POLL How far will these misfit Lakers go?

[DJ Fieri]

Your debate is with the other guy. I quoted your post about Mbah A Moute being nonexistent and I corrected you saying he was injured.

I then commented on JR not being a good defender and that's true and backed up by any defensive metric or eye test.

The eye test is what I use over defensive metrics. As do most basketball fans. JR is average on defense, at best.

 

[Inimical]

Lebron has championship aspirations everywhere he goes, but with this young nucleus and core of misfits how far will the Lakers go this season?

This all depends on how you project Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart.

Brandon Ingram - This kid is gong to be special. Last year he finally decided no one can stop me when I drive to the hoop and he was relentless attacking the basket. He also played point forward to end the season. I see him raising his game to 21-23 ppg this season while taking on more ball handling responsibilities.

Kyle Kuzma - A more athletic Kevin Love. With all the talk surrounding Simmons, Mitchell, and Tatum...Kuzma often gets lost in the shuffle of great rookies. He is the perfect tweener for today's NBA. He's tall enough to play the 4 but agile enough to also switch and guard multiple positions. His jump shot is nasty. He's going to have games where he goes off for 20-25 in a quarter.

Lonzo Ball - Desperately needs to work on that jump shot. We don't need Lonzo to be Magic just be Jason Kidd. Lebron as he ages would love to relieve ball handling duty to someone who is capable. As he transitions towards playing more as a 4, he and Lonzo will be a perfect combo.

Josh Hart - 3 and D players are the most valuable role players in today's NBA. He is your Danny Green/Trevor Ariza off the bench but unlike those guys he can get his own shot and is a more efficient scorer. With Bron running the show now he's going to get a lot of great looks.

nicely done, a great year awaits

 

[TurnUpTheHeat]

Great comment on the Beas.

Right @TurnUpTheHeat ?

Fans there will love Beasley.

 

[DJ Fieri]

James Ennis will be entering his 5th season.....on his 5th team.

If he plays 10 seasons....he may set a record for teams played on.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

WCF and Finals loss got votes? LMAO.

Must have been TLF & Shaqdaddy.

Shit I didn't know you still followed basketball with all the ramblings of your dinner habits.

You probably blocked me because I kept making a fool out of you otherwise you would have read my first post in this thread, cum-dumpster.

 

[bksballer89]

Shit I didn't know you still followed basketball with all the ramblings of your dinner habits.

You probably blocked me because I kept making a fool out of you otherwise you would have read my first post in this thread, cum-dumpster.

 

[trojanfan12]

With this group of misfits it's either going to work really great or it's going to be an absolute disaster. And if the latter is the case, then it's easy to place the blame on the volatile personalities and cut ties with them next off season and cycle in new players.

I doubt it will go as bad as to be a disaster.

They are all playing for their next contract and they are all known to some degree or other, to carry some baggage. At least a couple of them will likely never play in the league again if they fuck up this chance. I'd hope they'd be smart enough to realize they need to be on their best behavior.

Having said that, if any of them do start having issues, they are on 1 year deals, so the Lakers could just release them and move on. Which would literally kill whatever career they have left.

 

[trojanfan12]

We get it... Lakers fans are excited. Leave it to a Celtics fan to provide some balance.

The Lakers were a bad basketball team last season. Let me say that again another way: all these guy you speak of combined to form the nucleus of a bad team just one season ago.

Don't get me wrong... some of them put up some stats last season, especially in flashes. But let's not forget that the Lakers under Walton play in a friendly offense that runs at a brisk pace...

... the scoring didn't equal success, though.

Of course things will get better in the upcoming with the addition of the best player in the game. But c'mon... reading the OP one might think the Lakers have one of the very best teams in basketball.

They don't. It's gonna be a process.

You provided balance alright. lol

OP was a bit more effusive in his praise and on at least a couple of the players he listed, he has a higher ceiling for them than I do.

So you balanced it out by talking about them being a bad team and acting like getting Lebron is the only way they improve. Completely ignoring the fact that the guys OP mentioned were rookies and 2nd year players.

So, considering what OP posted and what you posted...You're right...perfect balance. lol

 

[trojanfan12]

Explain the playoff run without Kyrie.

He literally did...in the very post you quoted.

 

[trojanfan12]

I already conceded Horford as a key difference. That aside, though... Rozier, Smart and Morris are all role players... the Lakers had them, too...

lol @thinking Brooke Lopez and KCP on 1 year deals were equal to Rozier, Smart and Morris.

 

[trojanfan12]

I don't think Houston will be losing sleep over losing Mbah a Moute if they acquire JR.

That's because they'll be too busy losing sleep over whether or not he can remember the score.

 

[Gman]

He literally did...in the very post you quoted.

In that case, he contradicted his main point that Ingram and Kuzma are equal to Brown and Tatum.

lol @thinking Brooke Lopez and KCP on 1 year deals were equal to Rozier, Smart and Morris.

You should read the OP... Hart and Ball (and presumably Randle) are hot sh!t.

In all seriousness, though, there is not some wild difference between the two supporting casts last year... with the exception of Horford.

The notable difference is Tatum and Brown really flowered into and through the playoffs... no one outside of Laker homer land would draw the equivalence that the OP made.

 

[trojanfan12]

As for the poll. I picked 2nd round loss.

If everything clicks well with the misfits and a couple of the kids make bigger improvements than expected...I could see a WCF loss...but I wouldn't even bet vcash on that.

 

[Gman]

You provided balance alright. lol

OP was a bit more effusive in his praise and on at least a couple of the players he listed, he has a higher ceiling for them than I do.

So you balanced it out by talking about them being a bad team and acting like getting Lebron is the only way they improve. Completely ignoring the fact that the guys OP mentioned were rookies and 2nd year players.

So, considering what OP posted and what you posted...You're right...perfect balance. lol

In fairness, I mentioned the fact that the Lakers are young in another post... I was trying to help the OPer out... trying to make reasonable out his hometown take.

 

[Beengay fudgepackers]

My favorite homer description was of ball. They don’t need him to be arguably the best PG ever, they just need him to be a surefire hall of famer. I’m glad he isn’t expecting too much from a second year player.

 

[trojanfan12]

In that case, he contradicted his main point that Ingram and Kuzma are equal to Brown and Tatum.

lol

No he didn't. He said that the Celtics were already a plaink there iyoff team when they got Tatum. If anything, it backs up his point.

You should read the OP... Hart and Ball (and presumably Randle) are hot sh!t.

Ball and Randle were not role players on that team. Hart was a rookie. So was Ball. KCP and Lopez were the "veteran role players". There's a reason they were on 1 year deals.

In all seriousness, though, there is not some wild difference between the two supporting casts last year... with the exception of Horford.

In all seriousness? Really?!? If you seriously wasn't a lot of difference between the supporting casts last year...you should probably stop watching basketball...or at least posting about it.

The notable difference is Tatum and Brown really flowered into and through the playoffs... no one outside of Laker homer land would draw the equivalence that the OP made.

The main difference was that the Celtics had Kyrie for 2/3 of the season and had veteran role players. Especially Al.

As for the OP, as I said, he was more effusive in his praise than I would have been and much of it based on potential. But it's not like he said anything particularly crazy or unrealistic.

And ftr, your posts are just about as homerisitic as his.

 

[trojanfan12]

trying to make reasonable out his hometown take.

Uh, what?

 

[trojanfan12]

My favorite homer description was of ball. They don’t need him to be arguably the best PG ever, they just need him to be a surefire hall of famer. I’m glad he isn’t expecting too much from a second year player.

Don't want to set the bar too high en sech. lol

 

[Gman]

lol

No he didn't. He said that the Celtics were already a plaink there iyoff team when they got Tatum. If anything, it backs up his point.

^ It's a pretty terrible point.

The C's had huge roster changeover between the playoff team he is referring to and the team Tatum joined... and then the top 2 players got injured.

Ball and Randle were not role players on that team. Hart was a rookie. So was Ball. KCP and Lopez were the "veteran role players". There's a reason they were on 1 year deals.

You're quibbling... and then adding the word "veteran" in quotes for some reason.

Furthermore: sh!t, Tatum and Kuzma were rookies too. We can certainly factor rookies into the equation.

In all seriousness? Really?!? If you seriously wasn't a lot of difference between the supporting casts last year...you should probably stop watching basketball...or at least posting about it.

^This^ isn't an argument.

I'll stand by what I said, the way I said it.

The main difference was that the Celtics had Kyrie for 2/3 of the season and had veteran role players. Especially Al.

As for the OP, as I said, he was more effusive in his praise than I would have been and much of it based on potential. But it's not like he said anything particularly crazy or unrealistic.

And ftr, your posts are just about as homerisitic as his.

Fair enough... and you're entitled to your opinion.

If you can find any poster outside of Laker homer city who thinks Ingram and Kuzma are the same difference as Tatum and Brown... I would be shocked, though.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

And ftr, your posts are just about as homerisitic as his.