LeBron James finished 0-of-7 shooting in the Lakers’ first preseason game, a home loss to the Kings. But at least we got another look at James, Anthony Davis and yes, Russell Westbrook.
And the Lakers’ new mantra is to improve the pace under new coach Darvin Ham.
“Obviously we’re unselfish teammates and we want to pass and do things [for our teammates], but at the same time we have to get going as well,” Davis said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “And I think that’s been the biggest change that we wanted to see from us three so far is, whoever gets it, let’s be aggressive because it’s going to open up the floor for everybody else.”
The Lakers started James, Davis, Westbrook, Kendrick Nunn and Damian Jones, though they will try out different lineups prior to the season-opener. The three mainstays, of course, will be James, Davis and Westbrook.
“We have a three-man package, actually a playcall, that they’re going to thrive in and it involves all three of them,” Ham said, via McMenamin. “I look forward to that being at a very, very high level. And there’s different nuances in it that they can play around with.”
He added, “I trust all three of those guys.”
The key, of course, will be for James and Westbrook to attack, creating for both themselves and others.
“When we’re all trying to be unselfish and share the wealth, the ball kind of ends up getting lost around the perimeter or we’re going up against the shot clock,” Davis said, via McMenamin. “But when somebody is staying aggressive and Russ is getting downhill, Bron is getting downhill, it opens up the floor. Because they’re aggressive where guys have to help out, they can kick it out to shooters.”
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