Ex-Coach Luke Walton Discussion

lol

 

Brilliant!

 

I agree with you, but BI is our #1 trade asset and I think he will start until he's traded.

 

BI has been underwhelming so far but Kuz’s defense sucks and so does his 3 point shooting so far this year. I think BI has at least shown in the past he can play defense.

 

I'd prefer Kuz start and BI come off the bench with Hart starting at the #2.

Kuz plays much better with LeBron than BI does at least of offense. Kuz moves off the ball and into open space, and he runs the floor more effectively playing with Lonzo and LeBron.

BI seems to be ISO oriented so far and that works much better with the bench crew.

Starting Hart should be self explanatory.

 

If Kuz or Bron weren’t shooting 27 and 28% from 3, I might agree with moving BI to the bench. But between Lebron’s and Kuzma’s lack of D or 3, we are getting off to bad starts and we can’t afford that. Having Hart and BI in the starting lineup should help.

 

I was in favor of moving BI to the bench for Hart, but I've changed my mind. I'd move Kuz back to the bench and insert Hart with the starters. Kuz's defense in combo with Lebron is just putrid. We have to hide each one of those guys with better defenders. Even though they mesh very well together offensively we have to break them up or we'll continue to get buried.

Also as poorly as BI has fit so far with Lebron, it's only been 6 games together and we need to see if BI can adjust and improve. Hart just needs to be with the starters, period. Kuz should look good with the bench squad now that Chandler's here and he doesn't have to play small ball 5.

 

If you’ve been watching the Lakers since Magic Johnson playing days, I doubt you would have said no one cares about Jordan since he played so long ago. Magic started playing before MJ.

 

Hart definitely needs to start at the 2, because he is an energy guy who plays good defense. Kuzma or Ingram should come off the bench and there are pros and cons for both of them to do so. We'll see what Luke can come up with, but Hart starting is a must.

 

This is where I am too.

As long as Kuzma is struggling defensively, he needs to go the bench. He can still finish games if he's playing well, but we cannot have both LeBron and Kuzma in the starting lineup defensively. Hart isn't a great man defender (his feet are often too slow), but he's a more willing and natural defender than Kuzma. A lineup of Ball/Hart/Ingram/LeBron/McGee should be able to start games effectively on both ends. Ingram needs to stop forcing things, but besides that he fits well defensively.

Rondo/Stephenson/Kuzma/Chandler off the bench helps round things out. We can slide Pope or Beasley in there too depending on match-ups.