No doubt IMO we would have won the game if he didn't get concussed and I'm not joking at all. He and Dwight are always in the finishing lineup for their defense and you saw what Orlando was able to do that without that inside/outside combo
What's especially funny is Caruso would actually be a pretty fun watch in the ASG. He's a sneaky athletic player with some great dunks, passes, and can do a little bit of everything. Of course there are players more deserving, but Caruso might be more entertaining.
4th leading guard for the all-star game based on votes. It'd be so awesome if the Lakers had 3 all-stars. Super team based on organic growth from within
well, probably. considering what the allstar game has turned into, i'm guessing a bunch of non-stars might turn in a more entertaining product. lillard's fun to watch when people are trying to stop him, not so much when they're not. a bunch of carusos might be trying to stop each other.
So with AC’s acknowledged kind of break out season on defense now, how do you ex lock down dudes compare his strengths and weaknesses with Lonzo’s? And overall cumulatively who gets the nod? Game in and game out when they’re healthy?
Caruso is more entertaining, because this kid plays real basketball, the way this game should be played. And now that he is above Westbrook, everything IS finally in order, as I said much earlier in this topic. :Carusohearthands: Finally, this shows the popularity of the Lakers franchise. Those who don't want to play for us or don't want to play with LeBron because they are not good enough to play "in his shadow"... well, they are not made for this anyway.
I understand the initial skepticism to my take. A lot of the All Stars are jump shooters and while that's cool and all, it kind of gets boring to watch. In no way am I suggesting any actual NBA team would take Caruso over Lillard, Harden, or another All Star level guard, but I think the way Caruso plays the game is more fun to watch. Look at someone like Tim Duncan. All time great, but boring as hell and I don't watch the ASG for guys like that. I don't actually watch the game at all, but I'd actually check it out if Caruso was there. Fans of other teams may not feel the same way.
The ASG could use a dose of that. Here's a wrinkle to get the best of both worlds: - Each conference has the 5 top players in as starters - 3 more top players get in via coaches, players, whatever - Final 4 spots (I think it's just 12 in the ASG) have to be BENCH players. i.e. Lou Will would be a lock for this because he's a 6th man. Actually fill out rosters. Now you have the star players there to entertain, and the best bench players to add some guys who might actually compete. Their presence alone will bring out the competitive side of the best players and we'll have a real game.
but then you diss other high level starters, and career achievements come into play historically with stuff like this (18 time All Star, etc) Imagine if you could only pick one between Giannis and AD. Not sure that would go over well, but it would be a higher effort game for sure.
It would be a drastic shift, but I already feel like the whole weekend has become a joke. I agree though that players care about getting into the game even if they don’t care about the game itself.
Westbrook is the least entertaining player in the NBA. He is everything you don't want to watch outside of Harden. He runs around like the Tasmanian devil jacking up threes like he's Steph Curry. Every time I see Westbrook out on the court, I just know he's going to steal his teammates rebounds, force a terrible turnover, and then get super-hyped over a basic layup despite being 3-24 shooting the ball. Caruso plays basketball the right way. He might not be as talented as Lillard but his knowledge of the game is very high and makes up for everything else. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/carusal01/gamelog/2020/#92-101-sum:pgl_basic He's also been lights out shooting the ball the past ten games. Granted, few attempts but he's at a 46% rate in that span.