I'd be lying if I said I didn't dig Russ's loyalty (crazy bag to say no to, but he did stick with the team that drafted him) and competitive edge....but maybe we can ease up off the brakes in donning him the "Kobe" of this generation (which was a running narrative that I actually bought into as well). He certainly has the mentality for it, but doesn't have the IQ and fortitude of a champion. Watching Kobe's top 10 moments on Spectrum, the fact that dude put up 62 on the Mavs in 3 quarters and outscored a team by himself, but chose not to stat pad in the 4th quarter (since LA was already up by 30 at that point) takes Russ and his tripdub padding a** out of the Kobe conversation completely for me. I think Bron would work with Russ since Bron and Ky worked (till it didn't haha), but thank god we dodged that bullet. Russ as a Laker would have had similar tones to Francis/McGrady in Houston/Orlando..individual flashes in the regular season, but not a real threat in the postseason. And in that regard, definitely not comparable to the Bean.
Westbrook has a do or die mentality on the court very much in the mode of Kobe, but as Vash said, he's just not the brightest. And he certainly doesn't have the arsenal of offensive skills near Kobe who in my opinion may have been the best student of the game I've ever seen in that regard. Here's a telling problem regarding being a Westbrook teammate and one that I hope Paul George really thinks hard about this off season when he's contemplating his next move: Westbrook got to the Finals with a stacked team of KD, Harden and Ibaka. Despite his own ascension he has gotten further away from the Finals seemingly every year. A lot of this obviously falls on OKC's FO which got cheap and let Harden get away, let Ibaka get away, and finally let KD get away. But if you are Paul George you have to ask yourself what's up because Harden became a superstar once he got away from Westbrook and led his own team, KD finally got that championship once he left Westbrook's side, Ibaka has a real shot to get at least to the ECF or maybe the Finals away from him on Toronto, and Oladipo has became a star now that he is out from underneath Westbrook's shadow and OKC's bad offense. If Paul George wants to play second fiddle to Westbrook and is content to be a subordinate under him then I guess he's not really the guy for us. If he wants to break out now that he's seen the inefficeincy over there playing alongside him in OKC then welcome home PG. I honestly thought that OKC was showing signs to be good enough to take this at least to the second round if not possibly the WCF but Utah is truly exposing them. Obviously it's not over yet, but if PG goes out in the first round I think he should reconsider all his talk about not wanting to "break up a good thing" there.
I agree with all of that except McGrady in Orlando. McGrady was an absolute beast before he started having injury issues. He just had the worse luck as it pertained to his teammates getting injured. If Grant Hill doesn't get hurt right off the bat in Orlando, those two together could have been scary. I am of the opinion that McGrady (in place of Kobe) and Shaq could have won at least one of those 3 titles together, maybe even two.
Yeah, I've done a piss poor job of clarifying myself as of late. I totally agree with you on McGrady and Hill. I love those 2 dudes personalities as well as their game. Just terrible luck with the injuries and nearly any ringless wing would love to play with heyday Shaq. But I chose Francis and McGrady cause they were unbelievable wings in the regular season only to fizzle out in the postseason. I think Russ as a Laker would have led to a similar trajectory, especially if you didn't surround him with the right personnel...and seeing how Magic and Rob are in charge now, you know they're thinking of bringing star power back to LA. So Russ would be ill-fitting to almost any star out there except for minimally offensive involved bigs that were mentioned before as well as a guy like Bron who has had success playing with offensive dominant wings like Wade and Ky.
While not as exciting as smoking PG, I think Kuzma at his peak can be an Antawn Jamison-type scorer - but a better 3pt shooter off the bat (Jamison developed that midway during his career).
I think if PG comes alone this summer, the majority of Laker nation will be disappointed. But if he comes as part of a combo deal where he is part of a well fitting tandem (unlike the one in OKC) then that is the ideal scenario for us. And that is exactly what LFR is trying to say above. Also its in our best interest that Utah takes care of business tonight for obvious reasons...but for not so obvious reasons, the quicker PG starts his summer, the quicker we can start blueprinting our summer plans without any tampering clout. Same can be said for Bron and Cleveland as well. Then those dudes can get on the phone and figure it out way before the July moratorium starts. That extra time of organizing between each other also helps in how we attack Jules's RFA.
Unfortunately it's only Indiana and Cleveland and MN and Houston tonight. So go out Thursday night Utah and finish this. Have a feeling though .... back at home now and a better game all around from OKC that will not happen.
Yeah I just double checked my rag paper Times and they actually left OKC and Utah off. Woohoo .... Go Utah. Sorry .... not my fault. Anyone with a Times sports section back me up so I don't take a bunch of s*** here.
OKC will rollover in the second half like most teams in this situation. OKC’s biggest problem past, current and future: Westbrook playing at PG position.
I don’t like this video for what it specifically contains, but for what it might represent for us. Please, please close this out, Utah. 56 - 41 Jazz at halftime.
I think the majority of Laker Nation would be ecstatic. Remember the poll? Most fans prefer organic growth led by our young players. Signing George and Randle, along with Lopez and a backup PG, would be the ideal offseason for the majority of fans.
JC/Nance got traded for nothing at the deadline then unless management reallllly wanted a 1st round pick. Thank goodness for proper management wanting to go for 2 max guys, cause the fans of that poll certainly don't represent me and the Laker fans I talk to on the daily. PG is "Pau" essentially....we need to find our next "Kobe"....and no, none of our kids are it and won't be anytime soon (if we're lucky enough to have any of those kids develop into that type of player ever). Btw: 41 pts at the half by OKC. I love Luke emphasizing defense, cause that is what we have to pride ourselves of moving forward. I'm super impressed with Utah and how they approach the game. Possibly one half remaining till Cancun P becomes Lakers P.
I still think adding George alone puts us in the playoff hunt especially if we can stay pretty healthy. I’d prefer two guys of course, but George would be great and hopefully be the piece that started attracted other big names to sign.
Utah doing everything they can to f*** with Laker fans haha. OKC needs to buy the refs dinner if they win this game cause with Rudy out with foul trouble, OKC had free reign in the paint. This come back proves that Rudy is DPOY. Interesting that OKC made their run with Melo on the bench and Russ and PG pretty much alternating with iso ball. Lets see how a young inexperienced Utah team responds.
