Brandon Ingram Discussion: He Is Who We Thought He Could Be

Agreed with others. I'm against giving up our Big 3.

 

I think it has to be BI for 3 reasons:
1. BI, to me, is most likely of the core to be like Kawhi in a couple years. So to give him up we are just replacing a baked cake for the cake batter. We need that baked cake now for LeBron to eat. [bars];
2. Kuz has better entertainment value than BI. He is what La La Land needs in terms of representing our future after LeBron. He has been sprinkled with Magic dust. And for the ticket prices, currently and going forward, the fans must be entertained.
3. Whatever gap there is between Kuz and BI, I don’t think you lose much if you conclude BI is better or has better upside down the road.

The other pieces, we can find replacements, vets or via draft, that would make us forget about them.

 

You don't think Ingram and Kuz can create their own shot? The shot creators are Ball and Rondo. Stephenson does both but he's a mixed bag of results. And there's also KCP too.

 

I have my preference, just like everyone else....mine happens to favor wings over a PG that lacks ability to be an offensive threat. It would be even more of a problem should Zo lose out the starting gig to Rondo.

 

I dont think a lot of you have let it sink in that the league needs a new set up to stop this 3 point shooting barrage of ineptitude.

I told you guys and gals a few times on here that the next great scheme to stop the 3 point heavy league will be the next great set up.

Well, looks like the Lakers are setting up the team to do exactly that. I remember watching the 2017 Finals and seeing Cleveland at the time trade baskets like crazy. Well, in the end, it didnt work. What worked was what they did in the 2016 Finals when they hit the hole on a constant basis and played rough and tough D on Curry and Klay.

Lakers are building a team that will neutralize the Warriors or any team that tries to be them.

So all this "the PG needs to hit 60% from 3" business is gonna be out the window. Lakers need athletes that are mean, want to win AND know how to play high IQ basketball. Other than McGee, every player they are getting has those things. And there is one more left to get.....

 

sacre and bryant barely played...i def think javale is going to have a far bigger impact than them. people forget, but when he was inserted into the lineup in this most recent finals he without a doubt had an impact. imagine lonzo and bron throwing lobs to him all day erry day combined with some blocking presence inside. i dig it

 

He needs to get on that gear that Norwegian nordic skiers are using. EVERY SINGLE one of their athletes "has" asthma

 

Jerome Bettis had asthma. And i saw him run over human beings like they weren't even there for 4 quarters.

 

We have to be real for ourselves with a minute though. Laker fans have the biggest tendency to overrate our players, especially our young guys.

Devin Ebanks was supposed to be the next Trevor Ariza. Andrew Goudelock was going be our "mini Mamba." Robert Sacre had starting center potential. Jordan Clarkson was a future 6MOY. Larry Nance was the perfect role player. Etc...

There are even some more egregious ones I've seen (not on this board). Jordan Farmar is better than Rajon Rondo (back in 2009). Jodie Meeks is better than Klay Thompson (2014). Julius Randle is better than Draymond Green (this year).

I understand why we're attached to the young players. We've gone through hell as a franchise after Kobe's injuries and our high draft picks were the silver lining. The best we could do when every FA rejected us was hope that they would become the next stars of the league like GSW or OKC were able to do. But we have to remember that's not the only way to win, even sustainably. This team reminds me more of the 90s Lakers pre Shaq. We had good young talent, some of them even made the all star team, and our team reached the 2nd round of the playoffs. But we traded all those guys away for Shaq, Kobe, and veterans. And nearly all of our recent championships can be attributed in part to those decisions.

We are not a small market team. Stars want to come here. We don't have to rely solely on the draft and a few FA signings. We should use the advantages that us being the Lakers gives us.

 

I don't think we are building a team to stop that. Boston is the best team in the league at defending the 3. Our team looks to be built almost like the 2004 Pistons, with better offense and worse defense. Physical play bothers Golden State (2016 finals was the epitome of this), and we've signed the most physical, versatile defenders that were available (only one missing is Leonard). We actually saw the blueprint to beat GS from Houston (another team designed to stop them). Physical, switch heavy defense. All the Warriors offense is predicated on generating open shots off screens when a lack of defensive communication causes confusion in the type of coverage you're supposed to run to contain the action. That's why coaches are sticking with a "switch everything" defense. If you tell your players to sometimes switch sometimes hedge, they are going to mess it up some of the time and that will result in a WIDE open look. Houston's problem was their offense. They tried to attack Curry via Harden ISOs repeatedly. It was too predictable and GS eventually adapted, as you saw in the last 2 games. A lack of ball movement on their part also makes their shooters go cold, a reason why they missed 27 straight from 3.

Boston was designed to stop Cleveland. They are a team that literally wins or dies by the 3 (look at 3 point shooing in their wins vs. losses in the playoffs). Their offense devolved into LeBron penetration off a high PnR switch/mismatch and either an ISO for him or a kick out into an open 3 when the help came. Boston's switching and scram switching defense was designed to stop this, along with an elite offensive guard in Irving who could attack Kevin Love in the PnR. Their plans changed when Irving got injured, but they still managed to take Cleveland to 7 games.

 

You would be surprised how attached some Laker fans get man...

I couldn't believe there were actually debates around that.