The Los Angeles Lakers have outperformed low expectations in the early stages of the 2016-17 season, but there's still plenty of room for improvement, especially for specific players.
Part of head coach Luke Walton's methodology is spreading minutes liberally; This has helped to keep legs fresh but has also given fair opportunities to most of the roster. It is also a good way to identify those who are excelling or can do much better.
Walton recently spoke with USA Today's Sam Amick about the measured ways in which he's evaluating the team: "We're all about what is in front of us. We're taking the season, breaking it down to five-game blocks, seeing where improvement is happening, seeing where we're not improving, trying to play to a certain standard, and that's it for now."
With 11 games under their belts, the Lakers have just passed the second block. And indeed, a pattern is beginning to emerge: There are certain players who need to step it up in order for the team to stay in the Western Conference playoff hunt as the schedule gets tougher.
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Article written by David Murphy
3 Players Who Still Have to Step Up for Los Angeles Lakers
November 14th, 2016 by David Murphy Leave a reply »
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