Gotta say, vibes over there are pretty great. Will probably be where I spend most of my time going forward. Come follow along!
bsky.app/profile/alexre…
hey gang.
thank you thank you to everyone who has rocked with me through the years. working for the Chicago Tribune was an honor.
but there’s an update. 🎉
I felt Gabe Vincent's defense on Immanuel Quickley in the second half was a key contributor to the Lakers' win/turnaround. Between Quickley's speed and shiftiness on-off ball, Vincent's screen navigation and ability to stay attached was critical.
Still really digging the shots/looks the Lakers are generating out of their Horns sets. Some fun optionality.
They can flow into a pnr with James/Davis, free up a shooter or beat ball/screen denial/icing with backdoor cuts.
On that point,
This may be surprising given how it’s looked at times and taking into account things are still getting implemented, but the Lakers have the 5th-best offRTG (103.1) in the half court through 10 games per CTG.
Among Western Conference teams only, they rank #1
The uptick in defensive effort obviously played a role here, but think tonight also was a good example of how better offensive output could help their transition woes.
The Lakers had an offRTG of 113.3 in the half court against Toronto & turned it over just 5 times vs 30 assists
Beyond the adjustment to the bench, I felt D'Angelo Russell also altered his offensive approach. With more on ball/pnr touches, Dlo really made more of an effort to get downhill.
According to NBA's tracking data, Dlo had 8 drives last night in 5 less min, up 1.5 from his average
Just finished FANTASTIC MR. FOX, which is a very charming thing to watch with the kids, and also made me think that somebody has to have written something extensive and good about Wes Anderson and fatherhood, right? If they have, could you point me toward it?