Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

Foston execution in the clutch hasn't improved one bit .. Still won't win it all

 

i think the annual derozan out-of-body experience against us helps keep lebron and AD from thinking they're gms again. that guy is BIG MAD.

 

not feeling optimistic

not even sure why I opened this thread tbh

 

Moral victories don't count in the standings and won't swing the locker room vibes but it was nice to see us compete against the top team in the West throughout the game. All things considered, I figured we'd fold before the half but we stayed engaged for 45 minutes... give or take. Sadly if we played with this attentiveness against the Bulls, we would've gotten an early double digit lead and never looked back.

 

true, but bulls have two guys who just want our blood, all the time. i'd like to see lebron, in particular, show up and put that dog down just once, but the national press hasn't caught that storyline, so he doesn't care.

but derozan and caruso want to kill us because of leGM, and the big bad wolf (e.g., kobe), would make sure that they know their anger matters little.

anyway, this is the optimism thread...

i still think we're better than this. the losing will keep coming in the next week or so, but in the new year, the schedule isn't as bad. 12 of the 13 games after christmas are games i think we can win if we, ya know, show up and play hard and stuff. we'll lose the next two, and then we'll find out if the season is a total waste in the month that follows.

i--foolishly, perhaps--think we'll win 8-10 of those games and be in a better position heading into trade season/all star break.

 

Really encouraging win tonight.

 

Lebron killed Toronto so bad when they had DeRozan that Lebronto meme got created

He was thinking he gets to go home to LA and play with Lebron after all those years getting curbstomped in the playoffs; Id be pissed if I was him too.

His game is not modern style and goes away from what the numbers tell you to do but I always had a soft spot for DeRozan. Felt he was always a number 2 or 3 guy cast as a number 1 and never got a chance with a true MVP caliber player next to him

 

I don't think that there is this large degree of separation, between the Lakers, Nuggets, Timberwolves or Thunder myself. We can go on a few win streaks and be in the top 3 by the playoffs.

Of course Injuries are always the wild card, but they can hit the other teams too. With the way teams treat Laker games as being a big deal, we are continually being prepped for the playoffs as the season goes along.

 

I'll be ecstatic if we can avoid play-in... but im not holding my breath.
What makes me happy the most (right now), is tennants giving up SGA
Second best PG in the league with a great future.
Oh well...

 

I honestly do think we avoid the play in. We are only a couple of games back from the 4 spot. We’ve also shown we can beat good teams when we are dialed in.

 

Don't get your hopes up , we'll finish 7th at best

The key is to as healthy as possible coming playoffs time

To become a more serious team now would be a good idea though given the SOS remaining

https://www.tankathon.com/remaining_schedule_strength

 

good lord, boston's 22-6 and has the league's easiest remaining schedule.

 

That’s the spirit! Unlike “Debbie” earlier today.

 

And the Clips gave up several unprotected picks to get rid of SGAbut the media (sometimes me on draft time) kept on harping we overpaid for AD…

 

We got Charlotte coming in, then go to MIN on Bron's 39th b-day to face a truly scary team, then down to Nawlins for a BTB road game.

If it feels like we've been playing 75% of our games on the road so far you're not far off:

After NO we come home to face:
MIA
MEM
Clips
Raptors
Suns

Quick 1 game road trip to Utah.

Back home for:
OKC
DAl
Nets
POR
Clips (technically we're the road team)
Bulls

Of the 14 games listed here, I think we can go 9-5. Maybe 10-4. I hope. (11-3?)

On Jan 27th we actually start a real road trip again. Gotta make the most of sleepin' in their own beds.

 

We'll be lucky if end that stretch of games 7-7. You'll see

 

#SilverLinings

 

Except for that stretch that led to the IST win (and a couple others) this has been a disappointing season so far.

Come back at me and tell me what a Damned Fool I was, but I swear this team is way better than .500, and I expect we...avoid the play-in this year and finish Top 6 in the West. I just think a relatively healthy Lakers - this current roster! - is a Top 6 team.

By early March, if we're still a .500 team, feel free to tell me I had drunk the Laker Kool-Aid and am such a fan I can't see Reality.

Seriously. We're good. We're 17-17 but we're not that bad. We're actually really good.