Game Thread: tOfficial Lakers Summer League Thread

[Hangman]

When do the Lakers play next?

 

[Black Adam]

When do the Lakers play next?

Mavs tonight at 5:30...

 

[Retroram52]

I've joined the DJ realm of reality. My new job starts at 5:00am. I have to get up at 2:30am. So I won't be watching this game either.

 

[Hangman]

Randle played well in the first half. Russell played decent in the second. Clarkson was getting beat by his defender. Had a hard time dribbling the ball near him. Black and Upshaw were the reason for the loss. They could not rebound at all and their center dominated them all game. He even put in the winning basket on a offensive rebound.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

I wasn't a fan of the Russell pick and I honestly don't know what you guys keep raving about.

Guy is shooting 33% in summer league (12% from 3). And he's only averaging 3 assists per game- all while playing 30+ minutes per game.

And I don't buy this " he's getting used to playing NBA ball " excuse cause NBA ball has nothing to do with shooting. And that was my biggest concern with him and the knock on him coming out was that he wasn't a good shooter- getting a lot of his FG% on lay ups.

Well, guess what's? NBA defenses are going to crowd the lane and force him to shoot and it won't be pretty.

I still think it was a bad pick but I seriously hope I am wrong for the sake of the Lakers.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

I wasn't a fan of the Russell pick and I honestly don't know what you guys keep raving about.

Guy is shooting 33% in summer league (12% from 3). And he's only averaging 3 assists per game- all while playing 30+ minutes per game.

And I don't buy this " he's getting used to playing NBA ball " excuse cause NBA ball has nothing to do with shooting. And that was my biggest concern with him and the knock on him coming out was that he wasn't a good shooter- getting a lot of his FG% on lay ups.

Well, guess what's? NBA defenses are going to crowd the lane and force him to shoot and it won't be pretty.

I still think it was a bad pick but I seriously hope I am wrong for the sake of the Lakers.

You do realise it's only Summer League, right?

These rookies have only been playing together for two weeks now...

under Mark Madsen!

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Like I keep saying over and over again - we never needed an offensive big like Okafor. Fine, so he would have given us 18/10 each night; we'd still get killed in the paint by the opposing teams.

There were two major concerns that had to be addressed from last year. One was defence, the other was keeping in pace with the fast pace of the league. If we had drafted Okafor we would have failed on both.

 

[jaz4u11]

I wasn't a fan of the Russell pick and I honestly don't know what you guys keep raving about.

Guy is shooting 33% in summer league (12% from 3). And he's only averaging 3 assists per game- all while playing 30+ minutes per game.

And I don't buy this " he's getting used to playing NBA ball " excuse cause NBA ball has nothing to do with shooting. And that was my biggest concern with him and the knock on him coming out was that he wasn't a good shooter- getting a lot of his FG% on lay ups.

Well, guess what's? NBA defenses are going to crowd the lane and force him to shoot and it won't be pretty.

I still think it was a bad pick but I seriously hope I am wrong for the sake of the Lakers.

I agree with you, but I will give it time and see how it plays out. I hope I am wrong and he turns out to be a great pick.

 

[jaz4u11]

Like I keep saying over and over again - we never needed an offensive big like Okafor. Fine, so he would have given us 18/10 each night; we'd still get killed in the paint by the opposing teams.

There were two major concerns that had to be addressed from last year. One was defence, the other was keeping in pace with the fast pace of the league. If we had drafted Okafor we would have failed on both.

We could have used an Okafor You cant deny that!!

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

We could have used an Okafor You cant deny that!!

Every team could have used one. We needed a Hibbert

 

[Black Adam]

watched this yesterday too. good thing this is only Summer league...

 

[trojanfan12]

Russell's struggles seem to be twofold.

One, he is getting used to the difference in game speed in the NBA vs. college. A rookie point guard in the NBA is very similar to a rookie quarterback in the NFL. A receiver that is open in college, is covered in the NFL. Passes that Russell could make in college, can't be made or have to be made a split second earlier earlier in the NBA.

Second, his teammates are learning that this kid see's the floor differently than they do. Case in point is what Anthony Brown said about playing alongside him. Brown said that in one of their first practices before the summer league, he took for granted that there wasn't enough of a passing lane for Russell to deliver the ball. Then he watched as the ball arrived in the perfect place, with perfect pace and flew right through his hands.

Brown's Dad, Quentin Brown, compared it to his own experience playing on a high school all-star team in Oakland with an out of state point guard named Magic Johnson.

My first indoctrination to him was him throwing a pass and me getting hit in the back of the head.

The same thing happened to Magic's Lakers teammates in their early practices. Imo, 2 things will happen, Russell will learn the difference between open and not open in the NBA and his teammates will learn to always be looking for the ball. I'm not saying this kid is the next Magic, but there are similarities.

I also like that Russell seems to have a short memory. In the 2nd half of yesterday's game, he made a difficult pass that was intercepted. The next time down the floor, he made another difficult pass that was delivered perfectly and resulted in a dunk by Randle.

It's the summer league. Those who were against the pick, need to back away from the ledge and give it some time instead of jumping on 3-4 summer league games as proof that the Lakers made the wrong pick.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

I get that it is summer league, but shooting is shooting.

pace of the game is a crap excuse for poor shooting. if he is playing 30+ minutes per game, then fatigue is not a factor.

his shooting is terrible and that was the one knock on him coming out and the reason I didn't like the pick. a PG that can't shoot but can make fancy passes= Jason Williams when he was in the league. you don't draft a Jason Williams at #2 overall.

 

[ANGELAKERAMS]

Like I keep saying over and over again - we never needed an offensive big like Okafor. Fine, so he would have given us 18/10 each night; we'd still get killed in the paint by the opposing teams.

There were two major concerns that had to be addressed from last year. One was defence, the other was keeping in pace with the fast pace of the league. If we had drafted Okafor we would have failed on both.

Russell isn't a good defender either. so how is he going to help the Lakers from getting burned by the other PG's in the league? Hibbert can't cover everyones weaknesses.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Russell isn't a good defender either. so how is he going to help the Lakers from getting burned by the other PG's in the league? Hibbert can't cover everyones weaknesses.

He is actually. Don't tell me you're going to judge a player by a handful of summer league games!

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

 

[trojanfan12]

He is actually. Don't tell me you're going to judge a player by a handful of summer league games!

That's exactly what he's going to do. Gives him something to bitch about and an opportunity to say "I told you so."

 

[tomodach10]

That's exactly what he's going to do. Gives him something to bitch about and an opportunity to say "I told you so."

Why is it considered bitching when he is pointing out the facts about Russell?? Every laker fan wants Russell to be great. He pointing out known Facts about Russell. Some of us are not going to paint this as sunshine and rainbows lol. I can't wait to regular season. The kid is going to have to adjust to the NBA. It takes time, but I like others I have valid concern about him..

 

[trojanfan12]

Why is it considered bitching when he is pointing out the facts about Russell?? Every laker fan wants Russell to be great. He pointing out known Facts about Russell. Some of us are not going to paint this as sunshine and rainbows lol. I can't wait to regular season. The kid is going to have to adjust to the NBA. It takes time, but I like others I have valid concern about him..

Because he's played 4 summer league games and some act like he's already a bust. That's why it's considered bitching.

No one is saying it has be painted with sunshine and rainbows, but it doesn't need to be painted with dark clouds and thunderstorms either.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Because he's played 4 summer league games and some act like he's already a bust. That's why it's considered bitching.

No one is saying it has be painted with sunshine and rainbows, but it doesn't need to be painted with dark clouds and thunderstorms either.

Not just that, but the guys have only been working out together for two weeks... under Mark Madsen.

Things will be a lot different when B Scott is in charge of training camp.