It may seem surprising, but it shouldn’t be that NBA players also pay attention to the analysis.
What caught Jared Dudley’s eye last week – and that he spoke naturally to the team – was this: Even when the Lakers lose, Alex Caruso is a positive net player, with the team beating opponents 29 points out of their 92 minutes.
That statistic crossed Anthony Davis’s mind as he thought of Caruso’s potential rescue game Saturday night in Boston, when he ran to put his arm between the ball and Jaylen Brown in a counterattack opportunity. The 26-year-old rarely makes big numbers, but he has a way of making winning moves – which has not escaped any of his teammates or coaches.
“He’s a smart player,” said Davis. “He’s not the highest paid or he has all the accolades or credentials. A lot of people don’t realize it, but he plays the right way. He blocks defensively, makes difficult, fragmented pitches. ”
Caruso also has the ninth average of minutes on the team, despite being statistically one of the players with the greatest impact in the victory. And for the Lakers, that’s where the problems begin.
In a 96-95 victory over the Celtics, the Lakers reduced their rotation to nine – a move that could have been anticipated for a rotation of 11 players that led to inconsistent formations and groups, but that would always hurt someone. Wesley Matthews and Markieff Morris, two respected and affable veterans, did not play against one of the contenders in the East. And Frank Vogel did not like to keep them in the bank.
“It’s the most difficult part of the job, to be honest,” said the Lakers coach. “You have guys who are really good players who deserve minutes that you don’t have. It’s difficult.”
It may have been more difficult for the Lakers to move on. After a disappointing defeat to Detroit on Thursday night, LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma spoke openly about how difficult it has been to experience lineups in live games. The Lakers played only four different line-ups for more than 35 minutes, and only two of them earned a positive net rating.
Although the overall success of the team was undisputed with a record of 15-6, the Lakers have been trying to have their cake and eat it too. The coaching staff gave a long run to the lineups that Vogel admitted were a product of trying to reserve minutes for certain players and, on other nights, playing on the bench of productive players like Caruso for longer than would be ideal. Talen Horton-Tucker, a 20-year-old who several Lakers seem to think is a rising star, has not played in three of his last seven games.
But losing creates pressure to find out what works. And while Vogel said he couldn’t say definitively that playing Caruso for almost 20 minutes and Horton-Tucker for 22 influenced the win, it was revealing that the Lakers were over-14 with Caruso, and that Horton-Tucker helped to stir the attack on his restriction (despite having committed five fouls).
Davis’ comeback also helped the Lakers gain a foothold in terms of rotation, Vogel said, but he saw the pace they picked up in the fourth period when they overcame Boston 25-17.
It helps that Caruso (who is on a one-year contract) is one of the most flexible Lakers. A veteran with a two-way contract who had to win his spot in the G League, Caruso is not the type to complain externally – although he also clearly knows his worth. He is less concerned with starting (which could be a reasonable case) than closing: when he breaks the time limits in the fourth period, he yells at his teammates: “It’s time to win!”
“I’m very confident: I did that a lot in the playoffs last year, a lot in the regular season last year. I gained the confidence of the coach, I gained the confidence of my teammates ”, he said. “I’m a very, very competitive guy, and the end of the game is when it matters most. So I don’t really care much about starting points, statistics. I care a lot about winning. The fourth period, the end of the game, is the hour of victory. ”
Vogel emphasized that the changes in the lineup are not necessarily permanent. Matthews and Morris, although they have fought this season compared to the last, are reliable veterans. It is difficult to keep the experience out of the team. But it is also difficult to repress the youthful potential that Caruso and Horton-Tucker represent and that their teammates recognize in them.
The despair that the Lakers felt after losing consecutive games now lessens with the victory over a classic rival. But the dilemma facing Vogel and his team is not going away any time soon.