Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Players who stood out in 119-105 win
By Ronald Agers
Svi Mykhailiuk
The word around the campfire in La La Land was there was this kid with a last name that everyone has (or will) struggle to say or spell. There was a video on Twitter that showed some kid knocking down 20 straight three-pointers. His name…
Svi Mykhailiuk.
Well for the most of the preseason, he looked like some kid that could knock down jumpers in an empty gym but in the bright lights couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.
Until that last game of the preseason…
The most I knew about Svi (besides that mason brick company he was starting), was the fact that he was the youngest player in Big 12 history at 17 years of age coming out of Kansas. Then all of a sudden this happened…press play!
Svi led the Lakers in scoring with 22 points and dished out four assists. He led the team in shots with 18. That is a very telling stat here Lakers fans. It showed that he was aggressive and was looking for his shot. In the highlight reel above you saw that he scored in a variety of ways, not just depending on his jumper to fall from long distance.
Let’s break down a couple of plays here to illustrate what I am talking about.
The first play you see will be Svi in an pick and roll play about 12-15 feet away from the basket. Then he will flash to the wing to receive the pass from Lonzo Ball. Considering that Svi has not been knocking down the shot in the preseason is why the Warriors defenders went under the pick. Instead of rushing a quick three, he takes a dribble and gets in rhythm and knocks down a smooth jumper. This probably was the shot that got his confidence going and the rest was history.
This second play that we will look at will get him time on the floor with LeBron James if he can do this on a consistent basis. What you see is Svi at the top of your screen cut down the baseline and catch a bullet pass from Lonzo Ball, make a quick fake on the defender to drive and hit the tough sweeping lay up. With Michael Beasley standing deep in the corner, it brings out his man to clear out the lane. This is what Luke Walton is implementing on offense for this small ball scheme to work.