2021-2022 NBA Season

[bksballer89]

And it's still early.....

Beal and RW started slowly and then started to play well together towards the end of last season......if I remember correctly.

And ended up in a play in spot. Lakers trying to win a title

 

[bksballer89]

No depth though

 

[DJ]

And ended up in a play in spot. Lakers trying to win a title

The Lakers have James in addition to RW and AD.

The Wiz didn't have James.

 

[DJ]

The Wolves beat the Sixers.

 

[bksballer89]

 

[bksballer89]

Barring a significant injury, the west playoffs seems locked in

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

Knicks manned up in Atlanta for a solid win against a very good team.
It was only the Hawks 2nd loss at home this season.

Knicks 99-90 Hawks (Nov 27, 2021) Game Recap - ESPN

Expert recap and game analysis of the New York Knicks vs. Atlanta Hawks NBA game from November 27, 2021 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[WiggyRuss]

freaking Cavs finally get a break in the schedule and an easy game.

their schedule has been by far the hardest in the NBA. I saw where the difference between #1 and #2 in winning % played against was bigger than the difference between #2 and #12. Thats pretty crazy.

I gotta say- even short handed in some of those really tough games they still looked pretty decent and stayed in it (GSW, BRK, PHX).

Maybe now that they are mostly healthy (with the exception of Sexton of course) they can get back over .500 a little bit- that is- if they are good. Unfortunately- the schedule is still pretty tough for a few more games with Dallas, Miami, Wash, Utah, Mil, Chi coming up. After that it gets better finally for a while where maybe they can make some hay.

I actually think they are pretty decent. Allen is a good center. Garland is so young but hes developing into a good point guard. Mobley of course is already a good player. Thats 3 pretty good players. Markenen, Rubio, Love all can do some things and are decent. Osman has played well off the bench. Okoro is still kind of a wild card at this point offensively- but is pretty solid defensively.

 

[tlance]

The Lakers have James in addition to RW and AD.

The Wiz didn't have James.

And Russ is easier to fit with Beal than with LeBron.

Point is though, if you are comparing to the Wizards, does not bode well for your title chances.

I don’t see this group getting through the West as currently constructed.

 

[DJ]

And Russ is easier to fit with Beal than with LeBron.

Point is though, if you are comparing to the Wizards, does not bode well for your title chances.

I don’t see this group getting through the West as currently constructed.

My point was it just takes time. We also have a bunch of other platers we're trying to fit.

We'll see how it plays out.

 

[tlance]

My point was it just takes time. We also have a bunch of other platers we're trying to fit.

We'll see how it plays out.

Eh. Skill sets don’t complement at all though offensively. And there aren’t enough quality 1 on 1 defenders either.

Those obstacles aren’t easy to overcome.

 

[DJ]

Eh. Skill sets don’t complement at all though offensively. And there aren’t enough quality 1 on 1 defenders either.

Those obstacles aren’t easy to overcome.

Again, we'll see.

I don't think many thought the Lakers, Nuggets, Sixers, Hawks, and Celtics would be as bad as they are.

And not many predicted the Wolves and Cavs to be as good as they are.

The point? It's way early. Barely 20 games into the season.

 

[tlance]

Again, we'll see.

I don't think many thought the Lakers, Nuggets, Sixers, Hawks, and Celtics would be as bad as they are.

And not many predicted the Wolves and Cavs to be as good as they are.

The point? It's way early. Barely 20 games into the season.

Well, only the 6ers and Nuggets would have been possible contenders out of that list, and their slow starts have been more about good players not playing. And I don’t think anyone would list either of those teams as contenders without Simmons (or trade return), Murray and Porter.

Lakers have real issues that extend beyond LeBron missing games.

 

[DJ]

Well, only the 6ers and Nuggets would have been possible contenders out of that list, and their slow starts have been more about good players not playing. And I don’t think anyone would list either of those teams as contenders without Simmons (or trade return), Murray and Porter.

Lakers have real issues that extend beyond LeBron missing games.

James missed 10 games so far.

 

[trojanfan12]

Lakers have real issues that extend beyond LeBron missing games.

lol

The Lakers have had a lot more than Lebron missing games. They have 12 players who weren't on the roster last year and 2 expected rotation players (at least 1 who was expected to start) that haven't played a minute yet and Lebron and AD have been in and out.

It's early.

 

[DJ]

lol

The Lakers have had a lot more than Lebron missing games. They have 12 players who weren't on the roster last year and 2 expected rotation players (at least 1 who was expected to start) that haven't played a minute yet and Lebron and AD have been in and out.

It's early.

Exactly. Any basketball fan knows it takes time to acclimate new players. It took time for RW and Beal to figure things out. Not saying that is what we are shooting for, but they played a lot better down the stretch. And again James wasn't on that team and he can still play. Rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated.

And Nunn and Ariza have been hurt, those 2 are key players.

It being early was my whole point of including Cleveland and Minny.....not that they are contenders. LOL.

 

[bksballer89]

lol

The Lakers have had a lot more than Lebron missing games. They have 12 players who weren't on the roster last year and 2 expected rotation players (at least 1 who was expected to start) that haven't played a minute yet and Lebron and AD have been in and out.

It's early.

Who can play defense on lakers? Even when completely healthy, that will be their biggest issue. Losing Caruso and KCP hurts more than i thought because they just focused on bringing in guys who can get buckets and never thought of defense

 

[bksballer89]

And Nunn and Ariza have been hurt, those 2 are key players.

From someone who watched K-Nunn for 2 seasons, his defense is terrible. Good player to have on offense but he won't help the defensive issues. Ariza on the other hand can help a little as he is a solid defender

 

[trojanfan12]

Exactly. Any basketball fan knows it takes time to acclimate new players. It took time for RW and Beal to figure things out. Not saying that is what we are shooting for, but they played a lot better down the stretch. And again James wasn't on that team and he can still play. Rumors of his demise are greatly exaggerated.

And Nunn and Ariza have been hurt, those 2 are key players.

It being early was my whole point of including Cleveland and Minny.....not that they are contenders. LOL.

Yeah, it's the Lakers so people always want to overreact.

@tlance is right in that, even if they were fully healthy, it is an ill fitting roster. But that doesn't mean it's a roster that can't work. It means it's a roster that requires Lebron if it's going to work. Defense is going to be a bit of a struggle all season long, so Vogel is going to have to do some of his best scheming.

As I've said, this team is going to be Lebron's biggest challenge as far as making an ill fitting roster work. If he can make it work, I think it has a chance to be really, really good...especially offensively and the Lakers will likely win the title.

If he can't make it work, they'll have to try remake the roster on the fly.

 

[trojanfan12]

Who can play defense on lakers? Even when completely healthy, that will be their biggest issue. Losing Caruso and KCP hurts more than i thought because they just focused on bringing in guys who can get buckets and never thought of defense

They'll have to scheme to hide their deficiencies. Ariza and Nunn should help, especially Ariza. Their biggest issue, imo, isn't as much that they don't have guys who can play defense, it's that they don't have guys who can both play defense and score efficiently (at least so far).

Also, defense is harder and comes together later, because defense is about communication and that takes time, especially with this many new faces.