Have to admit, stoked just cause I love the lakers and nba. That said, Randle, bscott, and Kobe proving all the haters wrong has me excited.
I'm amped for all the reasons stated by others above. Nice thread. Then real quick I got "de-amped" big time when the injuries started again. In dire need of more amps now. Maybe the Cold Fusion thread if it were here could be alternative source of amperage? But seriously, it was great to see the guys still playing start to gel a little bit and give us a freaking win again last night against Utah pre-season.....can feel a bit of a glow coming on. Let's hope we at least play well against the Suns tomorrow night too and don't revert and lay a big egg. Go Lakes.
My interest level is high, but that's because I live for Lakers basketball. That said, my expectations for this team this season are low. So for me, this season is about watching Randle and Clarkson develop, and seeing how some of our other pieces work together. We do have a lot of fun and sometimes exciting players on our roster so I'm not crapping on our team. I just don't think we have the necessary components to really compete for anything. Aside from Randle and Clarkson, I'm just so g#@dam happy to finally have a coach I respect again. We seriously couldn't have done worse than the last two. I was genuinely scared our FO was gonna hire Dunleavy or some equivalent. Anyway, the season is upon us and I'm super stoked as always to watch the purple and gold for the next 7 months.
^^ Nice post D-Fish Man, and welcome! Totally agree with you all the way although I may have a little more expectation for the club this year than you do. But yeah, Randle, Lin, Davis, Clarkson are all fun players to watch and it's great to be able to root for these guys. They're all likable unlike Dwight Howard. Thank the higher powers that we didn't hire Dunleavy - the only way we could have done worse than Brown and 'Antoni. Scott is a breath of fresh air, and he just really makes sense for this team.
My "ampedness" is coming back after we should have beaten Phoenix on Tuesday and Kobe less beating Portland (granted also missing stars). But watching beast Randle coming on the run in the open court after rebounding is like few big men ever do. Magic did, Lamar did, Barkley did, probably a few others. But wow he is sinking those Js now too which will be huge if he can keep it up, and can dish the ball. Having Lin back and loving his game, Price playing much better than advertised (want my money back on that scouting report ) and oh hell yeah even a Clarkson sighting again tonight and he again gave us "bright" flashes of what he can be. Davis looking real nice and Ellington finally starting to hit some shots. If and when we have all our guys back (come on Kelly get healthy) (have doubts about X this year....maybe we should swap for Roscoe?), excluding Nash, WTF.... we're actually...... a ..... little.....bit....... deep ????
Decent for the beginnning of the season ... I'm not sure where it will be after the month of November and its difficult schedule. I accepted we are going to suck for some seasons ( since last year) so I have no expectations on a mid-term basis for our team ... Can have some nice surprises this way
You guys are spot on. I'm not going to worry about the record too much. We'll lose some and we'll win some. Hopefully by the end of the year, God willing, we'll end up somewhere near .500 and respectability. But what I'm really looking forward to is watching the development of what's shaping up to be our young core. Davis looks like an absolute winner. I didn't think we'd have a chance at him, but Mitch came through and snagged him. I'm really digging what he can bring to the table. A classic big man with decent post moves and footwork, an inherent desire to block anything near the rim, and a strong pick-and-roll option to boot. Lin looks like he's still figuring it out, but what I love is that every time I watch him I feel like he's improving. Even if the numbers don't support his improvement, his demeanor on the court and his feel for his teammates just looks better every second he's on the floor. He'll have rough patches too, but I'm really hopeful we've found one of guards for the future here. Randle looks fantastic for a 19 year old kid. I keep bringing that up because it's important to remember he's so damn young. If he plays his cards right he has an amazing 15 or so years here to be one of the next great Laker players. He's got tremendous speed and agility and really great vision on the court. He's getting in better shape and you can see it on the glass when he rebounds. He's not as big as a lot of NBA players, but he's a strong kid and is a very good athlete which he can use to grab boards and push the ball. Clarkson looks good to in limited minutes. I'm really hopeful he can put in some work this season and show us some things. He might end up being the steal of the draft if we can get him in the games and playing some significant minutes.
You know what, Sacre just keeps slowly getting better. He's a solid hunk of player down low that is pretty mobile and his J was looking good last night as well. I'm glad they locked him up cheap for a couple of years. When our 6'10" centers are not quite big enough, he is a solid 7 footer. Just keeps woking it seems pretty obvious.
^^ I've been pleasantly impressed by Sacre as well. He's getting better every season. He's got a nice little mid-range game going now, and he's always been a solid pick and roll big. I still think he's third string Center for us, but I'm very glad we kept him and he's got some talent. Once again, Mitch has done an admirable job of assembling good, cheap, young talent on this team.
I love Rob! He's been one of my favorite parts of the team over the last couple seasons. He's really playing nicely lately too. He's got decent footwork, he works hard around the rim, and he's a big, strong body we can throw at people. He's the perfect 3rd string Center.
I'm not expecting many wins. I'm just excited to see Kobe play again + Randle, Lin, Clarkson...and swaggy's always entertaining to watch when he's back
I'm always pretty interested for new Laker seasons. There always seems to be some kind hype around the team, good or bad. My interest level dips at times when they start losing every game like last year but that was for different reasons *cough D'Antoni*. But this year is different, we actually got some youth that can play. I agree that expectations for this season have started low because of the media and how last season ended but I think this roster will increase wins almost by double. That's the circle of basketball life.
I'm excited for the Rockets game like I haven't seen Lakers basketball for like 2 years. actually, maybe i didnt.
Definitely. It's time to get this rollin'. Kobe looks good, Randle seems to get it a bit more every game and now we have most of the guys back. Maybe we get Kelly back in the Mix wich leaves us with "only" Swaggy and X (nash 2.0. i feel ...) besides the unknown PG, out. Can't wait for opening night!
I feel bad for feeling this way, but I'm definitely more excited now that Nash is gone. Not having to worry about that clears the way for the young guys. Hopefully Lin, Clarkson, and Price can handle the PG duties.
When I heard Nash was healthy and feeling great I was excited to see him actually play well for us. But the Golden State game was so rough to watch with Nash looking like Rip Van Winkle out there. And then once he went down I wasn't looking forward to his return at all and taking away minutes from Lin and Price. Just seemed like a total distraction. I'm relieved that he's calling it before the season starts. Also allows us an open roster spot which we could use with all these injuries.
I was most excited when I saw Randle, Clarkson, Lin and Davis on the court at the same time last game. They are the future. That's all I care about. This season, at least for me, is about building towards the future.
