Los Angeles Lakers 2018-2019 Season Thread

[tomodach10]

Austin Rivers??

 

[DJ]

The Nets are up tonight. Should be a win. I'll be working.

The Wiz should have been a win also....

 

[DJ]

Getting worked over by the Nets.....

 

[tomodach10]

Why are we strugging with bad teams?????

 

[Inimical]

Nets won five straight and we have 4 guys out but still, this is really bad basketball. Those free throws for God’s sake and turnovers.

 

[tomodach10]

We still need to add a shooter, who can hit free throws as well lol

 

[DJ]

James needs help....

 

[DJ]

Well, the defense hasn't been awful.....

 

[DJ]

Why are we strugging with bad teams?????

Young teams sometimes struggle on the road.

 

[DJ]

Ball hit a clutch 3 and then Dudley hits an even clutcher 3.....

 

[DJ]

James is so clutch....

 

[tomodach10]

Another loss to a scoring point guard!!!

 

[tomodach10]

We really need Rondo and Ingram.

 

[wildturkey]

Why are we strugging with bad teams?????

Despite their record, the Nets aren't actually a "bad" team. They've got some young talent and are coached very well. They're typically fundamentally sound, feisty, and are usually in just about every game they play in. They would probably be a playoff team had Caris LeVert not gotten hurt. It's not THAT surprising we lost, especially since McGee didn't play. Like we saw that beginning of the year, this team is dreadful on defense when it only has 1 center. The roster just is poorly constructed because we don't really have any defensive players in the front court beyond McGee and Chandler. Lebron doesn't play defense all the time, conserving his energy. Kuzma is still young and prone to lots of mistakes. Ingram (when he's playing) is so skinny he just gets bounced around. Beasley isn't around but he's been bad even in the limited minutes he's had. So there's a TON riding on McGee and Chandler's shoulders. Take one out and its easy buckets for opposing teams.

 

[trojanfan12]

Nets won five straight and we have 4 guys out but still, this is really bad basketball. Those free throws for God’s sake and turnovers.

This makes the 5th or 6th game (at least) that they could have won had they just hit free throws.

Missed 10 free throws...lost by 5.

 

[tomodach10]

Despite their record, the Nets aren't actually a "bad" team. They've got some young talent and are coached very well. They're typically fundamentally sound, feisty, and are usually in just about every game they play in. They would probably be a playoff team had Caris LeVert not gotten hurt. It's not THAT surprising we lost, especially since McGee didn't play. Like we saw that beginning of the year, this team is dreadful on defense when it only has 1 center. The roster just is poorly constructed because we don't really have any defensive players in the front court beyond McGee and Chandler. Lebron doesn't play defense all the time, conserving his energy. Kuzma is still young and prone to lots of mistakes. Ingram (when he's playing) is so skinny he just gets bounced around. Beasley isn't around but he's been bad even in the limited minutes he's had. So there's a TON riding on McGee and Chandler's shoulders. Take one out and its easy buckets for opposing teams.

Yea, but the number one thing is free throw shooting and number 2 is not stopping scoring PGs. We still should beat the Nets and Wizards. No excuse.

 

[Retroram52]

Yep, we still have glaring weaknesses even though we hold down the four spot in the Western Conference.

 

[Inimical]

God help us, Lebron said he would like to play with Carmelo.

 

[wildturkey]

Yea, but the number one thing is free throw shooting and number 2 is not stopping scoring PGs. We still should beat the Nets and Wizards. No excuse.

Interior defense with front court players (forwards and centers) plays a big role in stopping those scoring PGs. Like I said, the only two players we have on the roster (minus Lebron, who isn't going to go hard every night at his age) that have defensive skills in the front court are McGee and Chandler. If either one of them isn't on the court, its just a layup line for the other team. It doesn't matter what else you have on the court. It's not as simple as saying Lonzo, Rondo, or whoever else just need to step and guard their man. NBA defenses are far more complex than simple match ups from years and years ago. Last night was a perfect example of that. McGee was out, and when Chandler sat, the Nets targeted Kuzma over and over and over. He's not skilled enough (yet) to keep up with the various switches and defensive adjustments on the fly and he doesn't have the length and athletic ability to recover a blown assignment with a chase down block like McGee can.

 

[tomodach10]

Interior defense with front court players (forwards and centers) plays a big role in stopping those scoring PGs. Like I said, the only two players we have on the roster (minus Lebron, who isn't going to go hard every night at his age) that have defensive skills in the front court are McGee and Chandler. If either one of them isn't on the court, its just a layup line for the other team. It doesn't matter what else you have on the court. It's not as simple as saying Lonzo, Rondo, or whoever else just need to step and guard their man. NBA defenses are far more complex than simple match ups from years and years ago. Last night was a perfect example of that. McGee was out, and when Chandler sat, the Nets targeted Kuzma over and over and over. He's not skilled enough (yet) to keep up with the various switches and defensive adjustments on the fly and he doesn't have the length and athletic ability to recover a blown assignment with a chase down block like McGee can.

Good points. I agree it is never about just guarding your man it is more about switching effectively. As a team the Lakers struggles with that especially with an agile big and scoring pg. Kuzma is young ang will get better. Ingram to me will never have strengh to match his length.