Jon Krawczynski

And they look weirdly competent even among the lesser defenders, even guys like Luca.

Like some of the exchanges and some of the switches they were doing against Minnesota the other day just look like clean and intense and like good focused basketball in ways that I'm just not used to seeing the Lakers play.

And so is that a thing that is sustainable or not?

Because it's the difference between –

I think it's a huge part of what has made Luca and Austin and Luke Kennard especially much more difficult to target lately.

Because if it is shifting in shape in that way, isolating in the way you want isn't always an option.

And the exchanges, as I was saying, have been so clean, not just in a pick and roll kind of traditional man sense, but the baton handoff within the zone also has just been really well organized and really well communicated.

And so then all of a sudden it's like,

Yeah, the rim protection is going to be a mess for this team, generally speaking.

But if you're not getting blown by as much at the point of attack, like you don't have to worry about it to the degree that DeAndre Aiden and Jackson Hayes have had to worry about it over the course of this season.

And so I just think a lot of stuff has been cleaned up by junking up possessions in that way.

Just like a little more switching, a little more zone here and there, a little more containment on the perimeter and perimeter in general.

And all of a sudden you look like a functional basketball team again.

And it's amazing what the defense can do when you even get that far.

I think increasingly so for me, because earlier in the season, I felt like, especially in some of their bigger matchups, uh,

he felt like a little more of an ancillary part in some of those games and where I wanted to see him be the veteran.

I wanted to see him be the calming presence.

And I feel like we're getting that more and more, including tonight, where it just feels like he is answering the call in a different kind of way lately.

And if he can be that in addition to all of the pop you're getting from Castle and Harper in particular, you're right.

You can always triangulate two good guards having a good night between the three of them.