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In a rare Pete (aka coach)-centric mailbag, I pass along any questions from Locked on Lakers listeners on iTunes to everyone’s favorite internet coach. Did I mention he’s a coach? If you ever want to endear yourself to him, call him coach.
The first question to the coach and I was how fans should feel about Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball’s shooting ability given the importance of that skill on any team with LeBron James on it. It really boils down to the types of shots Ingram and Ball are asked to knock down.
If you’re hoping either guy turns into the type of player run designed sets in which they catch and shoot off of screens, you’re probably going to be let down. But if all they’re asked to do is finish on the other end of drive and kicks and plays like that, both Pete and I think they can manage. As per usual, though, it’s not necessarily that simple.
Next up on the list of iTunes questions: Center stuff! Good thing too, it had been a while since we discussed that.
Fortunately, there are quite a few angles by which the center rotation can be analyzed. This time, we take a look at whether LeBron is capable of playing with enough energy to work as the team’s small-ball five. Interestingly enough, one way the Lakers could ensure he has enough energy to do that is with a more evenly spread approach on the other end of the court.
The questions take a bit of a turn next as someone asked where Coach Pete gets his music. I tell a fun story about the time he impressed my father in-law with his skills on the piano. We also get into Ingram playing shooting guard, the modern NBA, rule changes and plenty more.
As always, this is just a tidbit of the full context given in the show. Listen to the full discussion below and please check out old episodes or guarantee you won’t miss any ever again by subscribing on iTunes.