Los Angeles Lakers: Brandon Ingram’s confidence, defense reason for optimism

Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram has shown confidence and great defensive performance, providing a reason for optimism.

My colleague, Ethan Temkin just posted an article about why Los Angeles Lakers third-year forward, Brandon Ingram, should never be traded.

I liked what he had to say, and now I’d like to give my two cents on the subject.

Let’s look at Brandon’s stats from month-to-month:

• November: 15.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 46.2 FG%, 27.3 3P%
• December: 16.5 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 50 FG%, 33.3 3P%
• January: 19.1 PPG, 6 RPG, 51.1 FG%, 26.3 3P%
• February: 21.3 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 50.4 FG%, 38.9 3P%
• Post-All-Star Break: 27.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 57 FG%, 52.9 3P%

Some experts around the league have been acting like Ingram has exploded since the All-Star break- not like a typical military grade grenade, no, they believe he’s gone nuclear like the Star Wars death star beam- but actually, that’s not true at all.

It’s obvious to see that Ingram has been slowly progressing as each month passes. He’s been gaining confidence in his game and it’s clear that everything on the basketball court has started to slow down for him. Now Ingram is putting everything together and it’s been awesome to watch.

The fact that Ingram has shown improvement every month also bodes very well for his future. This is not some Linsanity-type 15 game detonation that is bound to peter out.

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Everything that Ingram’s been doing on the basketball court during the month of February is real and if BI continues with his grueling offseason workouts, it now seems likely he can become not only an All-Star but a superstar in the next few years.

1. Brandon Ingram has never deferred to LeBron James

LeBron James has now played almost 16 seasons in the NBA and during that time there have been only three players who he’s teamed up with who didn’t defer to him during the closing minutes of a contest. Those three players are Dwayne Wade, Kyrie Irving, and Brandon Ingram.

It really says a lot about a player’s confidence and overall mental makeup to not simply pass the ball to LeBron “He Could be the GOAT” James when he claps his hands and demands the rock late in the 4th quarter.

Dwayne Wade was a champion and he was in his prime when he teamed up with LeBron in Miami, so it was expected that he along with James would help close out tight games. Irving was a different story, though.

LeBron went back to Cleveland when Irving was just 22 years old. I watched several Cavs games during that first year James returned to Ohio and one thing always left a big impression on me: Almost every time James demanded the ball in the 4th quarter, Kyrie would ignore him and drive to the rim. Based off of Irving’s confidence I knew he was going to be special.

I’m feeling those same warm tingly sensations that I felt for Irving again when I watch Ingram play. He’s younger than when Irving first started to play with LeBron, but BI never just submissively passes the ball to LeBron when he knows he can get the shot that he wants.

To me, Ingram’s willingness to ignore LeBron and take the shots that he wants is the biggest difference between him and Kyle Kuzma. During pressure situations, Kuz always just dumps the ball off to LeBron and then watches him do his thing.

2. Brandon Ingram’s Defense has been REALLY Good

I love to use stats when I write, but I’m not going to do that right now. Instead, I’m just going to go off of what my eyes have told me. Brandon Ingram is becoming a beast on the perimeter.

During the Bucks game, Ingram scored a highly efficient 31 points to go along with eight rebounds, but his defense is what really impressed me.

Every time the Lakers went small with LeBron at center the Bucks tried to punish the Purple and Gold by giving the ball to Giannis and letting him get to the rim. Each time Giannis got the ball Ingram came over to help, which of course led to a Giannis pass to Ingram’s “open” man who was waiting behind the arc.

However, BI was able to use his extendo arms to get a hand up on whoever he was guarding. Toward the end of the game, none of the Bucks players even wanted to attempt a 3-pointer over Ingram.

Ingram’s ability to shut down opposing wing players has become more and more apparent as the season’s progressed. Even during this awful stint after the All-Star break when it seems like every team is putting up at least 115 points on the Lakers, Ingram has been able to stand out and consistently stifle whoever he’s tasked with guarding.

Ingram is much different than many young players because he really takes pride in trying to shut down opposing players. Going 100% on defense can take a player a long way, but add in Ingram’s speed and length and you have the recipe for an All-NBA defender.

Once Ingram puts on 10 to 15 more pounds he’s going to be a top-3 perimeter defender in the league, there’s no doubt about that now.