This is unacceptable to play Rui only 12 minutes and then you're playing Prince 18 mins, Reddish 12 minutes, and VINCENT 35 f***ING MINUTES. Ham needs to be better with deploying Rui...especially with Vando out. Speaking of which, what will happen when Vando comes back? Does Rui get squeezed from the rotation?
Cam's minutes will disappear and some of those "defensive guard" minutes that Gabe ate up will probably go his way too.
I agree on Gabe and the rest but Rui was awful on the glass and on defense yesterday. He didn't box anybody out and that allowed the Suns scrubs to be effective by just wanting it more.
I also think the 5 out offense isn't doing Rui any favors. In the 4 out, he was put in more successful scoring opportunities. Also, can we hit him with the ball on the move more? I'd like to hit him in stride to get him his mid range J vs giving him the ball with a short clock and telling him go to work.
Same thing I said in the AR thread: I think we expected more from him, and we're not really seeing it this season. Maybe it's Rui, maybe the coach hasn't figured out how to use him properly, IDK... but with all this depth and people not finding their role -- it's going to be a long season.
I think Rui is the main one affected by all the extra offensive firepower we signed. Last season he was our MAIN weapon off the bench, now we have so many more mouths to feed. Though Ham needs to get him better scoring positions.
i think it's up to him. he has to play better than he has, imo. i believe he'll get his chances, though. and i also agree that it will take some time to find the configuration that works best with him. the sac game would be a good place for him to show his value.
He's not playing more because he's not playing hell. Agree with Ham rotations on this one. He needs to do better on the boards and defense, otherwise relying only in the offense won't break it for him
Yasuke just needs to settle down a bit, and do his thing...make shots. He'll be fine. The jumper started straying in the last couple of preseason games, he needs to stay aggressive with his midrange game. Can't fall in love with looking to launch the 3.
Quite disappointed in Rui's game. He has the size and length to be a real problem for other defenders but he doesn't seem to be able to play consistent basketball. Rui is a matchup nightmare physically. Big enough to play the 4 in some stretches and can also play the 2-3 as well. Looking at his game, he should be a 15/6/2 player every time he steps on the court. Supposedly he was working out with LeBron during the offseason... well, it's time to go out there and show it. The reason Ham had to bench Rui is because Rui was incapable of playing defense and once Wood proved he deserved those minutes, Ham had no reason to play Rui if LeBron is also on the court. I mean... a lineup of Rui, LeBron, and AD should be dominating every frontcourt in the league. Us Lakers fans took Kyle Kuzma for granted. I wasn't a huge fan of Kuzma because of how often he would commit stupid fouls but you could count on Kuzma's length and hustle. I wish the Lakers had kept Kuzma, KCP, and Caruso... AD, LeBron, KCP, Caruso, and Kuzma lineups would be unstoppable... add in Reaves off the bench and you have yourself a championship team.
Phoenix just out hustled the Lakers when Rui when was in. You got to box out at least if you're not getting the board and the Suns killed it on the glass. Rebounding is a critical part of the defense and you quickly see why Kuzma took Ruis job in Washington. Kuzma will get you tough points and even though he's not as big as Rui will fight for possessions. Was hoping Rui would become more consistently with the 3 because that was something that I thought had a chance to better than Kuzma who was really streaky
I'm sorry guys - but Ham isn't gonna get my sympathy when he's playing other guys that were not playing well A LOT more minutes than Rui, a guy that has chemistry with Bron/AD and was a huge part of our run last year. I feel liker Ham has made it significantly harder on us by trying all these new BS lineups. Play the core guys as much as you can together, and then let the others fill in and figure out how they can play with the core guys. He's trying too hard to integrate the new guys and not trusting his core guys enough...you know DLO/AR/Rui/Bron/AD have not played a single minute togher on the floor? How is that possible? That lineup crushed it in the playoffs.
Meh..The season just started..panicking early is a sign of fear. The guys back from the playoffs run, have made their bones with me. We've added some new pieces, I think we've upgraded our squad. It's going to take a feeling out process, before the ship gets to rolling full steam IMO. Training camp, and a few preseason games, isn't going to simulate, actually playing together in real NBA games. We won’t be sneaking up on anybody in this campaign, so while we might have a few speed bumps along the way early. This team damn sure won't start 2-10 out of the gate. We have a good team. Lakers in 6!!
i just finished complaining in a separate thread about rui's energy and effort on defense and the boards. if he doesn't fix it, he won't play when vando returns, imo. i think he'll get there, though; we've already had to chat with him about it in the past, iirc.
He played 15 mins and then 12 mins...he missed a few things but so have other players that just joined the team I'm very confused by his lack of minutes - you gotta give Rui a much longer leash than some of our new guys. Get him in there with the starters please - where he thrived the most.
