The Los Angeles Lakers got their first taste of 5-on-5 scrimmaging last night and Lonzo Ball’s team, compiled of Vander Blue, Corey Brewer, Kyle Kuzma and Thomas Bryant won 3-0. Head coach Luke Walton said the scrimmages were sloppy as expected, but that their defense actually looked pretty good.
Kuzma and Bryant were a couple of the young rookies who stood out on the winning team, and Ball, as many hoped, appeared to outshine the rest with his court vision and passing ability. Notes, quotes, photos and videos from practice are all below.
Quotes:
Walton on Ball: “Lonzo has been great. He’s getting out in the first groups of defensive work. He’s talking, he’s leading, he’s giving effort, he’s coachable. For his first training camp, he’s handling it very well.”
Ball on Kuzma: “In college he wasn’t that good, to be honest. I don’t even remember him when we played them. But now I’m happy he’s on my team.”
Randle on his body transformation: “I feel great, just light on my feet, trying to play with energy and pace…Covering more ground, in better shape, so I see things before they happen. Fatigue makes a coward of us all, so I’m able to just move around and do without thinking.”
Walton on first scrimmage: “It was pretty gross, sloppy, but it was good for the guys. We kind of took some of the restrictions off and let them just get out and run.”
Randle on fast pace with Ball: “It gives you a little more incentive to run, when you’ve got a point guard like Zo who’s going to throw the ball ahead and get you easy points.”
Notes:
– Scrimmage team 2: Tyler Ennis, Julius Randle, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Luol Deng, Alex Caruso and Steve Zimmerman
– Thomas Bryant impressed in the scrimmages, and Walton said he’s been ‘flying around’ all camp
– Expect a simple and basic, half-court offense for Saturday’s preseason opener
– Corey Brewer claims the scrimmages weren’t even close, but Randle begs to differ
– Luke Walton no longer wants bigs bringing the ball up
– Healthy competition between Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr.
Videos:
