Jake LaRavia Discussion: Lah-Rave-E-Ya!

Yeah definitely. But Jake over Rui has to help a lot on the D and all around play equation plus gives you not one but two connectors in the offense. And still a lot can be done with “Smart” rotations.

Edit …. just was reading new Athletic article about JJ’s frustrations with the team but back to Jake ….. this paragraph supports the above.

“And on the “banshee” front, LaRavia again proved to be one of the team’s most reliable sources of defensive energy. Redick called him the Lakers’ most dependable player on that side of the court.”

 

It's hard to say that we would lost these games, if Rui played though. Jake didn't play that well in our last three losses, so it's still up in the air, on replacing Rui in the starting lineup. It depends on the match ups. Jake has been pretty good against Memphis, in all 3 contests. We'll see how the next three games go.

 

lol, jake's got the westbrook vengeance gene.

 

The more Jake starts and gets a solid role plus what he creates for himself, the more consistent he's becoming all around. Jake's a big solid guy but Rui is too, maybe even more so, but Jake makes things happen with his smarts and rebounding and non stop energy out there. I haven't a clue why Rui can't play the same way, especially in a career contract year. Maybe Jakes's simply the better player.

 

Jake is by far the better all around player because Rui doesn’t rebound, pass, or play D that well. I was hoping he could improve in these areas, but have been let down.

 

Oh hell no. I said it in the game time and will repeat it here. Jake has that AR quality of coming through in the clutch and making a smart hustle play.

I think we are set at 3 - 4 if Adou develops as we all hope.

 

Adou has "injury prone" written all over him.
Sadly, i wouldn't count that kid as our future, Jake i like A LOT though. Made me do a 180

 

Even when his scoring came to a screeching halt like last night, he's still crashing the glass, bodying up defensively and making multiple effort plays. Throwing the ball off the defender twice to get/secure possession. The little things, dirty work is what you need out of a connector. Not a low volume shooter who often does nothing else.

 

I liked the effort he gave on slim thick. Made life tougher for him for sure.

 

slim thick ?

 

Painful as it was for Riles he too had to make the gut wrenching decision to move the great Kurt Rambis to the bench in favor of James Worthy.

 

I vaguely remember JJ saying something along the lines of "you don't lose your starting spot because you're injured" last year, so I unfortunately I think Rui probably slots back in as a starter and Jake goes back to the bench once Rui is healthy.

 

Probably. But at some point or already it's clear to JJ that the important areas for the starters with Luka, AR and LeBron out there, where Rui is weak in defense and rebounding, and his efforts to get Rui to improve there just aren't going to happen. So at some point when he's healthy he has to make that move. Or sub Jake in sooner for more of his minutes.