Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

At what point Vogel is going to get the recognition for being one of the best defensive coaches ever?

 

Not really what I was expecting this off-season but the Lakers now have one of the toughest to guard guard rotations in the league.

With the return of AC and THT emergence the Lakers now have 4 ballhandlers and 3 legit playmakers off the dribble (Bron, THT, DS). Instead of being stagnant they just rotate the ball to the guy who wants to try to get into the paint and see what happens when he gets into the paint. Combine that this being one of most unselfish teams in terms of passing certainly helps

 

sad. yet very true.

 

Wait until Rob “has a brain” to construct a really good team around LeBron. (reference to quote of the year from GT several days ago) (at one point the team was “disgusting” last night) (what have you done for me in last 2 minutes syndrome). Swear to G.

 

Looks like illegal contact.

50k fine minimum. Flagrant 2. Automatic ejection. Forfeit.

but on a serious note, with lots of key people out missing games, the LAKERS?!?! are #1 in defense with an old LBJ? That is really truly pretty remarkable.

That's not what you expect to see the year after winning the chip under trying circumstances with a short off-season. it's just not. This means if healthy, we have a chance to be in every game.

Can't ask for much more than that.

:Carusoshaka:

 

What are the Lakers plans with Cacok? I love how he's always with the team rooting for everyone despite not playing but is there a long-term goal here with him?

 

Nice to see you enjoying the whole team again unlike in the past when you were strictly a LeBron groupie.

 

Cacock or McKinne I would guess or both are waive possibilities if we need space for deadline pickups. But not bad players by any means.

 

Just box score groupie at this time. My customers are construction based in Texas, and it’s a very busy time in all the areas that experienced freezing conditions.

 

“If healthy” seems to be a pretty big caveat

 

But a big caveat we may still have when things matter most.

I’m not ready to say the sky is falling. I think even being conservative, a relatively worst case scenario might be AD out another 4 weeks, Lebron out 8 weeks. Even in that scenario, I think we’re good enough to scrape by. Sure there will be some very ugly games, but our guys will adjust to the bigger role and there will be enough games where we’re grooving and can pull off enough W’s to stay afloat in the standings. We just need a top 6 seed, and to have our guys healthy in time for the playoffs.

 

In the moment when he came back and hit the three, I already started assuming this was going to be another superhero feat where he shrugs off the apparent injury and keeps playing en route to a great game. Started laughing with my dad about how this always happens.

So I feel a bit bad for that because it does seem to be a potentially serious sprain, and now wanted to err on the side of caution with my estimates ... but yeah it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Lebron heals up sooner than we think and so this doesn’t really end up being that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.

And to continue with the optimism, maybe this ends up being a bit of a silver lining where the time off allows him to rest and heal up any other minor injuries he’s been nursing.

 

I expect the rest of the team and the coaching staff to be pretty competitive and obviously make the playoffs. I don't think maintaining home court advantage is unreasonable for this team. What version of AD or LBJ we get determines if we can defend the title.

 

It sucks but doesn't seem insourmantable/unrealistic

Hes probably out for a month and considering Lebron's age probably not bag thing. If AD comes back in 2-3 weeks that would make it unlikely the Lakers miss the playoffs even they go on lose 10 in a row which is again pretty realistic at this piont.

If AD and Lebron are healthy in a month, there's whole month to tune up and get back into rhythm when the playoffs hit.

Main risk is that no lingering injuries to both or it's delayed to the point the Lakers actually have to go into the tourney