Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in an overtime thriller over Utah Jazz

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: The guy the Los Angeles Lakers pay to shoot the ball… shot the ball!

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope might be the best shooter in the world with the worst confidence in his ability. His form is textbook and if he had the mindset of Dion Waiters, he would be one of the better shooters in the NBA.

"“I’d rather go 0 for 30 than 0 for 9 because you go 0 for 9 that means you stopped shooting. That means you lost confidence.”"

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was actually worse than this. Remember all of the 0-4 or 0-5 games this season?

Isn’t it fun watching KCP play when he actually believes he can shoot the basketball?

The Utah Jazz (Most notably Ersan Ilyasova) was on fire from behind the arc. If not for Caldwell-Pope firing on all cylinders shooting the 3 ball in the first half, things could have been different.

In the first half, KCP paced the Lakers in scoring with 18 points (6-11 shooting!) on the strength of five 3 point shots. His offense was crucial for the Lakers with Utah shooting 3 point shots like it was All-Star weekend.

KCP leaped in the fifth spot in most 3 pointers in franchise history (490 and more..) passing Eddie Jones with his fourth shot from the land of the extra point in the first half.

However, Caldwell-Pope started to run stiffly (Back spasms?) in the second half as he slowed down. But he was around for the huge Laker’s run in overtime with two huge layups. He had to leave after the second one with leg cramps.

25 points in a gutty performance when the Lakers needed all hands on deck? YES! With this guy, it’s not all about his affiliation with Klutch Sports. Sometimes it’s just that he plays games like this at the right time.

Lake Show Life Lessons is an in-depth breakdown on Los Angeles Lakers basketball. Sometimes the staff feels the need to concentrate on you, the Lakers fan. Read on to receive your flowers and spotlight!