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Los Angeles Lakers: Interesting bench storylines after Rondo’s injury

Ronald Agers|
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 03: Quinn Cook #28, JaVale McGee #7 and the Los Angeles Lakers bench react to a play against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half at Staples Center on March 03, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. 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. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 03: Quinn Cook #28, JaVale McGee #7 and the Los Angeles Lakers bench react to a play against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first half at Staples Center on March 03, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. 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. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
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Los Angeles Lakers
Lakers (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Which version of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will Lakers get?

With Avery Bradley out for the restart of the season, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be the starter replacing him in the lineup. Period. He’s earned it and the Lakers were 17-3 this season when Bradley was out with a stress fracture injury. What’s going to be interesting for the Lakers and their fans is what KCP are they going to get.

  • Will they get the confident shooter that will play inspired defense?
  • Or will they get the KCP that was an infamous hit on social media for shooting airballs? The entire spectrum is there from 3 points shots to layups.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is a better player in the starting lineup than coming off of the bench. is confidence is a lot higher in this situation. KCP averaged 11.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.0 assists (64.1 TS%) as a starter compared to just 8.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game (56.7 TS%) coming off the bench.

To be clear, Caldwell-Pope has been awful at times in a Lakers uniform. One point in the first two games of the season could have destroyed his confidence, but Frank Vogel and numerous members of the roster led by LeBron James, stuck by him.

When Bradley went down with injury and KCP relaxed, he turned into the Lakers’ most lethal 3 point shooter, especially from the right side. He closed out several games this season knocking down important shots from distance from the right wing.

Caldwell-Pope shot 43 percent from the 3-point line as a starter as opposed to 37 percent as a backup.

An example of a quarter ending play, specifically for KCP.

The main asset to the Lakers will not be Caldwell-Pope’s jumper. It will be his defense. There may be a playoff series down the road against the Houston Rockets. The Lakers had a defense last year that wore out Harden, KCP was the main defender.

James Harden is the most dominant scorer in the NBA. Fans are irritated by his tactics to get cheap fouls, but he still averages 35 points per game. However, Harden can be frustrated by a system the Lakers used on him last year. KCP did three things to wear out James Harden.

  • He played Harden 94 feet to make him work
  • He played on Harden’s left shoulder and contested on the back-side
  • He forced Harden to pass the ball

How well did this scheme work? Other teams started using it in the playoffs and Harden was complaining about lack of calls, something Lake Show Life noticed.

The storyline with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is his confidence. The level of play will be down for all the players thanks to the hiatus. KCP can’t go into a funk if he has a couple of bad games shooting the basketball.

Controversial articles criticizing Rajon Rondo caused a lot of passionate debates. Well, we have his replacement.

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