Lakers News: Pundit On Wavelength With Fans In Pinpointing Weird Darvin Ham Rotation Decision

Loyal readers can probably guess what we're talking about.

Your Los Angeles Lakers seem to have a backup center problem.

Head coach Darvin Ham has shortened his rotation in LA's ongoing first round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, and has opted to cut out his actual other rotation center, Mo Bamba, from the roster entirely. Wenyen Gabriel, who had been his go-to backup five during the season behind Anthony Davis, only made a meaningful cameo off the bench for the first time in the series during Game 5.

Fans have recently voiced their frustration about the absence of Bamba, a seven-footer who can convincingly guard the rim, in this series.

It appears the experts agree. In a recent episode of their podcast The Ringer NBA Show - Group Chat, The Ringer's Rob Mahoney told colleagues Wosny Lambry, Justin Verrier and Rob Mahoney that the Memphis Grizzlies are thriving in their small ball minutes when Davis sits.

"I do like the small ball looks," Mahoney opined. "You've already lost some of your identity as a Steven Adams team, even as a Brandon Clarke team. Those guys are not available to you. And just as importantly, they kind of bated the Lakers into playing small too in ways that I don't know they can really do. They played LeBron at the five some in this game, let's say that LeBron is not really rotating the way you want your back line guy to rotate at this particular moment in time. The Grizz were just getting layups in those moments."

"It's LeBron at the five, it's Rui Hachimura at the five, it's Wenyen Gabriel at the five, who we saw just get cooked by Desmond Bane off the dribble a couple times in this game, could not stay in front of him."

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