WMC 24-25: Seasonal Highs And Lows!

Many of us were not that excited about Ball (LOL @ Magic saying: "Lonzo, please don't break all my records while playing for the Lakers"), but OK. We were mostly perfectly fine with Bron signing for us and even more so winning the championship and the finals MVP, and we were definitely not excited about Russ coming in. Most people said he was a bad fit, and IIRC -- I said something like: "well, this is going to be interesting".

 

Why is it false?

That's on the very first page in the Russ thread. I was really skeptical about it. Others were even more so, saying stuff like (randomly, from the second page):

"Interesting. Better start loading up on shooters mucho pronto Rob"
"This is going to be a circus once more."
"Both he and LeBron need the ball in their hands... how's that going to work?"
"Im not sure I feel about this. While westbrook will definitely have an impact, his stats haven't necessarily translated to wins. He's also not a great fit in addition to this, and we lost our best 3 pt shooter in KCP. And what about his contract?"

There were positive comments as well, but it looked about 60% negative, and the positive people really wanted to believe. That quickly changed, unfortunately.

About Bron -- OK, many people were negative at first. I thought he would instantly become old & injured. I was wrong. But, for many people the song changed after he demonstrated his commitment to winning. Winning cures everything, and the guy is really amazing player. But, fair enough -- I'll give you that one. But Russ, no, not really.

Finally, I'm not going to go digging stuff on Lonzo, because ultimately, he helped us get AD, and win it all, so it's all good. I think people wanted him to succeed, welcomed him to the team, and everyone knew in advance we were going to pick him. He developed into a solid player, but the injuries really derailed him.

 

I don't know what to tell you: people didn't like Bron because he's a superstar, one of the greatest ever, who played and won with other teams. Also, he was always one of those "check my $tats" type of dudes. But there's no denying he's an amazing basketball player. Go, create a poll asking if it was worth signing Bron and let's see what the pulse of the forum is right now. I'm sure some people will say no, but I'd expect to see mostly positive votes.

About people being happy about Russ: look, people want to believe. They are fans. They will try to convince themselves it was a good move etc. But again, poll them now and see what they think. I'd really love to see that poll, so I encourage you to make it. Realistically, anyone's early opinion on Rui Hachimura, for example, means nothing. Give it some time and we'll see what people really think. Right now it seems like a good move, because he's a win with good size and that's what we need. If he proves that he's a bad shooter and doesn't want to play defense, people will be against him relatively soon.

 

Because that's what matters: what people think now, not what they thought back then when they were hoping for the best without really how he would fit with the rest of the team. The Lakers thought he would be mini-LBJ: basically, Bron goes out, Westbrook handles the ball, scores, rebounds, passes the ball. On paper, he is exactly that. But, as we can see, that does not translate into wins. He did have triple-doubles etc. but it did not matter, because he was too turnover-prone, he was inefficient compared to Bron and he could not shoot the 3 at all.

I'm not even sure what we're arguing here. Think about politics, say, presidential candidates: it doesn't matter what people thought years ago -- would they vote for the same person again? For the Lakers that means: you thought Russ was going to be good. He wasn't. Do you trade him now, or do you keep him for less $$, thinking he'll be good enough. What are they thinking now?

You start you post with: "I don't mean to be a prick," knowing that you're being a prick. No one likes to discuss basketball with a "I told you so" guy. Anyone can dig out old posts and say -- "haha, you made a mistake. You thought this guy was going to be good." You think Hachimura is going to be good? Wait and see is what I say. He has the physical attributes, but maybe he's not going to be a good fit either. It's easy to be smart in hindsight.

Please post better.

 

I didn't have anything man. I did not sign Russ, Lakers did. And I know I wasn't excited about it. I was skeptical precisely because I was familiar with his game. Guy is a HoFer, but he doesn't fit that great with our team. Very few people are making excuses for him, what are you talking about?!

 

It is absolutely not true that I loved the trade. I would politely ask you to stop saying that, because I know what I loved or didn't love better than you.

About "big 3": this is what they were trying to do -- create a "big 3" to counter the Nets trio that everyone also called "the big 3". They did not turn out to be the big 3 either, but everyone called them that. They were supposed to be the big 3, and there were if in salary only, LOL. Finally, why does this even matter so much to you? As I said -- fans hope for the best. They want to believe. There's nothing wrong with that. Then, our opinion evolves as we see the situation unfolding. That's the whole point of having a forum.

Again, I'm not sure what you're trying to discuss... that some people liked the trade? Fine. I am saying that not many like it now. That's life, you know. Was it you who once said: "Once he (Russ) is gone I think most of here will all breath a big sigh of relief." So, obviously you thought most posters on this forum will be happy to see him go.

Uh, but wait, you joined last month... Was it you who got all those warnings from the mods and are on the verge of getting banned? I ask you again: please stop antagonizing and focus on productive discussion instead of digging other people's posts just to prove they were wrong at some point in time, because, you know:

1. no one likes that and
2. everyone (you and me included) is wrong here and there, that's how life works, as I mentioned above.