Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram has not had the start to the preseason he was probably looking for after an offseason that saw team executives like Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka hype up his scoring ability and the improvements he made during the unseen hours of the summer.
Ingram hasn’t looked like the player those two described so far, posting a team-worst true-shooting percentage of 38.4 percent over the Lakers’ first five preseason games. He also has the third-worst net rating on the team, with the Lakers getting outscored by 14.7 points per 100 possessions while he is on the court.
Lakers Head Coach Luke Walton said Monday that Ingram appeared to be “trying to do too much” at times so far, and while it sounds as though he liked Ingram’s game against the Utah Jazz Tuesday night better, he still wasn’t completely pleased with his sophomore forward’s shot selection via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Luke loved the aggressiveness of Ingram, even when he missed shots down the stretch, said he was glad B.I. had the confidence to take them.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 11, 2017
Luke did agree there were moments in 4th Q that B.I. was forcing the action, esp. against Gobert, needs to playmake out of those situations. https://t.co/NIYybmQmQX
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 11, 2017
Ingram, who scored 13 points on 12 shots against Utah, agreed with his coach’s assessment:
Ingram said it was ‘good to see some baskets go in the hoop’ tonight, but thought he 'rushed a few shots.’ Overall tho happy w/ his defense.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 11, 2017
Ingram and Walton appear to be on the same page, which is the best possible news considering just how out of sorts Ingram has looked during preseason play. The two seem to agree on what the problem is, and now they just have to continue working together to make sure Ingram keeps making progress.
As long as he keeps developing, Ingram will remain a cornerstone of this franchise. It may not be the immediate results some were hoping for, but it will be steps in the right direction.