Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

I didn't know if to put this here or in the WMC.

We did everything we could to NOT win. Terrible FT%, down the stretch allowing a ton of off rebs to them and lately, 3 straight possessions in the last 2 minutes with LeBron pounding the ball on top of the key and going for contested long 2s or 3s for absolutely no reason.

Even with all that, we got this massive W. I think we can build-up from this and win a couple straight, getting us near the .500

 

been watching this as much as the playoff race, lol. whenever zion gets back, they'll win games again, but each loss to them is an improvement in our draft position.

 

Yeah baby lol my consolation prize for this season. If we can overtake them in the standings then I consider this season a success.

 

i know; it's petty and sad, but it's sort of "hating the haters" for me. you know all the laker-hating bloggers are going to cry if we, like, swap the 15th for the 17th pick or something.

 

Definitely hoping the Pelicans keep falling the standings.

 

…. or they have to say nah man we’re good you keep it?

 

well, it's a swap, so if we were to overtake them in the standings, this is exactly what would happen!

 

Nice real Comeback win.
I’ll take it.

 

I love this team and our motivational coach

 

Watched on time shift and got to about 5 minutes left and still down 8-10 points headed for seemed a certain loss. Then it froze, and said the DirecTV Genie had to reboot but would be OK once everything was reloaded. Taking like 8 minutes so I said screw it and checked the final score on line to see if worth even waiting for and couldn’t believe we won. Oh hell yeah it was worth it. Reboot finally finishes and another message comes up and says can’t play any more because the Genie (2TB) HD was broken and I needed to call a phone number for to fix it or replace it, so never got to see the ending.

 

Startling comeback win in a game where we shot 27% from 3 and don't even get me started on FTs.

Okay, I got myself started: I about wanna strangle P-Bev for bricking 2 FTs with 10 secs left. Having the opponent forced to make a 3 to force OT is WAY better odds than what we got: Buddy Hield's shot goes down and we all go down. In the dumps. Dammit P-Bev: make your effing FTs!

 

I just dissed P-Bev for missing those FTs w/10 secs left. We couldda been up 3 going into IND's final possession. Okay, I gotta give him props for his D on Tyrese, too.

Oh yea: and AD's fallaway game-winning shot was (chef's kiss gesture). Vintage AD! A thing of beauty, as aesthetically pleasing as a Ming vase or some wild-assed move by Nureyev, knowI'msayin'?

 

A man of culture, I see...

 

We've all been there, man. And does it blow when the tech fails ya? Hell yea. If I were in your shoes - and believe me I have been - I go online and put up with all the 30 second commercials just to watch some editor's idea of the "highlights." A lot of the time they do a decent job.

When I'm busy AF and the Lakers are playing, I DVR the game and actively avoid any "news" so I don't find out what happened. Then, when I have time, I watch the entire game in around 73 minutes, by fast-forwarding through all commercials, halftime, the first FT of two (or three), coach's challenge downtime-wait. Hell: Denis knocks the ball out of bounds playing D: that's 10 seconds right there before the opponent inbounds the ball, so I jump ahead.

I do rewind and re-re-watch a lot of plays, though. Against the Knicks, WHY can Brunson just waltz up to the rim for an easy deuce? 'Cuz our interior D can be so maddeningly lax. Yeah, but WHY? I try to break it down: who isn't switching off? Who isn't jumping over to the weak side? It's often difficult to tell if our guys are TALKING enough on D. Good D teams TALK a lot. It's emblematic of their cohesiveness overall, whether they really believe they can win.

I do not like our lax D as of late. Hell: after about the 2nd week of the season the D just got rusty and it's stayed that way, while obviously there are some really good defensive sequences here and there. It's nothing like the year we last won it all. That D was some sweet jit, man! I love a badassed DEFENSIVE team...and we don't seem to be all that innarested so far this year. It does take a lot out of ya...

'Cuz this is the optimism thread, lemme just say this: some teams can and do clamp down when they feel the urgency. Do I think this team can and will? I don't know, but I suspect: yes. It would help to get Reaves back and I do love the flashes of fierce long-assed wingspan Wenyan's play on the defensive end. Of course, when AD wants to, he's a beast on D. We really just need a 7 game winning streak, and we've got 2 right now. 5 to go! LFG!

 

Going to need to see nights like this regularly to climb

 

it was nice to finally see some teams ahead of us drop a game while we won. feels like we've just kept pace ever since we climbed out of the initial hole. we have more climbing to do.

 

Just need a good winning streak so we can experience a first round exit. That would be cool.

 

I'm more sanguine than you, unless you're joking. We could get out of the first round.

When healthy, we're a very good team. Yes: every team has injuries so every fan of every team can write what I just wrote. But Lebron or AD injured are automatically making the Lakers a .500 team at best. Both guys are elite talents and their impact on a given game is outsized. (Went close to .500 with all those 20 or so games AD out.) Since AD came back: win; insanely unfair loss at BOS; both guys sat out in Brooklyn, so loss; win in MSG; thrilling rally win in IND. If we win in NO and go home we're hot AF, really. Let's see.

IF we are totally healthy - asking for a lot, I know - we can get out of the first two rounds, I believe. Will we even make the play-in? I hope that's not for the refs to decide, 'cuz arguably they've stolen 4 wins from us, so far.

Nota Bene: I said "arguably." So argue, or why are we here?