i don't know if wes got a real chance this year, to be fair. and i'm not sure he earned it in his limited time. again: if we don't have kcp, caruso, and THT all able to give us good minutes at sg, maybe we're forced to run wes 30mpg and he develops a rhythm. i see why we couldn't do that, but i don't know if it's because wes is cooked. green had no excuses, however. he was given a the exact role he needed and generally flopped offensively. now he's tearing it up in...exactly the same role in philly.
Again, streaky yes in reg season .... but when KCP, Matthews, even Lebron, Schroeder, Kusma and Morris and AD himself, can get hot (enough) too when it counts .... like during our run in the actual playoffs to the Championship like 7 months ago ... who cares if they are consistently “pure” shooters or not. How about extending some credit where it’s due and earned to these guys, and wait and see.
First time posting here. Been a fan since 63 but this has been one of the most frustrating teams ever. I really am pessimistic about them getting to the Finals. They are very easy to defend: let them shoot 3s because they will miss; send them to the FT line because they will miss; and they will turn the ball over a whole bunch to help the opponent. Three huge weaknesses which they don't seem able to figure out. Not liking their chances at all.
I just don't understand how Green and Bullock are both shooting well, but could not do it here. Matthew's as well. I really think the pressure of playing for the Lakers gets to some guys. I just hope Wes shakes out of it, we are going to need 3pt shooting in the playoffs.
@bachbeet Couldn’t find one positive thing to first time post maybe as a caveat to all that doom and gloom? Well welcome ... I guess. Pile ons are fun(?) and easy when things not going well, but they can come back to bite you in the a** in a matter of days sometimes.
Like I said I am pretty pessimistic about their chances. Hence, not much of a positive post. And I really don't have any duty to be positive. Whether I am positive or not does not affect how they play. I have seen games this year where I really liked what they did. Big example was how they blew out the Nets. But the fact remains that they are near the bottom in all 3 weaknesses I listed. And that does not bode well for them. And their defense is still tops but it hasn't been lately and most Finals champs are supposed to be playing their best at this time. The Lakers are playing their worst. I sure hope I am wrong but if I'm not I refuse to believe that anything will bite me in the a$$ or anywhere else. I am merely stating my opinions. I determine nothing about how they perform.
Sure that’s fair and your prerogative to do so, but you and many others are not giving any latitude for all the things contributing to most ALL those things including injuries and FO plans and politics that based on last year in the Playoffs, as handled by Vogel, have a clear path to minimizing this year if he’s allowed his final say. We’ll see. Of course time is short. Bron just got back.
Yes Bron is back. And he is their biggest positive. When he was on other teams I didn't appreciate him as much as I have since he joined the Lakers. I am really amazed by the things he does on the court and he is becoming my favorite Laker since Magic. Without him, they are a lottery team.
You sure don't have a duty to be positive. No one should. You are calling it like you see it. I feel the same way. I am glade the team has gotten healthy and have time to work it out, but there are troubling things with team that we all can see. Love this franchise and hope they turn it on in the playoffs.
welcome. and you're not wrong. i don't think this is one of the most frustrating teams for me, personally, because a lot of problems i can chalk up to injuries. but yes, i don't see a path to a title this year. that said, i wasn't super optimistic last year at this time either (more than now, but i didn't have us favored). but yeah, on paper this is a juggernaut, but the team has barely gotten to play a stretch of games together. and when they did, they were 21-6, right? reminds me so much of 2003-4, in that we got the tease of dominance only to be decimated by injuries. the frustrating part about that one is that it's sill remembered as a failed experiment and not what it was: bad luck. we're there again. and it's ok. we had good luck last year and won it all. suckaz.
Drumm is the internet punching bag for our current issues (definitely on Twitter and largely in here the past couple pages). He's not the problem, Bron and AD aren't Bron and AD right now. Every game a new player is out with an injury or covid. We have zero practice time and every game is now a back to back. Chemistry is going to be difficult to develop in this home stretch, but it's a must if we want to even win a play in. Marc shouldn't be out of the rotation, but that's not on Drummond. He's not the smartest player, but he is often our best 1st Q player right now. The D respects his looks and he can get you 9-10 points in the first, Marc cannot. Bron and AD are rusty and can't carry the load yet. Rotations right now are frustrating, but I'm giving our championship coach the benefit of the doubt that he's using these as high risk pre season games leading into the playoffs.
I agree with this 100%. And frankly, Drum was carrying us early on last night... he sits down, the trouble starts and we can't get back in. And man, AD just looks bad, especially in terms of his shot selection. It' worse than ever. The chemistry was better without our two superstars, it actually started to form... Kieff was playing much better etc. We just didn't have a lot of talent to win a ton of games but they played with a lot of heart and energy and did what they could. This now is just hard to watch. Bron playing in slo-mo and AD shooting random jumpers.
Honestly, I think we beat both the Kings and Raptors without Bron and AD. It's tough to watch two of the top five players come back and disrupt the entire team and not be anywhere close to themselves. I know that was unlikely given how long they were on the shelf, but it was almost necessary to get us a 'ship this year. Not saying it's over and I'll never doubt Bron's ability to go into playoff mode. I don't think there's ever been a player so in-tune with his body. BUT the mountain gets steeper by the game. One more thought regarding Drum, Marc, and the rotations...I still think Vogel needs to roll out the Marc/Trezz frontcourt with the 2nd unit. He's experimenting a lot right now. Don't understand why this isn't the primary experimentation. Kief played good D last night, but his offense has gone MIA. Perfect time to shake things up and let him get some of that Wes rest.
He needs to play like Dwight...run to the rim and look for lobs, defend, rebound. No most post ups or iso crap
agree, but it seems the coaching staff is on board with his post ups and wing isos (ugh--when we played him earlier in the year and cleveland went to that, i was like...thanks for running a terrible offense). i think they're treating him like declining shaq: give him touches and he'll rebound. but dudes will rebound without touches. and they're cheaper.
i think we're really capitalizing on the fact that AD is working himself off a series of pretty serious injuries. i mean, is the point here to suggest a team would be better off playing drummond and not davis, or is it just to try and take some heat off drummond? anyway, he continues to fill box scores and look the part while we lose, just like in his previous stops.
He needs to learn from Mcgee tonight on how to play under control. Both can be a handful of bonehead plays but McGee provided great intimidation at the rim we need that from AD2
