Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by therealdeal, Jun 20, 2016.

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  1. wcsoldier81

    wcsoldier81 - Lakers All Star -

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    ^^^^ There aren't many Gobert in the league when it comes to anchoring the D ...

    As Luke said he's ready to sacrify wins now to become better later ..

    The most interesting thing is the Nance - Randle "situation" .

    Randle will get most of the minutes and likely will finish games because of his draft position ( which makes sense as he's only in his 2nd year) whereas Nance has the better impact right now and could end up being the more useful player ...

    Hopefully Randle will improve through the season .
     
    wcsoldier81, Oct 29, 2016
    #501
  2. LooN3y

    LooN3y - Rookie -

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    DLO, took some bad shots, he was already cold and he's our PG. What was he thinking? especially just going down the court and then just jacking up a 3 and bricking.

    He was hot in Houston, but if you're having a bad a shooting night put the ball on the floor. I don't want him to continue to do that every time dude goes cold and tries to shoot his way back in like space cadet.
     
    LooN3y, Oct 29, 2016
    #502
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  3. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    I was really heartened by this game, even with the loss. As mentioned, all of our guys shot terribly except Lou and Black and we stayed with it, ground it out, played some good D down the stretch and fought. We were up with 7 minutes in the fourth in Utah and we battled. We would have gotten blown out last year. This season feels so much different even in a loss. This is what I was hoping for, a real effort even though we didn't get the W. I'm pleased.
     
    lakerjones, Oct 29, 2016
    #503
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  4. alam1108

    alam1108 - Lakers Legend -

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    We had no business being in that game and we were. That's all we can ask for this season. Hey, maybe a few more shots went down or a couple calls went our way and we could have been 2-0.
     
    alam1108, Oct 29, 2016
    #504
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  5. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    Even though last night was the exception to the rule where we only had one of our guards shooting well, generally speaking I like what Luke has at his disposal in that regard. You've got five guys each of whom are capable of getting RED hot: Russell, Young, Clarkson, Lou and Calderon. One guy didn't get to play last night obviously in Calderon, and 3 of the rest of the guys shot uncharacteristically badly. That won't happen often.
     
    lakerjones, Oct 29, 2016
    #505
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  6. SamsonMiodek

    SamsonMiodek - Lakers 6th Man -

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    My biggest fear heading into this season was defense. Long term too actually. Most of our core seemed to be bad to very bad at that end. I don't get to watch many games but got up ad 4 AM to watch this one. Even though we lost, I was very encouraged by the defense. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it was actualy pretty decent and definitely MUCH better than what I expected not so long ago. Especially Randle and Clarkson seem to have improved on that front. I haven't been so "pleased" with a loss in a looooooong time.
     
    SamsonMiodek, Oct 29, 2016
    #506
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  7. Purp n Gold

    Purp n Gold - Rookie -

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    I think the back court will obviously have its hands full with Russell and Oladipo... but I hope Ingram, Randle and Nance \show up big in this next game. Matchups look favorable for them, especially in the 2nd unit. The Broadie is on full-tilt right now, but OKC almost gave up games against the Suns and 76ers. I think we're better than those teams.
     
    Purp n Gold, Oct 30, 2016
    #507
  8. jbiggs

    jbiggs - Rookie -

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    couldnt agree more. its funny, but in the past 2 seasons when the games were close i didnt get nervous. i guess i just figured that even if we somehow won we werent going anywhere. so far these first 2 games ive been on the edge of my seat. the team seems so much more invested. this season is already better than the previous 2 minus kobes farewell game
     
    jbiggs, Oct 30, 2016
    #508
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  9. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    So . . . not as ok with this loss as the last one. WAAAY too many turnovers. And you can't do that against a transition monster like Westbrook.

    Now to be fair, some of that is inexperience on the part of our young players, part of it is unfamiliarity between the players quite a few of which have not played together at all before. But some of it was just bad play, bad decision making. Got to clean that up if you want to even have a chance on the road.

    I did like the fight we had, cutting it down to four at 91 to 95 late in the fourth quarter. I also like the offense we're running. We're getting guys wide open looks. Now we need to make them! The shooters have to start knocking those down.

    It's a work in progress for sure.
     
    lakerjones, Oct 30, 2016
    #509
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  10. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    I agree with this. We had a lot of open looks and we weren't hitting them. Turnovers really hurt us and Westbrook did the rest.

    That said, we were again in a position to steal this one down the stretch before Westbrook went off on us.

    I think we'll see those shots falling and the turnovers go way down by the end of the year.
     
    ElginTheGreat, Oct 30, 2016
    #510
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  11. wcsoldier81

    wcsoldier81 - Lakers All Star -

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    wcsoldier81, Oct 31, 2016
    #511
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  12. Punk-101

    Punk-101 - Lakers Starter -

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    I was thinking the same thing. I searched and couldn't find what the league average is for uncontested fg% on both mid and 3pt shots. Anybody have this please?
     
    Punk-101, Oct 31, 2016
    #512
  13. OmarE

    OmarE - Lakers Starter -

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    Both games on the road we hung through which will all be a great learning experience for the young guys, and soon they'll learn how to dial up even more defensively with better execution offensively. This is where Luke as well will learn which lineups is best to use down the stretch
     
    OmarE, Oct 31, 2016
    #513
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  14. OmarE

    OmarE - Lakers Starter -

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    Remember Luke is still learning how to coach as well and he'll as well get better and better. This year should be viewed as a process to getting better type of year. Don't look at the win loss column but the improvement on execution and defense
     
    OmarE, Oct 31, 2016
    #514
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  15. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    We are getting clean looks. We're just not hitting them right now. Spacing is a bit of a problem in the first unit right now, and I know Luke is still tinkering with lineups trying to find out what works best, so I'll give it time. We look better than I thought we would at this point in the season, though.

    We'll win tomorrow against Indiana.
     
    LaVarBallsDad, Oct 31, 2016
    #515
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  16. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    LaVarBallsDad, Oct 31, 2016
    #516
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  17. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    I feel like from what I've seen in only three games we're so much better on both sides of the ball than last year. Huge improvement already. The open looks we are getting are outstanding. Just need to knock them down and we have the shooters that should be able to do so. It's all a work in progress but everything I've seen has been encouraging.
     
    lakerjones, Oct 31, 2016
    #517
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  18. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    I still get frustrated when we lose...lol. I need your outlook. Our schedule should lighten up and we should get some W's.
     
    LaVarBallsDad, Oct 31, 2016
    #518
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  19. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    To be within four points in the fourth quarter against OKC on the road was a big positive . We don't have proven closers yet, but this year is all about giving the guys opportunity to become just that.
     
    sirronstuff, Oct 31, 2016
    #519
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  20. LaVarBallsDad

    LaVarBallsDad - Lakers Legend -

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    I agree. Nevertheless, let's get a win tomorrow.
     
    LaVarBallsDad, Oct 31, 2016
    #520
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