Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers fan diary
By Emilee Woods
2nd Quarter
Dear god, we need a shooter to stretch the floor. How can a team with so few big men also have so few shooters? Length and interchangeability are all well and good, but there’s just no way to survive in this league anymore without a significant 3-point threat.
I’m not saying we need to be chucking up long-rangers like the Rockets, but if we’re going to continually put up bagels in the 3-point column for an entire half, we’re never going to be able to keep opposing defenses honest. It’s one thing if they can sag off Rajon Rondo; it’s quite another if they can hang back off of four of five players and clog the lane.
On the upside, the bench players looked much better in this quarter, with Josh Hart, in particular, picking up steam. They look like a team too – encouraging each other, applauding the effort, hyping each other up.
That’s gotta be coming down from LBJ, and likely Rondo too. You can see them both orchestrating out there, directing players and offering tidbits of wisdom between plays. That is a distinctly positive sign for our youngsters.
Unlike a lot of Lakers fans, I wasn’t diametrically opposed to Rondo starting, at least for now. His performance in the first half demonstrated all the reasons why he deserves that spot. I suspect that we will see plenty of evidence to the contrary over time, but when Lonzo eventually wins the starting spot he will have earned it. I’m okay with that.