I am amped for this new season. Only two seasons in recent memory have had me as pumped. The year Phil took over for the first time, and the year Pau was starting his first full season with the team. This year: The Kobe saga coming back from 2 devastating injuries. The Byron Scott reclamation project from the disaster that our coaching has been. The Nash desperation last season of hope against hope that he can stay healthy. The Linsanity. The Young Guns = Randle + Clarkson. The Castoffs = everyone else on the roster. Soooo much to look forward to. It can't be worse than last year. It HAS to be better.
It's all about Randle and Kobe for me. I see so much of young Kobe in the way Randle carries himself. Confident, brash, but with intelligence to go with it. Randle is going to do big things for this team. After that is of course Byron. I can't wait to see what Byron does with these kids. Lin, Davis, Clarkson, and Randle are all going to come through and look like studs with this team. I can feel it. Defensive intensity will be ramped up, expectations will be placed on them by themselves so that they continue to improve. I'm stoked man. This season is going to be something special.
I'm really excited. I find myself looking at practice pics and videos, texting friends about the upcoming season, and I'm so happy we have Lin and Randle added to the unit.
I was already geeked up about this year just like I always am but after watching the Real Training Camp:Los Angeles Lakers on NBATV last night Byron Scott has gotten me even more pumped. He is the first coach that we need and just watched him speak he commands respect and has certainly set the tone from the get go of how this team with operate when he's in charge. I LOVE IT
I am excited. But like karacha, the Young injury took a lot of wind out of my sails. Luckily we won't have to wait THAT long to get him back. Still, a (hopefully) rejuvenated Kobe, a healthier (laugh) Steve Nash, a raw beast in Randle, guys like Lin and Boozer to add some new flavor, a coach not named Mike...plenty left to intrigue us.
That sums it up pretty much for me too. But I wanna see how we defend after almost 2 years off from doing that
I'm mainly excited to see JC and Randle in action. Both could end up being a big part of our future. I'm also hoping that both Kobe and Nash can finish the year the right way. I was actually going to post my full thoughts on the top 5 positive storylines this season at CL, but I guess I might as well HERE instead. Are we doing blogs here at LB?
Interest level for me is between average and high. Mostly excited to see Randle and Lin play, (been a fan of Lin ever since he balled John Wall in Summer League a couple years back). Pretty excited to see how Byron does as head coach.
Definitely looking forward to the new season. I will probably even find a way to see a preseason game or two, and I very rarely make that a priority.
This will be my first year outside of LA, there's definitely less of the around-town energy that I'm used to. Definitely a football town up here. But I'll try to convert a few people
Hey Kasumi, I changed positions, and won't get to come back to Seattle anytime soon. But for those who dare to question the great Kasumi greatness, she did indeed rock Laker paraphernalia at her desk!!!
I'm totally excited to see kobe on the floor again. I've been watching this guy for so long and it was odd not seeing him play last season. Looking forward to a solid season with reasonable expectations. Others I'm pumped to see... Randle, Clarkson and Lin. I know Lin is pretty good, but I want to see if he'll take this opportunity to take another step forward. All is topped off with Byron Scott. I think he's a perfect guy to have mentor our youngsters. I'm not sold on him as a long term replacement, but I do think he's an excellent guy to have around for the next 2-3 years for our younger guys.
Mine is high because Kobe is back and MDA is long gone. It was virtually impossible to get excited about anything when he's the head coach. No one respected him -- players or the fans. He didn't understand what it meant to be a Laker. Kobe echoed that when he said he and MDA had different expectations and definitions of winning. Scott gets it and has the respect and attention of fans and players. After those two, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Randle brings to the table. I'm more excited about him than I have been about a laker rookie in quite awhile (definitely more so than Drew).
We seem to have same outlook on this season. I am excited to see the young new additions that I hope become solid building blocks for the years ahead. But I do foresee a long drawn out losing season that will be mentally draining on me
I must admit that in the last 2-3 seasons my interest level for the Lakers in general decreased significantly. I couldn't stand either of our last two coaches even before they were brought in so them on the bench was already a big negative. I couldn't believe the management hired D'Antoni after the Brown disaster, he was literally the last person I wanted on the Lakers' bench. Then there were players I didn't like. And unlike (seemingly) most Lakers fans, I very rarely dislike our players. I even started liking Malone after he became a Laker... However, Howard was able to make me dispise him, and became the first Laker after Smush I really disliked. He's a wuss and I wish him to never smell the second round of the playoffs again. Then there were endless injuries which did not allow Lakers to play competitve against anybody. Last but not least - the thought alone that my beloved team might tank made me want to puke. There are two things I disdain about the current NBA, and those are the art of flopping and tanking. I'm not saying the Lakers did actually tank, it's just that for the first time in my life I wasn't sure they weren't. The amount of Lakers fans wanting them to tank only made the matter worse (not trying to start a discussion on this subject, sorry if anybody feels ). Rant over Now, as to this coming season - my interest level is on a very high level. All of the above things are gone and we seem to have so many things to look forward to: - respectable and probably decent coach - Kobe comeback, he sure as hell will surprise a lot of people... again (barring injuries of course), I expect him to continue to be the best SG in this league - young guns - Randle seems to be a bull, I love everything about him so far, Clarkson may prove to be one of the bigger steals of this draft, I also have high expectations of Kelly - I'm being overly optimistic again, but can't help it. Wouldn't it be great if Nash finally had a healthy season with us and provided what most of us expected when he was brought in? I really hope he can finish his career on a positive note and help the Lakers go deep in the postseason. The odds are not very high, but damn me if I lose hope before it's actually over - EVERYBODY on this roster has something to prove and should play with a chip on his shoulder - Lin is the X factor for me. Don't really know what to expect from him, but I'm pretty convinced we will see a better version than what we saw in Houston, where he had to play with possibly the two worst leaders in the NBA - we have a fantastic looking, promising new forum
I am super excited this season although I am not expecting much. I found too many of my friends and family to be "fair-weather" fans pretending to be hardcore followers of the team. They had no interest in watching a losing team. Honestly? I love the sport of basketball. I am really interested to see how Julius Randle and Jeremy Lin will develop with this team over the season. Could Lin overtake Nash? Can Julius Randle crack the starting lineup? Will Steve Nash play effectively? Oh, and then there is Kobe. How will he look? What about my boy Byron Scott, how will he do as a Lakers guy being our head coach? ... perhaps most of all ... Will Lin call Nick Young "Swaggy P" at some point? Will he earn it? Even if we have a handful of wins, it'll be a fun season. I love my Lakers!
I'll check in every now and then. But I won't be glued to the TV for every Lakers game. Good thing TWC does excellent replays.
Three things: 1) MDA is gone, 2) Kobe is back, and 3) we have some promising rookies. My expectations are not high, but it will be fun to watch for the above reasons.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I seriously believe we'll comfortably make the playoffs. Why? I think both the players and the fanbase are hungry to reclaim our place among the great teams in the league. We have veteran leadership from top to bottom, mixed in with some youth and athleticism that we haven't had in a while. Last night, we saw a vastly improved team on Defense both in transition and in the half court. They weren't about to give any easy buckets or wide open shots. They were quick to recover from screens and helped each other if one of them got beat. The culture of the last 2-1/2 years has definitely changed. And because of that, I'm extremely excited.
