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Lakers Fall 90-71 in Preseason Opener

By Eric Yee

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While preseason games should be taken with a grain of salt, the Los Angeles Lakers started writing another chapter of their epic saga tonight against the Utah Jazz.

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Starting Line Up

The guessing game is over.

Tonight the Lakers started D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Kobe Bryant, Julius Randle and Roy Hibbert.

This lineup is sure to change in accordance to the ups and downs of the season, but it is interesting to see head coach Byron Scott fully embracing the Lakers young stars. Their shared time was limited, but the potential was obvious.

While the Princeton offense roots were evident, the offense was very pick and roll, isolation heavy, something that should get reduced with time.

As expected, it was on the defensive side of the ball where Los Angeles struggled. Though not for lack of effort, even with Hibbert defending the paint, Bryant’s age was an obvious limiting factor.

Surprisingly, it was actually Randle who was most impressive on the defensive end of the floor. Throughout college, Randle’s defensive effort, when paired with his small wingspan, was questioned, but tonight his hustle was apparent on every play.

Randle has received an abundance of praise this off-season from teammates and the coaches, but the first game has shown it was well deserved. His stats may not support this claim, but Randle did a variety of things that don’t show up on the stat sheet.

In regards to Lakers stud Clarkson, he continued his impressive NBA campaign putting his improved defensive abilities and electric open court skills on display.

Questions of Clarkson’s sustainability were posed this off-season but he seems determined to continue to take the league by storm.

Bench Play

Recently writers have been having a field day pinning gun slingers Lou Williams and Nick Young against each other. This fire was only fueled when Scott decided that Williams and Jabari Brown would be first off the bench.

Based on his first substitution, Scott seems to be committed to using a two guard set, pairing Williams and Brown who impressed with his hustle, then disappointed with his tunnel vision.

“Sweet Lou” was the primary ball handler for the second unit and for good reason. Though pegged as a volume shooter, Williams quickly demonstrated his passing abilities and if his play keeps up, he will undoubtedly become a fan favorite.

Beginning the second quarter, Young was brought in alongside Brown and Williams, taking Bryant’s spot at the small forward position.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/650856119795974144

During media day, Young made it clear that this season would be less about theatrics and more about basketball though his performance tonight didn’t necessarily reinforce that sentiment.

Young was much more effective in the second half when he took Bryant’s position in the starting lineup but while active on defense, at times Young looked to be stagnant on the other end of the floor.

When he did have the ball, Young hoisted up a variety of contested shots on account of his reduced role. It’s only the preseason but hopefully “Swaggy P” figures out his role and adjusts accordingly.

Parting Thoughts

  • With Marcelo Huertas recent hamstring injury, the Lakers currently are without a backup point guard and must figure out a way to pair a point guard with Williams, who is not a traditional facilitator, in the second unit.
  • Before making any significant leaps, the Lakers need to clean up the offensive glass. There were plenty of occasions where they played good team defense only to give up multiple offensive rebounds.
  • Although he didn’t play, Robert Upshaw sat in the first seat next to the coaching staff and was the first player up high-fiving his teammates at every timeout. This is extremely encouraging considering his troubled past.
  • The Lakers veteran players demonstrated that they can hold their own and balance the team’s youth.

The game was sloppy to say the least, but based solely on the first preseason game, which isn’t saying much, this season promises to be much more enjoyable for fans than last already.

Fear not Lakers faithful, season is coming.

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