Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, who is in his first year as a head coach, has drawn rave reviews as a strong communicator and motivator that people would like in their corner when going through adversity.
However, plenty of fans have doubted whether he has the basketball acumen as a tactician to be at the helm of a team that suddenly looks like it has the ability to win it all.
After the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, many fans and pundits felt he was at least somewhat responsible for the team’s inability to put the series away on that day.
But in Game 6 on Friday, he did an outstanding job of managing the Lakers’ 125-85 beat down that put them into the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
They functioned as a well-oiled machine on both ends of the floor, and it started on the defensive end, where they completely shut down the Grizzlies’ stellar backcourt of Ja Morant and Desmond Bane.
The two had combined for 64 points in Game 5 on hot shooting, but on Friday, both were as cold as a typical day in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. They combined to shoot just 8-of-32, and their angles to the basket and open jumper opportunities were scant.
Offensively, Los Angeles got Anthony Davis free for multiple easy baskets off ball and player movement, rather than simply getting him the ball in iso situations, which has allowed opponents to double-team him.
Ham also made another adjustment by having D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves handle the ball in transition and in the halfcourt offense the majority of the time, leaving LeBron James free to roam around and get easy baskets while also conserving his finite energy.
But another adjustment he made was perhaps the most encouraging one.
Ham refused to go small
So often in recent games, when Anthony Davis has been resting on the bench, Ham has elected to have either James or Rui Hachimura man the center position, which has left the team vulnerable to dribble penetration and easy baskets.
Many wondered why he hasn’t been playing Mo Bamba, a 7-footer known for his shot-blocking abilities, or at least Wenyen Gabriel, an energetic 6-foot-9 reserve forward who had a regular spot in the team’s rotation until recent weeks.
But on Friday, the coach went back to Gabriel, and it paid dividends.
The Lakers led 31-20 at the start of the second quarter when Gabriel entered for Davis. When Davis came back and Gabriel went to the bench, they were up by 12, and they were also able to maintain a 30-plus point lead when Gabriel entered for part of the third quarter and the first moments of the fourth quarter.
The hope is that Ham is learning on the job and getting better with each game. So far, so good for the former Milwaukee Bucks assistant.
