The problems with this team are all upstairs and inside of their chest’s. Their sense of urgency and passion to compete have to be questioned after yet another double-digit loss to a contender.
1) We beat mediocre and bad teams and we can hang with older teams, sometimes, but young talented teams have our number. OKC, Phoenix, Houston and now Detroit. The Lakers seemingly expect young teams to succumb to their age and experience. It’s not happening.
2) Points off of turnovers is where we lost the game. 30-12 advantage to Detroit.
3) No easy buckets in transition while giving up a ton. The 31-12 Fastbreak point differential was the other key. A lot of that is our live ball turnovers off of lazy passes from Luka. This is on him and it’s probably the 3rd or 4th game we’ve given up because Luka just gets into trouble and tries a ridiculous play. LeBron had his share of bad passes and gaffes and add that in with a decent amount of TO’s from other players and we’re giving up too many easy baskets to overcome.
4) Bench needs a better backup guard. This is where the loss of Reaves hurts a lot. When Austin, LeBron and Luka are all available we have 3 solid playmakers. Nick Smith Jr. is too streaky to be relied on, sometimes if that comes down to lack of reps but in general guys like him run real hot and cold. A general lack of strength for us is consistent guard play, especially when we don’t have Austin.
5) Just fucking compete. Every team, every player and coach can come up with a reason why they lost. Everyone’s got something to work on and improve. Hustle and heart come from effort. You either give it or you don’t. The results generally indicate which choice was made.