LeBron James on how LA Lakers persevered during tough times: “We’re still the same way, we haven’t done anything” -
Behind jaw-dropping performances by Anthony Davis and with LeBron James ably backing him up, the LA Lakers are suddenly rolling. After dropping to 2-10 with a loss to the Sacramento Kings on November 11, Darvin Ham’s squad has now won eight of their last 10 games.
Despite the Lakers’ recent surge in form, “King James” isn’t putting too much stock on what they have accomplished so far:
“We never tipped over the glass when things weren’t going well. We just continue to work, continue to get better, understood that we were a new team being put together, a new coaching staff, a new system, and we had to figure out some things, figure out who we were, what our DNA is going to be and how we want to play."
He added:
“We’re still the same way, we haven’t done anything. We wanna continue to work to get better on both sides of the ball and to be as good as the team we wanna become."
.@KingJames on tonight's win, returning to Cleveland on Tuesday and an update on his ankle. https://t.co/CYe5f0pzYB
The LA Lakers offense started as the worst in the NBA by a wide margin. After their last 10 games, they’ve slowly crept up the rankings where they now sit at 22. Their defense, which is where the Lakers will supposedly hang their hats on, has been slipping. LA’s once top-three defense has now dropped to 10th.
Darvin Ham’s roster is still short of shooters. LeBron James admitted this as early as the season started when he said that the team didn’t have "lasers." There will be nights when their shots will not fall again and that could mean a world of trouble if their defense continues to slip.
The LA Lakers' perimeter defense is undersized, particularly when they let Anthony Davis play center. LeBron James isn’t the defender he once was and will sometimes jog back on defense. Russell Westbrook has his moments but he’s 381st in defensive rating among players with at least 25 MPG.
Lakers lineups don’t make no sense. Small ball with no shooters.
The Lakers are the second worst in the NBA in fastbreak points allowed with 17.5 points per game. Only the Houston Rockets are worse off than them in transition defense.
LeBron James is right. The LA Lakers are playing well but they still haven’t done anything.
Making Anthony Davis the center of everything has paid dividends for the LA Lakers
Darvin Ham vowed before the season started that he would run the offense through Anthony Davis. The strategy reportedly had LeBron James’ approval. After all the fuss about AD being the hub of the offense, the Lakers did the opposite for most of the season.
When they had no choice but to go that route after James injured his groin, the LA Lakers started to hum. When AD was heavily-involved in everything that the Lakers were running, Ham’s system began to work consistently.
LeBron James still resorts to his maddeningly stubborn iso ball from time to time, but they’ve become less and less part of the offense. Making AD the hub on offense has allowed James and Russell Westbrook to shine in their playmaking roles. Austin Reaves, with limited opportunities, has also shown solid quarterbacking skills.
With his 55 point and 17 rebound performance tonight, Anthony Davis leads the NBA MVP race! 🔥
The season is not won or lost in December and the Lakers have not achieved anything yet. What they have shown, though, has given Laker Nation belief that the bounce-back year they’ve been expecting could happen.