James Rodriguez

Quick thoughts on Warriors-Lakers, which was a Lakers ass-kicking. -Unsurprisingly I loved everything about the Luka/Yaxel Lendeborg interactions. I love that Yaxel was just totally unafraid to take it to Luka and compete on defense in literally in his first NBA game. I thought it was totally normal for the MVP candidate to basically just be like "who the fuck are you?" during their interactions. Thought Luka obviously got the better of it and got in Yaxel's head a bit (hence the technical away from the ball) but I respect a ton that Yaxel just kept coming back at him even after. -Thought the biggest thing that stood out to me beyond just the pure talent of Reaves and Luka being able to get wherever they wanted on the court (more on that when I get to the Warriors) was that they played with a real sense of urgency. Thybulle and Williams gave them great energy in the starting lineup. The Lakers were the ones diving on the ground, getting loose balls, especially in that 3rd Q run. Thought the Warriors got frustrated. Luka's shot-making remains absurd, and Reaves' ability to just get by guys without a screen due to his tempo and strides is super impressive. -Kessler was awesome. Again, we'll talk about why it was a perfect matchup when we get to the Warriors, but he took advantage of every single opportunity presented to him, which is all he needs to do playing with Luka and Reaves. His timing on dives to the rim was superb both in and out of ball-screens. Thought he ran the court well. Obviously he's elite in drop coverage with his positioning on defense, as always. Great game for him. -In terms of the other guys: thought Grimes gave them what they needed, Sandro was pretty good in that 3rd Q run, LaRavia hit a couple of 3s and was solid positionally on defense. Didn't need to reinvent the wheel with how well the Big 3 played, but they did their jobs. -Okay, the Warriors. First and foremost, the point of attack defense can't be what it was tonight if they're going to have success this year. In theory with Payton, Melton, Yaxel, Richard this could be something of a strength. But it was awful tonight. It's Luka and Reaves, both are awesome. But it just wasn't good enough. The Lakers came in with a plan to get Luka involved in ball-screens against Steph, but they didn't even really need it. Yaxel did a nice job on Luka for the most part I thought, honestly even with their little contest in the second. At least he made him work. But any ball-screens or switches onto someone like Santos didn't go well for GSW vs. Luka. Melton was really rough against Reaves, he couldn't stay in front. Then he also had the terrible moment at about 6:10 in the 1st Q where Luka rejected a double drag, Draymond had to play two in essentially a ball-screen with Kessler diving, he calls out for Melton to tag in to bump Kessler, and Melton just stunts before recovering onto Reaves. Draymond looked back and asked where the help was (rightfully). Tough game for Melton. -The reason the point of attack defense is so important is because of the lack of size. I love Draymond, he's one of my favorite players ever, and his brain is still absolutely elite. Seeing him communicate out there even tonight was pretty fun. But the play that showed it's gonna be tough for him at the 5 against real size and finishing skill like Kessler was at 6 minutes left in the 3rd Q. Grimes blows by Melton at the point of attack, and Draymond basically reads the play perfectly. He stunts help uphill onto Grimes and immediately recovers back before Grimes even throws the lob up to Kessler. But Grimes throws it anyway and Draymond can't quite get to it in the way that he used to be able to contest those lobs with his length. Kessler catches and reverse dunks. When they play a team like this with someone like Kessler, they need a real big who can provide some help for Green. -Also thought the Warriors defensive continuity in help was rough. Lot of moments where guys just straight up didn't help the helper. Again, it's hard when you're constantly in rotation because Reaves and Luka are beating you off of the bounce immediately and getting paint touches, forcing help. But their timing was off. Again, without the elite rim protection -- especially given the way Draymond likes to play in help, rightfully after years of success doing it -- they need to be perfectly connected and on top of their back-side rotations. Obviously though, Game 1, don't want to make sweeping conclusions long-term about that for the season. Teams get better at that stuff normally. -Two quick positives for the Warriors: I will keep cherishing the moments where we get runs from Steph like we did in the 1st Q, where he was the best player on the court basically just due to his brain and understanding how to handle defenders top-locking him with sharp backdoor cuts. It wasn't like he was out there burying deep 3s or anything, even. It was just old school, Steph and Draymond mind meld shit. That was sick. -Also, I know Niang missed all of his shots from distance, but I thought he actually gave them pretty good minutes. Liked the split actions they ran with him on the block, liked that he made quick decisions. Good within the scheme, and he at least played hard on defense and chasing loose balls even if the footspeed isn't great. Thought he and Will Richard played best off of the bench.