Ex-Coach Luke Walton Discussion

Spoiler: Live look at Vash

 

It's probably doing some automatic resizing to accommodate display devices dynamically. There may be nothing can be done, but if it's an easy setting, that would be great.

@Barnstable not sure of the version currently being run of XenForo, but this is a common issue if you look it up. Here appears to be the fix:

https://xenforo.com/community/threads/animated-avatars-in-thread-view.108523/

sorry, any other comments I'll take to PM, didn't mean to derail our beloved Luke thread.

 

That looks silly .... and painful.

 

That’s the game Vash is playing...

Jk

 

Hey, that's not on me, that's on your momma...She's into this role playing s***.

 

Dude, Moms is dead, so me thinks let's get back to basketball. Some things aren't so funny.

 

When keeping it real goes tragically wrong...

 

Yes a great read. We shouldn't be making fun of Luke just hiring his buddies. He's not a shallow guy. He's competitive as hell and gets fired up. But look how he handles things compared to fist fights and they're too young harping always by Byron Scott.

MT: Why do you think Luke is a good head coach?
Mermuys: He has hit-you-in-the-face, unbelievable moments as a coach where I’m implored to tell him, at the next time possible, ‘Man, what a great job, that was amazing.’ Some of his halftimes addressing the team, some of his postgames, how he handles different situations. His ability to be firm but not negative. To hold guys accountable without beating them down. It’s really impressive stuff. And I’ve worked for some big-time guys, NBA lifers like George Karl, Kevin McHale and Dwane Casey, and obviously coach (Lute) Olson, and what Luke does is just really impressive.

MT: What’s an example of one of those hit-you-in-the-face coaching moments for Luke?
Mermuys: When we played Denver* at halftime, he was extremely fired up. As a coaching staff, we were pissed off. I remember being furious, wanting him to go in there and let ‘em have it. And Luke just did such an amazing job. So he’s fired up, and he’s letting them have it … but he’s building them up at the same time. It wasn’t negative. It wasn’t degrading. It wasn’t attacking. But it was still super intense and jarring for them. I just remember being blown away as we walked back out of the locker room. Then after the game, I remember telling him that it was really impressive.
*On March 13, LAL blew a 13-point first quarter lead and led by only one at halftime, against a team they’d blown two fourth quarter leads in on the road. The Lakers wound up winning 112-103.


MT: All that you’ve been talking about with the importance of culture on and off the floor strikes me as related to why you as a staff love Lonzo Ball so much. Is it fair to give him a lot of credit for the way he impacts winning, or at least the way he projects to in the future?
Mermuys: Yes. It’s gonna take a little bit for the masses to really see it, but that guy is so special. He’s a special player. What he does impacts winning on a really high level. He has things that you can’t coach, that you can’t develop, that you can’t show with film that are really special talents that you’re born with. I don’t know when that point is, but that will eventually get out and hit people in the face. Even when he has what look like bad games from the outside, he’s doing so many things out there that are below the surface that are incredible.

MT: Unfortunately, we haven’t seen Brandon Ingram on the court much since his terrific February (18.6 ppg on 54.5 percent shooting, 5.6 apg, 5.2 rpg, 1.1 bpg, 0.6 spg), but it’s pretty clear how much he’s grown this year. Where do you see him getting to one day?
Mermuys: The path that he’s on, he’s going to be able to do it all. That point guard time was awesome for him. I think it really helped. And with him, it’s just a matter of time. As he gets stronger, as his body fills out. His length is incredible, his skill level … you can just see it out there. At least I know I can. There are moments in the game where when you watch the All-NBA guys, and then watch everyone else, it’s such a vast difference. They’re so far superior. The gap between the All-NBA guys, the top 15 and everybody else, is just a huge gap. And you watch Ingram and at times see a flash of that. His body control, his steps … he just has that in him. You can see it’s going to be coming. He’s a great kid, a great teammate, he works hard. He has everything covered, it’s just now about keeping working, being patient and watching him grow. He’s going to be a special player.

MT: Before the season, many hoped 30th pick Josh Hart would be a true NBA 3 and D guy … but he’s perhaps already shown more than that. What stands out to you about Hart?
Mermuys: What he brings to the table is extremely valuable, and everybody needs that strong, physical wing defender that can rebound, that can guard bigger guys. That physicality is just so important out there. And with Lonzo and Ingram (and to an extent Kuzma) being slender, non-physical guys who need to work on their bodies, Josh has been a godsend there. Josh, being older and more mature, as strong and as tough as he is, is a great fit for us for the future. What he was doing defensively and rebounding was enough. And then when he adds offense, when he does make threes and he does get those tough, physical layups, it’s like icing on the cake.


And of course Jessie had good words too about Kuzma.

 

I copied the things that Jesse said that impressed me the most and I wanted to make sure people saw. Just happened to be a lot.

 

He seems to like talk about hitting people in the face

 

Will PG's and Lebron's people be there too. They do need to discuss Randle and KCP contracts.

 

Oh ... Hell ... Yeah!