Lou 2.0 I'm ok with that. We need one of those, and he's on a reasonable contract. He's actually one I'd like to keep around.
Except Lou was prolific off the bench. If he wants to be Lou, he better get a lot better at scoring the ball and getting to the free throw line. I'd prefer a guy off the bench who can also get 5 assists on any given night. Clarkson has had only 5 games with 5 assists this year. By contrast, Lou has 8 games with 5 assists and 6 games with more than 5 assists.
Maybe but Jordan is 3rd on the team in minutes played behind only Ingram and Randle. Clarkson played 184 more minutes than Lou when Lou was still on the team.
why people always gotta crap on my arguments with facts that totally discredit them? But thanks for making me look foolish in a classy way.
Sorry sirron. I'm pretty down on JC right now. I don't know what happened, but he's really become a ball stopper. With Lou gone I thought the bench would get to moving the ball, but that really hasn't been the case with JC at the helm.
But maybe the role change without Lou being there will help growth in these areas we speak of. I haven't looked up the numbers yet, but his play since Lou is gone surely must be reflected in his stats right? *edit* admittedly I haven't been able/up to watching full games to see all that you are seeing. There are times I see the highlights or replays of him taking it to the basket, and I'm like, "That's the guy I'm rooting for!" I haven't paid as much attention to the defensive side of the ball.
He's definitely improved himself statistically. His points have gone up, his efficiency has improved a bit, he's handing out slightly more assists (but still not many). My problem is the bench has consistently failed to perform since Lou has been gone. Part of that is Lou was a really great bench player and part of that is Clarkson still trying to figure out how to lead the bench instead of just take all the shots himself. He was a better combo guard in his rookie year by my estimation.
Yes, we know he is capable of that role, so it would be nice to not only see him return to what he did really well, but improve on it as well. We don't need any backsliders right now.
The bench was a big negative in the Charlotte game. Vs. Boston, the bench was +20 cumulatively; starters were -120. Vs. New Orleans, the bench was +1 overall, while the starters were -41. Vs. Dallas, the bench was +31; the starters were -86. Last night the bench was +52, while the starters were +8. I don't know what the baseline is, but the bench has been making up ground in all but one game since the break.
I'm not as down on JC as I was before all star break. He is second in scoring off the bench in the NBA since the break and his shooting percentage is really good since then. He still can be a ball hog and does dribble too much but he can get to the rack and at least score some points when our offense dries up. I thought he had 3 or 4 really good passes last night. He needs more of those. I think we need to give him more time to adjust to the playing style of Lou being gone. He is terrible on defense though but at least lately the look on his face after a missed assignment scores is disappointment with himself. To me that means at least he cares. Which is a good sign. I hope he works on this over the summer. That's if we don't ship him out over the summer in a trade. Which I'm fine with as long as we get something good back in return.
I don't mind that Clarkson shoots the ball or is aggressive, but he's a SG and should not be handling the ball. Too many possessions where he takes a contested shot early in the shot, before the ball has the chance to move around. Luke needs to pair Ennis with Clarkson to get the ball moving on the bench.
Jordan can make me look at a 30/8/6 game and still hope for more... He misses easy passes, holds the ball too long, and still gets lost off the ball defensively at times. If he's not hot shooting the ball, he's going to struggle to affect the game. If he caught fire like this more often, I wouldn't complain about him being a black hole. I just fear this is a once-in-a-blue-moon kind of thing. Props to the game though. Do it again tomorrow and prove me wrong Jordan.
Bad idea that yielded bad results. Go figure. One of the only times I've flat out disagreed with Walton all season. But he's a young coach and Russell had a crap game the night before so I get the experiment. It just wasn't well conceived.
The ESPN710 guys in the morning said it likely had to do with the lackadaisical way Russell played the night before (they named the dribble out of bounds play specifically) and that it seems the team is trying desperately to find ways to get Russell to focus. They also said he's known to be immature off the court in ways that the press doesn't really talk about, but wouldn't get into details. These guys aren't Laker insiders, so I take it with a grain of salt, but the first part sounds like it could be true. If it were true though, then Luke should have been up front about it I think. I know we have to treat Russell with baby gloves because he doesn't have the strongest mental makeup, but be upfront about his expectations. If he's screwing up enough (in their opinion) to get benched, even temporarily, then say it. It's okay to be punished for poor habits and behavior as long as it's used as a learning process which is where Byron failed.
Actually I think Luke taking a public professional approach is more beneficial and appreciated in the eyes of the players. Byron did not have those people skills, but I do still hope that Luke is spelling things out for him behind closed doors. Byron's approach was sit him and let him figure it out. That didn't work so well either.
