“…’cept nobody is supposed to know. Ohh, So I Creep! Yeah… ‘cause she doesn’t know what I do…”
When you hear the word, “Showtime!”, only one NBA team should come to mind. Of course, that’s the Atlanta Hawks, who look to stretch their season start to 4-0 against a team from Los Angeles they call the Lakers (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, 92.9 FM in ATL; Spectrum SportsNet in LA).
Only one team in basketball can presently boast of 24.0 PPG derived from opponent turnovers (+7.0 net PPG off TOs, 1st in NBA), and that’s Atlanta. The Hawks can capitalize even more against a Laker team that has allowed a league-high 24.5 PPG off TOs and is ahead of just three teams with 16.5 opponent fastbreak points.
Is there a Bleak Mamba in the house? It’s going to take quite an adjustment for the Lakers (1-3) to compete with any level of consistency, especially now that Kobe Bean Bryant has laced ‘em up for the final time. They arrive in Atlanta looking to avoid a four-game slide after falling in Indiana last night, without the services of starting center Timofey Mozgov due to an eye injury sustained against the Pacers. But things are not all Tar Pits in La-La-Land. There remain several things to give new-age Laker fans hope for not just tomorrow, as in future seasons, but today, as in this year.
You can start with the new head coach. The Golden State Warriors finished at 73-9, but they started out at 39-4 under the watchful eye of current Lakers coach Luke Walton. He implores his new starters not to wait until the ends of games to execute game plans, as if they’re hoping for some tight contest that’s in search of a heroball hero. After all, Kobe isn’t walking through that door anymore.
“I don’t know why we didn’t come out with the intensity and hunger we should after early losses,” Walton told the OC Register after last night’s 115-108 defeat, a climb made difficult by allowing a 27-18 first-quarter deficit and 62 Pacer points in the opening half. Whenever the curtain has lifted on the Lake Show, so far L.A. coughed up an NBA-worst 121.6 opponent points per 100 possessions in opening quarters of play. Contrast with Atlanta, whose 83.3 first-quarter D-Rating ranks 3rd behind the Bulls and Pacers thus far.
The Hawks themselves have gotten sloppy out of the gate in games, Dennis Schröder’s squad currently ranking behind the Lakers and 2nd-worst overall with 18.7 first-quarter turnovers per 100 possessions. Although he is still feeling things out in his new full-time starter role, it is Schröder’s challenge to keep this specific game from getting unnecessarily chaotic. His late-game scoring (7 fourth-quarter points) was crucial in completing the comeback against the Kings on Monday, but Dennis’ fourth-quarter production even more more useful if it’s to put a well-earned lead out of reach.
To that end, Schröder must also disallow easy baskets by leading Laker scorer and playmaker D’Angelo Russell (15.0 PPG, 4.0 APG). With or without Kobe around, the Lakers have more than their share of players willing to create their own shot, from Russell to shooting guards Jordan Clarkson and ex-Hawk Lou Williams (44.4 3FG%), to swinger swingman Nick Young (32.0 3FG%). Whether said shot is a wise one, in the cases of Clarkson (15.4 3FG%) and Russell (33.3 FG%) remains to be seen.
Another gem that is beginning to pan out for the Lakers is power forward Julius Randle. The man known in L.A.’s Spanish-speaking circles as “Don Julio”, Randle is averaging 7.5 RPG while shooting 64.7 FG%, showing a nifty knack for finishing shots around the rim. If he’s granted lots of undisturbed low-post touches, Randle will be a lot to handle, even for Atlanta’s Paul Millsap (77.2 D-Rating, second behind Thabo Sefolosha among NBA players averaging 20+ minutes). Sap and the Hawks forwards need to invite Randle to work on his lack of range tonight.
The way it was supposed to work, Dwight Howard was destined to be the face of the Lakers franchise once Kobe reluctantly handed over the mantle. Didn’t quite work out that way. Howard expected to be top-banana right away, and the whole so-called superteam slipped on the banana peel in that fateful 2012-13 season as Bryant balked at Howard’s entreaties.
Two teams later, D8 (NBA-highs of 3.3 BPG, 23.0 O-Reb%) suits up to face a Laker team (somehow, still with Metta World Peace on the roster) that will struggle to keep him away from the rim without hacking, specifically in the absence of Mozgov, who looked to be returning to pre-Mozgov’d form.
Hawks assistant Neven Spahija hopefully has a gameplan cooked up to help the Hawks deal with his fellow Croatian, Lakers rookie Ivica Zubac. Zubac has yet to be activated this season, but Dwight’s size will likely be too much for his former Rocket backup Tarik Black (career-best 16.2 rebounds per-36) to contend with for long stretches of the game.
The future success of the Lakers is connected very closely to their top pick, the long and lanky rookie Brandon Ingram, who is behind Hawks management favorite Luol Deng on the depth chart. How soon the Lakers return to a winning brand of basketball will depend upon how successful Walton is establishing Ingram within the flow of the offense, taking the leap, of course, that such a flow currently exists.
Either of Ingram or Deng will be a haughty challenge for former Laker towel-waver Kent Bazemore. Baze is working out of his “Kent Yucky” early-season slump, as evidenced by his 11-point second-half output in the Hawks’ 106-95 victory over the Kings. If his open shots aren’t falling early, look for Bazemore to mimic his fellow starter Millsap (8 assists vs. SAC) by keeping the rock moving, an aspect of offense that the Lakers (46.7 assist%, 28th in NBA, league-low 0.95 assist/TO ratio) still struggle to execute.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
