On one hand there are too many games left, which means the Nuggets and Magic can catch us...and will if Byron doesn't start gluing, duct-taping, or hell, nail gunning them to the bench. On the other hand there are not enough games left for us to catch Minnesota, and especially if we keep winning. The Lakers are in a terrible spot right now, and seem primed to ruin their pick so that a few guys can get bigger contracts this summer. Things looked so much better a week and a half ago. If Byron plans on continuing to pull the same crap with giving massive minutes to the hot hand then it's probably going to come down to health. If we stay healthy we lose the pick, if key tank-killers (Lin/Hill/Wes/Wayne) suffer injuries then they have a shot at it.
I honestly see us losing every game the next week or so up until we play the Knicks which is a toss up. Miami is a back to back game so I think we lose even if they dont have to Whiteside.
Bill Oram @billoram ยท Mar 1 Byron said he would stick with hot hand late in games. Clarkson and Kelly replacing Johnson and Davis. What I was pointing to earlier in my post in the Clarkson thread; he'll notice who is hot throughout the course of the game and will finish with that lineup in the 4th quarter. Is this an excuse to not playing Black? I don't know. It sure doesn't help Black, though, if Boozer, Hill, Davis, have it going because Scott is going with the best chance he has to win games. I'm sure if Black played well in quarters 1-3, he'd finish the game, too. Of course, you could argue he needs an opportunity, but I think Byron has a penchant for favoring vets and that's been a pattern over the course of his head coaching career.
Lose the pick, lose your job dumba**. Come on front office get in this guy's face. This is ridiculous.
You guys called him "tank commander", i was saying he's just clueless and he's trying to win every single game. That's good and all, but not when keeping your pick is the only way to climb out of the **** we are in from some time now...
byron needs to realize what's going on here and stop trying to win games i think he might be worried about losing his job or something which is the furthest thing from truth. quit going with the hot hand and start losing consistently!
if the lakers get "caught" by a team that breaks the huddle by counting down the games until the season's end...i want that team's pick. or i want silver to rig the envelopes. seriously, that's ridiculous. you have one team that punted the season before it began then punted again when they started to pull things together (philly), and two teams that completely shut things down, effort-wise after injuries decimated their season (ny and minny). we're all complaining about the lakers not tanking hard enough, but they can't just not try. that's shameful. and there's no way mitch tells byron to sit useful players. i wish there was a way to punish the teams that really aren't putting forth effort to win. i just hope the lakers can hang onto the 4th worst record while retaining at least a shred of dignity. orlando, utah, and denver may make that difficult.
I'm with you, but I think our boat is a small one at this point. I think we might only need one of those two person canoes.
Not sure if Denver firing Shaw helps or hurts us. They weren't listening to him, only disrespecting him. So if they respond to his replacement, they might win some. Or they could bring in a lame duck and continue the free fall.
Westbrook will be back tomorrow against Philly. Well, there goes the 2.1% chance Philly had at winning that one.
We aren't catching Philly or NY, those 2 games against philly will guarantee that. Our best hope is the 3rd spot, if we can freakin stop winning games already.
We still need Minnesota to win games. Update for 3/3: NY is hosting Sacramento. We play against Charlotte. Denver is hosting Milwaukee.
