Game Thread: Lakers vs Nuggets

[OutlawImmortal]

Lakers playing well to start, need to keep this type of play up, they are actually passing the ball!

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Great half compared to the first 3 games. Clarkson is on fire with 20 points in 16 minutes on 4 of 5 from 3. Randle is having another solid game with 11 points and Kobe is getting his teammates more involved. His FG % shouldn't suffer very much if he gets his shots per game down.

 

[Hangman]

How many more loses do we have to suffer through before a coaching change?

Russell sure is looking like a huge bust right now. He is scared to go to the basket and he is not showing any athleticism at all. NBA TV annalists are calling him too hollywood and saying he is not competing. That he might be someone who can't play in LA cause he is all about doing too much off the court and not enough on the court. And I can see where they are coming from. He looks like he is on coast mode and playing scared.

 

[Retroram52]

Well. We all knew the Lakers were not going to make a huge leap this year but something still remains amiss even with all the personnel changes. Our defense still remains suspect. Perhaps Scott has lost this team and may need to go. Thibs is waiting in the wings.

However, we are on par with the last three years as far as winning and losing. We were 0-5 last year to open the season. We won our first game Week 6 against Charlotte and then lost another four to go 1-9 by week 10. So, little has changed apparently and we shall see.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

The offense played great last night, the defense was stiill pretty horrible. It may be time to unleash the beast Metta World Peace.

 

[wlk3]

Man oh man... Where to start...

 

[lakersrule]

Man oh man... Where to start...

It starts with Byron. His systems suck, both sides of the ball. His rotations suck. At least he put Black in last night. Kelly is in there to hit perimeter shots and he's not coming close. Bass isn't a 5. Black/Bass should be the b/u frontcourt. 17 minutes for Hibbert. Russell no 4th quarter run. If things continue the way they are, I doubt Byron makes it through the season. #Byeron

 

[wlk3]

It starts with Byron. His systems suck, both sides of the ball. His rotations suck. At least he put Black in last night. Kelly is in there to hit perimeter shots and he's not coming close. Bass isn't a 5. Black/Bass should be the b/u frontcourt. 17 minutes for Hibbert. Russell no 4th quarter run. If things continue the way they are, I doubt Byron makes it through the season. #Byeron

That's a pretty good start...

 

[lakersrule]

That's a pretty good start...

Right?

I can understand benching Russell if he was struggling, but that wasn't the case last night. He picked up his 4th foul in the third quarter and never saw action again. I thought he was playing decent last night when he was actually allowed to play basketball and not just run whatever it is that Byron calls his system. If this kid is supposed to be a huge part of the Lakers future, play him now as well.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

It is pretty odd to name Russell the starter only to bench him in the 2nd half. Just put him on the 2nd unit if you don't think he's ready? Byron is someone who coached CP3 and Kyrie when they came into the league so I'm just going to assume he knows what he's doing.

 

[lakersrule]

It is pretty odd to name Russell the starter only to bench him in the 2nd half. Just put him on the 2nd unit if you don't think he's ready? Byron is someone who coached CP3 and Kyrie when they came into the league so I'm just going to assume he knows what he's doing.

He doesn't.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

this team is a mess.

spending the #2 pick on a "project" PG made no sense then or now.

if they have to wait 3-4 seasons for this guy to hopefully "get it", this team is in trouble.

 

[lakersrule]

this team is a mess.

spending the #2 pick on a "project" PG made no sense then or now.

if they have to wait 3-4 seasons for this guy to hopefully "get it", this team is in trouble.

It made perfect sense considering they are trying to rebuild the team with some youth. Everyone says how the league is a point guard driven league now. The opportunity was there to draft a projected stud PG. They did, rather than draft the "dinosaur" low post big man. What doesn't make sense is leaving him on the bench or making him play too much off ball.

 

[wildturkey]

How many more loses do we have to suffer through before a coaching change?

Russell sure is looking like a huge bust right now. He is scared to go to the basket and he is not showing any athleticism at all. NBA TV annalists are calling him too hollywood and saying he is not competing. That he might be someone who can't play in LA cause he is all about doing too much off the court and not enough on the court. And I can see where they are coming from. He looks like he is on coast mode and playing scared.

Depends on what you want to do. If you want to win games and develop the talent currently on the roster into usable NBA players, fire Scott now and get Thibs or even Brooks. If you want maximize your chances of keeping a top 3 draft pick, by all means keep Byron Scott.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

It made perfect sense considering they are trying to rebuild the team with some youth. Everyone says how the league is a point guard driven league now. The opportunity was there to draft a projected stud PG. They did, rather than draft the "dinosaur" low post big man. What doesn't make sense is leaving him on the bench or making him play too much off ball.

You don't draft projects at #2.

At #2 you should be getting a quality starter day 1 that has potential to be great.

Russell is not a quality starter. He can't shoot and he can't defend.

How exactly is that supposed to help the Lakers?

If big men are dinosaurs, then how come Okafor is looking way better than Russell? Shouldn't he look worse since his position is a dinosaur?

 

[Hangman]

I look at it this way. College football became a spread offense league. Everyone said that a run game was no longer important and that you need to have dominate skill position players to win. Then Alabama and Stanford come around. They build up their teams on having big fat linemen who run block and big fat run stopping defensive linemen. The exact opposite of what every one else has. They do that and all of a sudden they are top teams in college.

You don't have to do what everyone else is doing as long as what you do you are great at it. Having Okafor and Randell down low would have given us a great 4 and 5. No one else has that (except maybe the spurs) and its hard to defend that because the other teams are all PG/SF driven teams.

You win by making their weakness an area you are strong in. Then you can find people who can fill in at the other positions and minimize the other teams strength. You can't win by trying to almost meet them in their strength.

 

[lakersrule]

You don't draft projects at #2.

At #2 you should be getting a quality starter day 1 that has potential to be great.

Russell is not a quality starter. He can't shoot and he can't defend.

How exactly is that supposed to help the Lakers?

If big men are dinosaurs, then how come Okafor is looking way better than Russell? Shouldn't he look worse since his position is a dinosaur?

I'm not saying they are dinosaurs. That's a current perception in the league right? That whole small ball thing? To expect every early draft pick to dominate the league from the jump is unrealistic. I have my reservations about Russell's speed, but I'm willing to give him time to develop before concluding he's a bust. He's played four games. We have a head coach whose system doesn't lend to Russell's strengths, namely working pick and roll. His shot will come. His mechanics are good. He made some nice passes during the last game.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

I'm not saying they are dinosaurs. That's a current perception in the league right? That whole small ball thing? To expect every early draft pick to dominate the league from the jump is unrealistic. I have my reservations about Russell's speed, but I'm willing to give him time to develop before concluding he's a bust. He's played four games. We have a head coach whose system doesn't lend to Russell's strengths, namely working pick and roll. His shot will come. His mechanics are good. He made some nice passes during the last game.

I get where you are coming from lakersrule. and I'm not ready to label him a bust either. my big concern was taking a "project" at #2.

doesn't it concern you that we are talking about waiting for a #2 pick to develop? and do you really think he is going to develop as a shooter and defender ( his biggest areas of weakness )?

I agree with Hangman. be your own team. don't try to duplicate everyone else cause chances are that is only going to leave you in the middle of the pack.

 

[lakersrule]

I get where you are coming from lakersrule. and I'm not ready to label him a bust either. my big concern was taking a "project" at #2.

doesn't it concern you that we are talking about waiting for a #2 pick to develop? and do you really think he is going to develop as a shooter and defender ( his biggest areas of weakness )?

I agree with Hangman. be your own team. don't try to duplicate everyone else cause chances are that is only going to leave you in the middle of the pack.

I think most 19 year olds are projects though. There are very few Lebrons or Magics that come into the league and immediately dominate. I'm not too concerned. He's a rookie PG that will take a little time to hopefully learn and get comfortable in this league of men. We've seen glimpses. 6A/1TO in 20 minutes last game. He just needs to play more, but we have a coach right now with the wrong priorities.

 

[trojanfan12]

You don't draft projects at #2.

At #2 you should be getting a quality starter day 1 that has potential to be great.

When it's a point guard, yes you do. A point guard in the NBA is like a quarterback in football, you have to have one. Rookie point guards and rookie quarterbacks almost always struggle. It takes 2-3 years to develop both. Go back and look at the rookie seasons of some of the great qb's and pg's. Almost all of them struggle to some extent.

It's certainly possible that Russell will end up being a bust or not living up to his draft status, but we'll know that after he's been in the league for 2-3 years, not after 4 games.