BIG BALLER
The week that was: Why the Lakers need Lavar Ball
Jim Rodriguez
Jan 11, 2018, 7:37 am
The Lakers need Lavar Ball on that wall. sbnation.com
Follow Jim on Twitter @mediarodriguez
The more I see and hear LaVar Ball preach the gospel of Big Baller Brand, the more I wonder how many parts of this is clever showman or unhinged fool.
I’m rooting for Ball. All of them. I really am.
I remember Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena. The brash, in your face tennis coach from the inner city that boldly claimed two black girls from Compton, California would rule the tennis world. He was right. Damn right.
I also remember Marv Marinovich. His son, Todd, was literally trained to be the perfect quarterback. But this regimented lifestyle led to Todd’s downfall. A dark place of drugs, assaults and arrests.
LaVar’s actions have definitely given us some pause.
- Telling a female reporter to “stay in her lane”.
- Brushing off his son’s international shoplifting charges.
- A verbal tit for tat with the President of the United States. Think about that.
Ball pulled his kid out of high school because of a coach that wouldn’t accommodate his game and now jousting with the employer of his oldest son.
The Lakers knew this was coming. LaVar would not be silenced.
The team tried to tell us that they had an understanding with the Biggest of the Ballers. LaVar would keep his criticisms about the coach, system, organization to a dull roar. Run it by the team first.. sure. Not so much.
LaVar says Laker players don’t want to play for head coach, Luke Walton. He insists that Luke has lost the team. Here.. we.. go.
Some will tell you LaVar needs to let the Lakers run their own organization. I’m here to tell you it’s the other way around. The Lakers need LaVar. Yeah. They do.
Think about it.
The Purple and Gold are in rebuilding mode. They’ve lost 27 of their first 40 games this season and aren’t going anywhere. Hard to imagine one of the jewel franchises of the NBA rendered irrelevant.
But LaVar has made them matter.
When you watch a Laker game, why are you watching? When you check the box scores your eyes immediately go to find Lonzo’s stat line. That’s because LaVar made it happen.
This isn’t the golden era of Laker basketball but in some perverse way.. LaVar is building a bridge. He’s softening the blow. Getting the franchise through the lean years. And make no mistake.. the good times will include Lonzo Ball. Shoot, his brothers might even be on the court with him when they win another title.
What will the future hold for Lonzo, LiAngelo and LaMelo? So far it’s been Lakers, Los Angeles, Louis Vuitton and Lithuania. Hopefully there is some Love too.
Now if we can only get LaVar to return a phone call and get to the post office. People are waiting for those shoes, Big Baller.
You can listen to my radio show, The Sports Bosses , weekdays at 9 a.m. CT on SBNation Radio.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.