Damn! When I saw Suckre block that shot at the rim and then nail that ft line jumper in crunch time, I had a feeling he just sealed Upshaw's fate.
I did too until he had like two And-Ones he gave up in a row that put the Blazers in position to win. Still though Upshaw didn't do enough to distinguish himself in Pre-Season. It's on him.
Well I think we're going small with Bass/Black inside and Nance/Kelly at the 4 a lot. The PF/C will be mostly interchangeable, but those four give us a lot of mobility, length, and a surprising amount of athleticism.
Man, now i must investigate who the hell is Robert Sacre and how he manages to get a contract year after year in the greatest sport club in the world only with his personallity.
He's not ready. @trodgers and I discussed how the Lakers are not big on developing big men unless they see All-Star potential. Could Upshaw be good one day? Sure, but right now he really didn't look good at all. I'm fairly certain no NBA team is going to look at him, with his off-court problems, and rush to give him a contract. He'll be on the D-Fenders.
I'm not even upset, I was all for developing Upshaw, but he was so dang raw at the same time. And I agree with real, we aren't going to see much Sacre anyway, seems we'll see Black and Bass together, maybe Kelly and Bass. Sacre probably sealed his spot last night when he had a block and a jumper, but still surprised he didn't lose it again when fouling a 3 point shooter. Pincus said there could be deeper issues, that Upshaw was kicked off 2 teams, maybe doesn't get along with teammates so well, while Sacre is a great teammate. Is what it is I guess, oh well.
My rapid reaction to Upshaw and Frazier being cut:http://www.lakersnation.com/reaction-lakers-waive-robert-upshaw-michael-frazier-ii/2015/10/20/
i'm not that concerned. his athleticism was vastly oversold, imo. he showed flashes, but he's a long term project, and i don't think he has superstar ceiling. i think it's ok to pass on that. that said, i'm not sure keeping sacre is a good reason. if you had another center that you could actually put on the floor, i'd understand it (cutting upshaw) more. i'll be surprised if this hurts that badly in the long run.
