Tradition dictates that after every year, you should try to fix bad habits within yourself and try to improve the quality of your life in small ways. Let’s take a look at the now 12-25 Lakers and see their New Years Resolutions.
2016 has now come and gone, and it was a pretty bad year for the Lakers. We all know how historically awful they were in the 2015-16 season winning only 17 games. However, this season the team has already won 12 games which is only five games off of last year and they still have 45 games to play.
2017 looks like it’ll be a much better year for the Purple and Gold than last year thanks to developing young players. The young guns have made the team not only competitive but fun to watch. In the first game of 2017 Brandon Ingram gave us what is hopefully a sign of what is to come this year.
Take a look back at the ???? from @B_Ingram13 last night. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/IWKQiakKTk
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 2, 2017
With that being said lets take a look at what the Lakers should be looking into for their New Years Resolution:
Holding on to Big Leads
In recent weeks the Lake Show have blown leads as big as 19. They have lost recently to the Heat and Raptors after losing big leads. This is common with young teams because they struggle to consistently play well for the 48 minutes and it has shown with the Baby Lakers.
Time after time the Lakers have a comfortable lead going into halftime before getting crushed in the third quarter. D’angelo Russell himself has said he doesn’t know why that has been happening but in order for this team to reach it’s potential they have to be able to close teams out. They might even be in the playoffs if they were able to close out every game they had a lead in.
Keep the Ball Moving
Oftentimes when I’m watching the games I wonder to myself “Why isn’t anyone moving?” A lot of times the offense stagnates where one guy has the ball and everyone is on the side watching him. This ends up in the player driving to the hoop and taking a contested shot.
Luke Walton likes to let the team freelance a lot but I think the team would benefit from set plays. I think Luke should get them running plays where guys are running around setting screens for each other and someone comes out on one side wide open. Those are the kind of plays I envisioned when Walton first signed on. If he ran these kinds of plays consistently the team would be able to get good shots every time down the floor.
Defense First
The biggest change that the team should look into is having a defensive identity. I know it doesn’t seem possible now, but I think this team could be good on defense. Russell and Ingram could be defensive stoppers eventually due to their size and long arms. In order for that to happen they have to commit to getting better on that side of the ball. Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. are guys who have played great defense this year and they’re only going to get better with time and experience.
What is your New Year’s Resolution for the Purple and Gold? Let us know in the comments below or send us something on Twitter! (@TheLakeShowLife)
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