How Jarred Vanderbilt SAVED The Lakers Season...For Now

Follow Jarred Vanderbilt here, as he’s going to crash the glass on the shot and as we freeze it right here, you see that he snatches the ball away from 5 Dallas players. And on the other end he hounded Luka and came up with some clutch stops at the end. Vanderbilt single handedly kept the Lakers in the game with his effort and helped them make a huge comeback from down by 27 to keep the playoff hopes alive. So let’s break down exactly what he did. This statline is impressive, but then watch these rebounds. Jarred had 8 offensive boards, and look at how he always follows the shooter and times the exact moment when to cut inside and go up for it. Look at where he is on the shot here and how he weaves his way inside through the entire defense to get the rebound and ultimately get fouled. This is an incredible effort for extra possessions and points, this should not have been Lakers ball. And watch the insane energy that he showed on defense. First, he picks up Luka from under the basket, pressing him all over the court and with that disrupting the Mavs offense. And on the high pick, Vando anticipates the pass and turns on an extra gear to get this steal, and a transition opportunity for LA. Again, watch the fight on the screen as Jarred gets the deflection and then the extra effort to save it right into an easy layup for Brown Jr. Everything we’ve seen so far are points strictly based off of his effort and attitude to keep fighting even while being down by 27. Not only that, but he had a big impact on Doncic defensively, as Vanderbilt was the most successful in matching up against him, since Luka was only 1 for 5 on possessions where Vando was the primary defender. And you see why on these clips. To top things off, Jarred sealed the victory with this deflection on the inbound at the end, and put the Lakers just 1 game out of the play-in tournament. Buut their playoff hopes will depend on the health of Lebron who twisted his ankle and you could hear him on the broadcast repeatedly saying “I heard it pop”. Even tho he finished the game, the way he’s limping right here on his way out is a scary sight for Lakers fans, and we’ll see if he’s going to miss some games because of this. Nevertheless, this is why I was so high on the trade, they got a playmaker who can shoot in D-Lo who btw isn’t even playing right now due to injury, a legitimate three point threat in Beasley, and a defender, rebounder, and all around effort guy in Vanderbilt. Let me know in the comments if you think that the Lakers can make the play-in, and even the playoffs. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.