The Los Angeles Lakers were finally all healthy at practice on Tuesday afternoon, gearing up for John Wall and the Washington Wizards to come into town, but practice was less about their opponent and more about focusing on themselves as a team. Head coach Luke Walton said they refocused on how they started training camp, as well as the aggressive style and energy they want to play with, giving only about 10 percent of their attention to the Wizards.
Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball chatted about the type of dialogue they have with each other both during and after games, while Walton talked about players needing to earn their minutes.
Marcin Gortat’s tweet about John Wall ‘torturing’ Lonzo Ball on Wednesday made it’s way back to Lonzo Ball. Check out what Lonzo and Branon Ingram had to say about it. More quotes, notes and videos below.
Quotes
Lonzo on Ben Simmons big night: “He had a triple-double, congratulations to him and they got the win, so that’s positive.” Reporter then asks: Are you annoyed you weren’t the first rookie to get a trip double? “Nah, I’m just trying to win, I don’t really care about triple-doubles.”
Lonzo on facing John Wall: “It’s going to be a lot of fun, one of the best point guards in this league, going to go out there and compete and see what happens.”
Walton on Metta World Peace joining the South Bay Lakers as a player development coach: “Obviously his knowledge of the game of basketball, his experience in the NBA, his toughness, I think everyone respects Metta by the way he played the game, one of those guys that wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s honest with you, it’s endearing. He’ll get a lot out of you by challenging them.”
Walton on whether he’s concerned with Lonzo’s shooting form: “Not at all. He knows how to make shots, and just like any other guard, there’s going to be nights he’s not hitting his shot, but I don’t think it’s because of his shooting motion, it’s just because he’s a young guard who’s going to have great shooting nights and poor shooting nights…For us to try to mess with it would be silly.”
Ingram on Marcin Gortat’s tweet about Lonzo Ball: “Everyone has social media, so we definitely saw it. Of course, the competitor in Lonzo, he didn’t take it so well and with his teammates behind him, we didn’t take it so well. Everyone is going to try to attack him, because of who he is and what he does on the basketball floor so all we can do is have his back through everything, make sure he’s fighting over screens, make sure he’s there mentally, so everyone can be there mentally.”
Notes
– Andrew Bogut left practice 3/4 of the way through with a migraine (but he was back shooting free throws after practice).
– Lonzo said the fastest point guard he’s ever faced is De’Aaron Fox
– The Lakers watched the entire first quarter of their game against the New Orleans Pelicans in their film session (Luke pointed out where they went wrong), then showed the end of the third quarter when Josh Hart checked in, and how they need more of his physicality and energy
– Defensively, Ingram is still focusing on using his length and lateral quickness
– Walton says that Josh Hart is definitely earning himself more minutes, although they do need to be wary of him staying healthy and getting into a rhythm
– Brook Lopez only played 17 minutes against New Orleans and Walton said it wasn’t about matchups, it was because other guys were giving more energy
