Grab some popcorn everyone, because this one's going to be a long post. Since our second preseason game this year, I've criticized Luke Walton's offense for being uninnovative, and most importantly not putting our players in a position to succeed. The schemes are extremely basic, and ultimately we were outclassed by a much more efficient Bucks team. Over the course of this season, with Cranjis, LFR, and Magic himself giving Walton some heat for his terrible offense, some people have come around to realize that while our defense is bad, our offense is no better. And we need a significant change in our game planning if this team hopes to make the playoffs. While much of the media and our fanbase gives Luke the excuses of injuries, no shooters, etc. I'm going to show you why none of that has a bearing on the basis of my argument: that Luke and his assistants do not do a very good job with designing this offense.
The majority of Luke's offense is focused around trying to push the ball...
ESPN is running this story (again). Okay, I'm sure there are new details, but it's been a long time since I went back and watched this. What are your thoughts on this, now that it's nearly two decades ago?
The reffing was (I think) objectively bad, but the mistakes weren't as obviously beneficial to Sacramento as they might seem.
Calling the foul on DIvac on Horry on the floor was a bad call, but Horry was fouled earlier in the play.
Calls for Shaq to have a flagrant were absurd. He's big and went for the ball.
Kobe clearly smashed Bibby, but I'm not sure that's what refs are looking for (even the one who seems to be looking in that general direction), but that foul hurt Sacramento.
Just a fun idea I was thinking about. Honestly, what's the point of making the playoffs at this point? I see 2 reasons.
1) Get the young kids playoff experience.
2) Protect the team's and LeBron's reputation and signal to other teams we're serious about winning.
The first is complicated by the fact that the kids have checked out thanks to the trade rumors. Furthermore, I would argue developing the kids talent is more important than artificial playoff experience. But it's clear we cannot be *WIN NOW* with LeBron on the team and at the same time be in player development mode for Brandon Ingram and co. We have to pick one, and by signing LeBron that choice has already been made.
The team and LeBron's reputation isn't that great at this point. Most teams know we're serious about winning thanks to how public the latest FA and trade rumors have been, so this point isn't a concern.
So now that we've agreed we're in *WIN NOW* mode while LeBron is on the team, what's the best way to do...
