Four takeaways from Rui Hachimuras debut

Rui Hachimura made his much-anticipated Lakers debut on Wednesday against the Spurs, checking in midway through the first quarter to a loud Christian Wilkins Jersey ovation from the Crypto.com Arena crowd.Hachimura had a solid debut, scoring 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting and grabbing six rebounds in his 22 minutes off the bench. More impre sive was his team-high plus-17.Hachimura did a lot of things to contribute to the Lakers' 113-104 win that didn't show up in the box score, hinting after just one game at what kind of value he can bring to the team.NBA LEAGUE PASS: The Lakers kept Hachimura's role relatively simple on offense when he shared the floor with James. His job was mostly to stay in the corners or above the break on the 3-point line and stretch out the opposing defense.When James sat, his role increased, which was not a surprising development considering the Lakers have generally fallen apart on offense in James-free minutes. with him off the floor is worse than .They leaned heavily on Hachimura, designing two plays specifically for him to clear out the entire left side Chase Edmonds Jersey andlet him work in the post. Hachimura scored on a nifty baseline fadeaway jumper on the first and was fouled on a monstrous dunk attempt on the second.That left block area is Hachimura's best spot on the court. He has shot over the course of his career.The first play that Lakers coach Darvin Ham ran for Hachimura is what is known as a Hawk Cut. That action allowed him to run off a screen from guard Dennis Schroder to get open and receive the ball in his favorite spot. This cut will likely be an action that the Lakers use for Hachimura again in the future, as it opens up a pa sing angle to get him the ball near the left block. That is a good sign that the coaching staff already has come Shaquem Griffin Jersey up with ideas to utilize the best parts of his game.Hachimura's comfort with Westbrook was also readily apparent. Westbrook was throughout the game, and when the defense wasn't yet prepared. The Lakers are not a good offensive rebounding team, in offensive rebounds per game. They seem to want to change that with Hachimura.They were very frequently sending him in on what are called corner crashes, when players run in from the corners to try and get offensive rebounds. They would also occasionally send him from the slot above the 3-point line to the gla s.Hachimura was only credited with one offensive rebound on a po se sion in which he out-jumped the rest of the pack to tip the ball to James, but this is an example of the box score being very deceptive.Hachimura was wreaking havoc on the gla s. He forced the ball out of Eric Rowe Jersey bounds by tipping it off one of the Spurs' players, got fouled and tipped a number of other balls. He created multiple extra po se sions for the Lakers.He's a very good athlete that should be able to out-jump defenders, and it looks as though the Lakers are going to test that theory out. Hachimura was all over the court in his 20 minutes. in order to save loose balls. Those types of hustle plays should make him a fan favorite quickly.Hachimura was also making a big difference by simply running the floor hard. Turning and sprinting ahead in transition allowed him to pick up easy layups, including one off a bounce pa s from James.Even when he wasn't the one scoring the ball on a fast break, he was taking up the attention of defenders Miami Dolphins Hoodies Sweatshirts and him for easy layups. Hachimura is a great scorer, but one of the big reasons why he had trouble staying on the floor in Washington was because of his defensive limitations.Those were still on display at times in his Lakers debut, but he had one of the best defensive players in the game to clean up his mistakes. Hachimura allowed his man to get past him on the perimeter multiple times, but Davis was ready to help.Hachimura no longer has to play perfectly on defense. Even in the event that he makes a mistake, he has a teammate that can erase an error.It's only been one game, but the returns are already looking promising on Hachimura fitting better with the Lakers than he ever did on the Wizards.