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How the Los Angeles Lakers can pick up steam in the second half

By Casey Ahmed

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 20: Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers talks with teammates Wesley Matthews #9 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #1 during the game against the Miami Heat at Staples Center on February 20, 2021 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 Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 20: Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers talks with teammates Wesley Matthews #9 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #1 during the game against the Miami Heat at Staples Center on February 20, 2021 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 Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers crawled into the All-Star break with a 24-13 regular-season record with a litany of injuries and COVID-19 related issues. A lot has been made of the team’s new additions and how they have performed so far.

Fans seemed to be split on how they rate Dennis Schroder and Montrezl Harrell. On the other hand, fans seem to be growing sour on the Marc Gasol situation and are actively screaming for replacements.

Since it doesn’t seem likely that any trades or pickups are imminent for the Lakers, here are a couple ideas to get the team revving again for the second half of the season…..

How the Los Angeles Lakers can pick up steam in the second half:

Free Schroder:

In my opinion, Frank Vogel needs to let Dennis run with the second unit even more than he currently is. The less Dennis has to try to fit in with LeBron James the better.

Reason being that LeBron takes away what makes Dennis so dangerous..(He’s unbelievably quick with the ball in his hands). You can still play both of them together but Vogel should stagger Dennis and Bron as much as possible.

Gasol needs AD:

The sad truth is that Gasol can’t be expected to perform at a good level for extended periods at a time. Forcing Gasol to play center without AD, while playing him a good number of minutes, is a recipe for disaster.

At this stage of his career Gasol is better off suited playing 20+ minutes and being an offensive hub at the elbow. The Lakers would be wise to find the big fella some time to rest soon to rejuvenate.

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Everybody RELAX:

I have been gauging Laker fans on social media and its clear that the poor run of form has caused increased anxiety. Here are some positives to calm you down.

AD is still here and recovering slowly but surely and LeBron is clearly conserving his body and fans should understand how much that helps, ie (the Bubble). Come playoff time teams still have to try to stop LeBron and AD.

Vogel needs to find his best 8:

This is the one criticism I have of Vogel so far this season and it is that he still hasn’t found his best eight-man rotation. I understand it was early at first and messing with the lineups help to find the right combo but its time to be making the final selections. This team has already suffered a lot from low continuity and increasing it won’t help at all.

dark. Next. How the Lakers could trade for Victor Oladipo

Overall, I believe that the Los Angeles Lakers are in good shape and will repeat as champions. I know that right now it doesn’t look good but the Lakers were and have always been built for May and June.

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