Coach Spins' Clipboard: The Lakers New Frontcourt, The Grizzlies New Sniper, and The Rockets Defensive Woes
Plus some love for Jalen Suggs, Jonathan Kuminga, and Jeremy Sochan
Happy Friday, everyone! The post-All-Star games have been wildly exciting. The Milwaukee Bucks are rolling, the race in the Western Conference is bonkers, the Hawks have a new coach, and there are a bunch of young players starting to figure it all out.
Let’s dive in, starting with an in-depth look at my new favorite player.
The Vanderbilt Effect
As a lifelong Boston Celtics fan, what I’m about to say comes with some unmitigated pain.
I really like what the Los Angeles Lakers have done to retool their roster on the fly.
First off, they’re huge and athletic along their frontline. While most of the attention goes to the offensive end where they have Malik Beasley and D’Angelo Russell now spacing the floor, the addition of Jarred Vanderbilt completely changes the way this team can and does defend. Their defense has been very middle-of-the-road all season long, and how I feel like they have a chance to be elite.
Pairing Vanderbilt with Anthony Davis at the 4 and 5 makes the Lakers incredibly long, athletic, and active. Vanderbilt is like the energizer bunny, always in gear and trying to amplify the energy for his team. That has an effect on Anthony Davis, who is such a special and dominant defender when he is engaged.
We saw that dynamic at play during the primetime game on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks. Vanderbilt’s energy and intensity helped the Lakers crawl back into the game and overcome a 27-point deficit. His desire to always scratch and claw at available balls, combined with his long arms, help create transition opportunities for his teammates:
Once Anthony Davis sees that, he takes off and starts to run the floor, knowing that the Lakers can and will turn up the tempo more than usual. His effort in the Memphis Grizzlies game at sprinting the open court felt like it was impacted by seeing what Vando did on Sunday:
Of course, what Vanderbilt is really here to do is to take on the top defensive assignments on-ball. Vando was wildly successful against both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, contesting their shots throughout and raising the degree of difficulty, and forcing a few turnovers.
Vanderbilt is one of the few frontcourt players who can slide his feet and be trusted to switch onto any player. In a Western Conference playoff series, he will help save Davis and LeBron James from the bumps and bruises of taking on those top challenges on the wings. Against the Clippers, Vanderbilt can guard Kawhi Leonard and save LBJ’s energy for offense. They can switch Vando and AD onto Jokic for different stretches and try different schemes. He’ll guard Luka against the Mavs, Zion against the Pelicans, Kevin Durant against the Suns… the list goes on.
But because Vanderbilt is tall and strong, he and Davis can switch across those 4 and 5 matchups. It’s huge when going against a team like Denver so that Darvin Ham can gameplan for whichever matchup he thinks is better against the reigning MVP.
Against any opponent, it still has a major impact. We saw one example where their collective IQ, length, and activity can be a game-changer at locking down the rim. Luka beats Vanderbilt in a dead sprint across half-court, with AD guarding Dwight Powell in the dunker spot. As Doncic gets close to the hoop, AD steps up and walls up, while Vando instinctually knows to take Powell and switch.
The secret sauce is their ability to switch pick-and-rolls, though. AD can guard on the perimeter, Vanderbilt can be an adequate rim protector, and neither are mismatched. A lock-down defender in isolation like Vanderbilt forces opponents to set ball screens for their stars to try and free them. Switching onto AD doesn’t create any sort of advantage.
I’m all in on this defense for the Lakers. It’s early, and with LeBron out the offense may struggle to score enough for the team to win games. But when healthy, I’d be mortified of running into this Lakers group in the postseason.
Jeremy Sochan the Bully
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the in-season improvement from a guy like Jerey Sochan is absurd. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a player add more depth to their offensive bag and consistently impact the game in a variety of ways like Sochan is right now.
His latest trick: mismatch posting up smaller guys and bullying mismatches. Sochan is stronger than a vac-sealed jar and is starting to use it. He’s got good touch with his right hand, but is using craftiness with unorthodox layups, up-and-unders, and patience off the bounce to get to his spots. He’s a really unpredictable and tough player to guard one-on-one down low:
Sochan is going to be a problem in the league. He’s developed a well-rounded offensive arsenal to become the piece that punishes mismatches. First he was getting downhill and attacking guys who wouldn’t closeout tight. Now he’s taking smaller bodies (and even some his own size) into the paint and scoring.
If I were an agent, I would do anything to get my players to San Antonio. They simply don’t miss at making players better.