Despite the emergence of stretch fours in the league today and their prowess in knocking down three-pointers, Luke Walton wants two of two power forwards to play the traditional way.
The Los Angeles Lakers head coach recently acknowledged the improved three-point shooting touch of Julius Randle and Larry Nance, Jr., however, he made it clear, via Mark Medina of the Orange County Register, that he prefers not seeing them lurking beyond the arc during games as he feels they are more effective inside the paint.
“Shooting 3’s are fun. But for both of them, they do other things so well. The ultimate end game for them can’t be them being stretch -fours who want to shoot 3’s all night. They’re too good, too athletic and too versatile. That’s just something to be able to fall back on late in the shot clock.”
The comments made by the 36-year-old may be seen as preventing his players to evolve their game and add a new offensive skill, but it does make a lot of sense because the Lakers have a number of shooters already in their lineup. Their guards, also are known to shoot more from the outside which makes the need for a stretch forward irrelevant.
With the Lakers already out of contention for a playoff spot, they can now play without any pressure and will allow Walton to experiment more on some of his combinations on the floor. He may let the two shoot some three-pointers in their remaining games, and should they make them with consistency, may even run some plays for them to shoot from there in the future.
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