lebron tries to draw a charge twice in one play

year 19 and still putting in that effort on defense

the 2021-22 nba season is here!

i watched the opening game between the los angeles lakers and the golden state warriors last night. not the greatest game ever - both teams looked extremely rusty and out of sync at times, several players seemed extremely fatigued - but hey, i won't complain about it. the nba is back, and there were still quite a few "oh, that was pretty cool" moments that caught my eye.

1. lebron james' defensive activity

bron tries to draw a charge twice in one play:

pretty impressive effort for a guy in his 19th nba season. i think bron's effort and rotations on defense are going to be a major key for the lakers this season, given how much they downgraded in terms of perimeter defense over the offseason.

bron was impressive the entire night. look at this rotation to stop kevon looney at the rim (after a gorgeous pass from draymond green):

2. super smooth switch by nemanja bjelica and andre iguodala:

rajon rondo holds the ball for the last possession of the first quarter. he calls for a screen from carmelo anthony (defended by bjelica) to try and get nemanja in the pick-and-roll action. bjelica and iguodala communicate on the fly and iggy switches to defend the pnr instead. pretty good decision by rondo to immediately swing the ball to anthony davis too, who had ~6 seconds to take bjelica 1-on-1 if he wanted to.

3. the lakers' lob play off the opening tip:

this is one of frank vogel's favorite plays. notice the screen from kent bazemore to free up deandre jordan. pretty cool to see it used in the first game of the season.

from the nba finals two years ago:

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now for some random observations:

- melo on defense is ugly.

he's undoubtedly a legend, but watching carmelo anthony repeatedly stop playing defense after a few passes from the opposing offense will never not be painful. iguodala was so open he literally hesitated into a step back 3.

i don't mean to pick solely on melo either. russell westbrook, malik monk, melo... it's not going to be pretty if more than one of those guys are on the court together for sustained stretches.

if the lakers are to win the title this year, it's going to be because anthony davis and lebron are exceptional on the defensive end in the playoffs.

- jordan poole looks really good. if you haven't watched much of him in the past, look out for him this year. he's improved so much since he was at michigan.

- russ looks awful through the pre-season the first game of the regular season. straight booty cheeks bad. i'm still more optimistic about his fit on this team than most though - i think it's just going to take a while to find out what his ideal role actually is. until then, he'll have some forgetful outings.

- bjelica fits really well with the warriors. he's great next to dray and steph curry. honestly, the team as a whole just makes sense. i believe the warriors aren't far off - a piece away, maybe - from being legitimate championship contenders. and they should go for it if they can, while steph is still superhuman.

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