Los Angeles Lakers: Six lessons from loss to Houston Rockets
By Ronald Agers
Who is this Luke Walton!…I like this guy!!!
After the Cleveland Cavaliers loss and the near Chicago game debacle, Luke Walton has turned into the coach that the Lakers envisioned. He all of a sudden has turned into the “Steve Kerr” type coach that Jeanie Buss and the prior regime was looking for.
The defensive scheme that was laid out earlier was one thing, but the manner in which he coaches has drastically changed for the better.
Looking at how Luke Walton is coaching now, it should be evident that his job was on the line this week. It seems that he made a decision that if he was to go out, he was going out doing things his way! Let me put it this way, if Walton had this attitude at the beginning of the season, the Lakers could be in the top 4 in the Western Conference. No question.
These are the major changes…
Number one…the rotation patterns concerning the centers!
Ivica Zubac, who we’ll get to in a minute has played late in the last two Lakers games. He fouled out against Houston but the Lakers leaned on him heavily before he was disqualified. He noticed the positive impact from the Thunder game and continued the trend.
Was the JaVale McGee benching questionable? Sure. But give it up to Walton, he might have found something else positive in the move. Zubac minutes going up was that effect.
Number two…Lonzo Ball had turned the corner!
I’ll admit it…I thought Luke Walton was killing Lonzo Ball’s career…
But after Luke Walton challenged Lonzo Ball in that embarrassing loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, he reached Ball and Lonzo was playing his best basketball of his career. Reports were floating that Lonzo Ball was being discussed in trade talks last month. That could really impact a young player like Lonzo, but Walton kept him engaged. Lonzo was shredding the Rockets defense with 8 points and 11 assists. We are talking about basically one half here. Plus he was showing off with the confidence and aggression that everyone wants to see.
Number three…Man Luke Walton got tossed out the game folks!
When Lonzo Ball, got hurt, ABC went to commercial. Twitter blew up that Walton got thrown out. By the time the game came back on, LUKE WALTON WAS GONE! It was at that point I knew that Luke Walton could coach this bunch. I saw the video of how Walton was talking to the referees and I had never seen him so animated. Remember in the first game against Houston where the fights broke out, one of my criticisms was Walton did not defend his players. Walton waited until the press conference of the NEXT game to complain…
Believe me there were plenty of Lakers fans that questioned Luke Walton and if this is the guy the Lakers need. How do I know? This article here was a major hit on my twitter line for weeks!
Hey Luke! I wasn’t your biggest advocate to say the least. But I can say for now…I’m a fan! Let’s see how long this lasts. The jury is still out until LeBron James comes back.