It's gotten to the point I expect good defense from Kuz every trip down the court on defense. Defending a big or small doesn't matter, he's locked in. This is the payoff for the earlier part of the year where he looked like he was trying to figure things out. He's finally figured it out. I credit Dudly's advice for a lot of the improvement. Maybe having to guard Labron and AD in practice. Vogel deserves some credit too.
Before if he wasn't scoring, he was useless. Can't say that in Orlando. His energy and effort on D has been great. His style on offense has diversified as well. Less settling, more aggressive, making better counters, reads, and passes. Was only 2 of 6, but I'm perfectly content with his game tonight.
Watching Kuzma's shooting motion... It is not off kilter and hurried. Defensively, he has the length to bother shooters. That ankle must have been pretty bad if it was the cause of his early troubles.
Kyle Kuzma is slowly becoming a high level 3/D player... If he can only be more consistent. AD at the 5, Kuz at the 4... game over!
His three ball was certainly falling tonight. What a great sight to see. He's improved so much during his time off and in the bubble. He really is becoming that consistent third guy that we need to win a championship. He's playing within himself with a lot of poise. He's making plays for others, he's playing great defense and he's still able to score. GREAT stuff from Kuz who just keeps getting better.
Nice piece on Kuz and praise from Vogel: Lakers News: Frank Vogel Calls Kyle Kuzma’s Early Struggles ‘Blessing In Disguise’ 3 minute read Published on08/25/2020 AUTHOR Ron Gutterman Heading into the 2019-20 season, it was assumed that LeBron James and Anthony Davis would BE incredible on a nightly basis the Los Angeles Lakers. However, there were questions about the rest of head coach Frank Vogel’s roster. Namely, who would emerge as the consistent third option. Most pegged that to be Kyle Kuzma, as he’d shown stretches of being capable to assume the role. However, early injuries and struggles to settle into a role plagued him, requiring others to step up. Kuzma has since fully recovered from injuries, afforded that luxury due to the NBA hiatus, and now he has been one of the team’s better players in the bubble. Vogel admitted Kuzma was the logical option to be the primary third scorer, even if it didn’t play out that way initially. “The longer answer is we hope Kuz would do that at the beginning of the season,” Vogel said. “He struggled with his injury and adjusting to a new role. What we found was a blessing is we really are more of a different guy every night as a third option. “We saw that all throughout the year, whether it was the two centers doing what they do, whether it’s Rondo, whether it’s Caruso, Danny Green had some big nights, Avery Bradley had big nights, KCP had big nights and Kuz had some big nights. That’s better than having one third option, to me. “That’s who we’ve been all year. Now, since we’ve been in the bubble, Kuz has been our most consistent player. I’m happy with what he’s brought to the table. He had a little jitters in his first playoff game. Air-balled a 3 in the first quarter, that’s not like him. But I expect him to have a really big playoffs for us.” Vogel is right in that the Lakers’ versatility within the roster is part of the reason for their success. While James and Davis will always be remarkable, the third-best player on the roster can always be someone new. That requires defenses to give everyone equal attention, and not just double-team James and Davis while forcing the other players on the court to perform at a high level. For Kuzma, developing is an everyday challenge Even though Kuzma has improved his game significantly — and has been rewarded for it so far this postseason — he still has lots of work to do to become a star in the NBA. Kuzma is aware of this, and knows it will be an everyday challenge to succeed. “It’s an everyday challenge,” he said of becoming a complete player. “It’s all about getting better every day. Us athletes may say that and it kind of goes over peoples’ heads, but to me that’s what it is. “I’m far away from being the defender I want to be and I’m far away from being the offensive player I want to be. It’s all about just every day trying to get better and compete. Not only compete against my teammates in practice and opponents, but competing against myself mentally every day.”
Kyle Kuzma blossoming the way he has lately really makes me happy. I want him to succeed badly. Home grown, personality is a true Laker and he is a really good person. My hope is he is a Laker for life and wins multiple titles with the Lakers.
he seems less concerned about his hair and fashion in recent months, but maybe that's the bubble talking glad to see him have some success
That’s my biggest fear. It’ll be interesting to see where his focus lies once he’s out of the bubble and back to regular civilian life.
He's now a 3&D player. This means he plays defense and shoots threes. He does not hit them, in fact he shot 0% last night, but still... 3&D.
Kuzma's defense was highlighted on a play against McCollum last night were he did not give up and caused a turnover. He hustled on a ball going out of bounds keeping it in play. It's small things like that which sometimes go unnoticed by many which may impact a game in the balance. Posted up Simmons on a turn-around J too. Overall, Kuzma has played unhurried and less prone to doing too much. James has put the onus on him to be that third guy that we need and has responded well. Hope he keeps it up...
Does anyone miss more wide open gimmies at the bucket than Kuzma? I swear, he missed like five easy layups and putbacks. He's like J.R. Smith - the tougher the shot, the higher the percentage. Too wide open and they get too excited and miss.
J.R. doesn't play meaningful minutes and gets a few shots per game. stop blaming J.R. Smith. He's there to give 10 minutes so KCP and Danny Green can get a rest. With the season being essentially over, there weren't many options outside of J.R. Smith. If J.R. Smith is the problem with the Lakers, we don't deserve to win. You hate him when he's like the least of our problems.
did I say hes gets the blame for our problems? hes a trashcan and he has gotten minutes in the 1st half in port series and has missed all his 3pt shots, fouled multiple times on 3pt attempts, can you deny that?
