Purple & Bold: No Laker has turned around his season like KCP

Editor’s note: This is the Dec. 30 edition of the Purple & Bold Lakers newsletter. To receive the newsletter in your inbox, sign up here.

In a 3-on-1 featuring three of the Lakers’ Klutch clients, who are you taking: LeBron James, Anthony Davis or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope?

James was the leader on the break, and he made the surprise decision in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win over the Blazers. He spotted Caldwell-Pope spacing out to the corner and tossed it over for an open 3-point look. Given the reputation he’s developed over the last few years, it was almost more of a surprise that KCP’s shot went in.

But look who is the hottest shooter on the Lakers right now: As Mike Trudell pointed out Sunday night, he’s hit 11 of his last 15 attempts from long range in the last four games. It’s exactly the number of games he’s played since being moved back to the bench.

“The ball is coming off my hand good, and I’m in a great rhythm,” he said. “I’m out there, you know, trying to play in the flow of the game, and try to find open spots where my teammates can find me and just not thinking – just shoot the ball.”

Wait, is this the KCP who started out 0 for 11 for the season? Who was openly booed by the Staples Center crowd at home games as he flubbed layups and missed 3-point attempts? KCP’s reputation with Lakers fans was so bad, Dwight Howard – who was an absolute Los Angeles villain before this season started – had to stick up for him to get critics off his back.

You couldn’t have designed a more fitting metaphor for Caldwell-Pope’s early season than a November play that had NBA observers in stitches: When he went for a putback, point-blank layup at the rim against the Warriors, KCP wedged the ball between the rim and the backboard. 

There was a cosmic air to his frustration. He wasn’t just struggling – he was cursed.

But look now: KCP’s season-long 3-point average is at 43 percent, which puts him at No. 8 in the entire league among shooters who have taken at least 100 attempts beyond the arc. The Lakers put a premium on 3-point shooters this offseason, but arguably the most effective spacing wing is the one they brought back – and the one a lot of fans (and maybe some media members) counted out too quickly.

Talk about Redeem Team: KCP hasn’t just changed his reputation from before this season, when his name was followed by Lakers fans groaning about his salary. He’s changed it from how this season started, on a completely wrong foot. After starting the year cold, now Kenny’s range is roasting.

While the endorsement of James’ passes on the fast break speak highly to the credibility KCP has re-established, teammates and coaches are willing to speak up as well. Frank Vogel joked that “his coach is drawing up really good plays for him,” but on a serious note added that he thought KCP has stood out in weathering those early issues.

“It’s a credit to his mental toughness and character,” he said. “At times guys can go in a shell if they’re facing heavy criticism and he didn’t do that. He responded by remaining confident, being true to himself, believing in himself.”

Remember: KCP’s rise has come during December, when the Lakers have played vastly tougher opponents. He had good shooting nights in Miami, Milwaukee and even on Christmas against the Clippers. He also had a larger role (which might have helped him find a rhythm) as the typical point guard defender when Avery Bradley was hurt.

The Lakers were proud of going 9-5 in December, given the tougher competition, given the injuries and absences and given the distractions a team on the road can face.

“I know we just have a resilience about ourselves.” KCP said. “We’re always in the fight, regardless of the outcome. I feel like just the toughness that we have, we’re here to fight, we’re with each other, and we have each other’s back.”

KCP in the same sentence as “resilience” might feel like a bit of a shock to the system, but given the groove he’s been in, maybe Lakers fans should start getting used to it.

IN THE ZONE

It’s time for opponents to get a taste of their own medicine. In a 108-95 dismantling of the NBA’s No. 1 offense, the Lakers used a weapon that’s been used against them a lot this year: the zone.

It’s tripped them up at times, and it seemed to have the same effect on the Mavericks, who hit just 30 percent of their 3-point attempts against the Lakers. With 17 assists to 19 turnovers, they also struggled to swing the ball through it and around it with their usual efficiency. It might have had something to do with Luka Doncic coming off an ankle injury recently, it might have had to do with missing relatively open shots, it might have had something to do with playing on consecutive nights – or all three.

Davis was a notable proponent of the zone, saying Dallas’ stars struggled to figure it out. In the NBA, the zone is generally considered a junk scheme because players are generally skilled enough to shoot over it or pass through it. But sometimes the rhythmic skip is enough to put even an elite offense off its game.

Vogel said playing zone made him “nervous,” but he wanted to see how the Mavs took the curveball.

Facing the No. 1 offensive team in the league (by a large margin), “sometimes you’ve got to junk the game a little bit, throw them just a different look,” he said. “Teams do it to us and usually we end up prevailing but it can just change the game up a little bit. I presented it to our team as an option, ‘How do you guys feel about it?’ And guys liked the idea and I think it was pretty effective tonight.”

— Kyle Goon

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Last links of the decade

• Deposing Dallas – The Lakers impressively humbled Luka Doncic and company.
• Breaking the Blazers – A four-game losing streak ended in Portland after the Lakers got angry about how they’ve played.
• Minutes balancing act? – Kyle Kuzma and KCP have made a push for bigger roles.
• Athlete of the decade – No one in sports was bigger than LeBron
• Social media goes rogue – Explaining the weirdness of an Internet conspiracy theory featuring Kyle Kuzma’s trainer.
• Fighting through adversity – Mirjam riffed on how the Lakers would show their mettle in the rough patch.

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