Flex Luger
Job Is Finished
Everybody sucked ass tonight.
Ballers Wanna Ball, Rollers Wanna Roll, But We're Taking All--The Official 2017-2018 Lakers Thread
- Thread starter Admiral Ackbar
- Start date
Team is slipping away just like the last 4-5 years. All Randle and Clarkson know is losing and their body language is starting to reflect that again. Both sides need a change of scenery.Unless we are getting back an all star caliber player or a good solid vet, it won't make a difference short term. Having Zo, a legit PG, back will hopefully help. I do agree with you on KCP.
This team is making no progress at all. Why would you stand pat with the same guys?
ALonelyDad
Veteran
Deng isn't going anywhere, they are most likely waiving him in the Summer. Clarkson and Randle will be traded but I hope we have a serious backup plan. I just don't see any big names coming and those are two guys who can contribute somewhat, we will be even worse without those 2.
This team pretty much rests on Randle being a defensive anchor every game & Lonzo impacting on defense too. Lopez can't move, Ingram gets backdoor all the time & Kuzma's defensive awareness is pretty bad. Ennis & Clarkson are trash at defense & this a bad shooting team so the team has to play clamps defense consistently to stay in games .
If the defense is bad for game for the Lakers it's a automatic L.
O.T.I.S.
Veteran
Been said the same things
Reid2Achieve
Superstar
Disappointed in Ingram last night. He completely no showed.
Rakim Allah
Superstar
Well if that's the case, losing is all Nance knows as well.
LinusCaldwell
From The Eastside with Love
threattonature
Veteran
Kuzma: Lakers 'flat-out gave up' in loss to OKC
Kyle Kuzma calls Lakers' loss to Thunder 'pretty embarrassing'
LOS ANGELES -- The rapidly sinking Los Angeles Lakers went from a team that hopes to revive Showtime to being no-shows Wednesday night.
With Paul George in the house at Staples Center getting his first in-person look at the young Lakers, they lost their eighth straight game, leading a frustrated Kyle Kuzma to say the team "flat-out gave up" in an embarrassing 133-96 rout at the hands of Oklahoma City.
"We gave up," Kuzma said. "You could see, they got basket after basket, we had no resistance on them on the defensive end and offensive end. When things got tough, we tried to do it individually, and you can't do that in this league.
"They took a little lead, and we just went to being selfish on the floor. We didn't compete on defense. They killed us. ... To lose by [nearly] 40, it is pretty embarrassing to be out there."
For the majority of this season, the rebuilding Lakers have been surprisingly competitive, and in most games down to the end. But the team has been hurt recently by injuries to Lonzo Ball (shoulder), Brandon Ingram (quads) and Brook Lopez (ankle) and by legal restrictions preventing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from playing in games outside the state of California.
Players have also been frustrated in recent weeks. Following a lackluster 95-92 home loss to Portland on Dec. 23, Lakers coach Luke Walton said he saw players "pouting" on the bench. Veteran center Andrew Bogut admitted that players were clearly "frustrated" not just with playing time and injuries affecting rotations, but the Lakers' clear plan of going after two star free agents, such as George, in free agency next summer.
The Lakers had a team meeting last Thursday, a "heart-to-heart" in which players aired out their issues, ranging from playing time to the team's direction building toward next summer when management hopes to revamp the roster.
"It felt a little bit like we gave in or we felt sorry for ourselves a little bit, which isn't who we are as a group," Walton said of the Lakers, who aside from a six-point double-overtime loss to Houston have lost their other five most recent games by an average of 19.4 points. "I am going to have to check the tape to see why we completely stopped competing out there."
"Our fans deserve better than that, and our organization deserves better than that," Walton added.
Despite having Lopez -- who returned after missing eight games -- and Caldwell-Pope on the floor, the Lakers were outscored 107-70 after being tied at 26 after the first quarter. Oklahoma City shot 60.2 percent and led by as many as 39 points.
And it wasn't just the Big Three of Russell Westbrook (20 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds), George (24 points) and Carmelo Anthony (21 points) who crushed the Lakers. Los Angeles allowed rookie Terrance Ferguson, who had scored a total of 29 points this season, to go off for 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including six 3-pointers.
Since playing some of their best basketball during the most difficult four-game stretch that any team has faced in the past three seasons -- against Cleveland, Golden State twice and Houston in late December -- the Lakers have steadily declined.
"Except for the past two games, we have been competing and fighting in games," Kuzma said of 37- and 18-point losses to Oklahoma City and Minnesota. "Today was five steps back. [It is] something that we need to address, whatever, correct. Something has to change for sure."
"That is not being a Laker," added Kuzma, who scored 18 points. "I have only been a Laker for a couple of months, but that's not it."
Despite the horrendous showing, George was complimentary of the Lakers' future.
"The best thing is they have young guys that are potentially going to be big names in this league," George said. "They just got to continue to keep working."
Ball will practice Thursday after missing six straight games and could play against Charlotte on Friday depending on how his bruised shoulder responds after practice.
The Lakers' schedule will ease up a bit after a grueling stretch in which they have played nine of their past 11 games against teams with winning records. The Lakers' next three opponents at home are Charlotte, Atlanta and Sacramento.
"I think injuries have a little bit to do with it," Walton said. "This is something we will fix. We are not going to start getting blown out now. We are not going to start feeling sorry for ourselves. We are going to get back in the gym, go to work, show film. I believe in the character of our team. We will fix it."
Kyle Kuzma calls Lakers' loss to Thunder 'pretty embarrassing'
LOS ANGELES -- The rapidly sinking Los Angeles Lakers went from a team that hopes to revive Showtime to being no-shows Wednesday night.
With Paul George in the house at Staples Center getting his first in-person look at the young Lakers, they lost their eighth straight game, leading a frustrated Kyle Kuzma to say the team "flat-out gave up" in an embarrassing 133-96 rout at the hands of Oklahoma City.
"We gave up," Kuzma said. "You could see, they got basket after basket, we had no resistance on them on the defensive end and offensive end. When things got tough, we tried to do it individually, and you can't do that in this league.
"They took a little lead, and we just went to being selfish on the floor. We didn't compete on defense. They killed us. ... To lose by [nearly] 40, it is pretty embarrassing to be out there."
For the majority of this season, the rebuilding Lakers have been surprisingly competitive, and in most games down to the end. But the team has been hurt recently by injuries to Lonzo Ball (shoulder), Brandon Ingram (quads) and Brook Lopez (ankle) and by legal restrictions preventing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from playing in games outside the state of California.
Players have also been frustrated in recent weeks. Following a lackluster 95-92 home loss to Portland on Dec. 23, Lakers coach Luke Walton said he saw players "pouting" on the bench. Veteran center Andrew Bogut admitted that players were clearly "frustrated" not just with playing time and injuries affecting rotations, but the Lakers' clear plan of going after two star free agents, such as George, in free agency next summer.
The Lakers had a team meeting last Thursday, a "heart-to-heart" in which players aired out their issues, ranging from playing time to the team's direction building toward next summer when management hopes to revamp the roster.
"It felt a little bit like we gave in or we felt sorry for ourselves a little bit, which isn't who we are as a group," Walton said of the Lakers, who aside from a six-point double-overtime loss to Houston have lost their other five most recent games by an average of 19.4 points. "I am going to have to check the tape to see why we completely stopped competing out there."
"Our fans deserve better than that, and our organization deserves better than that," Walton added.
Despite having Lopez -- who returned after missing eight games -- and Caldwell-Pope on the floor, the Lakers were outscored 107-70 after being tied at 26 after the first quarter. Oklahoma City shot 60.2 percent and led by as many as 39 points.
And it wasn't just the Big Three of Russell Westbrook (20 points, 12 assists and 6 rebounds), George (24 points) and Carmelo Anthony (21 points) who crushed the Lakers. Los Angeles allowed rookie Terrance Ferguson, who had scored a total of 29 points this season, to go off for 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including six 3-pointers.
Since playing some of their best basketball during the most difficult four-game stretch that any team has faced in the past three seasons -- against Cleveland, Golden State twice and Houston in late December -- the Lakers have steadily declined.
"Except for the past two games, we have been competing and fighting in games," Kuzma said of 37- and 18-point losses to Oklahoma City and Minnesota. "Today was five steps back. [It is] something that we need to address, whatever, correct. Something has to change for sure."
"That is not being a Laker," added Kuzma, who scored 18 points. "I have only been a Laker for a couple of months, but that's not it."
Despite the horrendous showing, George was complimentary of the Lakers' future.
"The best thing is they have young guys that are potentially going to be big names in this league," George said. "They just got to continue to keep working."
Ball will practice Thursday after missing six straight games and could play against Charlotte on Friday depending on how his bruised shoulder responds after practice.
The Lakers' schedule will ease up a bit after a grueling stretch in which they have played nine of their past 11 games against teams with winning records. The Lakers' next three opponents at home are Charlotte, Atlanta and Sacramento.
"I think injuries have a little bit to do with it," Walton said. "This is something we will fix. We are not going to start getting blown out now. We are not going to start feeling sorry for ourselves. We are going to get back in the gym, go to work, show film. I believe in the character of our team. We will fix it."
I guess Im the only one unbothered about these losses
I just see a young team with not enough talent, playing on the GOAT franchise
Im already ready for next season....and I don't care if the rest of the players know we're going for 2 big FA's, its about the Lakers, not individuals
Only players I wanna keep is Lonzo, Clarkson, Ingram, Kuzma, and Randle. Everyone else can go
Sorry brehs, I will never be on the
Clarkson & Randle bandwagon with yall....I think they would be great pieces off the bench for us in the future when we turn it around
I just see a young team with not enough talent, playing on the GOAT franchise
Im already ready for next season....and I don't care if the rest of the players know we're going for 2 big FA's, its about the Lakers, not individuals
Only players I wanna keep is Lonzo, Clarkson, Ingram, Kuzma, and Randle. Everyone else can go
Sorry brehs, I will never be on the
Clarkson & Randle bandwagon with yall....I think they would be great pieces off the bench for us in the future when we turn it around
threattonature
Veteran
I ain't tripping either. They're a super young team, it's expected for them to be inconsistent. Especially as the rigors of the season kick in and without their PG playing. For a team this inexperienced they'll definitely have their ups and downs. Luke still hasn't seemingly figured which guys fit. You have a couple of people playing for their contract for this offseason. I'd prefer they have a few more wins but overall not giving up on the core that they have. I think a core of Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma is solid ass core to build around. Hart seems like a solid ass piece for the future. I'd like to see more of Zubac and Bryant. I think after this coming offseason it'll be easier to fill out the roster more with veterans not looking for the next contract.I guess Im the only one unbothered about these losses
I just see a young team with not enough talent, playing on the GOAT franchise
Im already ready for next season....and I don't care if the rest of the players know we're going for 2 big FA's, its about the Lakers, not individuals
Only players I wanna keep is Lonzo, Clarkson, Ingram, Kuzma, and Randle. Everyone else can go
Sorry brehs, I will never be on the
Seen this:
...and the Lakers fan in me immediately imagined:
C DeAndre Jordan
PF LeBron James
SF Kyle Kuzma
SG Brandon Ingram
PG Lonzo Ball
Basketball Gawds need to bless us
