Lakers get the brakes beaten off of them by the Suns on national TV
By Ronald Agers
The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:
To anyone looking for Russell Westbrook analysis…Please read! How about passing this on to Frank Vogel!
Otherwise, Russ scored 13 points and had four turnovers to only two assists. Stay healthy brother! Then get a buyout and run!!!
Frank Vogel thought it was a good idea to use the small ball lineup against two seven-footers!
Here’s why analytics can be so irritating in the NBA. What computer system does anyone know of that can up with a scheme of starting LeBron James at center against a team with two seven-footers in Deandre Ayton and JaVale McGee.
To put this in perspective, Ayton destroyed the Lakers in the playoffs with Anthony Davis and a center. Instead of starting Dwight Howard and hoping for the best (Also read: Use common sense!), he thought a backcourt of Stanley Johnson and LeBron James would provide rim protection. Let’s see how things played out, shall we?
- Deandre Ayton: 23 points (11-14 shooting!), 16 rebounds (5 offensive!), 2 assists and a steal.
- JaVale McGee: 10 points (Hit all shots from the field and free throw line!), 2 rebounds and a block in ten minutes. He scored a point a minute folks!
- Bismack Biyombo (six-foot-eight, but the point still applies): 2 points (1-1 shooting!) and 2 rebounds. If he didn’t get in foul trouble he might have scored more!
It’s not about Dwight Howard because the game was over when he got in. This is about a coach that has no inkling of what he is doing. Is it spite to Kurt Rambis? A feud with Dwight Howard? Who knows? But this game was over with the starting lineup.
Defense…rebounding…turnovers…lack of a game plan…do we need to go on?
Reminder: The Phoenix Suns blew out the Los Angeles Lakers 140-111.