Somewhat lost in the shuffle of this successful Los Angeles Lakers road trip was the return of point guard Gabe Vincent to the lineup. Vincent was a major signing for the Lakers last offseason and he was set to be a big part of the team this year, but injuries destroyed his season as he was out for more than three months following knee surgery.
The Lakers are bringing Vincent along slowly as he has played just 14 minutes in each of his two contests back. After such a long time off it can take some time for a player to feel comfortable, especially for Vincent who is on a new team. But Anthony Davis and the rest of the Lakers are working to help Vincent acclimate himself with the team.
Davis spoke on this following the Lakers’ victory over the Washington Wizards, noting that it will take time for Vincent to feel like himself and the team doesn’t have much room for error right now, but the whole team is working with him, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“Obviously he’s still trying to get integrated into the offense and our schemes and things like that. The ball is gonna be in his hands, he’s a point guard, but he’s still trying to find his rhythm, find his legs. He had a couple good looks but it’s gonna take time. He missed several months, hasn’t really played all season. So that takes time, especially coming in and playing at this time of the year. It would be different if we were the top seed and were a little bit more comfortable where he could play a lot more minutes, but we don’t really have a lot of room for error. So coming in and having to almost be perfect, you don’t want to make any mistakes to cost us a game or anything like that.
“But we’re trying to make him feel comfortable, work his way back into the offense and let him lead the troops when he’s on the floor. But still trying to help him out, get him good looks, set good screens for him. It’s my job to let him get downhill and get to his midrange that he likes to shoot or his pullup 3 or getting downhill and finding guys. I’m not sure what the plan is for him in the next five but he looked good in the two games he’s played.”
Getting Vincent back into form would give the Lakers a huge weapon on both sides of the floor. Not only is he a reliable shooter who has performed on the biggest of stages, but he also gives the Lakers another defensive option against quicker point guards.
The good thing is that Davis and the Lakers understand this and are doing everything they can to help him along that road. As Davis said, the room for error is slim right now, but a fully healthy and comfortable Vincent could pay big dividends in the postseason.
Anthony Davis believes Gabe Vincent was ‘really solid’ in Lakers return
While it is just the beginning of Gabe Vincent’s return to the Lakers lineup, Anthony Davis still believes he has looked good on the court.
Davis noted that there have been some miscues which are bound to happen as he gets used to him and the things he likes to do, but the big man called Vincent ‘really solid’ in his return.
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