Hoops Habit Podcast Ep. 012: NBA talk and Los Angeles Lakers frustration
The Hoops Habit Podcast returns to discuss the standings of the NBA before looking into the Los Angeles Lakers’ early season struggles.
Hoops Habit‘s Michael Dugger returns with the first episode of the Hoops Habit Podcast for the 2018-19 regular season. Dugger re-introduces the program’s goals and vision, which includes the promotion of the website’s contributors (1:00).
After that, he takes a dive into the current standings of the NBA. Some things, like the Golden State Warriors, are exactly what people thought would happen, while others like the Sacramento Kings‘ fast start were more difficult to foresee taking place (2:15).
After that, Dugger goes very deep into the team he covers for Hoops Habit, the Los Angeles Lakers (8:30). As somebody who thought the Lakers would be a top seed in the Western Conference and reach the conference finals, this has been an eye-opening two weeks with their current performances.
Yes, it’s early in the season. Yes, the team is completely new outside of the four young pieces. Yes, having LeBron James inserted into a team will always come with growing pains. But the roster holes some people overlooked when pegging this team to win 55 games and smash their 48.5 win total set by oddsmakers don’t seem to be going away anytime soon.
Outside of the defensive issues and lack of shooting (this one is overstated and improving as we speak), Dugger is confused with the infatuation of playing Rajon Rondo as many minutes as he’s playing. The team played great with Lonzo Ball receiving an uptick in minutes, so why not have Lonzo develop since he’s your future compared to Rondo on a one-year deal?
Also, Josh Hart saw a decrease in minutes with Brandon Ingram coming back from suspension — not the smartest rotation move since Hart has been the second-best player on this team.
It’s still very early, and the spurts are there where the Lakers look dominant. But these stretches haven’t been sustained and roster and rotation questions are blooming. The L.A. drama is here to stay.
