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Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

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

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Kenzo - Lakers MVP -

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Too bad, they weren't mad enough at Cleveland last year
We had no chance without Russ and Jules, 149 points allowed is still ridiculous though...

Kenzo, Nov 24, 2016

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alam1108 said: ↑

Warriors have been blowing out teams since they lost to us, also came into this game mad that we beat them twice already. Missing two key players I expected a blowout.

Hoping next game is a tad closer.
Click to expand...

same thing I was thinking. I knew last night would be a blood bath.

Battle Tested20, Nov 24, 2016

#862

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thankful i slept thru this game based off the box score

jbiggs, Nov 24, 2016

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We can officially take the W out of Ha_ks and D_ight and replace those with two more L's in AtLLLanta. Eat it D_ight.

Doc Brown, Nov 27, 2016

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abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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really nice win against the hawks. it looked bleak early, but when the hawks were playing great ball and only up 10 or so, i thought the lakers would have a shot to climb back in. i think they let up on the gas a bit and forgot that these aren't byron's lakers.

great scrappy work on the boards in this one from nance, black, and robinson especially. love that young can carry the offense one half, then lou in another. it's almost like having one kobe! ok, maybe one old kobe.

anyway, any win the lakers can scratch out during this tough stretch in which they're playing good teams whilst being forced to play calderon as a starter is a great thing.

abeer3, Nov 27, 2016

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.500 basketball again.

alam1108, Nov 27, 2016

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Our bench scored 65 points. Man, I love that unit. They have talent but score so much off of hustle and energy plays. Always giving 100%. Black and Nance play very well off each other.

Cookie, Nov 27, 2016

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Nice heartfelt win against Dwight Coward and co. Got a little worried when they went down big in the first, but way to fight back and really take it to the opposition. Just another great team win.

Last edited: Nov 28, 2016

lakerjones, Nov 27, 2016

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you mean the first? cause we ran them out of the building in the fourth

KareemtheGreat33, Nov 27, 2016

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Great win , 9-9 for a 17-65 team with the 3rd hardest schedule and without 2 starters !

wcsoldier81, Nov 27, 2016

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Honestly these first 18 games may have been the worst part of our schedule but December may be worse.

Some stats so far:

We are 3-4 vs the top six teams in the Western Conference this season, a .428 avg.
We are 2-1 vs the top six teams in the Eastern Conference this season, a .667 avg. Small sample sizes I know. Still, We only had 11 games vs. the East's top 6 last year. Compare to last year:

By comparison, we were 1-21 vs top six in West last year. Yes 1-21. That's 0.47 avg. Disgusting.
We were 2-9 vs the top 6 in the East last year. That's .222.

Overall, the cumulative record of teams we have played is 148-139. That's counting each team record one time for each time we played them. So the Hawks for instance count as 20-14 not 10-7 since we've played them twice.

Our schedule has been tough so far with games vs GSW (x3), Spurs, Hawks (x2), Thunder (x2) and the Bulls. That accounts for 1/2 (9) of our games so far. And we won 4 of those.

We've been out our 2 top players for 3-4 games now in the worst section of our schedule yet we're .500 and in the 8th playoff slot.

Still a tough spell up ahead. From now (11-27 to 12-31):
Road Games: 12
Home Games: 6
Games vs teams in playoff standings: 10
Games vs teams not in playoff standings: 8

It will be tough to hold @ .500 until the end of December, however if we aren't too far off .500 it's hard not to think we won't be in the mix for a bottom playoff slot by virtue of schedule alone as there is NO doubt the first half of the season is tougher than the second.

From January on:

Road Games: 21
Home Games: 25
Games vs teams in playoff standings: 19
Games vs teams not in playoff standings: 26

That's something to look forward to.

Last edited: Nov 28, 2016

Alcindor, Nov 28, 2016

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Yes indeed and Minnesota is now 5 - 11.

LTLakerFan, Nov 28, 2016

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LTLakerFan said: ↑

Yes indeed and Minnesota is now 5 - 11.
Click to expand...

of course if the refs call the bs like they did last time no team can beat them.

scnottaken, Nov 28, 2016

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if we can win as much as we lose during this dark December, we're golden

KareemtheGreat33, Nov 28, 2016

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Oh .... Oh ... and the Clippers just scored 70 points with their 2nd loss in a row. This is the optimism thread right? Let me be first in with, "now it begins ... not later in the playoffs"

LTLakerFan, Nov 28, 2016

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LTLakerFan said: ↑

Yes indeed and Minnesota is now 5 - 11.
Click to expand...

This makes me smile because before we went with Luke every sports writer was blasting the front office for letting Thibs get away. Hell even I was to a point. But based on what he wanted, it turned out to be a smart move plus it proved the FO already had their sights set on Luke; another very smart move. And here we have a rookie coach and his team outperforming a veteran coach with a team with supposedly better talent than our own. Well maybe they do have better talent in Wiggins and KAT, but at this point our boys are playing better basketball than those guys.

raviator, Nov 28, 2016

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And we might be willing to send them Deng if they say please LOL

sirronstuff, Nov 28, 2016

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SI's The Crossover Power Rankings by Jeremy Woo

14. Los Angeles Lakers (9–9)

Last Week: 15
Net Rating: -2.6

Nick Young intercepting a pass intended for Lou Williams, blatantly traveling and then nailing the game-winning shot was far and away the best moment of the first month of the season. It’s also the neat epitome of why you should love the Lakers right now. There’s not a ton of rhyme or reason, they aren’t really guarding anyone and it’s fairly unclear who’s actually leading this team on the floor, but don’t question Luke Walton’s SoCal cult of personality. Just inhale.

This team is fun. This team may not be good, but when it’s midnight on the East Coast and you’re weighing whether or not to stay up and watch basketball, the Lakers’ answer has more often than not been a yes. We’re in so deep that there are already new rumors about Phil Jackson coming back to L.A., and they should actually scare Lakers fans (and send Byron Scott’s ghost cackling around the Staples Center). Because the Lakers are an attractive property again, and that’s with D’Angelo Russell injured and Brandon Ingram still in chrysalis and Timofey Mozgov starting at center.

It’s going this well.

So well, in fact, that I don’t think anyone has asked the husk of Kobe Bryant how he feels about it. Four guards are leading the team in scoring, they’ve got the fourth-worst scoring defense in the league, and yet nine wins feels like 40 compared to the last few seasons of Lakers basketball. With the Timberwolves still treading water, here’s this season’s Fun Young Squad. Dreaming of a first round series against the Clippers, yours truly, Jeremy.

gcclaker, Nov 28, 2016

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alam1108, Nov 28, 2016

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You know things are going well when there is a positive Lakers article on ESPN.

http://www.espn.com/blog/los-angele...second-unit-emerging-as-first-rate-performers

Lakers' second unit emerging as first-rate performers
6:32 AM PT

Baxter HolmesESPN Staff Writer

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LOS ANGELES -- First-year Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton and his staff first saw signs during the preseason, when they were still tinkering with their inaugural lineup, searching for player combinations that might work best. As much as they experimented, they noticed how the second unit kept playing together exceptionally well, how the respective skill sets of those players seamlessly meshed together, how it formed an especially strong chemistry, how, almost always, that unit seemed to give the Lakers a better-than-expected punch upon entering the game.

“We got to the point where the bench was becoming pretty special,” Walton recalled Sunday.

As Walton and staff worked to solidify the starting lineup, they remained cautious not to mess with their second unit, not to ruin what was clearly becoming something pretty special.

Then came the regular season and the eventual injuries that befall every team. Still, Walton drew a hard line against throwing some of his best reserves into the starting lineup, claiming that the bench was arguably their best weapon -- the key to their surprisingly strong start as compared to last season -- and it was important, if not vital, to keep that unit intact.

On recent nights, Walton was again asked why he wouldn’t just take some of his best and most effective bench players and start them instead, but the 36-year-old coach refused to budge.

Atlanta Hawks, the Lakers lacked two starters -- forward Julius Randle (hip pointer) and point guard D’Angelo Russell (sore left knee) -- but Walton, as usual, decided that the core of his second unit would remain unblemished.

And that second unit rewarded him by carrying the Lakers back from an early double-digit deficit and to a resounding 109-94 win, pushing them to 9-9, meaning they already have more than half the wins that they achieved all of last season when they posted a franchise-worst 17-65 mark.

The Lakers’ bench averaged an NBA-best 51.2 points per game entering Sunday, and they topped that figure by producing 65 against the Hawks, whose bench scored 24. Lakers guard Lou Williams led the way with 21 points, Jordan Clarkson scored 18 and Larry Nance Jr. added 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“Groups build chemistry together, and that group has it,” Walton said. “They have been one of the best groups of five -- starters or benches -- all season long in the NBA. We feel that we have a big advantage when that group gets on the court together, and that’s why we try so hard to keep them somewhat in similar rotations when they are going to be subbing in and what not.”

Walton noted that his bench unit has a wide variety of skill sets that complement each other well. Clarkson and Williams are potent scorers. Forward Brandon Ingram’s 7-foot-3 wingspan makes him a versatile defender, plus he can play point guard on offense. Nance and center Tarik Black can guard interior and perimeter players, as well as run the pick-and-roll with proficiency.

“You can throw whatever you want at us, but we just have the guys that mesh well,” Nance said. “It’s a very versatile group, and that’s a little bit of what makes us so successful.”

Williams added, “I think we’re averaging 50-plus points a game, and JC is a starter in this league, and I’m a sixth man in this league, and you kind of put both of us together, and then you have all the other guys doing the dirty work, it’s a good mix.”

Check out the team site for more game coverage

Check out the team site for more game coverage

On top of it all, the group plays with an especially selfless nature, Walton noted -- whoever is in a groove receives the ball on offense, and they cover for each other well on the defensive end.

“I just don’t think we have the mind-set where we care about accolades,” Williams said. “I think that’s one of the important things. I don’t think we have one guy that’s going out there with an individual goal in mind. I think that’s been very helpful for us going out on the floor.”

But perhaps Black made the most profound point about the success of the Lakers’ second unit.

“We sacrifice for each other,” said Black, who had seven points and eight rebounds against the Hawks. “It’s easy to do that when you come off one season [with] 17 wins and the season before that [21 wins]. It’s easier to buy in and do that for one another when you see the success for one another, and that’s what’s so great about having this group together, struggling first and then seeing the success, because we know where we come from and we know we don’t want to revert back.”

Black was speaking for the bench players, but in general, what he said applies quite well for the team as a whole. The Lakers continue to make impressive strides under Walton, whose new joy-filled culture is taking form perhaps far sooner than most expected.

“We give ourselves up for each other,” Black said. “We sacrifice for each other. You can see it on the court: open man gets the shot. We play defense for each other. You can see it on our team: We smile together, we laugh together. Man, we love each other in this locker room. We have a really good team. We have a really tight-knit group. That’s what it’s about, sacrificing for each other and putting selfishness to the side and [focusing on] what’s better for the team.”
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alam1108, Nov 28, 2016

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