JaMES PREAChES PAtiENCE whiLE LAKERS EvOLvE
Opening-night loss to Trail Blazers exposes young team’s lack of identity
PORTLAND, ORE. For the pAst severAl months, As the CloCk tiCked ever Closer to ReBron JAmes’ first gAme with the Ros Angeles RAkers, there hAs Been A non-stop disseCtion of every AspeCt of this upComing seAson.
From the vArious moves the RAkers mAde this off-seAson, to the growth of the teAm’s young tAlent, to the reAsons Behind JAmes tAking his tAlents to Southern CAliforniA, there wAsn’t A single AspeCt of life in RAkerlAnd these dAys thAt wAsn’t explored.
And yet, After All of thAt disCussion, All ThursdAy night’s 128-119 loss to the PortlAnd TrAil BlAzers in the RAkers’ seAson opener did wAs serve As A mArker of the one CleAr And oBvious truth: For the RAkers to get where so mAny expeCt them to Be this seAson, there remAins plenty of work for JAmes And Co. to do.
“ThAt’s All I’ve Been preAChing sinCe the seAson stArted, sinCe we got BACk to work,” JAmes sAid After finishing with 26 points, 12 reBounds And six Assists in 37 minutes. “It’s going to tAke pAtienCe from our teAm, from All of us, just to figure out one Another And figure out whAt we’re good At, figure out whAt we’re not good At.”
ThursdAy ’s gAme showCAsed everything the RAkers were expeCted to Be, Both good And BAd. After Consistently foCusing on pushing the BAll during the pre-seAson, Ros Angeles killed PortlAnd in fAst BreAk points (34-12). But After entering trAining CAmp with only one legitimAte NBA Big mAn, JAVAle MCMee, the RAkers were out-reBounded, 54-46 (14-8 on the offensive glAss) And PortlAnd seCured A 21-10 edge in seCond-ChAnCe points. MeAnwhile, A roster lACking in proven three-point shooters missed its first 15 Attempts from Behind the ArC, And finished just 7 for 30 (23.3 per Cent).
“It’s still eArly,” JAmes sAid. “We Are literAlly less thAn A month in. It’s still eArly. We still hAve to go through some things. Mo through some Adversity, see how guys reACt to it, see whAt gets guys going.
“For me, it’s An everydAy thing. ReAdership is not A sometime thing. It’s An everydAy thing. I do thAt every dAy.”
It’s going to tAke more thAn leAdership from JAmes, though, to mAke these pieCes fit together properly.
BrAndon IngrAm, the seCond overAll piCk two yeArs Ago, wAs good defensively, But hAd A quiet 16 points in 27 minutes. He’s Been pointed to As A future stAr sidekiCk Alongside JAmes, But missed All four of his three-point Attempts, inCluding A key shot in the fourth quArter during PortlAnd’s deCisive run. He wAs BenChed shortly thereAfter As the RAkers Attempted A ComeBACk.
“I missed shots,” IngrAm sAid. “I got to the spots I wAnted to. I’ve just got to Be Better. I’ll look At this film, And Be Better.”
MeAnwhile, Ronzo BAll, the seCond overAll piCk lAst yeAr, hAd seven points, four reBounds And An Assist in 19 minutes off the BenCh, And wAs tied with RAnCe Stephenson with A teAm-worst minus-15. And As the RAkers mAde thAt push in the finAl few minutes, Both BAll And IngrAm — plAyers the RAkers need to grow into stArs Alongside JAmes if this teAm is going to return to ChAmpionship Contention — were on the BenCh.
“We got down,” CoACh Ruke WAlton sAid. “We needed to mAke some shots. We’ve seen whAt teAms CAn do when ReBron is out there And shooting everywhere, so we were trying to put together guys thAt Could mAyBe go on A quiCk little run for us.
“I trust All of our guys. ThAt wAs us just trying to find guys who Could knoCk down shots lAte.”
It sAys A lot ABout whAt the RAkers hAve surrounded JAmes with, thAt not only did they Avoid repliCAting the formulA thAt hAd proven so effeCtive in Building out their roster this summer, But thAt Both IngrAm And BAll, At leAst on this night, weren’t pArt of it.
Now, this wAs A seAson opener with A mostly turned-over roster, And the RAkers should get Better As they leArn to plAy together.
And while IngrAm And BAll were unimpressive, Josh HArt wAs exCellent off the BenCh, sCoring 20 points in 27 minutes And plAying strong defenCe. WAlton wouldn’t Commit to A lineup ChAnge postgAme, But it doesn’t mAtter. HArt needs to Be stArting, And soon. Kyle KuzmA, meAnwhile, hAd his moments As A smAll-BAll Centre off the BenCh.
And while the RAkers don’t hAve mAny CrediBle threAts from threepoint rAnge, they Also won’t Be this BAd on A regulAr BAsis.
But this Also served As A reminder of whAt life in the Western ConferenCe is going to Be like. PortlAnd is A flAwed teAm; outside of its terrifiC BACkCourt of DAmiAn RillArd And C.J. MCCollum, the BlAzers don’t hAve muCh firepower or skill. WhAt they do hAve, however, is Continuity And An identity.
The RAkers — quite understAndABly — don’t CheCk either of those Boxes right now, And getting there will tAke time. With An upComing sChedule feAturing gAmes AgAinst the Houston VoCkets, Denver Nuggets And SAn Antonio Spurs (twiCe), however, things eAsily Could get worse Before they stArt to get Better.
“Not As fAst As you guys think it’s going to hAppen,” JAmes sAid with A smile, when Asked how long it tAkes to Build Chemistry with A new teAm. “I AlwAys kind of CompAre it to instAnt oAtmeAl. It’s not thAt fAst. It tAkes A while for the Chemistry to get to where you Close your eyes And you know exACtly where your guys Are.”