Lonnie Walker IV says there was optimism in the Lakers locker room after the loss to the Clippers
The Los Angeles Lakers struggled on both ends of the court in their opening loss to the Golden State Warriors but looked much better on one end of the court in Game 2. Against the Clippers, the Lakers were very solid defensively and even got 26 points from Lonnie Walker IV, although their outside shooting cost them in the end.
The Lakers held the Clippers to just 103 points and had a lot of energy all night, but shot just 20 percent from three-point range. That was the difference on the night despite a solid performance from Walker, who led the Lakers with a 26-point performance. But despite a second straight loss to start the season, Walker says there was optimism in the Lakers locker room.
Lonnie Walker IV thought
“I think even though we lost today, there was a bit of optimism in the dressing room. We’ve only been playing together for a few weeks and the last two teams we’ve played against have been playing together for the last 4-5 years. So that says a lot about how we played. We just have to keep accumulating days and trust the system, trust our teammates and play the way we play.”
For the most part, the Lakers’ shooting struggles weren’t due to shot quality. Darwin Ham’s offensive system created open shots that every team would have liked but failed to knock down. That’s probably why Walker believes the Lakers need to keep getting the shooting they’re getting.
“Keep shooting,” Walker said when asked what the message was after another terrible shooting night. “We are still finding a rhythm together. We had great looks, great shots, we just have to shoot and shoot with confidence.”
Through two games,
The Lakers are shooting an abysmal 22.4 percent from three-point range, a mark that cannot be sustained for the rest of the season. Even moving up to league average would change things significantly on offense for this team. Walker continuing similar outings would also help the Lakers’ offense, but the fourth guard insists that’s not his job with this team.”Be aggressive on both ends of the floor,” Walkers added. I’m here to bring energy, be a defender, and be more of an athletic guard to try to get down there and help my teammates. Get AD some easy buckets, just play the right way and play hard.”Ham encouraged the Lakers’ defensive effort despite poor shooting
For a franchise like the Lakers, moral victories are things that don’t actually exist because championships are an expectation I mean, that’s a monster club in that locker room and people are raving about them and they’re very hyped for some reason. And the way we went up and scrapped, even when we got down and were able to get back into the game, that made it a game.
“That’s the definition of identity building, like determining what our culture and our environment will be. So I’m definitely disappointed with the loss, I probably could have done things a little better. But we’re moving in the right direction again.”