I agree. I'm looking forward to hopefully upsetting a few teams when we play them. I'm certain that we'll be more of a contender than last year (cause last year we weren't at all) and that it'll look like a cohesive unit again.
I wasn't expecting Ed Davis to be a major factor before this preseason but after these first 2 preseason games, I'm really liking what he has done. I think he can be a huge contributor this season. He has provided a lot of positive things on both the offensive and defensive end. All I hope is that he stays healthy and he keeps up with his production.
Getting paid 9 million vs. minimum isn't the issue here, it's fit. We'll start with how Davis fits 1st..... - Davis fits better with the bench because he's got better skills rolling off the pick and roll than Hill does. The 2nd unit is mainly a pick and roll team, while the starters are a slow it down, let's see what we can get in the post 1st offense. Davis is free to do work off the roll because Randle is a freak 4 that can stretch his man out of the paint due to his ability to dribble and create. From the 1st two games + practice, Davis has had the entire paint to do his off the dribble moves from the roll. He wouldn't get that opportunity with the 1st unit. Hill is more straight to the basket layup/dunk off the roll, so his skills would be better suited for the 1st unit where Nash/Kobe can take advantage of that. - Hill fits better with the starters because he's the king of taking advantage of 2nd chance garbage plays. He will be Kobe's best friends because of the "Kobe assist". The 1st unit allows him to duck in, in the post for easy hook shots because of the attention Kobe/Nash provide and the ability of Boozer to consistently knock down the 15 footer. That leaves Hill under the basket free to clean up, something he is better at than Davis. Hill does the dirty work and the 1st unit needs that. - Defensively it's a wash, until we get better perimeter defenders, the bigs are screwed as seen with an elite defender (Dwight) or a horrible defender (Pau). Are they both interchangeable? Yes for sure, but if you want to maximize both bigs, you can already see that Kobe/Hill and Lin/Davis have a comfort level playing next to each other. Why screw that up, when both bigs will be getting 20+ minutes a night anyway and neither of them will be getting over 30 minutes? Off topic, but I was initially a Randle has to start guy, but after watching the Lakers so far, I love him off the bench with that 2nd unit. Randle/Davis and Boozer/Hill also have the comfort level with each other, where they both can function in different areas of the court without having issues (ie Pau/Dwight).
He' definitely going to outperform his contract easily this year. I don't want him Great post, Doc. Question, though. Maybe it's not how you start but how you finish; so for instance, if, say, Randle/Davis are outperforming Boozer/Hill, or vice versa do we then finish with that lineup in the 4th quarters? It's not so much who I want starting, but who I want finishing the games that we need to figure out that gives us the best chance to win games.
Ed Davis will get the chance to impress Scott with extended playing time against Utah. "He's the guy that's done the best job at protecting the rim for us," Scott said. A free-agent pickup, Davis has limited skills on offense but could edge out Robert Sacre and become the backup center to Jordan Hill. . . . Ryan Kelly (strained hamstring) practiced Monday but was not expected to play Thursday. Xavier Henry (back spasms) also won't play against Utah. http://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-20141014-story.html
I kept looking for Davis in the 1st half last night 2nd preseason game against Utah. Then he showed up in the 3rd quarter and 2nd half. I like him a lot. Seems to have a great nose for the ball off the glass or rim down low, decent hops and can put it up with either hand in close. I hope we bang the hell out of Clown Howard in waves opening night, and expose his free throw shooting yet once again. He has decent games at the line every once in awhile but then reverts to who he really is most of the time. Through last year anyway. Ed is a great pick up.
I really dig the potential of a Randle/Davis lineup. Randle is a wild horse right now who will make a great play and then a terrible one. Davis is a rock-solid decision maker. Both good athletes albeit undersized. I liked their chemistry around the rim. I think there's something there.
I really like Davis, and he has surprised me so far this preseason. Dude is real good in the post and can finish. He is pretty solid defensively and can grab boards and block shots. The Davis-Randle duo during the Jazz game was real good.
If that duo of Davis/Randle could give us around 25-27 minutes of solid production, I'm good...they give us a different look than Jordan and Boozer. I think as the season progresses Scott is going to find more time for them...just a hunch
You might very well be right RandleROFY. Defensively they are the more intense pair and while I don't think either will be starting any time soon as we had discussed earlier this pre-season, I do think they may edge the starters in terms of time, depending on what Byron sees out there in the season. At least Ed Davis I think has the possibility of seeing more time than Hill. I'm more dubious about Julius' time just because he's a rook and Carlos has so much experience behind him. Hard for me to see Julius averaging more than 20 per game IMO. But we'll see. Last game he played VERY well with Davis.
I think for Julius it'll be a "hot hand" kind of thing. Sometimes we'll see him take over a game and score 8 points in a row like last night. Then some nights he'll have three turnovers and two rebounds and Byron will deservedly sit him. Davis should see plenty of minutes at Center regardless. Having both him and Hill rested and ready for 24 minutes of action is a great thing.
^^ Agreed realdeal. Davis/Hill should be splitting minutes basically. Ed Davis is just playing far too well, has too much upside to ignore. It was heartening too to see Kobe and Davis play together and Kobe getting him the ball in the post last game. They are actually developing some chemistry which is great to see. Davis has that legit post game that Hill is a little bit weaker at. It takes a little bit of the offensive load off of Kobe. Davis really looks like a keeper to me.
I agree. I was hoping Davis would be effective and wow is it great to be vindicated. Some of the better basketball heads in the League really did a double-take when we landed Davis for the minimum. He's worth more than that. I think he could shoulder a pretty good load if we needed him to. He looks to me like the kind of young player we can use as a building piece.
^^ I think so too. I hope he doesn't get too big a price tag going after this year, but that's getting ahead of ourselves of course. We'll see. But for now, yeah, great pickup at dirt cheap. Mitch did an excellent job in that respect this offseason despite what some dummies in the media didn't seem to appreciate. Price, Davis and even Ellington were really nice dirt cheap pickups. Of course so was Boozer. Lin was also a solid move. Resigning Swaggy at a decent price was big. So was retaining our young talent like Kelly, X, and Sacre. Buying that pick and getting Clarkson was pretty sweet, too. Randle was a rock solid pick, obviously as well. Mitch is doing his job . . . and well at that.
If he has the season he's capable of having... Something where maybe he averages 10/7 with 1.5 blocks on very efficient shooting... I think that's something where we could give him a Nick Young type of offer and he might go for it. Mitch has done an incredible job. No he didn't adapt well right away to the new CBA, but he's showing his mettle now. He got back that pick like you said, Young signed for a VERY friendly deal, and now a bunch of younger guys we might be able to build around. He's doing a fantastic job. Hopefully we roll into next summer with Kobe, Julius, Lin, Davis, Young, and Clarkson (maybe Kelly). That'd give us somewhere around 30 million to work with probably after the new TV deal the NBA just landed. Plenty of money to go find some help in free agency and a rock solid young cast to build around.
I was also really happy when I saw that we signed Davis for 1 million. That's an incredible steal for the production you get from Davis. I've always liked him and had him on my fantasy teams for boards and blocks. But I've been surprised by his offensive production in the preseason.
