I'm optimistic that if I post enough anti Byron stuff on Twitter, and reference LakersBall, we'll get some additional members that will be intelligent like us.
russell briefly grew a pair late in the 4th. byron said some of the right things about both russell and randle, phrased in ways that could allow development. hibbert's finding his jumper. tarik black saw the floor.
Hibbert has been good. Always making such smart rotations defensively. Always in the right position. Offensively, been better the last two games. Clarkson. Been our most consistent performer. Defensively, has a ways to go, but you can clearly see the improvement and the work he has put in over the summer.
I agree, not much to be optimistic about, but there is always something, as in last night with Hibbert playing well, and the competitiveness of Clarkson.
Jordan is something to be optimistic. There were some people who thought his play last season was a fluke and simply the result of being on such a bad team and while I thought that was asinine I think he's put all that to rest. I just love how aggressive he is right now attacking the basket. Nobody can keep him in front of him when he puts his head down and his jump shot is also keeping defenders honest.
Our potential future coach is gaining valuable experience and was able to help his team overcome a 23 point deficit against the clippers.
Yeah, watched part of the game. This Warriors team could really become a dynasty if they don't fall apart. Now can we please get some clipper doom?
Well I'm not one for moral victories, but at least we're not getting blown out every game like the Sixers. We're in most of these games despite having the worst coach in the NBA. People talk about the bench struggling, but I think they're okay if they're actually playing in the right positions. Lou at 2, Black at 5, Nance Jr. at 4. We do need to get a backup point guard
^^ Thinking you mean Nance at the 4? Yeah, I'm bummed at how bad Huertas has been after showing a lot of promise in preseason. I say just give most of those backup PG minutes to Russell to give him more experience and different roles with running the show. I would go ahead and play him 30 something minutes a games. He is used to running the offense and he's not doing tons of that with the starters. In preseason he worked well with Lou, Swag, Kelly and Black. I think he could do the same now with Black at 5 and any one of our PF's (Nance, Bass, Kelly). Think about it, the glaring issue with Huertas at PG is his D, and with Lou it's that he's not much of a playmaker. Russell playing with that second unit takes care of both of those problems. I mean Huertas could play spot minutes like 5 a half. But more Russell would go a long way I think.
Not sure Walton is the guy. He was handed the keys to a Ferrari. He's probably just rolling the ball out there and saying, "So shoot the ball and stuff. Score more points then them."
I was at the game last night and scored some pretty swanky seats near the Laker bench. My hearing isn't too great but I'll clear some stuff up: 1. Byron was involved in the timeouts. He would first let another coach say their piece and then he'd come in and say his own. The players would chip in and voice their opinions. I'm not saying they were ecstatic about their direction, but they were mostly attentive. As attentive as any other coach/player relationship. 2. Kobe, Metta, Jordan, and Julius all sit together on the end of the bench going over things. They're constantly talking about what's happening in the game. 3. Roy Hibbert is by far the most invested player on the team. He's up and attentive and watching every single second. It's great to see. I really hope he sticks around because it's fantastic to see someone who cares so, so much on the team. 4. Russell looks like a 19 year old out there. Very, very thin and undeveloped. However the good news: he's got a solid frame. He'll fill out well over time. His passing wasn't great last night. A lot of telegraphed passes. Still his offense looked pretty good. He was looking for contact going to the rim instead of trying to finish the shot, but still I prefer that to not attacking at all. 5. Clarkson is so smooth out there. Most natural player we have right now. 6. Randle will be literally unstoppable when he has that jumper down, but right now that jumper is uuuugly. Nasty even. The good news is he's got solid free throw form. 7. Kobe looks decent on the court honestly. No lift anymore, but pretty decent defending actually live. His man-to-man is okay. After a screen though he's completely useless defensively. Kobe hasn't recovered defensively in years and now it's become just unbearable to watch. No boxing out, no rotation... He hasn't worked hard on those things since 2010 probably. Still though in a one-on-one situation I've seen worse even just last year from Wes Johnson honestly.
It's good to see a player like Hibbert still vested in the team despite how bad things are going. A true professional.
I've got to say it's doing my mood a lot of good watching the Paper Clips lose to Toronto by almost the exact same margin that we did. I feel like we were actually closer to beating them. Small steps.
Clips are in a worse place than us. They are supposed to be contending but suck. We are supposed to suck and are sucking worse than expected.
