Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

I think this is optimistic?



Jordan Clarkson was and still is playing at the level of a 6th man of the year candidate and we lost him and Larry Nance Jr. who was equally if not more important and valuable to whatever success and smart play and good defense we have had this year. Nance has not been replaced on the roster yet with an active player. And Luke all of a sudden with seems to be a tighter rotation amongst fewer players. Yet damn does it not seem like we are a whole lot deeper now? Even with having lost JC and Larry from that 2nd unit. Luke's either had the reins lifted on the strategy **** from the FO or is better figuring it out himself with the rotations and the continued teaching they are doing this year ..... or maybe a combo of both is happening. Looking forward to playing pretty much anyone now to measure where we're at and have a shot as well of beating them. And that's all with IT's shot not even falling much YET. Going to stop with the Midget smack. LOL. Maybe. Unless it's good for a cheap laugh.

 

I mean IT definitely filled in JCs shoes easily, surely more. Definitely a better playmaker and decision maker than Clarkson was. Gone are the days I’m yelling at the TV because JC is dribbling for 20 seconds straight.

The bigger surprise, but shouldn’t have been, is Zubac playing well after sitting pretty much all season. He’s kept in condition playing down in the G League, and while we miss the intangibles from Nance at small ball 5, I much prefer Zu’s size, paint presence, rebounding and screens at Center. I always felt with Nance there was always a mismatch in the floor, but now we’re back to having a traditional anchor, and Zu is pretty mobile for his size.

He still needs to develop better strength like Randle or Hart in the paint, but Zu has stepped in well.

 

Yep I didn't mention him on purpose. Channing who? Plus we have one roster spot available that's eligible for the playoffs. Right?

 

The 8th seed and the 9th and 10th ahead of us are 7-3 or 8-2 in their last 10. No one is showing signs of slowing down that will let us catch up. We were 6 back, and now we're 7 back. There simply isn't time to make up enough ground in the West with teams playing as well as they are.

The reality is we don't deserve to make the playoffs this year, but even getting within a few games will motivate this crew like never before. Finishing strong and starting to put it all together will be fun to watch and motivating for the crew going into the offseason as we look to add additional parts to be a contender next year.

But I think there is no chance we make the playoffs this year. I just can't see a realistic scenario. And I really want to....

 

I was kidding of course .....

..... except for that "faint sliver of a chance lightning in a bottle" last ditch hope that @KareemtheGreat33 wants to not talk about because being 7'2" whenever he actually stands up does not guarantee one has big balls. Right LaVar?

 

Feeling optimistic and vindicated for those of us who have fought the good "Julius Randle needs to be part of the Lakers future going forward even if 2 max FAs come next year" .... fight .... against the dark side that wrote him off and just assumed that he was necessarily expendable and it was no big deal with that .... for the first 3rd of the season. Now that main stream articles are picking up on how much sense this makes and how short sighted it would be to lose him and how possible it may become to have happen.

He's one of our most unique of the 4 unique type players in Zo, BI, Kuz and him. (Kuz because he came to the Lakers already with so many old school proper skills already practiced, learned and in his repertoire of offensive moves).

Because keeping Randle if PG and LBJ come allows the DEATH lineup. With DEPTH behind it.

Props though to Julius for whatever went on behind the scenes that forced the big internal players and Luke / (FO made aware of) meeting and whatever the hell he stepped up and said on his own behalf that he secured a shot in the starting lineup for the first time all season. And since then has backed it up and just keeps getting better and better.

 

If we're going to be really optimistic, we have a decent shot at ending up with a 0.500 record and that's more than enough for me moving forward. You quantify the possible contribution of one max player which is probably a +5 to +10 in the W column and we'll be a 45-50 win team next season even if we end up with 38-40 wins this season, 35 should be floor right now. Add another max and we're 50+ team guaranteed barring any injury.

Yup, that's right. We're set for a strong run next season. Maybe even better than what Minnesota currently has.

WELCOME BACK LAKERS. No jinx intended.

Sent from my E6533 using Tapatalk

 

I'm feeling really good about this team. 35 wins should happen easily this year.

I project we end up with 38 wins

 

One more thought for the lightning in a bottle effect if IT's shots start to drop with consistency especially .... is that Luke is right there with them in the no job security for sure position. They've seen him try to help them deal with it and he has mentioned to them before if Pop wanted to come he'd be gone just like that. Well they read too and they're the ones so far who've gone through it and still are going through it and now Luke's under assault again with the rumors.

Point being who do you guys want to play for? Luke or total unknown to them Fizdale style of coaching? With the healthy players that are left we could see them do their best to rally round Luke and not contribute poor play that might result in losses. Bit of some Band of Brothers. Hoosiers. Whatever the eff.

 

Damn. I wish I could look at it that way. Seasons are dead to me if no ring at the end. I'd watch 5 Ennises out there if a ring could be had.

 

Y’all I love watching these kids grow up before our eyes. Just a joy to watch.

 

I think it has more to do with culture change rather than growth. We added 4 new young faces, so more than growth, its the guys we brought in and got rid of. We have emphasized defense and pace and earning playing time by playing the right way. We brought in mature rookies that we expect to act responsibly.

A bunch of young'ns running around in SoBe for 2 nights, yet they came at the Heat's heads tonight. Instead of it being a trap game, we are blasting teams that we should beat. Other than the 3 game losing streak heading into all-star we've been handling our bidness at the turn of the calendar.

Oh and our point guard also happens to assist off the court as well.

 

^^^