I'll start with this. (Pic via twitter& @LakeShowFamily) We have the better roster top to bottom, it's our house&they'll be lucky to make the WCF for once in their trash franchise history. Would love to spark discussions between our personnel VS theirs, including matchups, etc.
Bron and A.D will have to play at their best . I like their "profile" better , they can play 3 wings ( Kawhi , PG13, Harkless/Green) from the SG to PF position while we can't . I think they will be a better regular season team than us but I'm hoping total domination from our duo in a playoffs matchup. PS : Let's see how they perform now that they have huge expectations . It was easier to be a 8th seed with no pressure on. It's not impossible they become the 18-19 C Bags
I hope the Lakers crush those fools in each and every game this season. I .not objective, but I still fail to see how they are supposed to be the favorites, just not buying the hype. The Warriors, Rockets' unfortunately and Bucks are way more scary IMO, but we'll see. Don't wish an injury on anybody but I hope this team goes down in flames for all kinds of other possible reasons. As somebody already posted somewhere else - if they play the Rockets or C Bags, I will root for the red or green abomination. Absolutely hate that team and everything it stands for.
Everyone is assuming a team with Kawhi and George are all of a sudden title contenders... while that seems to be the sexy thing to say, I would say that their team isn’t as talented as the Lakers. Toronto is a much better and deeper team... winning the championship was no fluke. Moreover, how do you think PG and Kawhi will fare during a long season? Those guys seem to get injured... I guess I’m not seeing it at all. I think superior depth will just crush those guys. Lakers, Portland and the Jazz come to mind. Kawhi is a great player. But, he can only do so much. Side note: Kawhi is not the best player in the game... Durant is. He is the most skilled player I’ve seen since Kobe.
Our duo is better than theirs, but overall I'd say the Clips are just a tad better right now due to depth. It would be huge if we could get Iggy so we can throw him and Green at PG/Kawhi.
It’s a weird thing. The clippers fans I know think we have more depth (or they’re just placating me). I think they have the hot duo but not the better duo and I’m not even a Lebron guy. I didn’t drive up from LB to deface his mural or anything but I didn’t want him here. That being said he’s with us now and with AD I think we’re fine. If Cousins can be half of what he used to be pre injury we’ll be flying.
1. I keep seeing "depth" with the Clippers and I have no idea where that is coming from. Their starting lineup should be Beverley/Leonard/George/Harrell/Zubac. After that they have Lou Williams. Then their next best player is Mo Harkless. Then it's JaMychael Green... Landry Shamet... Sindarious Thornwell. Look those guys are okay, but we're really thinking they're going to come through in the playoffs? Those are the guys we think are going to come around and win them a bunch of games? How is that deep? 2. We have a handful of wing defenders to throw at Kawhi and George in Green, Bradley (a bit undersized but if the Clippers fans can tout Harrell...), Caldwell-Pope, and LeBron will have to play some defense. They'll 100% get theirs, but we can make them work for it. On the other end, both of their best wings will take turns on LeBron, but who in the hell is guarding AD? If Boogie is even the same guy as he was last season (so assuming he doesn't improve at all) they have no answer for him at all. Zubac looked conpletely overmatched in the playoffs and boy that's not going to change now. The Clippers need to sign some big bodies asap to compete with us down low. 3. Is everyone going to just pretend George and Kawhi aren't injury risks? George to me is most like LeBron in that last year they had an acute injury so hard to say injury prone, but Kawhi has a degenerative leg issue that keeps him benched 20 times a year. George just got labrum surgery, is he even going to be ready when the season starts? These guys aren't going to win 55 games this year with those two ailing so when is Kawhi getting his "load management"? Lou Williams is going to be the guy who takes over games while the other two recover, they better hope he can do it 15-20 times a year. I could easily see this Clipper team being a 7 or 8 seed this season because their stars weren't on the floor enough. If one of those wings takes a hit they dont have anyone close to being able to take the team to the next level. They aren't deep like that. Of course you could say the same about us with Bron and AD but even then we have a deep bunch of guards and bigs in order to try to recover. Rondo, Bradley, Cousins, McGee all have tons of playoff experience. Who has that for the Clippers?
How are the Clippers going to load manage for Kawhi? Raptors were DEEP last year, this Clipper team, not so much. Also isn’t PG coming off surgery on both his shoulders? They make a nice duo but outside of them, Lou, Bev, Harrell and Zu, theres not a lot. We will definitely have the size advantage.
Forgot to mention that while Kawhi is a legit superstar, AD is much better than PG. Not even close in my humble opinion.
If we’re gonna beat this team, it’ll be in the paint with our size. If we plan to play AD at the 4 next to McGee/Cousins, we should have the advantage every time. Rebounds, interior scoring, block shots. Kuz will also be a big factor off the bench, he needs to focus on being the focal point and leading the bench unit as the number one option and progress on the defensive end.
The Clippers are not making the WCF. They are the Clippers. Kawhi is a baller for sure. He did take Toronto to the finish line. BUT... He is going to have to carry that team in the West and make it through the West. He gets hurt they ain't making the playoffs on PG's back. They can make it but I don't see it. Could be bias but that's my prior to the year opinion.
i thought that was the rationale behind forming a "big 3" -- you load manage by keeping 2 of 3 guys on the floor while staggering rest on the bench for the third one, or you can still get the W if only 2 of 3 suit up for the night... but clearly that wasn't the critical or determining factor in his decision. with either pg or kawhi on the bench, almost any team in the west can stand toe-to-toe with that team, so, to your point, how exactly will they load manage with the expectation of being a top 2 seed in the west? i feel like seeding will be even more crucial this year because as you drop out of the top 2 or 3 spots, you will encounter some really good 4, 5, and 6 seeds.
Lakers so far are stacked in the frontcourt: with a rotation of Cousins/McGee/Lebron/AD/Kuzma. Clear weakness is guard play with guys who are washed up Rondo (uggh), shouldn't be washed up buy plays like they are in KCP, then guys you hope don't decline in D. Green, and guys who hope will bounce back in Bradley. Then you cross your fingers that guys like Caruso and THT will grow. The other weaknesses for the Lakers will be age/injury related declines in Lebron and Cousins and it would be nice to have another banger type forward in addition to Kuzma as the backup 3/4 Big advantage for the Clips is the guard spots with finishing lineups featuring Williams clearly a step above what the Lakers got right now. Williams is getting long in the tooth as well but right now he projects as a clearly better number 3 over Kuzma or possibly a replenished Cousins. Lots of if but if Bradley can get his game back it will go a long way taking this one advantage away and if the Lakers grab Iggy then I don't think the Clips have much of a chance if teams are full strength With that being said a lot of unknowns: if Lebron has more left in the tank then he showed post injury this is all maybe moot as a Cleveland fan I've seen playoff Lebron take out teams which were supposedly deeper year after year and he hasn't had someone like AD since his first year in Miami. Essentially the Kawhi trade for Toronto "Lebronto" and GS getting Durant was due to Lebron just destroy otherwise very good playoff defenses Also if Cousins get back to 80% of what he was pre-injury he's going to be a beast. Funny but also Kuzma is a big wild card. He's the really only player on the Clips or Lakers who has a realistic chance of making that "leap" into stardom. Guy has the tools
Lakers overloaded on Guards... Rondo, Caruso, KCP, Green, Bradley, Cooke & Daniels. My guess is, they’re gonna see who fits best & look to move the others at the trade deadline. This is most likely why KCP got that No Trade Clause.
