Got to love the first win streak of a horrible, horrible season! Especially on the road! Especially against the Rockets!
What's actually impressive is that these wins came on consecutive nights on the road. Lakers have been not too good on back to backs, especially the back ends and against a tougher team. I'm not ready to go full blown optimistic but right now I'm hopeful they can be decent.
Here's something you guys can nibble on: "The player who took over the starting point guard spot was rookie Chris Duhon. After this move was made, the Bulls started to gain team chemistry and the starting line-up was geared more towards defense, with Gordon coming off the bench to spark the team's scoring. The Bulls then made a run throughout the rest of the season to finish 47–35, becoming the first team ever to start off 0–9 and reach the playoffs, where they earned the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference." This was the 2004/05 season where the Bulls started off 0-9, and then finished the season 47-26 thereafter to make the playoffs. I'm not saying this is going to be us, but it's good to see that it CAN be done. And given that the Lakers had BY FAR the toughest schedule to start the season, maybe, just MAYBE, with some wins strung together, this team can begin to believe that they can be the second team to accomplish a feat like the Bulls did. Starting 1-9 is tough, but the Lakers haven't been dropping games to crappy teams like the KNICKS have been (and they've been losing at HOME too). I have some faith that this team won't be as terrible as everyone is making them out to be. Maybe all we needed was a little bit of SWAG. Man, if only Randle didn't go down...things woulda been looking much nicer for us. But hey, if we beat Dallas? I'll start to really believe in this squad.
Ugh. Ain't that the truth....the west literally has one other bad team besides the Lakers...and that's the Twolves. Everyone else is significantly more talented than us....and Nuggets started slow too but they're not going to be this bad all year...
We got the first two. Cuban gave lakers inspiration with his latest bulletin board quote : "I hope the lakers suck forever". We win by 20!
Even though we didnt have a great second half, I believe some of those mistakes are correctable and hope the players and staff learned, and can take a lot from these last couple games. Like you mentioned and Ive been thinking about, IT CAN BE DONE. Does this team truly want it? Perhaps the good joo-joo has come our way, well see what team shows up against the Mavericks. Play like its the finals, I have faith but you cant help those who cant help themselves. Who knows, if you show enough and we get to .500 soon then Mitch pulls off a trade he wouldnt have done before after team showing a life and really go for the playoffs, knowing a healthy and more mature Randle comes back next year saying fudge the lottery pick even though I really want it. Playoffs or bust. Well know in the next 8 games what the season will be IMO.
We had one game without Boozer, and it was already our best defensive game of the season. We only allowed 0.96 points per possession. How good is that? The best defensive teams in the league only allow about 0.97 to 0.98 points per possession. Holding teams to below 1 point per possession in general is really good. Denver isn't an offensive powerhouse, but they're about league average (actually, slightly better) so hopefully, without Boozer in the lineup, the defense can become more consistent and the players can start understanding the defensive concepts better.
How about removing Boozer from the starting lineup entirely? It would probably improve things. Boozer could run with the 2nd unit a little more. Also, what about increasing Clarkson's playing time and decreasing Price? Or maybe playing Lin and Clarkson more at the 1 and 2 together? We need get creative.
Tomorrow I am going to my first game in roughly 11 years. Last I saw the Lakers live, they had guys like Karl Malone and Gary Payton on their roster. I hope I am good luck for them.
That was a great year, snake eyes - even if we lost. I was in my first year in grad school, and I'd just met a friend from LA. We watched the whole playoffs together, to the bitter end. I'll always remember that year.
Andrei Kirilinko for nothing? Don't know if he has anything left in the tank but it can't hurt to bring him in as a reclamation project right?