|
On October 08 2013 10:34 RowdierBob wrote: What depth though? I mean you picked up more players but they're all scrubs of the highest order.
Do Laker peeps really think X Henry and Nick Young have all this latent potential just waiting to be plucked out by the gold and purple jersey?
The Lakers are far worse than last year. Far worse.
Our bench is better than last year.
A lot better.
Our 5 man starting line up is probably going to be weaker, hard to say really considering we never saw them together, but with Jordan Hill back and Farmar and Young in the rotation over Meeks and Duhon we have a much better bench than last year, even if it ends up being bad, it wont be AS bad as last year's.
We ran like an 8 man rotation for the majority of last season because of how bad our bench was.
|
But going from a very scrubby bench to a slightly less scrubby bench whilst downgrading your starting lineup is not a good thing.
After Nick Young's 20th double cross-over fading sideways 20-footer I think you'll start to cool on him.
This is the 06/07 Lakers redux except Kobe can't carry the team like he used to.
|
On October 08 2013 10:58 RowdierBob wrote: But going from a very scrubby bench to a slightly less scrubby bench whilst downgrading your starting lineup is not a good thing.
After Nick Young's 20th double cross-over fading sideways 20-footer I think you'll start to cool on him.
This is the 06/07 Lakers redux except Kobe can't carry the team like he used to.
It isn't anywhere near that bad and you know it.
Steve Nash alone is worth half of the 06-07 starting line up. Pau is probably worth more.
I'm all for admitting this team isn't a strong team, but comparing it to the era of Kwame Brown, Smush Parker and Chris Mihm is going way too far.
Also on the note of Kobe carrying, we only made the playoffs last season because Kobe carried the team there with some help from MWP admittedly.
|
United States4471 Posts
On October 08 2013 10:58 RowdierBob wrote: But going from a very scrubby bench to a slightly less scrubby bench whilst downgrading your starting lineup is not a good thing.
After Nick Young's 20th double cross-over fading sideways 20-footer I think you'll start to cool on him.
This is the 06/07 Lakers redux except Kobe can't carry the team like he used to.
The Lakers aren't going to be very good in all likelihood, but let's not exaggerate how bad they'll be yet. This is not like the Kobe playing with Smush and Kwame years. They still have Nash and Pau to anchor things and help Kobe out, along with some decent role players. They're certain to be poor on defense, but D'Antoni has been able to maximize limited rosters like this before despite sub-par defense.
Again, I'm not saying they're going to be good, but they're not going to be as bad as many are predicting either in my opinion.
|
On October 08 2013 10:35 N1k0 wrote: Are there any plans on running a tl fantasy league this season?
doomsville was the one who used to make them but he last posted here back in may ...
|
Those two Laker teams had +.500 seasons. Can we say this one will?
I love Steve Nash but he's past it and it's debatable if Pau is in the same spot. The role players just aren't good.
Offensively this Laker team isn't that bad but defensively they will just be awful. When you look at that 06/07 Lakers they were PTS/G: 103.3 (5th of 30) and Opp PTS/G: 103.4 (25th of 30). I think it's going to be pretty similar this year. They have no perimeter or interior defence. You guys are talking about Nash and Pau like they were the players they were five years ago. They just don't have the hops in their game anymore.
|
United States22883 Posts
I dunno. It'll be interesting to see if D'Antoni was able to construct his kind of team. If so, they can still be a .500 team, even with weak parts. It'd be slightly hilarious though if Kobe's return caused the same chemistry issues the Knicks went through when Carmelo came back.
|
United States4471 Posts
On October 08 2013 11:32 RowdierBob wrote: Those two Laker teams had +.500 seasons. Can we say this one will?
I love Steve Nash but he's past it and it's debatable if Pau is in the same spot. The role players just aren't good.
Offensively this Laker team isn't that bad but defensively they will just be awful. When you look at that 06/07 Lakers they were PTS/G: 103.3 (5th of 30) and Opp PTS/G: 103.4 (25th of 30). I think it's going to be pretty similar this year. They have no perimeter or interior defence. You guys are talking about Nash and Pau like they were the players they were five years ago. They just don't have the hops in their game anymore.
It's possible they can finish .500+ with healthy seasons from Nash and Pau and if the rest of the team buy into the system and perform their roles well. Despite D'Antoni's flaws, he has shown that he can maximize limited players by putting them into positions to succeed, and he has two very team-oriented leaders to help.
I agree that Nash seems to have fallen off in a significant way with no apparent return to form in sight, but his passing and shooting will still be there and he knows D'Antoni's system like the back of his hand. I think Pau can still be very effective as a featured player. It was only a year ago that he anchored the Spanish national team effectively. His game isn't predicated on athleticism, and he still has his height and length to go with his skill set and high IQ.
I don't think anyone is saying that it's anywhere close to certain or even likely that the Lakers make it to the playoffs, but I think them being bad and not making the playoffs is uncertain as well. They could do alright if things click the right way, or they could fall precipitously if they don't. We just don't know yet, but I think D'Antoni plus Nash and Pau (and some Kobe) should be enough to give them a decent shot at surprising people.
|
I pretty much agree. I think they'll be in the 36-40 win slot (I think Vegas has the line for the Lake show at 33.5?). But people are trading too much on reputation when it comes to Nash and Pau. I think they have a lot of similarities to the 06/07 Lakers.
|
On October 08 2013 12:12 RowdierBob wrote: I pretty much agree. I think they'll be in the 36-40 win slot (I think Vegas has the line for the Lake show at 33.5?). But people are trading too much on reputation when it comes to Nash and Pau. I think they have a lot of similarities to the 06/07 Lakers.
I think that's what you're seeing because that's what you want to see.
It's going to be a long season, there'll be plenty of time to evaluate this team as it goes along, but right now it's just preseason and its too early to really tell anything that conclusive.
|
is Sacre still playing for the lakers?
|
On October 08 2013 12:42 icystorage wrote: is Sacre still cheering for the lakers?
Yea he is. FTFY
|
Until then I will bask in my schadenfreude.
|
Wonder if the Kings know Isiah Thomas is their best player and Cousin's is terrible.
Nope. That contract extension says it all.
|
I just blew my entire year of savings to watch Houston vs Indiana in 2 days. Hope it will be worth it.
|
Cousins is the Monta Ellis of bigmen. You can see the makings of a potentially dominant basketballer but the grey matter between the ears just isn't up to par with the skills.
He does some amazing things for a man of his size at times but then he'll back it up with some head-scratchingly awful things two minutes later which makes you wonder if he'll ever get it.
And yeah, I wonder if it's ever awkward at Kings training when you can see how much better Thomas is than Jimmer.
|
United States4471 Posts
On October 08 2013 13:45 Ace wrote: Wonder if the Kings know Isiah Thomas is their best player and Cousin's is terrible.
Nope. That contract extension says it all.
Sad that Isaiah might not get enough PT simply because the team has so many blackholes that playing Vasquez may be a necessity.
|
Im out of date. Is Kobe going to play all 82 this year?
I figured he would miss the first 10-12, then another 6 throughout. That team would be pretty bad.
|
On October 08 2013 14:14 cLutZ wrote: Im out of date. Is Kobe going to play all 82 this year?
I figured he would miss the first 10-12, then another 6 throughout. That team would be pretty bad.
I doubt he's going to be back in time for the start of the season. There haven't been any updates to suggest he'll make it back in time for the start of the season.
|
they would miss the playoffs with Kobe anyway
|
|
|
|