Official Whine, Moan, Complain Thread 19/20-CLOSED "WE CHAMPS!"

It feels like a LOT of fans here on a LAKER fan site are rooting against their own player to succeed.

That’s why I said posers.

Am I wrong? It doesn’t feel like fans should be like that.

 

I didn’t think that broke any rules. That was a pretty vanilla statement.

 

somehow this current lakers team plays worse defense than the lakers teams of the past 5-6 years. and that's not easy to do

i mean good lord, what's so hard about defending the 3 ball? i know defense is a lost art in today's NBA but its mindblowing how these guys are just so terrible at it

 

Another tough stretch of 3 games here.

Portland away, Lillard will continue spanking us like he always does but can we not make Collins look like a star out there, thanks.

Toronto at home on the second of a back to back. First look at Kawhi and I hope Lebron whispers sweet nothings into his ear. They have some athletic bigs that will probably take advantage of us.

Minny at home, lets hope Butler would still be sitting out and that Rose cools off by then.

Sac and Atl follow, should be easy wins but who knows.

 

This team still doesn't know how to play team defense.

A simple pick and roll or off ball screen creates so much disruption, it's kinda sad. Too often guys are cheating off their player for "help" defense, when 99% of the time, they're just caught in no mans land and leave their man open for a three. EVERYONE is guilty of this, including Lebron. Guys like to go under screens on shooters and the switch does absolutely nothing. This team needs to do a better job a hedging out to stop the immediate pass off a screen and rotating off help. There's no communication.

Javale is doing everything he can to protect the paint, but that's not where we're getting killed (unless your Aldridge) or he's not on the floor. I guess the one thing we're missing here is a defensive leader on the team. Hart could be that guy, but he hasn't taken on that role quite yet. We need a Ron Artest/Ariza/Tony Allen type of player to set the tone for the rest of the team.

 

not just terrible, not even trying IMO. how many wide open looks did dall get as well as how many times our players looked lost and both went toward the guy with the ball leaving someone wide open then palms up like "uhhh I dont know" face

 

You seem like a genuinely good dude And we like you here. Just don't call names at all, and you'll be fine here. Come with strong arguments. Just no derogatory name calling...no matter how vanilla.

 

Also, there seems to be a lack of energy on the team in the 4th quarter. The 1st quarter, we're usually out sprinting and gunning on people.

Come the late 3rd and 4th, its like they need a shot of adrenaline or something. Less cutting, less transition game, and effort.

 

I kind of expected it too but not at this level. One sequence for example... Doncic drives on I believe BI and LeBron cheats off of Harrison Barnes in the corner to somewhat help... but not really. It was totally half-hearted. However, LeBron was late and then was stuck in no man's land. When Doncic passes out to Barnes, LeBron looks around like "Oh, there's a guy out there!" and is late on contesting the shot. Barnes calmly sinks a 3.

That lack of effort is contagious. That's what worries me. If guys are busting their butts and one guy coasts and his guy continually scores, it is demoralizing and the other guys don't want to expend the effort to try.

I love Lonzo and he was the absolute right choice for this team. He plays D and takes pride in it. So does Josh Hart and BI. I don't think LeBron can set the tone on the defensive end but he should at least be engaged. I think Javale, Zo, Hart and Rondo should set the tone. And when Lance comes in he should just be an absolute bulldog.

I feel like our team right now is like the Steve Nash Phoenix Suns without the outside shooting. Defense makes such a huge difference if we were to play it. If we gave a defensive effort in the first half, I believe the deficit would have been large enough to manage and Dallas would have given up. Instead we had to see scrubs have career nights and the little freakin' hobbit run around like he was searching for his precious.

 

"little freakin' hobbit" smack

 

This is all on the coach, our defense in the second half of the season last year was one of the best. The biggest issue with this team is communication, you can see it, they don't talk on d. We need a leader on defense and the problem is, Zo even though he's our best defender is also the most quiet guy on our roster. Very frustrating to watch.

 

This guy's vocal. If nothing else. But I'm hoping for verification of eye test this year as with Kuz and Hart last year.

 

remember when we thought KCP would be that defensive stopper we needed?

 

No, its just that Laker fans are not and never will be lebron apologist. AKA bronsexuals. The criticism he's gotten is 100% valid and fair up to this point.

 

ugh. i never even heard of him before we signed him, and everyone was like, "He's known for his defense."

yech.

 

LeBron's defense needs to be better. I've specifically noticed that he puts 0 effort sometimes on D and it totally costs us.

I think Ingram/Zo/McGee are fine...Kuz needs to be a lot better defensively as he gets beats by basically anybody.

LeBron though is our bes tplayer. If he's putting 0 effort...that will spread across the team. So far, it seems like that is exactly what is happening.