Game Thread: Lakers 2014 Pre-Season Game Thread!

[wildturkey]

5 three pointers. FIVE. Combine that with a shit ton of midrange shots. That's been a trend through every game so far. If this is seriously the philosophy Byron Scott wants, this team will win 22 games. It is totally ass backward from how the NBA has worked for the last 15 years.

 

[Chilipepper]

I only watched the first preseason game so far. What the hell is going on? Scott is suppose to be about defense.

 

[Retroram52]

Yep, this low amount of three point shots coupled with getting rid of most of the three-point shooters is baffling. I suppose Scott thinks his defense is going to be so spectacular that it will eliminate the opponent's ability to shoot and/or make three pointers to allow the Lakers to stay with an opponent offensively but as we have already witnessed in the preseason teams are shooting an average of 20 three pointers a game and they make a fair amount of those shots.

Our defense is not as stellar as Scott is hoping and teams just pull away (even the worst of them) like last night. Yep, right now we are staring at another 22-win season if things don't improve and we can't depend on Kobe each night either because he is not 20-something anymore and he is clanking a fair amount of shots as well as missing free-throws. Scott had better adjust his thinking or this may turn out to be another bad move as many of us hoped it wouldn't be.

 

[trojanfan12]

I think some of you are reading waaaay too much into the pre-season. Players who won't even be on the team or who will play very little in the regular season are playing fairly extensive minutes. I turned on the game part way through first quarter and there were players out there that I forgot were on the roster. Every time I switched back to the game (was also watching football) it was the same.


There are also a couple of important players who haven't been playing at all the last couple of games due to injury (Xavier and Kelly). Right now, Scott is just trying to figure out who's going to be on the team.


On the plus side, Price is looking to make it very, very difficult for Byron to cut him.

 

[lakersrule]

Price made the team with last night's effort. He looked good defensively.

Ellington probably makes the 15th spot on the roster, not due to his play but moreso due to the uncertainty of Nash. He has a non-guaranteed contract, so he can always be cut before mid-January if they need the roster spot for someone else.

Exum looked pretty smooth out there. Their tall Frenchie seems to be learning his body better. Utah has some nice looking youth.

 

[lakersrule]

The lack of 3-point shots trend is a bit disturbing. I feel that will change though once Lin, Young, Kelly, Henry, Clarkson, and -gasp- Nash are back in the lineup. They won't put up as much as last season, but they will put up more than we've seen so far this preseason.

 

[Retroram52]

Kobe and most of the starters played about 7 minutes of the first quarter and the lead was already 14 when they went out with substitutions. The starters didn't play that good of a defense. I get the function of the preseason and what it used for but its results are not indicators received in a vacuum. The results are indicators of the overall state of a franchise and we are not in a good place right now. We are definitely in rebuild mode, that much is obvious.

Scott continues to criticize Randle's play for example to figure out how to play harder and longer. He also wants Kobe to be ready to play 30 minutes a game. B. Scott is running the risk of alienating his players if he's not careful. At this juncture perhaps that is what is required to change this culture and maybe not.

Byron Scott criticizes Julius Randle's effort, again - Silver Screen and Roll

 

[wildturkey]

It's sort of stupid on Scott's part to criticize Randle's effort. It's the preseason. No one is going 100%. Not even Byron went hard in the preseason. It's backwards thinking once again. NOW is the ideal time to play him big minutes. He's greener than green. He needs all the on court minutes he can get. Playing someone like Jeremy Tyler, who really isn't an NBA player, is a total waste just because you don't like it that Randle didn't chase a rebound into the stands during a preseason game.

 

[tomodach10]

It's sort of stupid on Scott's part to criticize Randle's effort. It's the preseason. No one is going 100%. Not even Byron went hard in the preseason. It's backwards thinking once again. NOW is the ideal time to play him big minutes. He's greener than green. He needs all the on court minutes he can get. Playing someone like Jeremy Tyler, who really isn't an NBA player, is a total waste just because you don't like it that Randle didn't chase a rebound into the stands during a preseason game.[/Q

How is that stupid for a coach to expect a rookie to play hard? He has to learn that you earn things by hard work this is not Kentucky!!! He is a rookie lol

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

How is that stupid for a coach to expect a rookie to play hard? He has to learn that you earn things by hard work this is not Kentucky!!! He is a rookie lol

 

[wildturkey]

It's sort of stupid on Scott's part to criticize Randle's effort. It's the preseason. No one is going 100%. Not even Byron went hard in the preseason. It's backwards thinking once again. NOW is the ideal time to play him big minutes. He's greener than green. He needs all the on court minutes he can get. Playing someone like Jeremy Tyler, who really isn't an NBA player, is a total waste just because you don't like it that Randle didn't chase a rebound into the stands during a preseason game.

How is that stupid for a coach to expect a rookie to play hard? He has to learn that you earn things by hard work this is not Kentucky!!! He is a rookie lol

Rookies aren't stupid. They too know its preseason. It's not stupid to expect a rookie to play hard but it is when it's the preseason, when it is understood that you don't go hard in preseason. It's not like he's clowning out there. He looks lost at times, but that's because he's a rookie, not an effort thing. The best way to help that is to get more minutes and preseason is the exact time to do that. Plus, he's a top draft pick. You don't bench high draft picks for not showing "effort" in preseason. There are other ways to motivate players. You can ride his ass in practice, embarrass his ass in the film room, play him on the court and yell at him every time he fucks up (a Greg Popovich favorite). But not playing Randle in the preseason is just paddling against the current with one oar.

 

[trojanfan12]

The pre-season doesn't mean nothing, but it does mean next to nothing. I don't recall Phil's Lakers teams exactly tearing it up in the pre-season and that seemed to work out just fine.


The Lakers have a new coaching staff, new offensive and defensive systems, a lot of new faces and Byron seems to be playing starters fewer minutes than many of the other teams. He also is trying all sorts of different combinations of players.


Right now, all Byron is doing is trying to figure out who's going to make the team and get as much of his offensive and defensive systems in place as possible. He probably hasn't even given a lot of thought to how minutes will be divided up once the season starts.


I'm taking basically the same approach to this season as I did last season. I want the team to be fun to watch and play hard. I'd like to see improvement on defense and have some idea on which of these players will kept as part of the re-build to contender status.


If this team can fulfill that and come in at around .500 for the season, I will be happy. Not satisfied, because as a Lakers fan, I'm programmed to not be satisfied with less than a championship, but I will be happy seeing positive momentum going into 2016.

 

[lakersrule]

Randle seems pretty smart. Based on his quotes after yesterday's practice, he seems to understand what Scott is doing. He sat partly due to the blisters on his feet anyway.

 

[LALakersboy24.7]

Randle seems pretty smart. Based on his quotes after yesterday's practice, he seems to understand what Scott is doing. He sat partly due to the blisters on his feet anyway.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

Rookies don't have a good track record with the Lakers, I like how Byron is making Randle work.

If Randle really wants to be a great player then I think he'll keep his head down and work hard, if he's smart he'll listen to everything Kobe and Byron say to him.

 

[wildturkey]

Rookies don't have a good track record with the Lakers, I like how Byron is making Randle work.

If Randle really wants to be a great player then I think he'll keep his head down and work hard, if he's smart he'll listen to everything Kobe and Byron say to him.

That probably has more to do with most of the Lakers picks over the last decade being 2nd rounders than it does anything else.

 

[Retroram52]

Looks like Xavier Henry's surgically repaired right knee is not healing as expected. He's out for the remainder of the preseason and is headed to Germany for "Kobe treatments".

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/...e-los-angeles-lakers-miss-remainder-preseason

 

[OutlawImmortal]

That probably has more to do with most of the Lakers picks over the last decade being 2nd rounders than it does anything else.

True but regardless, Rookies don't tend to get a lot of respect on any team. I see it as Byron pushing a Rookie. Whether that's the best tactic is yet to be seen. Byron is basically the polar opposite to D'Antoni, we'll see how the players respond

That's bad news for Henry, Retro. He's too young to be having Kobe operations.

 

[Retroram52]

Yep. That knee is not doing well according to several reports.

 

[wildturkey]

Henry has had injury issues back to his college days, maybe even HS but I'm not certain on that. He's got talent enough to be a pretty decent player but he can't stay on the court.