Los Angeles Lakers: 5 Lessons from a Brooklyn sweep in China!

The Los Angeles Lakers got swept by the Brooklyn Nets in China. We take a look and share some lessons from the second game.

The Los Angeles Lakers are on their way back from China after getting swept in back to back games to the Brooklyn Nets. The Lakers kept it close in the first game. But the second game was a complete letdown as the Nets dominated for most of the game. Lake Show Life lessons may help. Or Lakers fans can only hope.

The Los Angeles Lakers were probably glad to board the plane to leave China. Most will point to the days of unfair drama caused by a tweet from Houston Rockets general manager, Daryl Morey.

Some can point to the time changes that was probably murder on body clocks and game routines (Lakers fans on the west coast can probably attest!). Whatever the reason, based on the performance of the Lakers on Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets, it seemed the Lakers flat-out did not want to play.

The energy, passion and competitiveness were on its way to Los Angeles seemingly long before the game even started. After the first quarter, the Lakers were terrible.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost the second of back to back preseason games to the Brooklyn Nets 91-77. After playing a competitive game that came within a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 3 point make from forcing overtime, the Lakers played like this game was they were WORKING overtime.

After taking the Golden State Warriors to the woodshed in their preseason opener, hopefully, this will serve as a wakeup call to the roster and the Lakers franchise.

Having Anthony Davis and LeBron James on the same team doesn’t guarantee a deep playoff run. The Lakers have to execute and bring effort every night this season. Performances like these are unacceptable and unwarranted. Especially from a veteran-laden squad with aspirations for a NBA title.

But before the analysis starts, Lake Show Life would like to get the usual excuses out-of-the-way. They are as follows.

1. LeBron James and Anthony Davis barely played in the game.
2. It’s just a preseason game, relax.
3. The season hasn’t started yet. This game doesn’t matter.
4. They’ll figure it out. 
5. This is just hate on the Lakers.  
6. Anthony Davis got hurt.

Speaking of the Anthony Davis thumb injury, the word ligament was not the word that the Lakers and its fanbase wanted to be mentioned in the injury report. Davis injured it in the first quarter blocking a Joe Harris layup, pinning the ball to the backboard (Somewhere you can hear Charles Barkley saying, “nothing good comes out of playing defense” somewhere watching this game.).

However according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the injury is not serious, just a sprain.

The next preseason game is Monday when the Lakers run it back against the Warriors. Sure, the Lakers smoked them like a pack of KOOL cigarettes a week ago. But if the Lakers bring the lazy defensive execution and listless energy presented in this game, they will find themselves 1-3.

Let’s get to the Lake Show Life lessons.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing the only Lakers player that competed. JaVale McGee!

If Lakers fans can take anything positive from this game, they can take comfort in the fact that JaVale McGee will bring the same energy he did last year. Setting aside the period when he had to get over his battle with pneumonia, he was the tough rim protector that saved quite a few early games last year.

JaVale McGee must send limousines to make sure Jarrett Allen makes it to the games okay. Why?Because after his 30 points, 20 rebound performance from last year, McGee has this belief that Allen cannot do anything with him. Just take a look at the two highlights below.

First highlight:

JaVale McGee receives the ball at the top of the key with Jarrett Allen in the lane. It was then he sounded Shaquille O’Neal‘s BBQ chicken alert alarm and hit him with the fancy footwork.

While Allen was lost in the air, JaVale stepped through and dunked on Taurean Prince using the up and under move. Then for good measure, he slapped the ball that ended up hitting Prince while walking back down the court.

Second highlight:

JaVale McGee does a good job rotating over to provide defensive support for Alex Caruso. He spiked Joe Harris‘ shot like volleyball is his sport instead of basketball. Then he runs down the court as the trailer, receives the pass and puts Spencer Dinwiddie in a blender before he tears the rim down. The move was so quick, Jarrett Allen was frozen solid from the breeze.

JaVale played 14 minutes, scoring nine points, grabbing three rebounds and blocked two shots. What makes McGee stand out from the rest of the team was his intensity. He played hard the entire time he was on the floor.

During the game, on a fast break, McGee was heard screaming at Rajon Rondo for missing him running the lane for a slam dunk (For the record, he was absolutely right!).

Most likely, Anthony Davis will not be seen for the rest of the preseason resting his thumb. More than likely for this reason alone, JaVale McGee will probably start Monday. After this performance, JaVale McGee should be stapled into the starting lineup.

Frank Vogel is understandably trying to figure out lineups that work. The backline at this point is set. If he continues to bring out a small ball lineup that features Anthony Davis in the middle?

Well, that’s the next Lake Show Life lesson.

It seems that the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t really listening to Anthony Davis!

When Frank Vogel rolled out his small-ball lineup that placed Anthony Davis square in the middle at the center spot, it’s clear that the Lakers coaching staff is playing with fire here. Wasn’t there a comment from Anthony Davis about what position he wants to play?

Okay, after watching the performance of Anthony Davis (Before the injury) in this game, what part of the statement above do you believe?

Obviously Davis thought Vogel was smart enough to decipher hidden messages in this comment. Frank Vogel should know by now that things said in a business suit is different than what is said during the grind of an NBA season.

Furthermore, why in the world would he attempt to put AD’s body through an unnecessary grind at center for an ENTIRE QUARTER when you have two on the bench? In a preseason game at that?

Since Vogel missed AD’s message, maybe he will notice this one courtesy of First Things First on FS1.

Remember, this show was before the Cousins injury. Feel free to pass this on to the coaching staff. Anthony Davis does not want to play a ton of minutes at center. Keep this up and Davis could end up somewhere he plays power forward full-time without worry.

I hear the Brooklyn Nets still can make moves with their salary cap. Get the picture?

Frank Vogel’s decision to use a 3 guard starting lineup was in reaction to the awful perimeter defense that gave up 20 shots from long distance. The decision made little difference considering the struggles continued to defend the perimeter. The Nets dropped 13 3-point shots out of 35 attempts.

The Lakers have two major defensive concerns that the Nets exposed in China. Teams are going to continue to pick on Dwight Howard on the defensive end. They’ll do one of two things.

1.  Opponents will park their center out at the 3 point line knowing Dwight will not come out and contest, preferring to stay in the paint.
2. Opponents will just run the pick and roll time and time again forcing Howard to make a decision. In both games, Dwight Howard guessed wrong leading to alley-oop dunks.

The decision to keep both centers on the bench for an entire quarter will only be figured out with a conversation with Vogel. It looked like an overreaction. Davis and McGee are monster rim protectors. He needs to stick with it.

But his concerns about the Lakers “alleged” reliable defensive guards, mentioned in recent Lake Show Life postgame reports are starting to become clearer by each passing 3-point shot.

Frank Vogel earned his criticism. Sorry AD, you’re next.

Anthony Davis has about 10 days to grasp the concept of being “The Man” for the Lakers.

Let’s set aside the thumb injury for a second. This is not about stats. This is about understanding the role of being the number one option for the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s not in New Orleans anymore. The Lakers franchise is a different animal.

The Lakers bought the farm to bring him in as the future of this franchise. LeBron James has gone on record (Whether you believe him or not is up you reading this) that the offense will run through him. All media outlets agree that Davis should be the lead guy. Only one thing.

In China, Anthony Davis was very far from the lead guy. He wasn’t even the best player on the floor. In both games, that distinction belongs to Nets players. In the first game, it was Spencer Dinwiddie. In the second game, it was Caris LeVert.

Most fans will look at the fact that his injury had something to do with his six-point performance. Let’s take a close look at the 2-for-7 shooting aspect of the game. Out of the seven shots he took, three of them were from behind the arc. Factor in only three rebounds, two blocks and a steal, the aggressiveness that was in the Warriors game did not travel overseas to China.

In the two preseason games against the Nets, Davis averaged 11 points and collected five rebounds, like for the whole trip.

The media narrative of players learning how to “play” with LeBron James will get old real quick this season. The Los Angeles Lakers will not win the NBA title if LeBron James is the featured player on the Lakers. It has to be Anthony Davis accepting the challenge of leading this team with skilled play and athleticism.

If he allows himself to get lost on the “tractor beam” of LeBron James’ polarizing game and takes a step back, well these last two games will be the glaring examples of what happens all season.

Speaking of LeBron James. Next lesson.

LeBron James did just enough to get on the highlight reel on SportsCenter!

Okay Lakers fans, take a minute to get that famous tune in your head. That’s because LeBron James looked tired, listless and uninterested in this game. Now, this is what you will hear on highlight reels all over the country for the rest of the weekend.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Brooklyn Nets 91-77 on Saturday, but LeBron James put on a show for the crowd. Just look at this wonderful move right here.

Look at how he put Joe Harris in the cyclone like the announcer and hit a layup only LeBron James can make. But that’s not all. He can set the table to make his teammates better. Just look at this court vision hitting Danny Green with a bullet pass for the backdoor layup.

Finally, with seconds left to close out the first quarter, LeBron drives into the paint, drawing the defense and hits Alex Caruso with a perfect pass so he can knock down the 3-pointer before the buzzer.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1182991987948916736

Well, he did make Green and Caruso better. That was the only shots they made from the floor all game. Danny Green was 1-of-4 and Caruso started a construction company with his 1-of-13 performance.

Now let’s deal with reality. The Los Angeles Lakers followed LeBron James listless lead and it showed. James went 2-of-7 in 12 minutes finishing with six points and four assists. Most of those misses were layups and on one of the missed layups, LeBron didn’t even bother to run back to play defense. Instead, just dropping his head on the other end.

A few writers on Lake Show Life asked this question last year and it bears repeating this year. What do you want from LeBron James? Do you want nice highlights that get on ESPN or do you want this franchise to win?

Performances like these aren’t going to get it. Especially with the new shiny players the Clippers acquired across the hall to add to the players that compete every night.

The personnel the Los Angeles Lakers got in the offseason are getting exposed! 

Look at the picture above. Looks nice, don’t it? If you didn’t watch the game, you would think Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is going to do something here. Oh he did, he missed the dunk and the ball flew back to about the third row out-of-bounds.

This play alone is a microcosm of the Lakers weekend. Understand Kyrie Irving has not been mentioned much. That’s because he re-aggravated his facial fracture. Without their star, the Nets just played harder than the purple and gold and took their lunch money. Remember Caris LeVert did not play in the first game much either because he got scratched in the eye by Anthony Davis.

Here’s a fun fact about Caris LeVert. He’s actually a distant cousin of Eddie LeVert of the singing group “The Mighty O’Jays”. You’ve heard their work on ESPN’s show Jalen and Jacoby. When they go to commercial, you hear “Got to give the people what they want”.

In China, Caris LeVert just gave the Lakers the business. It’s not that the Lakers weren’t making things easy for him. He seemed to be wide open for almost every shot.

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1183023376345907202

A whole lot has been said about the wing players and what they bring to the table this season. In China, as a collective unit, Avery Bradley, Danny Green, Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were terrible. No doubt about it.

If the Nets didn’t spend the weekend knocking down 3-point shots (35), they ran the pick and roll with no resistance from these Lakers perimeter players leaving the big men out to dry.

Avery Bradley:

Sure he led the team with 14 points. Most of them came when the game was over. What might not get noticed he had a plus/minus ratio of -19. Worst on the team. He did catch a nice putback dunk though.

Rajon Rondo:

Sometimes the comments section of Lake Show Life articles is more entertaining than the actual piece. But sometimes a Lakers fan comes through with spot-on analysis that comes to light. A fan by the name of CreativeIce21 made a comment warning fans to watch out for Rondo’s pace-setting on offense. Man, was he right.

Rondo was a total non-factor scoring the same amount of points you did reading this article. That was just on the offensive end. As for his defense? Let’s just move on.

Danny Green:  

If Danny Green keeps playing at the level he has this preseason, Lakers fans are REALLY going to have animosity towards Kawhi Leonard. Is this type of production $15 million dollars for the next two years is worth? The Nets weren’t worried about him at all. Taurean Prince at times just went at him.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope:

Just read the above comment again. Then think back to his preseason performance last year. Do that and you should be caught up on his progress.

On a lighter note, a special Lake Show Life shout out to Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s brother, Kostas Antetokounmpo, who made his debut in a Lakers uniform. He really did some good things, scoring nine points including a nice move to draw a foul.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1183012451178008576

It was a shame to hear “Hell Naw” when he banked in his only 3-pointer. He hesitated and passed on open shots after that. Hopefully, with hard work and mentor-ship from his MVP brother, he will continue to improve. Until then, take the open shot, Kostas!

The Los Angeles Lakers have started their championship journey. Lake Show Life will along for the wild ride giving you the most in-depth complete analysis and coverage. Keep it locked with us.

The next preseason game is Monday against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center. Lake Show Life will have post-game analysis.