Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Hot takes for LeBron James in 2018-19
By Ronald Agers
LeBron James Hot Take Number Three…Will LeBron James Play Defense?
The Lakers front office brought in guys that will compete and can do multiple things. Defense has not been shown much in the preseason…Let me repeat what I said prior about LeBron James and his commitment to defense…
"“Granted LeBron James was sitting down for the night in both of these instances. That is understood, but if the Lakers are going to use this small ball scheme, LeBron James is going to have to go back to the Miami mentality and use his size and strength to sacrifice his body. This is easily one of the strongest players in the NBA. If the Lakers do not hit the free agent heap and look for a big man to back up JaVale McGee, it will be on LeBron James to step up and help out the back line…a lot.”"
Here are the instances that I’m talking about…
A thing happened in Chicago and Mase is 11-for-11.#MileHighBasketball https://t.co/OOSMVXmxKd
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 3, 2018
In this game against the Nuggets, the Lakers got smashed in the head time and time again playing the pick and roll. Look at the dribble penetration drawing Zubac forward. What you don’t see is Plumlee rolling to the basket for the dunk. If you have the sound up you hear Reggie Miller say AGAIN!
Why? Because this happened multiple times. LeBron James’ knowledge of the game will be paramount on this end of the floor. It starts here! Communication will be important to improve in this area. The defensive rotations have to be there. Like this example against the Clippers…
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1048763200634728451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1048763200634728451&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flakeshowlife.com%2F2018%2F10%2F08%2Flos-angeles-lakers-preseason-clippers-win-battle-of-l-a-103-87%2F
Josh Hart allows penetration to Lou Williams on the baseline which will bring Kyle Kuzma away from the basket to provide support. Lance falls asleep at the rim and rotation is late. Harrell does what he’s supposed to do and goes to the rim. Then he gets the slip pass and it’s a easy dunk for the Clippers.
LeBron James will have to do what Draymond Green does for the champs. Call out defensive rotations and cover up mistakes for the guards inside. If you don’t think that’s important, remember he didn’t play the preseason games against the Lakers…how did they look?