Category: Los Angeles Lakers Blog

Here’s the Los Angeles Daily News reporting on Lakers rookie point guard Lonzo Ball, who has played limited minutes in his return from injury but has played excellent basketball when out on the floor:

Ball has been on a strict minutes restriction each of his first two games after missing 15 with a left knee sprain. He was capped at 20 minutes on Friday against Dallas; 25 in Atlanta.

On his own, Ball has been startlingly impressive: 11 points per game, seven rebounds, 5.5 assists, two steals. He has attempted 12 3-pointers and made seven of them.

The Lakers have, for the most part, been fine. They have won three straight games out of the All-Star break and, after trouncing the lowly Hawks, have with 22 games left with as many wins as they did a year ago.

With Ball back and balling, the adjustment now comes for everyone else – as the missed connection with Caldwell-Pope showed.

“I think guys are going to have to get used to playing with him again,” Coach Luke Walton said.

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The good news is, Isaiah Thomas played well in his debut for the Lakers. The bad news is, the squad still lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 130-123. Of course, the Lakers are not a playoff contender and are focused on the future, in which case losing can also be a good thing. Anyway, here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting:

In his first half wearing purple and gold, Thomas played 14 minutes, scored 16 points and hit four three-pointers with four assists. Bounced around the court, playing with joy and scoring better than he ever did in Cleveland.

He was, as fellow Cleveland export Channing Frye promised he would be, the old Isaiah Thomas…

The Lakers brought Thomas off the bench in his first game since being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he scored 22 points on seven of 12 shooting, making four of eight three-point attempts. Brandon Ingram also scored 22 points and Julius Randle, a Dallas native, led the Lakers with 26 points. Randle also had eight rebounds and seven assists.

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Nothing’s shocking here, but Isaiah Thomas began his Lakers career as a reserve, coming off the bench. Won’t be surprising if this continues for the time being. But after some time passes, say two weeks or so, if he’s playing well and clearly deserves to start, it’s unclear who should start alongside him. Lonzo Ball and Thomas together? Interesting combo, because of the two Thomas is more of a shooting guard then Ball is. We’ll see. On all of this, here’s ESPN.com reporting:

Lakers coach Luke Walton confirmed Saturday afternoon to reporters that he did not plan to make any changes to his starting lineup. Walton and Thomas had dinner together in Dallas on Friday and discussed expectations and roles, sources told ESPN…

The plan is for Thomas to eventually work himself into position to join the starting five, according to sources.

A 2017 All-NBA second team performer who continues to work himself back into form after a hip injury, Thomas also didn’t start his first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers when they hosted the Portland Trail Blazers on Jan. 2.

— ESPN.com

A post shared by Los Angeles Lakers (@lakers) on Jan 17, 2018 at 4:52pm PST

Hitting free throws is generally the easiest part of an NBA game. There is no defense. It’s just the player, unguarded, standing at the same place every time, shooting at a basket that doesn’t move or anything. But for whatever reason, there will always be pro players who find free throw shooting to be a struggle. And this season, many of those players are on the Lakers. Here’s the OC Register reporting:

When the Lakers were merely a bad free throw shooting team, Luke Walton insisted they would improve through repetition. The foul shots they made in practice would eventually start falling in games.

After Friday’s 2-for-14 debacle, the Lakers coach is ready to pull out the big guns.

“We have another meditation scheduled on the books for when we get back from this road trip,” Walton said…

The Lakers 68.8 percent percentage from the line is the worst in the NBA. Oklahoma City, which ranks 29th, shoots nearly 2 points better, at 70.4 percent.

“It is very confusing,” Walton said. “Free throws are more mental than anything. We talk about it, we work on it.”

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A post shared by Los Angeles Lakers (@lakers) on Dec 25, 2017 at 9:23pm PST

LaVar Ball is currently in Lithuania, where his teenage sons will soon be playing pro basketball against disgruntled 30-year-olds with something to prove. Like anybody else, he can watch Laker games on TV. But unlike almost anybody else, son Lonzo is a key part of the team and obviously has a pulse on the squad’s situation. Here’s ESPN.com reporting LaVar’s take on the current state of the team, who have lost nine games in a row and have the second-worst winning percentage in the league:

Ball, who was up at 5 a.m. local time Saturday to watch his son Lonzo Ball in his first game back with the Lakers since suffering a shoulder injury on Dec. 23, expressed his frustration with Walton in an exclusive interview with ESPN.

“You can see they’re not playing for Luke no more,” LaVar said from the spa resort in Birstonas, where he is staying while his two youngest sons get ready to make their professional debuts. “Luke doesn’t have control of the team no more. They don’t want to play for him.”

“That’s a good team,” he added of the Lakers, who have lost nine straight games. “Nobody wants to play for him. I can see it. No high five’s when they come out of the game. People don’t know why they’re in the game. He’s too young. He’s too young. … He ain’t connecting with them anymore. You can look at every player, he’s not connecting with not one player.”

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