Comparisons to Magic and Kobe already. How long before someone in the organization compares him to Kareem? Unnecessary hype at this point.
How easily he piles up stats is pretty wild. I expected him to be a solid rebounder, and of course to have decent assist numbers, but I didn’t expect almost double digits in both categories. And if Nance or Ingram could make a layup/shot of any kind, he’d be averaging double digit assists. His teammates have cost him a bunch already that should have been easy ones. Get some shooters around him and look out.
The big thing is this, IMO: He's good enough to build around. I wouldn't have said that during draft night. He's going to be special. He just needs the right pieces.
It's early, but to potentially be a season triple double average threat as a rookie..... that's just crazy.
Lonzo has only one glaring problem right now - and that is conditioning. I hope he will get used to this by the All-Star game. He looks so winded in the 4th, I almost feel sorry for him. He seems so much slower as the game goes on, it's like watching a totally different player.
Noticed that too. I didn't know he had that many minutes but he seemed like molasses last night in the 4th
Scouting Report: Body him up, and make him go around you. Don't give him room to pass. Be physical with him and push on him all game long. By the end of the game, he'll be worn down. He either gets stronger, or we need to get used to seeing this. Or reduced minutes, but since our backups are limited, that seems unlikely.
No, he needs minutes, we have limited depth. He'll just have to push through it. And get stronger in the offseason, because it's not going to happen now.
Let Clarkson with his strength play some backup PG so Zo not worn down so much and we still have a guy in JC who can get into the lane and dish or score. Bleep Ennis and Caruso getting those minutes. JC looking good this year and seems to have more between the ears to adapt then our whipping boy JR.
the issue is that the specific team that must be fielded isn't easy to field. it's easier to field teams surrounding scoring guards, do-it-all forwards, or two-way bigs. lonzo needs shooters everywhere to provide the spacing (particularly given his own shooting woes, which are a pretty big problem). can you field that team and not give up 120 points per game? or is the theory wrong (i.e., ball can facilitate a dominant offense without top-notch shooting at all spots)? we'll see.
I believe Lonzo would be best next to someone who can create for themselves. It's part of why I liked the idea of him next to Russell so much on the offensive end. Having Lonzo initiate offense, but giving him someone to defer to in the half-court at times is the dream scenario. I thought KCP could be a decent facsimile of that, but I don't know if he has the personality for it. I've been saying it but maybe the perfect fit is Paul George. He's someone who is excellent in catch and shoot situations and he's also capable of creating in the half-court for himself and others when called upon. I still think Brook can be a good partner, but right now it seems like Luke isn't coaching them to fit together enough. In the half court we get a lot of Brook floating out on the perimeter where he's surprisingly capable for his size, but it's not what we'd be best at. We really need to encourage the ball to flow through Brook on the low block and have cuts off of that. It puts Ingram in the best position and it lets Lonzo space the floor instead of asking him to create which he just isn't suited for yet full time. I love that Brook can pick and pop, but that shouldn't be the play we run most of. We also don't run enough Nance screen and rolls with Brook spacing out... Basically I hate our half-court offensive sets. A team full of shooters is ideal for anyone in the NBA today, but I don't think it's a requirement and I don't think it's unique to Lonzo. If we get what we want this summer we're going to get at least one max player who can shoot outside. That opens things up for everyone. Even if we don't though, Lonzo just put up an insane stat line against NBA(ish) competition without a team full of shooters. I think he'll be okay.
" I thought KCP could be a decent facsimile of that, but I don't know if he has the personality for it." Were you able to see KCP's first half against the Pelicans real? He sure came out first game of the season just like you were hoping for and he was hitting. It was great. And then Luke couldn't find enough time in the 2nd half for him with Clarkson now going off so he instead played the most minutes there. Will Pope be consistent doing that ..... will be tough because he looked great that stretch.
