LA Lakers Rumors Roundup: Anthony Davis’ frustration evident, Ham not concerned about Westbrook’s feelings

Anthony Davis was visibly upset that the LA Lakers blew a sizable lead in their 106-104 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. AD maintained that the Lakers should have won that game.

Lakers head coach Darvin Ham will do what’s best for the team instead of appeasing any of his superstars. Ham benched Russell Westbrook for close to 11 minutes throughout the game.

Darvin Ham is planning a new strategy to counter the opposing team’s defensive scheme to put a big man on Russell Westbrook. Draymond Green’s role with the Golden State Warriors could be the solution he is looking for.

LA Lakers superstar Anthony Davis couldn’t believe they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers

Anthony Davis was a picture of frustration after LA's loss to Portland.

For long stretches of the game against the Portland Trail Blazers, Anthony Davis looked like the LA Lakers’ best player. For some reason, he didn’t get to shoot the ball in the last two-and-a-half minutes of the game.

The Lakers had a seven point lead with just under two minutes left in the game when the Blazers uncorked a nine-to-nothing run. They couldn’t recover and even tie the game after LeBron James missed a turnaround jumper.

After the game, here’s what AD had to say about the loss:

"There's no way you're supposed to lose this game. That's where my frustration comes from."

Anthony Davis is unusually clipped in his postgame presser today. Asked by @DanWoikeSports if the frustration comes from buying in on defense and losing, AD responds: "There's no way you're supposed to lose this game. That's where my frustration comes from."

Anthony Davis played an excellent game, finishing with 22 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a game-high six blocks. He was the biggest reason why the Blazers were hammered in the paint on both ends of the floor.

The 8-time All-Star, however, couldn’t make a much bigger impact during the most crucial moments of the game. Portland doggedly clogged the paint to prevent the big man from scoring and daring the Lakers to beat them from the outside.

The LA Lakers are now 0-3 and both LeBron James and Anthony Davis are starting to get very frustrated with how things are going.

Darvin Ham doesn’t care about his players' feelings when it comes to giving minutes

Darvin Ham has vowed to play the players who can help the LA Lakers win regardless of the name.

The LA Lakers finished the first half of their game against the Portland Trail Blazers trailing 55-48. A 35-point third quarter allowed them to take an 83-78 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

During an 11-minute stretch between the third and fourth quarters, the Lakers played their best. They had a 98-90 lead with four minutes left in the game and all the momentum on their side. During that stretch, Russell Westbrook was on the bench playing cheerleader.

Here’s what Darvin Ham had to say about Westbrook's benching:

“We don’t have time for people to be in their feelings.”

Darvin Ham when asked if he has concern about how Russell Westbrook will handle being benched late on Sunday: “We don’t have time for people to be in their feelings”

Last season, Russell Westbrook was at loggerheads with former head coach Frank Vogel when the latter kept him sidelined for long periods. Vogel even benched the former MVP during the crucial moments of the game, resulting in Westbrook’s emphatic pushback.

It’s only the third game of the season and it’s already looking like Darvin Ham will be laying down the law on that possibility. The new head coach reportedly had the backing of the front office during his hiring that he can bench “Russ” if it came to that point.

The LA Lakers are planning a Draymond Green kind of role for Russell Westbrook

Russell Westbrook's inability to hit three-point shots has allowed teams to pack the paint against the LA Lakers.

Russell Westbrook has been one of the biggest reasons why the LA Lakers are off to a winless start in three games. The former two-time scoring champ is averaging a measly 10 points on 28.9% shooting, including a mind-boggling .83% from beyond the arc.

For this reason, teams, particularly the LA Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers, used their respective centers to guard Westbrook. Without the ability to punish defenders with outside shots, defenses have been packing the paint to make drives and post moves very difficult.

Here’s what Darvin Ham had to say about his counter plans against a very effective defensive scheme against them:

“The Lakers can do more dribble hand-offs (similar to what the Warriors do with Draymond Green) and/or Russ decisively attacking the centers off the dribble.”

I asked Darvin Ham about how the Lakers can counter teams defending Russell Westbrook with their opposing centers. He said the Lakers can do more dribble hand-offs (similar to what the Warriors do with Draymond Green) and/or Russ decisively attacking the centers off the dribble.

This strategy works very well for Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors because of their bevy of shooters. The LA Lakers don’t have that luxury as Kendrick Nunn, Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV and even LeBron James are terrible from the outside.

The Lakers are 25/118 from 3 this season https://t.co/K9824yJkUo

It wasn’t just “Russ” that teams have been sagging off on. The Blazers consistently dared the entire Lakers roster to beat them from the three-point line, which the latter couldn’t hope to do.