WMC 24-25: Free Threw It Away!

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by puffyusaf#2, Aug 2, 2021.

  1. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    36,474
    Likes Received:
    60,670
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    So Cal
    Offline
    Well it’s odd to me personally since some here seem to want to hurry back to the days when we had promising kids to root for with higher draft picks by being out of the playoffs each year, by blowing it up now if “they” are of the opinion we have zero puncher’s chance for a ring. With reasonable health for our key players like every team.

    When we do now have again some very good (AR) - very promising other young players to root for while still having on the same team LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
     
    abeer3 likes this.
  2. pika1708

    pika1708 - Lakers Starter -

    Joined:
    Mar 5, 2020
    Messages:
    2,985
    Likes Received:
    5,320
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Online
    Yeah my bad, always forget the point (or lack of) of this thread. I can't hide the topic in Tapatalk, so will try to remember next time. Peace
     
    abeer3 and ElginTheGreat like this.
  3. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    28,075
    Likes Received:
    75,751
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    honestly, reaves was like getting a lotto pick. he's probably better than most guys taken in the 5-10 range the past few years, right?

    let's hope knecht can also work like one.
     
  4. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    28,075
    Likes Received:
    75,751
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    i canceled league pass the first russ year, which was wise. i'll renew when i'm excited again.

    i think it's league-wide, tbh. it was a quiet summer almost everywhere.
     
    ElginTheGreat likes this.
  5. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2014
    Messages:
    10,921
    Likes Received:
    30,334
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline

    Yeah that's fair. I don't feel like anyone is as amped up for the start of the season as they usually are.
     
    abeer3 likes this.
  6. KuzmoBall17

    KuzmoBall17 - Lakers Starter -

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2017
    Messages:
    2,978
    Likes Received:
    5,115
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    Lakers are going to shock the basketball world.
    Look at Bronny,Max and LeBron how they are exited that JJ doesn't have any pockets :LLLLLebronlaughing:
    P.S they had live DJ music at training

     
    JSM, Cookie, abeer3 and 1 other person like this.
  7. Weezy

    Weezy Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    18,591
    Likes Received:
    75,490
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Anaheim
    Offline
    And it’s odd to me that every year some people can just blindly overlook all our faults, make excuses for our mediocre at best GM, our out of touch owner, our small and insulated front office staff, see the same roster minus Prince and Dinwiddie that was a play-in team last year with great health to our stars and expect us to be any better this year. But, here we are. You can tell me “I told you so” if we win the title this year, but I’m fairly confident I won’t need to worry about that, if I’m wrong, fantastic. But after watching 30 seasons of Lakers basketball, it’s kind of obvious going into a season what sort of chance a team has, I’m not a worse fan for recognizing that, saying it like it is, and not being super excited about it. You’re free to be as optimistic about the team as you like, just like I’m free to have little enthusiasm for the reasons I have stated. You come into the WMC thread to whine about fans not being enthusiastic enough, I give legit reasons why, and then you whine about that… Like I legit don’t know what else to say at that point.

    Finally, if you have to wonder why most people don’t seem very excited about this team, why there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm or optimism or hype, maybe that’s a sign there’s a reason for that, hmm

    [​IMG]

    Some people here seem to have gotten lost looking for this thread, “they” should migrate over here

    https://lakersball.com/threads/optimism-discussion-the-lakers-sky-is-not-falling.1533/page-516
     
    ElginTheGreat likes this.
  8. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    36,474
    Likes Received:
    60,670
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    So Cal
    Offline
    Weezy if you're going to come at me as hard as you typically do these days when you assume I'm only talking to you, at least address my exact words rather than go on your negative rants all over again about everything under the sun wrong with the team and the organization. I hadn't even seen or read your post yet and a couple others, when I came back in and was replying really to @ElginTheGreat

    I am clearly addressing the "blow it up now crowd" (prematurely in my opinion when there's far better basketball to be watched WHILE AD and LeBron are still here) ..... "and let's get back to acquiring assets and young players we can root for again", while guaranteed missing the playoffs for who knows how long.

    "Well it’s odd to me personally since some here seem to want to hurry back to the days when we had promising kids to root for with higher draft picks by being out of the playoffs each year, by blowing it up now if “they” are of the opinion we have zero puncher’s chance for a ring. With reasonable health for our key players like every team.

    When we do now have again some very good (AR) - very promising other young players to root for while still having on the same team LeBron James and Anthony Davis."

    "You can tell me “I told you so” if we win the title this year, but I’m fairly confident I won’t need to worry about that"

    And how entitled as a fan are you if a ring is truly the only thing you give a crap about? When the odds every single year are greatly against it with how many good teams there are.
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2024
  9. Weezy

    Weezy Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    18,591
    Likes Received:
    75,490
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Anaheim
    Offline
    My stance has been to blow this up and get what we can now for AD and start an actual rebuild, so..not sure how else I was supposed to take that. I wasn’t just speaking for myself either, I was referencing a large number of fans not excited about this team. And yeah, Lakers fans are entitled, that’s what we’ve come to expect from this franchise, that’s what THEY tell us the goal is, championship, that’s what they say at every press conference, help the rookie head coach was saying that’s the goal the day he was introduced. This is an example of the sort of thing I would also he annoyed about, and the reply is an example of the vibe around here lately, and I’m just not here for it, I’m tired of that mentality, whether it’s about the Lakers, Star Wars, video game companies, cell phone brands, theme parks, I’m tired of being told to just be blindly loyal to a team or a brand just because, and that if I’m not, then I’m not a true fan. I will never understand this sort of mentality, that legit criticism is hating

     
    ElginTheGreat likes this.
  10. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    36,474
    Likes Received:
    60,670
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    So Cal
    Offline
    Well that wasn’t ME saying it to you and telling you you’re not a good fan. Just stating I don’t understand not wanting to have the kind of talent those two guys have here as long as they want to be here. Because it could be no guarantees we ever see it again. And I was talking calmly to Elgin about the word apathy, not raging at you. Jeezus stop following the team if it causes you that much grief.
     
    SamsonMiodek and abeer3 like this.
  11. Weezy

    Weezy Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    18,591
    Likes Received:
    75,490
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Anaheim
    Offline
    Nah, I like to complain, it’s fun, it’s cathartic. There’s no need to get mad or annoyed just because I and others don’t view the team through the same lens as you, it’s ok to have different outlooks. I’m still going to watch, because I watch every year, but the front office are tryin to straddle the line of developing youth while having LeBron and AD here, and I think that’s lame. I think they should pick a side, go all out for the rebuild and don’t waste players of that caliber, or just blow it up and start fresh if that’s what they want to do is develop youth and build a new culture. But, they want both, to sell tickets, to appear competitive while not actually, and I’ve been watching the team too long to fall for that stuff. You can call it jaded if you like, it may be, but it’s reinforced by experience, and honestly it saddens me, because I had high hopes when Jim was fired, but it’s been almost as big of a mess, only LeBron saved us from being a perpetual bottom of the league team, and when he’s gone, hoo boy am I worried what’s going to happen with these clowns in charge.

    But I’ll still be here, because this is my team, I’ll follow them and root for them in my way and you can do the same. This year I know we won’t win anything of note, but I’ll still watch because LeBron is an all time great and we will miss him when he’s gone so I have to enjoy it while he’s still playing, and I’m also interested to see how Knecht looks and if JHS can turn into an NBA player.
     
  12. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    28,075
    Likes Received:
    75,751
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    i was more dubious at that time than most, and it was for the same reasons--we're still a family business, and that's just not how the successful teams are doing it now.

    everybody's mad at rob, but i actually view his hire as one of the few out-of-the-box things we did (hiring a former agent as gm). i know it's been done, but it was unusual for us, and i think it's been a net positive. and i know he was kobe's agent, but i don't view it as a nepotism hire. but hiring magic in a formal capacity was just pure ol' fashioned nepotism, and it was a disaster. i remember complaining a lot about the moves we were making back then, and most of them were really bad. not mozdeng bad, but bad.

    the only truly bad thing we've done since magic left the front office was the russ trade, imo. every other mistake is run-of-the-mill stuff every team does all the time. that one was an era-ending move. i came to terms with that almost immediately, and maybe that's why i'm not as frustrated as many others. it was over then. we actually did a good job digging out as far as we did, but there was no actual way to get all the way out in the time frame necessary, imo.

    right now, i just want to win some games this year and hope jj proves to be a coach we can roll with for a while. after this year, i expect some sort of reckoning. we'll no longer owe picks, and if we perform as everyone thinks, i believe you'll get your blow-up wish.
     
  13. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2014
    Messages:
    10,921
    Likes Received:
    30,334
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline

    Wait. What? How did I get in this?


    :Laugh:
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2024
  14. Weezy

    Weezy Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2014
    Messages:
    18,591
    Likes Received:
    75,490
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Anaheim
    Offline
    We disagree, and that’s fine. I do think Rob was a nepotism hire, I think our FO is terrified to hire anyone outside of the “family”, and I think that’s hurting us for sure, just a bunch of family members clinging to their own power. I agree the Russ trade killed us, but I also think it’s scared the FO so bad from making any big moves again, all we’ve done since then is make small ones. To me Rob has yet again overcorrected and leaned hard into continuity when what we have clearly isn’t enough. Lastly we want the same thing this year, I just hope JJ is a good coach, knows what he’s doing, and the team rallies behind him in part just being glad to be rid of Ham. I also don’t have a wish for a rebuild, not sure why I have to keep saying that. All I’ve said is if they are done trying to win titles and WANT to focus on developing youth and building a new culture from the ground up, then they might as well trade LeBron where he wants to finish his career and let AD move on to play out his prime elsewhere and get assets to start the rebuild early.
     
  15. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    31,658
    Likes Received:
    76,998
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Occupation:
    Your time is running out Ham
    Location:
    Laker Purgatory
    Offline
    It will be interesting to see this same group of guys under a more organized and professional coaching staff. We may be pleasantly surprised. I don’t think that means we have enough to win it all, but I do think the early feedback indicates it will look and feel like a coached team. We’ll see. We previously succeeded in spite of Ham IMHO. The reality I don’t think we know how good this group can be since we’ve had injuries and the Ham experience.
     
    Cookie and LTLakerFan like this.
  16. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    28,075
    Likes Received:
    75,751
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    why? isn't it good for young players to learn from some of the greatest players in nba history? what if lebron and AD don't actually want to be moved?
     
  17. OX1947

    OX1947 - Lakers MVP -

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2016
    Messages:
    8,281
    Likes Received:
    17,614
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    This a****** blind the last few seasons? s*** already has been a s*** show. Get with the program. We aren't complaining to complain. We are complaining because they haven't done s*** to improve the roster.
     
  18. Slick2021

    Slick2021 - Lakers MVP -

    Joined:
    Feb 24, 2021
    Messages:
    8,466
    Likes Received:
    7,262
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    Ox has a valid point IMO, which leads to the next question...What gives anyone, any confidence, that Rob could build a legit title contender, from the ground up, in the first place?
     
  19. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    28,075
    Likes Received:
    75,751
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Offline
    you mean aside from doing it in his first year on the job?

    or when he rebuilt the team midseason and went to the conference finals? is that not a title contender?

    who's the gm that's built a contender from the ground up? maybe presti? he's also the guy that basically kept ibaka over harden once he built his first contender. pobody's nerfect.
     
    wallangong, pika1708 and LTLakerFan like this.
  20. LTLakerFan

    LTLakerFan - Lakers Legend -

    Joined:
    Oct 5, 2014
    Messages:
    36,474
    Likes Received:
    60,670
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    So Cal
    Offline
    The season after the title, that everyone blt***s about him going away from what worked was a definite title contender as well as proved by how well it was doing first part of the season before injuries to LeBron, AD and somewhat also to Gasol derailed it, only to come back hobbled but still ready to beat Phoenix in that series and go from there, until AD got hurt again.
     

Share This Page