10 games for him um in the last 10 games

He’s averaging 14.8 points uh he’s shooting 47.2% from three and 62% from the field I mean again I don’t want to take anything away from Ruby aimar the dude has been spectacular absolutely spectacular um during the regular season in total he’s averaging 12 points 3.7 rebounds 1.1 assists uh he’s shooting

40% from three-point range and 51.5% from the field a lot of it again is just the lack of opportunity it’s the lack of role and utilization now part of the utilization is just as long as LeBron James is on this team he’s never going to be properly utilized the other

Part of the utilization is I feel like Darin ham doesn’t put him in the best positions in order to have the most success there are so many times where throughout the course of the Season not so much lately but throughout the course of the Season we have seen ruy hamura on

The basketball court and the Lakers offense is just no one can buy a bucket but ruy just kind of standing in the corner and it’s like can we get him on the Block and give him the basketball and just see if he can generate offense like I don’t understand why we’re not doing

That and credit ruie a lot too because ruy has hasn’t settled as much as he did last year and for a good majority of this year the another big reason for ruiz’s Success the last like 10 games is he he hasn’t been just settling on okay

Let me shoot this three right if he’s wide open and there’s no one around he’s taking the shot and he’s hitting it but he’s also letting the offense come to him right so he’s getting the basketball you’ll see he’ll give the little pump fake he’ll step in pull up in the

Mid-range or he’ll be aggressive and attack the basket and use his physical traits and use his tools to his Advantage right because everybody that’s his size is can’t keep up with him and anybody that’s you know small he’s just too big too bulky too strong too

Physical he really is a mismatch and a lot of like the LeBron James working with LeBron James is starting to show and really shine like genuinely you really see what what LeBron has done with him and their relationship and their Dynamic and the way that they play

Off of each other that it’s uh it’s going to go a long way and ruie needs to keep actively speaking to LeBron working with LeBron and just keep learning keep growing um again I love Ry I still think that there is a big part of me that’s like I would like

To see him off the bench just so he can kind of be more of a focal point offensively the problem is is that you have to actually make him a focal point offensively cuz I just like the idea of like when everyone’s healthy like imagine a a bench unit of like ruy with

Haze or wood uh Spencer Den witty Gabe Vincent and then like a prince or Cam reddish I just think that’d be a really nice balance ruy gets to be a real focal point on the offensive side I think ham and Spence or dwy could do some real

Damage Off the Bench I I kind of like that idea and then if DLo and Reeves continue to play the way that they’ve played you move Vando into the starting unit again when everyone’s healthy and you just got again that nice balance but look whatever they decide to do um this

Team looks good the starting five looks good if it keeps cooking right if things keep working the way it is then you leave it right like why why Fix You Know Why Try to fix what ain’t broke but if you start seeing the signs because again it’s only been a handful

Of games so I I don’t know if we can really look at that and go okay that’s the real reason that the Lakers are winning because even before this new starting five the Lakers were on a roll right the Lakers are 11 out of their

Last 16 so it’s not just the the five game sample size in which these guys started it’s that plus the other units and stuff so it to me it just it depends on how does this continue to look I think you got to stick with it right and

Not just that like what are your better options I mean you could go with like a Spencer dewitty or whatever but like give him time let him get adjusted let him get acclimated all that stuff stick with the starting five see how it looks see how it grows see how it develops if

It starts to become a problem and the defense does become an issue um then you know make that adjustment from there but right now I mean the offense is is cruising and it’s a big part of just collectively this team sharing the basketball playing the right way Ball’s

Not sticking guys are moving you got a lot of action a lot of movement I love seeing that stuff that’s the kind of stuff you you got to love to see um but anyway as always this is a discussion so I pass a question on you let me know

Your thoughts and opinions down in the comments below what do you think how do you feel uh do you agree with my points do you disagree with my points are you somewhere in between however you feel whatever your thoughts are I’d love to hear it so let me know down in the

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Lakers New look starting 5 has been cruising. Lakers Nation ranks second in total offense and 11th in defense, 1st in assists and turnover percentage. This is massive for the Lakers and did they finally get it right?

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