Ex-Coach Luke Walton Discussion

Discussion in 'NBA Discussion' started by YoungThundercat, Apr 29, 2016.

  1. lakerfan2

    lakerfan2 - Lakers All Star -

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    The thing with Randle, I believe, is that he is very alpha minded, and you have to be tough with these type of players or they really won't listen at all. Think Kobe level of stubborness. Also, Randle isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so Luke has to make it a point to teach him what he does wrong, or he'll miss it.

    But, I do agree Randle needs to be on the floor, just not at small ball center, because he gets torched on the pick and roll defense. On the ball, off ball weak side, he's a lot better.
     
  2. Bryant

    Bryant - Lakers 6th Man -

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    We need to see more of the Ball-KCP-Ingram-Kuz-Randle lineup. It could be our version of the "lineup of death".
     
  3. Barnstable

    Barnstable Supreme Fuzzler of Lakersball.com Staff Member

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    I agree. Luke makes some mistakes I don’t understand at all. But at the same time we are nearly 500, top 10 in defensive efficiency and doing way better than a lot of people thought we would over all.

    No idea what’s going on with him and Randle though.

    Still let Luke grow as a coach just like our 2nd year players. He’s not doing bad at all.
     
  4. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    I get giving Luke more time. Young coach has to grow. I'm just fed up with his treatment of Randle. It simply doesn't make sense. That I can't be patient with any more. Nance is out for 2 months. Randle is beasting. Kuz is doing great but he's a rookie and shouldn't be playing 40 minutes a game. Play Randle and play him now. 20 minutes a game is absurd when he's playing this well and we need bodies. Walton's stubbornness is really odd. I've never seen him do anything like this before. Is this his call or the FO?
     
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  5. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    That lineup, if given more time, has the most intriguing blend of skills by a wide margin on our team. They can switch everything and are all very quick athletes that should be able to cover ground on help. Every single one of them can pick up the ball and run. I desperately want to look into this lineup more.

    It's also the lineup that would be most interesting for prospective additions. A lineup like that with maybe George in KCP's spot and/or LeBron in Randle's is pretty devastating.
     
  6. Doc Brown

    Doc Brown - Lakers Starter -

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    D'Angelo Russell says hi. This is the DAR fiasco all over again. Only Randle is playing better and has been more consistent without any other drama. If they do a smear campaign on Randle when they obviously pushed him out the door, I will lose a lot of respect for the FO.

    This season was supposed to be about getting max wins since no draft pick + need to attract free agents, but as we've seen agendas have gotten in the way of that which makes things even worse. Hopefully the two max offseason happens because as we've seen before the hype plan can turn to torches real fast.
     
  7. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    To be fair, the record is still pretty great even with this side story drama going on so the draft pick/anti-tank side still works.
     
  8. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    Agreed Doc. DLO I understood because of his immaturity and inconsistency. This one I don't get. Randle's in the best shape of his life, improved his game and is obviously trying to earn a contract with good reason as he has a young family that depends on him. He is bringing massive energy when he comes into the game and is a major reason we are close to .500. It could be argued even that if he had played down the stretch in a couple of games now we would be OVER .500.
     
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  9. Doc Brown

    Doc Brown - Lakers Starter -

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    So we have give up a few wins to maximize Randle's trade value by tanking his minutes? I don't want the record to be "pretty great" when there is clear evidence we are leaving Ws on the table. If we end up playing .500 ball those few wins could mean playoffs and a huge push in momentum going into the offseason.

    If we trade Randle before the deadline, the record is going to tank. He's been a big reason we've won games/stayed in games we shouldn't have. Replacing him with Bogut/Zu/Deng and giving Nance his minutes when he comes back (And inevitably injured again) is going to make the 2nd unit a poo poo platter.

    It's outrageous how much confidence the FO has in the cap space plan, if they pull it off great more power to the them for having the stones to do that and I'll be the first to commend them. If they don't, everyone should be demanding why they tanked DAR/Randle only to get cap space to bring in nothing. I don't know whether to be blindly confident or worried the FO isn't even debating plans going forward with Randle in them. Something is clearly going on though, good or bad and only time will tell.
     
  10. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    That's not what I'm saying at all. I'm saying if a month before the season started someone told us "the Lakers will be 5-6 to start the year", the vast majority of us would assume Luke was doing a great job and things were going really well. That's an overachieving record and so it'll be used a weapon by Luke to justify his minutes for Randle. I don't agree with the minutes for Randle. I think he should be playing more.

    If we traded Randle for nothing, then yes it would be a hit.

    I agree that they're really pushing all their chips into that pot, but this is a different situation than Mitch and Jim. I still have faith in the 2018 plan just based on what we've got on the floor as attractive young pieces in Kuzma, Ingram, and especially Ball who would be a star player's dream come true (low usage rate, high efficiency, great talent? score!). If they fail, I'll be the first to bury them, but so far things are going roughly as well as the FO would like it to go. Randle is an interesting piece, but the real problem is Deng. If they can find a way out of Deng's deal, the game changes dramatically this summer.
     
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  11. ZenMaster

    ZenMaster - Lakers All Star -

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    Oh, the amount of crow(s) people are going to eat next summer when we have nothing... not even Randle/Lopez or KCP...
     
  12. Kenzo

    Kenzo - Lakers All Star -

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    We had na nice start to the season last year as well...
    Did some thinking and instead of Luke garbage sign i need a "free Randle" one ;)
     
  13. Battle Tested20

    Battle Tested20 Moderator Staff Member

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    Get Brewer off the F****** court and play Randle more. That is all.

    I'm not worried about Luke and the future. I like the areas that we have improved in. Just some of the rotations are really out of wack right now.
     
  14. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    [​IMG]

    dude is innocent!!!!
     
  15. alam1108

    alam1108 - Lakers Legend -

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    His rotations makes me think he is still in Golden State where the players have had developed chemistry playing together for several years where you can just plug and chug. We can't be randomly throwing Bogut or Brewer out there and expect things to go well.
     
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  16. John3:16

    John3:16 Moderator Staff Member

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    Luke: Hold my beer.

    Proceeds to insert both into the game at the same time.
     
  17. alam1108

    alam1108 - Lakers Legend -

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    WTF line up is Ball/JC/Blue/Brewer/Randle??!!?

    You're asking your best playmaker play with two offensively challenged players and two one track mind players.
     
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  18. ZenMaster

    ZenMaster - Lakers All Star -

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    At first it was JC/Blue/Brewer/???/Randle too.
     
  19. ZenMaster

    ZenMaster - Lakers All Star -

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    I simply don't understand. There has been a desire to let BI initiate the offense. And he does it. With Zo on the floor. That's stupid.

    When Zo is on the floor, BI should cut/spot/etc. Then, you bring in JC for Zo, BI runs the offense. Then you bring Hart/Caruso/Ennis for 3 minutes to be a PG. Then you repeat.

    Not a f***ing rocket science. JC has been the same player for 4 years...
     
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  20. therealdeal

    therealdeal Moderator Staff Member

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    I don't mind Ingram initiating more (if we sign either George or LeBron, that's going to turn into a weapon), but what the f*** is Blue doing in an NBA game?

    Can we find a worse version of Brewer?
     
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