SPL: Lakers vs Knicks Impressions (07/14/15)

Sunday night the Lakers SPL team took on the Knicks and things got ugly quickly. The Lakers offense sputtered from the get go as the ball never made it farther than one or two passes. This led to highly contested shots, sloppy turnovers, and easy scoring opportunities for the other team. Pretty much all of the Lakers young players played poorly in this game. They were able to make some adjustments after the first quarter and even climbed back into the game, but they couldn't get over the hump.

However there isn't a need to panic yet, as some fans have done, lol. Summer league is not about wins and losses. It's more about seeing if your rookies can show flashes of talent in an NBA environment. All of the Lakers young guys have already done that. So there is nothing to worry about on that front. The Lakers are also trying to implement a very complicated Princeton offense in a very short amount of time. That's a move I disagree with completely. This team is not built for the Princeton offense. They need be running a modern space and pace offense that allows them to get out and run. The team is full of athletes! Something similar to what GSW, SAS, and ATL run. But alas, for the time being we are stuck suffering under Byron Scott's outdated 1980s basketball philosophies.

Here's what I saw from each player:

D'Angelo Russell
- Russell had a few bright spots where his shooting was on display. He also threw a few passes that his teammates weren't ready for. They really need to learn to be ready for a pass at all times with him on the floor.
- He also had some more careless turnovers like in the last game.
- I think he'll come around. But I don't think the Lakers trying to get him to implement the Princeton this early into his career is a good idea. That system is a bad fit for our team and it can be pretty discouraging when you start each game in a hole because your offense can't generate any good looks.

Julius Randle
- Julius started off terrible. He was forcing the issue too much.
- He played at one speed (full speed) and kept attacking the rim. The great thing is that he could get to the spots he wanted to at will. The bad thing is it was incredibly predictable and allowed the defense to focus in on it and stop him.
- He made an adjustment in the 2nd half and began using the drive and kick game. This worked well and got open shots for his teammates. He even picked up his effort defensively.
- He's still rusty, having played only about 40 mins of competitive ball in the last 8 months, but he's definitely still got all the tools. I want to see him start to incorporate his jumper back into his game like he did last SPL and preseason.

Jordan Clarkson
- He had an off night by his standards thus far, but then again so did the entire team

Robert Upshaw
- Upshaw altered a few shots and may have gotten one block if I recall. Quite game from him in this one

Anthony Brown
- Showed more of that fire by battling for rebounds and contesting shots. I thought Brown played well in this game

Tarik Black
- Tarik was one of the rare Lakers who had a good offensive showing. He kept the Lakers in the game in the 2nd quarter

Larry Nance Jr.
- Nance Jr. couldn't get much going in this game either, but he competed hard.

The Lakers will play again on Wednesday night. The time hasn't been determined yet. It will be tournament style to determine a summer league champion. All teams will play a minimum of two more games.

Also, coming up soon on July 23rd I'll be apart of a team doing missionary work in Kenya. We'll be working in Kibera Slums which is the largest slum in Africa and is home to over 2 million people. There is one toilet with plumbing for every 2000 people there. We are in need of prayers and financial assistance. We're at about 57% funded right now. If you'd like to give you can at the link below:

www.wateroflifecc.org/gorgive

Register and then hit the give to teams button to select "2015 - Kenya Team 1" and my name is Jason

Thank you SO MUCH for your help. Any amount counts :)

Thanks for reading, go Lakers!!!