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Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Takeaways from loss to Utah Jazz

By Ronald Agers

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 27: Royce O'Neale #23 of the Utah Jazz shoots the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 27, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 27: Royce O'Neale #23 of the Utah Jazz shoots the ball during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 27, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /

It was the best of times and…He just disappeared

If anyone on the roster is ready for this season to end, it’s Kyle Kuzma. You can easily see at this point that this season has worn on him mentally and physically. In the first quarter, he came out aggressive and scored 12 of the team’s 25 points…

Then he disappeared pretty much for the rest of the game ending with a total of 21 points. The disturbing part of the game is that he only grabbed 2 rebounds. There is a running  joke that Michael Jordan would say to his power forwards when the tally was too low for his liking. I’d like to use it to make a point here.

Question: What do you call a power forward that only collects 2 rebounds?

Answer: A small forward.

This is not to be rough on Kyle Kuzma because he is one of my favorite players on the team, especially with his hometown being Flint, Michigan. But knowing Flint as well as I do, they have very tough ball players out there. He’s not playing at that level right now. The last time the Lakers were blown out in Salt Lake I mentioned how Kuz has to learn how to be the number one scoring option while being on the top of the opponent’s scouting report.

Going forward, Kuzma would be wise to reflect on how his good buddy Brandon Ingram dealt with this season, persevering and playing at a high level. Whether he has lost confidence in his jumper or the league is starting to catch up with his game, Kuzma is going to have work to do to improve not only his basketball game but the mental aspect as well.

The Los Angeles Lakers can do a lot to help him as well going forward into next season. Kuzma physically has shown that he gets worn down banging up against the better front court teams in the NBA. The Utah Jazz have physical players up front with Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors, look even Joe Ingles won’t shy away from contact. They combined to gash the Lakers in the paint with led by Gobert scoring 22 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. His frontcourt mate, Favors had 20 points and 6 rebounds.

JaVale McGee was over-matched and had a case of deja’ vu…

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