Locked on Lakers

On paper, the Los Angeles Lakers wouldn’t appear to have much of a chance against the San Antonio Spurs. The latter team is the second seed in the Western Conference and currently boasts the league’s third-best defense, while the former sits in the 12th seed with the second-worst defense in the NBA. To figure out what the keys to the game are for both teams, host Harrison Faigen was joined by Jeff Garcia of Locked on Spurs to preview the game. The two also discussed D’Angelo Russell patterning his game after Manu Ginobili and much more on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

For the second time in less than a week, the Los Angeles Lakers collapsed in the second half against a Portland Trail Blazers team they are trying to battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The defeat left host Anthony Irwin as frustrated with the team as he’s been this season, and he and Harrison Faigen discussed why the Lakers dropped another one to the Blazers on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Later in the show, Harrison and Anthony debated what was going on during the altercation between point guards D’Angelo Russell and Damian Lillard.

When John Ireland (ESPN, Spectrum SportsNet) was last on the show, the key message was how important it was that one of D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle or Brandon Ingram needed to, as he put it, “pop”. Over the last few games, all three of those guys seem to be making legitimate progress, so we spoke to him about what might be fueling it. Then, because the Lakers are still only a couple games out of the Western Conference playoff picture, we gave our takes on how legitimate those chances might be. For some reason, this does feel a little more real than it did early in the year. Ireland then provided some of the greatest stories about his time traveling with the current Lakers (as well as the Shaq and Kobe seasons) that you’ll hear and honestly, this show is more than worth your time for that alone. Finally, as the rumor season is upon us, we would not be providing a legitimate service if we didn’t ask which direction he thinks the Lakers might be heading in.

New year, new Los Angeles Lakers. Well, at least a couple of their young core took that sentiment to heart. Luke Walton praised Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell for their work ethic of late, and it’s resulted in two of the most promising games the Lakers have played all season. So Anthony and Harrison try to figure out what it might mean for the season on the whole. Anthony started the show with something of a mission statement about the show, because that’s the kind of thing you do when you’re exhausted and a listener asks an existential question over the weekend! Then, with that behind them, the guys discuss how this recent success might feel different than that which the team enjoyed to start the year. Anthony was even willing to go into playoff talk. And don’t worry, the two didn’t finish the show without a (very weird) discussion of Jordan Clarkson and Goran Dragic’s “fight.” Enjoy!

The Los Angeles Lakers were handed another close road loss on Thursday night, this time falling to the Portland Trail Blazers in a high-scoring battle of the league’s two worst defenses. But while Portland was able to get whatever shots they wanted down the stretch, the Lakers seemed to rush things. Why has late-game execution been such an issue for the Lakers? Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin discussed that on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Later in the show, the two took viewer questions on the referees and whether or not the young Lakers can be superstars, and finished the show with the latest segment of #50ShadesofShade and the latest Harrison’s Hot Take.

Right or wrong, there are certainly a lot of takes about Los Angeles Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell on the internet. From “he’s not a true point guard/doesn’t get enough assists” to “he doesn’t give enough effort on defense,” Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin discussed which ones they think are right, and which ones seem a little off base using stats and their own eyes on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. The show was mostly Russell-centric, but the end does feature a few bonus minutes on why they don’t think Jordan Clarkson eating a burger on the way to the team plane is a big deal.

The Los Angeles Lakers played and, more importantly, won a basketball game again for the first time in the new year and are obviously about to go on one of the great runs in the history of professional sports. Or something like that. In all seriousness though, they played really, really well and beat a good Memphis Grizzlies team. D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young got the fun started with some insane shooting in the first half, then Julius Randle messed around and got a triple-double. Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin conversed about what went well during the game, and how likely it is that the Lakers can build on this moving forward. They also spoke about the defense, which remains a problem, but that’s mostly because Anthony is an old curmudgeon. There were also reports today that the Lakers aren’t likely to make a trade as the season rolls along, so the guys obviously had to talk about that as well on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

It’s a new year, and the hosts of Locked on Lakers decided to ring in 2017 by taking your most pressing questions about the Los Angeles Lakers. Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin started off the show with a couple of quick questions before getting to the topic on (seemingly) everyone’s mind: Should the Lakers make a trade? If they do, will the team try and get assets for role players, or package players for a superstar? Harrison and Anthony fired up the trade machine to discuss all that and more on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

The Los Angeles Lakers have essentially fallen off a cliff since a surprising 10-10 start, so Anthony thought it’d be a good idea to bring in an outside perspective (in this case, Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post) to explore what he’s noticed since the last time he was on the show. Basically, it isn’t good. The conversation starts with looking at the Jeanie Buss/Phil Jackson dynamic from a New York perspective, seeing as he’s been based on the east coast for most of Jackson’s tenure. Bontemps and Anthony take a look at what the called-off engagement might mean for both the Knicks and Lakers. Then, they get into the conversation mentioned above. What’s happened since that surprising start, and where might the Lakers sit moving forward? Finally, Anthony runs his theory on how the Lakers are growing this young core together by Tim to see how it compares to how other teams are growing their futures. Oh, and at the very beginning of the show, Anthony and Harrison answer your questions.

In a bit of unexpected news, the Los Angeles Lakers reportedly worked out unrestricted free agent forward Donatas Motiejunas over the past week and came away impressed with what they saw. Should the team add Motiejunas? What would he bring to the team, and who would/should the Lakers part with if they decided to sign him? Hosts Anthony Irwin and Harrison Faigen debated the merits of that theoretical move. Later in the show, Harrison and Anthony also shared their thoughts on what Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss ending their engagement might mean for the Lakers and more on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers.

With the holiday weekend behind them, it was time to get the Locked on Lakers shows back on track. So, what better way to do that than to have a guest on in Harrison’s place? The answer: There is no better way. So, Anthony welcomed James Holas of Bball Breakdown on the show to get into the rebuilding processes of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. James is actually higher on where the Lakers might be going than his own Celtics, and has a great explanation as to why. Before that, the two talked about Russell Westbrook’s reception among NBA Twitter personalities and what that might say about how Kobe Bryant might’ve been seen if Twitter was around back then. For some reason, there’s been an ongoing rivalry between fun and analytics in the NBA. James and Anthony dive into where that came from and whether there’s a way to stop the evolution of analysis from reaching a point where the two are mutually exclusive.

The Los Angeles Lakers (finally) ended their four-game losing streak with a 111-102 win over the L.A. Clippers, and even more importantly, the team finally closed out a game. Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin were especially impressed with the physicality displayed by the whole team, and they spoke about what else they felt worked well (and what was concerning) on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Later in the show, Harrison and Anthony discussed their thoughts on Jim Buss’ latest comments on his deadline as well as Metta World Peace’s... um... road game success strategies.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost for the 11th time in their last 12 games, blowing a 19-point lead in the second half for the second consecutive game. Why is the team so bad at closing out? Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin discussed on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. After that, Harrison and Anthony brought in Spectrum Sportsnet Studio Anchor/Host Chris McGee for a conversation ranging from the highs and lows of his first year at the network, his thoughts on being critical of coaching, the current Lakers, and what it’s like for a lifelong Laker fan to anchor their official postgame show.

Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson is almost universally looked at as one of the best second-round picks any NBA team has ever made, but he’s seemed to generate a fair amount of criticism on social media so far this season. Are the critiques of Clarkson’s game fair, or is he better than some people think? Hosts Harrison Faigen and Anthony Irwin discussed why they think Clarkson may take more Twitter-arrows than the rest of the Lakers’ young core and more on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Before they got there, Harrison and Anthony updated fans on Larry Nance, Jr.’s health, discussed whether or not any of the young Lakers should be considered the face of the franchise, and more.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance, Jr. injured his leg in the team’s loss to the Charlotte Hornets, adding injury to the insult of a second half collapse. The Lakers will really miss Nance if he is out for a while, so host Harrison Faigen was joined by Gary Kester of Silver Screen and Roll to discuss what solutions the Lakers might deploy to fill Nance’s minutes on the latest episode of Locked on Lakers. Also on the show, Harrison and Gary also discussed why the Lakers’ defense has been so terrible, whether or not D’Angelo Russell should play more at the end of games, and what Luke Walton might be thinking when he says the Lakers’ don’t one face of their franchise right now.