Darwin Ham on Venien Gabriel: ‘He’s just a spark plug’

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Venien Gabriel came off the bench for the Lakers in a loss to the Mavericks, scoring 9 points and 11 rebounds.

The 25-year-old forward also had 2 interceptions and 1 block in 23 minutes of play. Lakers head coach Darwin Ham was asked after the game what he likes about the player.

“Just his energy,” Ham said when asked what he liked about Gabriel in the fourth quarter against the Mavericks. “He has a great sense of smell on the ball. 11 rebounds. He’s trying to defend himself, he’s trying to defend the ring.

“It’s just a hard foul call at the end there on the vertical. I don’t know what else these players want to do in terms of defending the ring. He’s just a spark plug. Another one of our spark plugs.

“His size, his ability to run up and down the court, pick up lost balls and get offensive rebounds, backhanders really defend well. He showed it all tonight. That’s why we stay with him.”

Gabriel is averaging 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.1 minutes per game this season.