I’m not going to deny him coming didn’t bring us back to relevance. That doesn’t mean I agree with all that comes along with it. The dude is an all time great. He doesn’t have to be my favorite player and I’m not stopping anyone else from thinking he’s the best thing that’s happened to the Franchise since Kobe. However, I have my own brain, my own opinions, and my own thoughts on team building and player value. I can’t stand the whole, “well, player x doesn’t fit with LeBron’s timeline, so he’s expendable” line of thinking because LeBron’s contract is going to be up very soon. Father Time is undefeated in every sport, no matter which athlete we are discussing.
i agree, and this is why i think moving THT for anything less than an obvious upgrade is ridiculous. but i think you're hunting for criticism in response to perceived lionization on the other side.
Great shooting tonight. Too bad it was wasted by the team relaxing on D and making poor decisions on offense, again.
The roster spot that's open may be for Bradley? When do we have to guarantee his contract? By January 7th?
You don’t mean the one from Rondo being traded? Avery is in his own slot, to be guaranteed ( don’t know date) or cut. We had one slot open when he was brought in.
As I have been since we picked him up, I’m behind AB. On the one hand our guard rotation is overcrowded. But if we let him go I can’t see who will fill that gap and do the dirty work he does. Obviously not Monk or Ellington. Clearly not Bazemore. THT is too inconsistent. Maybe Reaves does but I like having Reaves AND AB not one or the other. Though not many here are fans, AB is filling that guard three and D role - evidenced by his 40% on 3s this season. And he knows how to play for Vogel and alongside Lebron and AD.
You and me LJ He still is the only guard we have with the skill to get up into other guards’ personal space and annoy the crap out of them.
Totally agree LT! No other guard we have seems willing or able to do exactly that role. And it’s needed. The 40% three point shooting is a really nice added bonus. He is also unselfish and isn’t looking to shoot and moves the ball. We need that as well. But when he’s open from the corner, boom!
He can also occasionally make other offensive plays in the mid range and cutting to the basket and making good passes. Plus is a pretty smart player on the floor both sides of the ball. You and I should start an AB fan club.
What I admire about AB throughout his career is that he is a blue collar type player. He’s limited, he’s not super talented, but he puts on that hard hat every day and plays to the best of his ability. He’s a good role model for the younger guys on the team. He fought hard to come back from injury and he brings that same tenacity to his defensive play. You can out talent him, but you aren’t going to outwork him. I respect that a great deal. Now that we have some length for D with Johnson and Ariza and even Reaves, we won’t see him have to match up against so many bigger, taller wings like we did before when his size got exploited by the opposition. Now we can just sick him on the smaller guards which is where he shines.
He leads the team in 3 point shooting at 39.6% Clip. Reaves and Monk are breathing down his neck but competition is good
Yes and Ellington is at 37% from three and that is literally all he does. AB is out performing him at his specialty while providing the most dogged defense of our guard rotation. He’s filling his role. Just don’t expect him to slow down guys like Paul George and Demar DeRozan who can simply shoot over him.
I think Bradley ideal role against good teams is probably go full court defense against guards and just try to wear them out. With Reaves and THT in the rotation now and his ability to reasonably hit 3's, that should you allow to have him go all out on defense for 20-25 mpg with the goal of the rotation to constantly put pressure on other teams playmakers for 48 minutes
Where we would really miss THT now if traded would be his mass and long arms playing defense against the stronger guards.
Yeah he's become a tough one on one defender: that's why I'm not down on him like others. He's the one Laker whose got the athletic ability and physical attributes to make an all defense teams (Reaves and Johnson are good but THT just has some unique tool similar to what Rondo used to have)
AB is playing well and is nice to have as a point of attack defender against PGs and smaller SGs. He tries hard and now that we have some defenders to take bigger wings, AB should look like he is doing better defensively. Also the 40% from 3 is just wonderful.
Johnson is a far better defender than THT and I would argue has far better physical tools than him. Reaves is defending better too in the team concept and just has better fundamentals and IQ than THT.
On on one THT can just do things that no other Laker can: his ability to swipe at ball due to his ridiculous length while maintaining his position is just something no other Laker can do outside of a dialed in AD. Sure Reaves and Johnson are significantly older so they are fundamentally sound in defensive principles but unlike his struggles on offense, you can see THT as a one on one defender really growing.
