Byron Scott Discussion 2015-16 - FIRED!!! (PAGE 172)

Maybe just me but I think "next face of the franchise" and "putting butts in the seats" somewhat figured into their choice of D'angelo Russell over Jahlil Okafor. Talent, style of play he will bring and charisma. If Randle gets to where some of us think he may as a player and Clarkson as well, there's two more options supporting the star search need, potentially already in house, if not "face of franchise". Having Russell now will help blunt the disappointment of KD staying in OKC.

 

Maybe, but I think we'd trade them in a heart beat for a "now" star. I think we've tried.

 

At any rate, perhaps the biggest thing that Summer League did was shed a light on the current inadequacies of a coaching staff that probably stands as the team's biggest obstacle insofar as returning to respectability. The young core is present and developing, the team will have gobs of cap space to throw around next summer, and the Lakers brand was still strong enough to at least bring nearly all of the major free agents this offseason to the table. But the coaching staff, top to bottom, not only has proven essentially deficient from an Xs and Os perspective, but also in the burgeoning conflict over the direction of the team with respect to analytics and more or less moving out of the paradigm that the Lakers must be wedded to 1980s concepts. Byron and Co. will have their shot this upcoming season to pitch that they deserve to be a part of this continuing rebuild as much as the players do, but as Summer League indicated, the initial returns this year are quite inauspicious.

http://www.silverscreenandroll.com/2015/7/25/8997489/la-lakers-summer-league-recap

 

I'm hoping we keep these kids until we at least prove to ourselves they aren't potential stars, while also adding talent. If that doesn't happen, I think Mitch has shown he will make solid moves to get us to where we need to be. It may not lead to a championship right away, but I have no doubt we will be competitive and be in the mix.

If we operated out of Utah or Minnesota, I think our staff would find a way to build us a team that would be competitive. I have a ton of respect for Mitch.

Some teams feel that way about their coach like Dallas. Someday I hope we have both......

 

I'f i'm Byron, i'm trying to connect to his roots as a player in the great late 80's Lakers. a fast pace team who finds the open man and slashes to the basket.
Russel as Magic (Russel can rebound the ball pretty well).
Clarkson as Scott.
Kobe as a sort of Worthy in the start of the 90's.
Hibbert as the old Kareem. (heard he lost a few pounds)

Plenty of shooters off the bench in Young, The Browns and Williams, Bass in the Rambis role.
can't find a comparison to Randle.
Not comparing the two teams, but I think it's the best roster to bring a vintage showtime history of the Lakers in this young team while mixing it up with Kobe's maybe last season. There will be something special about this season either they play good or bad with Kobe's exit. so why not get the most excitement?

 

Last year the mantra was "the lakers are scoring enough points, what they need is help on defense"

So now we have Hibbert. That solves a huge defensive need. Clarkson showed flashes of defensive ability. Kobe is going to be a question mark but if he plays the 3 I like him better there than on 1's and 2's.

Randle at least physically can attempt to play good defense. I'd say offensively we still have a lot of talent. Where specifically do we need improvement? If you're Byron what weakness are you emphasizing in training camp day 1?

 

Not to pick on you but this sounds like problems of a 45 win team. We have a lot of problems in a lot of places.

if it comes together we can win an additional 10 to 15 games this year.

I think defense will be a huge issue again. Good defense is less about the players talents and more about working together and scheme/effort/desire. Typically teams don't really play good/great defense until it's the difference between being a playoff team and being a contender. The late 90's Lakers were an example of this. Defense isn't where the recognition is and the youngsters will judge their success on offensive stats. Defense takes a couple years to instill in a meaningful way.

 

Sure by no means are we a top defensive team, but hopefully we won't be among the worst?

Offensively there's a lot of talent. Just curious how we can maximize our potential with this squad and what coach might be thinking about. You're right though, defense takes a couple years to teach. We have a lot of youngins so we might still be in the bottom 1/3 of teams on defense.

 

It will be interesting to see the youth develop. They will have their struggles on both ends I'm sure but the best scenario for this franchise is that Randle and Russell are the real things. If not then we're really in a hole.

For me it will be a great season if Kobe plays 70 games or more and at least looks like Kobe half the time.

Can Clarkson keep getting better or will the league adjust. Sophomore slump?

Will we get another surprise in either Brown or Nance? (my guess is no but you just don't know).

A lot of possibilities.

 

I used to think about what it would take for Kobe to be the All Time scoring leader. I don't think too many think about that any more....

1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
2 Karl Malone 36,928
3 KOBE BRYANT 32,482

Even if he managed 20 points a game for 70 games, that's only 1400 points.

4446 to pass Malone
5905 to pass Kareem

at that pace, even if it were sustainable, would require the following qty of games to pass these guys:

Malone (222 games) Over 3 years
Kareem (295 games) Over 4 years

Kobe probably ends up #3 all time, with an eye backwards at Bron's pace catching up....

20. LeBRON JAMES 24,913
(12 seasons averaging 27.3 points) Averaged 75 games a year, 2076 points a year
If that pace drops down to 1800 points a year, 13474 points to catch Kareem, still will take Lebron 7.5 years to catch Kareem, probably only 5.5 years to catch Kobe.

If he stays healthy, he probably will.

I confess, I won't like that.

 

I REALLY won't like that. It will bother me a lot.

Though that is about 21 ppg for the next 5-6 years. Can LeBron put up 21 ppg until age 35 or so? He's now at 5 STRAIGHT Finals runs. That's ridiculous. That puts a major toll on the body and at some point he's going to need to balance it out with some rest and/or reduced load. He's been playing nearly 100 games per season with significantly less time to recover for the next season because he always plays til June.

Also, the fact that he joined Cleveland with Kyrie and Kevin Love - both 20 ppg scorers. Kyrie is seemingly already eating up some of the scoring share and it will continue to go in that direction. LeBron as a pass first guy, Kyrie becoming a true superstar - maybe and just hopefully LeBron wants to be more Magic than Kobe or Michael.

 

Lebron's body got to break somewhere in the next 3 years. But his gameplay will allow him to avg 20 ppg easy on an old body. Like Kobe, he will do everything he can to pass MJ. Just hope Kobe can score alot this season to take some distance.

Also, I started to think about Lebron's legacy not long ago. In my opinion, Lebron (if he won't win more than 1 championship in the remaining of his career) will be put on a side list with Wilt Chamberlain when talking about the all time greats.
Those two are example of the perfect body to play basketball in their positions and dominant the league in their era. But they lack the inner motivation to destroy everything in their path to win a championship. They have the perfect stats, but not enough stories about overcoming obstacles in the playoffs. They lack this unique roar you can feel from Bill Russel/Kareem, Magic, Bird, MJ and Kobe.

But of course he can prove me wrong by starting a new dynasty.

 

He just needs to finally be on a team with quality teammates. [/sarcasm]

 

I think Lebron chose the wrong path when it comes to longevity. His quickness and overall athleticism is already fading and will continue to, his strength will probably only go away if he continues to cut weight. He had the size and strength to bulk up a little and add a post game that could have carried him into his mid 30's, instead he chose to lose weight and continue to be a high fly act. His jumper is still too suspect to continue putting up big #'s after he slows down enough that he isn't beating guys off the dribble or finishing over anyone that contests him.

 

People underestimate the power of the crab dribble.

 

I hope Scott proves a lot of people wrong about being a mediocre coach.

but until that happens, let's distract you with a picture of Byron when he had hair.

 

^Ding's perspective on Scott's recent comments about Kobe playing the 4; thought it was interesting...