2021-2022 NBA Season

[tlance]

I hear you but just way too early to act like there's no chance they can make the wcf or beat the warriors/suns in a series. 4.5 months left of basketball before we even get to the playoffs

Sure.

I just don’t see how this years version is any different than the last few.

Nothing Utah can do in the regular season impresses me anymore. I need to see it in the playoffs to believe it.

I am not saying they “have no chance”. But they are not close to the level of Phoenix and GS. More likely that they lose in the 1st round to another team than it is that beat either IMO.

 

[trojanfan12]

Now is the time to fire him. Lakers don't play until Tuesday

lol

You: It's too early in the season. It's not even Christmas yet.

Also you: A team with 12 new faces that hasn't had it's full roster available and whose best player has missed half the season needs to fire their coach because he hasn't figured out rotations yet.

 

[msgkings322]

I hear you but just way too early to act like there's no chance they can make the wcf or beat the warriors/suns in a series. 4.5 months left of basketball before we even get to the playoffs

No one is saying "no chance". I just feel the Suns and Warriors are a cut above

 

[bksballer89]

lol

You: It's too early in the season. It's not even Christmas yet.

Also you: A team with 12 new faces that hasn't had it's full roster available and whose best player has missed half the season needs to fire their coach because he hasn't figured out rotations yet.

Not even a rotation thing even though his rotation does suck.As @wildturkey said his defensive strategy with this group doesn't make sense. It needs to be simplified. You want to stay within striking distance of at least the 3rd seed.

Offense was never the issue and will never be the issue with this group. I'm not seeing any adjustments he made to his defensive strategy. Defense is the issue with this team. I think they become a better defense with a simplified approach. The defensive been ass since day 1 and still is. I watched that clippers 4th quarter last night and realized this isn't the players issue as they are just doing what they are told. Out here trapping PG like he is Steph Curry or something

 

[bksballer89]

Sure.

I just don’t see how this years version is any different than the last few.

Nothing Utah can do in the regular season impresses me anymore. I need to see it in the playoffs to believe it.

I am not saying they “have no chance”. But they are not close to the level of Phoenix and GS. More likely that they lose in the 1st round to another team than it is that beat either IMO.

Are they not in the WCF and possibly the nba finals last season with a healthy Mike Conley?

 

[Shanemansj13]

lol

You: It's too early in the season. It's not even Christmas yet.

Also you: A team with 12 new faces that hasn't had it's full roster available and whose best player has missed half the season needs to fire their coach because he hasn't figured out rotations yet.

Like I said before, I’m never counting out Lebron but they have a LONG way to go. I’m not sure if Nunn or Ariza are going to impact this team that much but still waiting..Pelinka always seems to pull something. But this current roster is not a contender to this point, they just don’t have the personnel to play good defense. We will see

 

[tlance]

Are they not in the WCF and possibly the nba finals last season with a healthy Mike Conley?

I don’t think so, no.

They always find a reason to lose.

 

[bksballer89]

Conley played 1 game in the clippers series. He is pretty damn important to that team

 

[bksballer89]

I don’t think so, no.

They always find a reason to lose.

2nd most important player misses 5 of 6 games in the 2nd round wouldn't make a difference....got it lol

 

[tlance]

2nd most important player misses 5 of 6 games in the 2nd round wouldn't make a difference....got it lol

I didn’t say that he doesn’t make a difference.

I said I don’t think they would have beaten the Clippers either way.

My opinion and 1 that I would bet most on here would agree with.

 

[trojanfan12]

Not even a rotation thing even though his rotation does suck.As @wildturkey said his defensive strategy with this group doesn't make sense. It needs to be simplified. You want to stay within striking distance of at least the 3rd seed.

It's absolutely a rotation thing.

Defense is about communication. This team hasn't had the time on the floor together to develop that. Defense is always behind the offense at the start of the season, especially when a team has as many new faces as the Lakers and has had as many players out of the lineup as they have.

You keep harping on Miami's injuries, the Lakers have had more injuries. 2 expected important rotation players haven't even worn a uniform this season...but the coach needs to be fired.

No one thought this team was going to be as good defensively as they have been the past couple of seasons. Everyone had them as a middle of the pack defense even at full strength. If you take a middle of the pack defensive team and remove players/have players in and out of the lineup...what do you expect to happen?

But yeah, let's just fire the coach.

 

[bksballer89]

I didn’t say that he doesn’t make a difference.

I said I don’t think they would have beaten the Clippers either way.

My opinion and 1 that I would bet most on here would agree with.

With Kawhi i tend to agree. Without kawhi in a critical game 5 at home, i disagree

 

[tlance]

Defense is about communication. This team hasn't had the time on the floor together to develop that. Defense is always behind the offense at the start of the season, especially when a team has as many new faces as the Lakers and has had as many players out of the lineup as they have.

You keep harping on Miami's injuries, the Lakers have had more injuries. 2 expected important rotation players haven't even worn a uniform this season...but the coach needs to be fired.

No one thought this team was going to be as good defensively as they have been the past couple of seasons. Everyone had them as a middle of the pack defense even at full strength. If you take a middle of the pack defensive team and remove players/have players in and out of the lineup...what do you expect to happen?

But yeah, let's just fire the coach.

Communication is absolutely important.

But the Lakers don’t have very many guys who can play strong individual defense. And those who can are liabilities offensively.

Best case for this team is average on the defensive end.

And I believe their personnel fit limits the ceiling offensively too.

I don’t care who the coach is or how much time you give them. I am not buying the roster as is as a contender. They are going to need to make some tweaks.

 

[tlance]

With Kawhi i tend to agree. Without kawhi in a critical game 5 at home, i disagree

So…

You want to project the Jazz with Conley, but keep Kawhi out?

We are either turning injuries off or we aren’t. Kawhi means a lot more to the Clippers then Conley to the Jazz.

 

[bksballer89]

It's absolutely a rotation thing.

Defense is about communication. This team hasn't had the time on the floor together to develop that. Defense is always behind the offense at the start of the season, especially when a team has as many new faces as the Lakers and has had as many players out of the lineup as they have.

You keep harping on Miami's injuries, the Lakers have had more injuries. 2 expected important rotation players haven't even worn a uniform this season...but the coach needs to be fired.

No one thought this team was going to be as good defensively as they have been the past couple of seasons. Everyone had them as a middle of the pack defense even at full strength. If you take a middle of the pack defensive team and remove players/have players in and out of the lineup...what do you expect to happen?

But yeah, let's just fire the coach.

You're really high on vogel for some weird reason. Maybe im biased but i always thought he was avg at best when it comes to coaching and i think the lakers thought the same which is why they had J-Kidd as a backup plan when bringing in vogel. Bottom half of the league when it come to coaches

 

[bksballer89]

Communication is absolutely important.

But the Lakers don’t have very many guys who can play strong individual defense. And those who can are liabilities offensively.

Best case for this team is average on the defensive end.

And I believe their personnel fit limits the ceiling offensively too.

I don’t care who the coach is or how much time you give them. I am not buying the roster as is as a contender. They are going to need to make some tweaks.

And they will.

 

[bksballer89]

So…

You want to project the Jazz with Conley, but keep Kawhi out?

We are either turning injuries off or we aren’t. Kawhi means a lot more to the Clippers then Conley to the Jazz.

Kawhi played most of that series. Conley did not.

Kawhi played 4 of 6 while Conley played 1 of 6. Big difference

Who win that series if both played 1 of 6?

 

[trojanfan12]

Like I said before, I’m never counting out Lebron but they have a LONG way to go. I’m not sure if Nunn or Ariza are going to impact this team that much but still waiting..Pelinka always seems to pull something. But this current roster is not a contender to this point, they just don’t have the personnel to play good defense. We will see

Of course they have a long way to go. People who don't overreact to everything Lakers, know this.

Ariza, Nunn and having everyone healthy isn't going to make this team a great defensive team. But they can be a "league average" defense. They have the offense to contend for a title with an average defense. Especially if Lebron and AD are right.

As I've said all along, the Lakers will likely see where things are around Christmas and start looking to make whatever tweaks are necessary. What, if anything, they'll be able to do about it remains to be seen. As you said, Pelinka is usually able to come up with something...we'll see if he can.

 

[bksballer89]

Of course they have a long way to go. People who don't overreact to everything Lakers, know this.

Ariza, Nunn and having everyone healthy isn't going to make this team a great defensive team. But they can be a "league average" defense. They have the offense to contend for a title with an average defense. Especially if Lebron and AD are right.

As I've said all along, the Lakers will likely see where things are around Christmas and start looking to make whatever tweaks are necessary. What, if anything, they'll be able to do about it remains to be seen. As you said, Pelinka is usually able to come up with something...we'll see if he can.

Nunn isn't a good defender at all. Ariza will help some but Nunn defense is pretty bad. That's the main reason him and duncan were never in Miami final 5 lineup

 

[trojanfan12]

Communication is absolutely important.

But the Lakers don’t have very many guys who can play strong individual defense. And those who can are liabilities offensively.

Best case for this team is average on the defensive end.

And I believe their personnel fit limits the ceiling offensively too.

I don’t care who the coach is or how much time you give them. I am not buying the roster as is as a contender. They are going to need to make some tweaks.

Agree almost all of this. I think they're absolutely going to have to make some tweaks. I think that has also always been the plan.

The only part I disagree with is that I don't think they're offensive ceiling is low enough to keep them from contending with an average defense.

Figuring out the rotations was always going to be a challenge, even if fully healthy because there are guys who expect to play a lot that aren't going to or whose laying time is going to fluctuate. Throw in a bunch of injuries and it makes things that much tougher.