Injuries forced Lakers coach Darvin Ham to try another new starting lineup Wednesday night, but nothing seemed to click in a home loss to Miami, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Cam Reddish returned from his groin injury, but Rui Hachimura is sidelined with a Grade 1 left calf strain and D’Angelo Russell missed his second straight game with a bruised tailbone.
“We can’t find any consistency until we get healthy. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got to get healthy,” Ham said. “When you’re dealing with different guys being in and out of the lineup that frequently, it’s damn near impossible to find a rhythm. That’s just being real.”
McMenamin observes that L.A.’s starting five of Reddish, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Taurean Prince and Austin Reaves looked “disjointed” on offense and “disconnected” on defense. The Lakers committed 10 turnovers and shot 6-of-18 from the floor in the first quarter as the Heat built a double-digit lead. They closed the game by allowing 38 points in the final quarter.
“It’s a little bit of everything right now,” said Ham, whose team is on a 2-8 stretch and has fallen below .500. “We’re not executing. That team played harder than us tonight, executed better than us tonight, more physical than us tonight. We got outworked tonight, so it’s a bit of everything right now. If we keep on this train, it’s not going to be good for us.”
Ham added that once everyone is healthy, he might go back to starting Russell alongside James, Davis, Reaves and Vanderbilt, which is the lineup that sparked the team’s playoff run last season.
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Reaves contributed 24 points and eight assists while being used as a starter for the first time in weeks, but it’s not clear how long that role will last, McMenamin adds. Reaves told reporters that the team’s “vibe” is off, then later clarified his remarks. “When I say the vibe is off, it’s not like we don’t like each other,” he said. “It’s we’re losing. … But I don’t want to get that twisted on us not liking each other. Everybody in the locker room gets along.”
- Ham said Hachimura underwent an MRI and is “pretty much day to day,” McMenamin tweets. Russell is also considered day to day as Ham said he has “soreness that he’s trying to work through.” (Twitter link)
- Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today is the latest reporter to list Bulls guard Zach LaVine as a possibility for the Lakers. Sources still consider that move unlikely, according to Kurt Helin of NBC Sports, but he notes that the team’s recent slide could raise pressure on general manager Rob Pelinka to shake up the roster.
The problem most laker fans will not admit is LeBron plays no defense now. most players over 35 in the NBA can’t play defense. They need to rest a lot more. They get winded running up and down the court.
True. With fewer minutes, he’d be able to wreak havoc on both ends. I mean, they have too many bigs and forwards and not enough minutes to go around…
Reason why Ham is not a good coach he over plays the same players. The bench is much improved over last year when the excuse was a terrible bench. Look how a young Miami team broke the game open in the 4th quarter.
Just trade DLo and Rui and Hood-Schifino for Lavine, Lebron will be able to get Zach to play defense and when he tries on defense he’s at least only far below average instead of invisible ghost defense
Why would the Bulls want a bunch of the Laker’s junk for LaVine?
Nobody refuses to admit LeBron’s defense is lacking, what? Only the most homer of homer Lakers fans think that. Like yes, his results when he defends a shot are good, but often times he just… doesn’t. Compared to other forwards with similar MPG, he defends less than 75% of what they do. His DFGPG is on par with the average point guard, not a wing.
The team as a whole is a top 10 defense, and they earned that. The defense is largely fine.
The Lakers issues are on offense, almost solely. Their shooters aren’t shooting enough or making enough shots, and LeBron and Davis are carrying a disproportionate load of the offense for how bad the team’s scoring is. Everyone keeps trying to score in the paint in the starting lineups, and it doesn’t work that way. They’re over-reliant on their bench for 3pt shooting, which doesn’t synergize with the starters. Yesterday the starters combined for 2/19 from 3. And that’s a recurring issue.
Over worked and tired legs is why they are missing shots. Even Curry shots miss when he is tired. This year you can see the younger teams are moving up and taking over.
I would argue that scheme is a bigger issue than the age of the roster. The Clippers roster as a whole is older than the Lakers, and they’re playing well. Ham just doesn’t know what he’s doing on offense. That’s kind of been the case since he started as coach. Good defensive schemes and players, but a lack of offensive versatility in his sets. He says he wants to play LeBron and Davis less and then draws up plays where those two have to run 90% of the offense. You can adjust on the floor, but you can’t coach on the floor. Same reason Doc Rivers is an overall negative as a coach.
Can they just fire Rob & Ham and replace them with people who done the job before. Neither one had any experience in the job they were hired for.
Who would have thought in November the Lakers would be the team in LA that’s the bigger mess?
I know the league thinks the lakers are poised to make a move… but raise your hand if you honestly think a GM wants DLo at 18+ next year and Rui at 17 and 18 for 2 years.
Maybe the Bulls, bc they could be blowing it up anyway, but not really enticing anyone else.
Lakers started the season off reasonably well then for whatever reason decided to make some changes, then injuries happened and more and more changes happened and now it’s like a new line up every game and they are confused as to why guys are disjointed and disconnected. Even the coach is like ohhhh uhhhh we might go back to that line up that worked for us. Clearly he has no idea. It’s sad cause you know the lakers have some really talented pieces but every season they seem to just be the biggest let downs ever.
Can’t remember if it was last season or the season before they made all these trades near the deadline and looked good heading into the playoffs but were exposed for not being familiar with each other and having not worked out what line ups work best. You’d have thought they would’ve learned there lesson and tried to build some cohesion and decided that if they needed to make a move that they’d do it sooner rather than later in the season but no.
Clearly what you have isn’t going to get it done even when fully fit and healthy. So why not swing big and go for a DeJounte Murray, Zach LaVine, DeMare DeRozan type of trade and finish the season trying to make a big 3 work?
Think I’ve pitched it like 10 times now but
Austin Reaves, Jaxson Hayes and a first for DeJounte Murray.
Then to help fill add some shooting and floor spacing target a shooter like Gary Trent Jr or Grayson Allen.
Gabe Vincent and a pair of seconds for Grayson Allen and Drew Eubanks.
Murray Allen Bron Vando AD
Dlo Reddish Prince Hachimura Wood
JHS Christie Lewis Eubanks
Atleast try do something