That was really good. As I said before, he should start, Dennis should come off the bench. It's not a demotion for Dennis, he can still get his minutes, it's just a better rotation like that.
i think i said when we got him that he struck me as streaky. i'd have to look into it further, but i feel like he does this (has 5/7 games and 1/7 games) more often than most guys who shoot that percentage. answering that definitively requires more time than i have right now.
I still like Beasley as a 6th man more than a starter if LeBron is playing. We saw last night that the second unit with Reaves as the primary ballhandler really struggled to get looks. With Dennis and Beasley off the bench together, I think you can generate much easier offense. When we talk about needing time and reps to integrate these new guys, I think it applies the most with Beasley. We have not had a movement shooter like this in quite a while, maybe since we had Ellington the first time around. KCP did some off-screen stuff but he was mostly a pure spot-up guy. With Beasley, we're talking about an entire section of the playbook that's been dormant.
I've got to completely disagree. I like Dennis as the sixth man - we need a backup PG to lead the bench and he's not really starting material. We don't need three ball handlers in the starting unit when Lebron comes back. What we need is outside shooting. Beasley is 15th best in the league in three point shooting. Also it gives more opportunity for Dlo to shine. Dennis leading the bench would be great. He can play uptempo and Walker can be the bench SG which is about what he's best suited for. Beasley is a little bigger, a better shooter and more experienced player to go with the starters. Dennis, Walker and Reaves could uptempo that bench with either Rui or Vanderbilt.
I wouldn't hate Beasley as a starter and certainly prefer him to Dennis, but that's a bad defensive backcourt. Russell isn't great and Beasley is pretty mediocre at best. Reaves is a better fit in the starting lineup because he's better defensively than Beasley and a respectable three-point shooter. AR is now at 37% from three on 3.4 attempts per game over 40 games, I think that's a large enough sample size to say that he's improved a lot as a shooter since last year. I think DLo, AR and Rui on mostly corner threes is enough shooting around LeBron and AD in the starting lineup and better defensively than Beasley. From there, you bring Beasley in as the 6th man and first sub off the bench while Dennis is strictly the second unit PG. A traditional 6th man still plays a lot of minutes with the starters, so I like Beasley in that role more than Dennis. Of course, I could be entirely wrong and Beasley could be a better fit in the starting lineup than Reaves. That's why I hope we do some experimenting these last 24 games so we can get a feel for the best combinations and what gaps still exist when we slot everyone optimally. I'm worried that we won't do that and will keep starting Dennis because he's "fearless" or whatever nonsense Ham throws out there.
Oh yeah, I’d be fine with Reaves starting as well. Either Beasley or Reaves is our best bet. I just don’t like Dennis starting any more. That’s just a bad idea once Lebron is back. Ham is stuck in his ways and someone needs to tell him this is NOT going to work. I like Beasley starting at 2 just a bit better than Reaves because of redundancy with Walker. I don’t want those two together in a bench lineup. Reaves I feel can do well no matter what role he has. You could start Beasley and if he isn’t working sub in Reaves.
Comically, sadly and disastrous(ly) .... not only is Hold My Beer Ham NOT going value "wins" more than keeping his BFF Dennis Schroder in the starting lineup .... he's also NOT going to value even experimenting these last 24 games so that the organization has a better feel what to do once our season is OVER having missed the playoffs again thanks to his pig headedness .... than keeping his BFF Dennis Schroder in the starting lineup. Unfortunately Kurt the Enforcer has been muzzled this year. And Laker Nation just has to .... "Deal With It".
Lol...kinda like Frank continuing to start his BFF Avery Bradley? I guess the Lakers coaches just have a wierd obsession, with these little guards. It will be interesting to see who starts when Lebron gets back.
I'd start Lebron, AD, Vanderbilt, DLO and Reaves. Jarred replaces Bev as the defensive spark tone setter, Austin and D'Angelo can space the floor well enough. Dennis, Beasley, Rui,Wenyen and Momba would be a strong 2nd unit.
If Darvin hadn't been bait and switching us from the outset with focussing on defense and all the other happy HS he has gone back on his word with. Prove me wrong Ham, I'm easy and will flip in one day.
OK freaking GREAT!! Flipped me in ONE damn day and proved me wrong. Great job Darvin. Now don't be falling off the wagon .... one game at a time. Stay sober! Anyone else think Malik looks pretty darn decent on defense?
Yep better than advertised. I’m pleasantly surprised. He has good size as well to bother opponents. He’s bigger than I though he was.
Including 8 points in the first 2 minutes. My brain doesn't know how to process having a shooter like this with elite gravity on the court for the Lakers. When's the last time our 4th best player on the court was getting double teamed?
It’s fantastic, 7 threes is ridiculous, we never have guys that can shoot like that other than as shown there, a very rare LeBron night. Having a shooter like this opens things up so much. Also, he said in his post game interview he’s ready for the playoffs, the goal is a championship, not the play-in, but the 6th or even 5th seed. I don’t know if that’s possible, but I like that it’s the goal, we shouldn’t settle, and winning every game should be the goal going into them now, not conceding any.
To paraphrase Phil Jackson: "He's a shooter. He wants to shoot to see if it's hot. If he is, he'll keep shooting. But if not -- he'll keep shooting to get hot!"
