Maybe for the playoffs? AD has stated that he doesn't like playing center often so I'm sure McGee+Dwight are there to free him up from that. I just don't see a reason to sideline McGee when he's been playing so well. I like how every game, we know exactly what we get from McGee+Dwight. I don't see any reason to change that. The onus should be on Kuzma to knock down his open shots because he's certainly getting the opportunity to do so. When Bron is out, AD+Kuzma are 1st/2nd options, when AD is out and Bron is in, Bron+Kuz are 1st/2nd options. Kuzma just has to be more consistent.
“Filler” was pretty spectacular on defense tonight with 6 blocks and is a 2 time NBA champion whether he’s lost a half step or not. You don’t take him out of the starting lineup just to help Kuz get his s*** together IMO.
Yeah, the Lakers have honestly done the best they can to help Kuz get going. I think their insistence on keeping Kuz when they could have easily traded him should be enough for Kuz to get it together. We shouldn't compensate by taking from someone else at this point... Kuz has to play better, period.
I totally get it but for the playoffs, it's going to be the same thing we see in second halves of most games. After McGee's 6-8 minutes in the 3rd, he rarely comes back in. Dwight has already shown off the bench with AD or without that you know you can trust him on defense and offense in critical minutes. And your right Kuzma should be more consistent but some guys just are not hardwired to do this. Kuzma definitely is a different player when he's able to get off 12+ shots a game. Looks like a guy who needs to shoot to get into rhythm versus a guy like KCP who is more Ray Allen like in the ability to come out firing. Especially with Morris in the fold now, you have to try maximize talent and the Kuzma with lots of shots is such a big step and something that's hard to replicate vs McGee's contribution which the Lakers can duplicate easily. That being said, maybe it's really still is the Rondo problem. A good PG if his coach tells him would be getting Kuzma going but Rondo no longer is that.
Too risky to sit McGee and shift AD to Center. He's been reluctant to play Center and we can see why. Dude gets shoved around and picks up small injuries pretty easily. 2nd unit should have Kuzma at PF and maybe the small ball unit to close out games.. I think the Lakers are utilizing Kuz incorrectly, he's not a wing. He's a modern PF.
uh...i mean, we could have traded him and danny green for a player probably less valuable than either, i suppose. if that's "insistence on keeping him".
633 is a HUGE sample size. What this tells me is the guy can’t shoot and certainly shouldn’t be taking as many 3 as he is. I don’t want to get him more shots, I want to get him less.
That's why he switches his look so much ... still looking for the right combo to fix his basketball deficiencies.
he's shooting 58% from the corner this year. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kuzmaky01.html#all_shooting are you telling me that pj tucker can spend a season just standing in the corner on offense, and we can't park kuz there for most of our sets? he can beat closeouts with the dribble and still duck in from the weak side on cuts. lots of teams use players like this.
If he's shooting 58% from the corners... and 30.6 in total. The flipside is how horrible must his percentages be from anywhere else from three.
Trouble is he doesn’t take the majority of his shots from the corners. Whether that’s from team design or Kuz doesn’t know what he’s actually good at, I don’t know.
Not easy to get in the corner all the time. Those are the toughest passes to make and the easiest to defend since the dimensions of the court make it easier to get to an open guy.
The glow from his hair is reflecting off the backboard and distracting him. Corner threes don't have that reflection.
