Tuck's triple: Davis sets Lakers’ defensive tone; LeBron a natural facilitator; role players contributing
Watch Los Angeles Lakers @ New Orleans Pelicans live on Sky Sports Arena in the early hours of Thursday morning (2:30am)
Thursday 28 November 2019 07:22, UK
Sky Sports NBA analyst Mike Tuck offers three takes on Western Conference leaders the Los Angeles Lakers as they prepare to visit the New Orleans Pelicans.
Live NBA: L.A. Lakers @ New Orleans
Davis setting defensive tone for Lakers
Defense wins championships, that's a big quote we, as players, have always gone by. It's also something LeBron James knows.
For me, the biggest spur of the Los Angeles Lakers' defense so far has been Anthony Davis. It looks like he sets the tone out on the floor and everyone else follows his lead.
The Lakers lead the league with 7.5 blocks per game, with 'AD' providing 2.9 of those. His rejection of San Antonio's Bryn Forbes put the stamp on Los Angeles' eighth straight win right at the end of the game.
Davis dominates on the defensive end. He is so good on defensive rotations, help defense and protecting the rim. He is all over the place! It helps when you have LeBron James on your team too!
James and Davis leading the way on defense is huge, it inspires the rest of the team. When you play on a team where your best player is only offensive-focused, a one-way player, you can lose faith in him at certain moments in the game. With this Lakers team, their two superstars are even more locked in on defense than they are on the offensive end.
They looked clued in all the team. Being one of the best defensive teams in the league has clearly been a major focus for them. The play of LeBron and AD sets the tone early and makes the rest of the team want to buy into it.
With a new coach and a major new player joining the team, the Lakers have kind of started again from Ground Zero. That makes it easier to build the culture, the defensive mentality and install your offense. I think coach Frank Vogel has done a great job of getting his players to buy into building defensive pressure and the culture of the team - getting guys to play for each other.
The way LeBron sees the game is incredible
It is LeBron's 17th season and I think people forget that sometimes. I don't think we have ever seen someone play this well in their 17th season. Think about the guys he was drafted into the league with, where are those guys now? It's absolutely unreal.
After nine straight years of going all the way to Finals, he finally gets a summer off and he has been able to recharge his batteries and reset his body clock. He has come into this season ready. He said after the Spurs' game he felt his quick-twitch muscles were all in check.
Last year, part of the Lakers' confusion last year stemmed from how they deployed LeBron. Was he playing off the ball? Was he bringing the ball up the court or was that Rajon Rondo's role?
This year the Lakers are doing what comes naturally. For LeBron, that means being a facilitator - and he is leading the league in assists. He is at a point in his career where he has still got it physically. Mentally, the way he sees the game is incredible. He had 14 assists against the Spurs. It's unreal but, night to night, it is becoming normal with him. I'm loving watching him.
Another thing to call out with LeBron is his three-point shooting. He has been shooting the ball so well as of late. He isn't typically known as a three-point shooter. He is shooting 35 per cent for the season but over the last five games he has shot 44 per cent from beyond the arc. He shot 4-of-7 from three against the Spurs.
The biggest thing for him is that he is not hesitating. There used to be times where he would catch the ball and you could tell he didn't want to shoot the shot. Now, I'm seeing him taking a sidestep or a step-back three and he is icing them all.
The way LeBron is playing right now, he is showing is 'all-time confidence'. If he can stay healthy, this Lakers team is incredibly dangerous.
Role players making telling contributions
I talked about the resurgence of Dwight Howard on Heatcheck a couple of weeks ago but he is not the only Lakers role player making important contributions.
I really liked the way Alex Caruso started the season, although he has been quiet for the last couple of games. The energy he was bringing, filling the lanes and playing above the rim. He was doing the little things.
Rondo has been very solid in his role and has done a great job accepting that role this year.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope struggled at the start of the season but over the last five games, he has been pretty good, making double-figure contributions and shooting a high percentage. He isn't forcing shots.
Kyle Kuzma has been a bit inconsistent after coming back from injury but he has been playing well too, although he could shoot a bit better from three. Javale McGee has been solid too, providing a nice 1-2 punch with Howard.
All these guys realise and understanding their roles and they are buying into them, that's the biggest thing. They aren't going to shoot bad shots. They are going to let LeBron and AD do the hard work and when the defense gets sucked in, they are there to hit the open shot or make the right play.
When you look at the Lakers bench, they look so deep. They've got players for days! They have guys with the ability to play multiple positions but then they also have the size to force teams into strange situations.
