Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

I’m not too concerned with anything really. No one can replace Anthony Davis. As long as we can stay afloat until he comes back healthy, we should be back in great shape.

 

Everyone not named Kuz and Trez played with zero energy for most of the game. We couldn't buy a three. A brand new subdivision could've gone up with those 32 missed 3s. We got outrebounded. They killed us in the paint (52-38). And still... we had multiple good looks to pull out the W at the end.

At least we showed some effort defensively in the second half. That was promising.

 

With Kuzma's growth, the Lakers should be able to be beast defensively in the playoffs.
I would seriously bump up Kuzma minutes for a bit to see if he can handle it but if you can play AD/Lebron/Kuzma at 40 mpg and then the 4 guard rotation, this is the one team in the league which should be able to have a good defender across the board for most of the game. It going to be difficult to head hunt the Lakers as they have guys who can guard multiple positions

Just need some shots to fall and of course get/stay healthy

 

I still love this team. This recent stretch has been painful, but I like our chances against any team in the playoffs - as long as we get there healthy and with our main guys semi-rested.

 

yeah, utah is playing great. we're a quart low and not playing great. it's a long season. we'll see how we look come playoff time.

 

No AD: 0-6
No Schroder: 0-4
No AD + with Schroder = 2-0

I'm okay with 2-4 under those circumstances. Definitely should've beaten the Wizards, though. I was expecting 3-3. The problem with the offense is huge when LeBron has to carry all of the offense and the shooting sucks. Hopefully the shooting will pick back up now. I think Lakers are about to go on a nice win streak here.

 

A win is always a good thing. Team has got to weather the storm until AD gets back.

 

25 assists to 9 TOs as a team last night. that's how you can overcome 25% 3pt shooting. well, that and holding a team under 100.

 

My new theory on this Lakers team is that all the players not named AD or Lebron have been uniquely selected to fit with those guys. They NEED to play the position and spots on the floor that they play when those two are available. When one of those guys are not here, and especially when you take DS out of the mix, they all have to fill in for those guys, everyone has been rotated out of position and they are not nearly as good from those positions. I actually think our previous years players, played better than these guys, when AD or Lebron are out. They could make up the differences better and play out of their regular rotations/spots better. However, our current guys play better with Lebron and AD, especially in times when they are both on the court together. With our current lineup we have a higher ceiling, the problem is, we also have a lower floor. We are going to suck until AD is back to at least 90% of his old self.

 

Yep great post: the Lakers fit together like a puzzle.
Deinitely the whole is better than parts type of situation

This is the issue with the way the cap space is concentrated with two max guys and also what the Lakers saw happen last year in the playoffs. AD is a matchup nightmare at the 5 and you build around that. Lights out shooters are payed a premium. So the Laker have built a roster around bunch of guys who are actually not all that valuable outside of this team situation. A guy like Caruso wouldn't be that great on the Cavs as his individual defense would be lost among a bunch of bad defenders and he's not a great scorer and scoring is valuable when your team sucks and you need to try to stay in-game. Kuzma is probably considered by most casual as underperforming compared to BI and Lonzo's recent upswing (why would the Lakers want to keep him!). And yes they're right to an extent, I don't trust Kuzma at all in one on one situations trying to break down a defender

But on the Lakers if gravity of opponent's defense is on Lebron + AD/DS then everything falls into place. They have a bunch of decent shooters, great/good defenders, willing passers. Classic situation where the Robert Horry and Shane Battiers of the world don't look very good when they're asked to carry a bad team with scoring but look exceptional when placed next to superior talent on a winning team

 

With AD being out, lot of our young guys are getting minutes and opportunities right now. Caruso/THT/Kuzma have shown flashes of solid play

 

I'm more upset about the three point shooting and how everyone seemingly forgot how to shoot threes altogether. Most of these shots are wide open but it just clanks. AD+Schroder = about 40% of the Lakers offense so it's understandable that the production wouldn't be the same but we went from the third best shooting team in the league in the first ten games to being the worst shooting three point team the past 15 games. Such a huge drop-off. Lakers are now 26th in 3P% and 25th in FT%. Those numbers have to be better.

 

I wonder how much of it has to do with the alleged no practicing, and what's involved for these guys to be able to get into arenas on the road and at home for that matter if not practicing. Do they have to schedule time to show up and shoot at UCLA Lakers facility? Has to figure in somehow? Were just coming off a bunch of practices and pre-season games for those first 10 games of the season.

 

i'm subscribing to the fatigue account. we're at least a 50th percentile shooting team from deep--better considering the quality of shots we generate from 3 point range. league had to be terrified early on, and i think the truth is closer to that than what we've seen recently--which is basically the worst shooting team in the league.

 

Great news, Lakers have the 2nd best record in the league after going through hell the last week.