The defending champion Toronto Raptors humbled the Lakers with a 107-92 beat down Saturday night on ESPN. LeBron James and Anthony Davis combined for just 34 points with the latter putting up a measly 2/7 shooting output. But what LA can takeaway from the loss is more valuable than another win.
The lesson: if there’s ever been a time for Frank Vogel to switch to a smaller starting lineup, it’s now, in an era of basketball that’s notorious for stretch bigs and spacing the floor.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, however, Vogel picked the wrong game and team to experiment small lineups with. The Raptors are too good for that. The first-year Lakers head coach kept the same starting five as the previous game: James, Davis, Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and JaVale McGee. Toronto combatted with its usual five: Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet in the backcourt, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam on the wings, Marc Gasol at center.
Nick Nurse’s lineup differed from that of Vogel’s because he only played one true big man in Gasol. The Spaniard doesn’t hang around the basket much anymore, unlike what we saw from him in Memphis. Now, he hovers around the three-point line as the Raptors run pick-and-pop action with him while maximizing his passing abilities, too.
Why don’t the Lakers do this with Davis? The answer is: they do, at times. But not enough.
Time for change
The fix to this is simple. Move McGee to the bench, slide Davis to center and start Markieff Morris at power forward. McGee is a liability on offense and has been for much of the season. He catches lobs and dump-offs and occasionally hits some hook shots.
Dwight Howard does the same as McGee but with slightly better defense. Although, he picks up fouls at an impressive rate. Accordingly, both he and McGee limit floor spacing which is essential when James is on the court. Or, on your team, for that matter. Morris can help with that.
While Morris isn’t exactly a sniper from distance, he’s shooting 38 percent from deep this season on nearly four attempts per contest. He also provides toughness and defensive versatility as he can manage bigs in the post and occasionally hang with quick guards on the perimeter. His 6-foot-8, 245-pound frame can attest to that.
Morris’ talent and physical stature provide the Lakers with a quicker starting five which can only add to their top-10 transition scoring while opening up the paint for James and Davis to operate.
What does this mean?
Transitioning to a smaller lineup should be seamless for the Lakers considering they roster arguably the best big man in the game in Davis. The 6-foot-10 forward can knock down outside shots, guard 1-5 and handle the ball. Qualities of a prototypical stretch big, and some.
As a center, the three-time All-NBA First-Team Davis would not only allow for fluidity on offense, but just as important, he’d force opposing teams to adjust lineups to that of the Lakers. If they play a traditional two-big lineup, they take the risk of being unable to keep up defensively.
But if opponents also go small, they succumb to a Davis-James-Morris-Green-KCP unit that could do some damage together. Although, top teams like the Bucks, Clippers and Raptors would matchup well with small-ball lineups of their own.
For the Lakers, however, it’s evident that the traditional two-big unit simply doesn’t work.
Why haven’t the Lakers gone small yet?
Now in his eighth season, The Brow has long been against playing center because of the physical tole it would take on his body. And I don’t blame him. He’s yet to play all 82 games in a year because of various injuries over time.
But following an uncommon four-month, mid-season layoff, Davis should be well-rested heading into the playoffs. And let’s face it, the Lakers can’t afford to give many minutes to McGee or Howard unless they play a team like the Denver Nuggets which likes to feature three centers on the court together (sometimes).
Nevertheless, Davis, the frontrunner to win Defensive Player of the Year, provides enough shot-blocking and rebounding that wouldn’t otherwise be missed with McGee coming off the pine.
And with Morris inserted into the starting lineup, Kyle Kuzma, who looks rejuvenated in the Lakers first two bubble games, would get more minutes as a result because either McGee or Howard would provide Davis with breathers, and Vogel obviously can’t play them together. I hope he knows that.
So, I say to coach Vogel: if you’re reading this, it’s not too late. You have six seeding games remaining to solidify an effective and productive rotation before the playoffs. You’ve even shown us some really good lineups already. Don’t be the reason the Lakers aren’t good. Rather, be the reason they’re great.
(all stats via Basketball-Reference, NBA and ESPN)
Follow us on Twitter @LakersLead for the latest Lakers news and insight.
Leave a comment