MenacingMonk
Tranquilo
This dude AD already with back problems at the start of the season?
Lakers destroyed ad, he was a 4 in no and played well on the 2 man pick and roll, he was money from 18 feet out, he was also much lighter and faster.
He messed up by going to LA he had to bulk up, slowed down and become a 5 because LA didn't have a decent 4.
I agree. But even if he continued his 2019-20 output, Lakers shouldn’t have had to give up that much (especially all those picks and swaps) since he only had 1 yr left on his deal. No other team would’ve given up that much for a potential 1 yr rental.He just stopped caring after the ring. Who woulda predicted that? Go look at his 2019-20 highlights. He was unbelievable all season, not just in The Bubble.
His activity was off the charts and he was 10x quicker than he is now. This guy is a shell of himself and he's 29.
Honestly our only hope is for Russ to get so out of pocket they trade him, of course that means giving up picks. But our future gone anyways
What picks?
Gon wake up to a Lakers win
Goodnite yall
Leave Francis out of that mess. It was like hat before he got to NY. Remember he had Orlando competitive before the gm went retardThe Lakers right now are what Knicks were in mid 00s with Marbury, Francis, Jerome James, Eddy Curry and the rest of no chemistry havin ass goofballs.
My takeaways are this
- Ham doesn't have the lineups down yet. He let Walker have too much burn, Bev too little and Ryan wasn't used properly, which tells me he's still trying to figure out who works best with who. This is the issue with shaking up nearly your entire roster: trying to find lineups that have chemistry.
- Lakers are going to be one of the better defensive teams in the NBA this year. Even with the shaky lineups, they defended Golden State extremely well. They held Golden State to 46% from the field and 36% from 3, which are both below their team's average. This game looked more out of hand than it did because...
- ...the Lakers shot like absolute hammered shyt. That was UGLY. 25% from 3, 43% from the field.
- The positive of the poor shooting is that it was an aberration for the star players. LeBron went 3/10 from 3, and 12/25 from the field, both not great shooting numbers. This is a positive because LeBron averages 51% for a career and 34% from 3, meaning he literally cruised to 31 and 14 on a terrible shooting night. Davis was also inefficient, and still got 27.
- AD looks phenomenal defensively. He needs some help in the paint though, as he was the only guy in the starting lineup fighting in the paint early on. Lakers got outrebounded 62 to 57, which is not that big a gap, but enough to warrant concern, considering the Warriors are not a big team.
- Patrick Beverly is going to give LA solid minutes on the defensive end. I think Ham needs to treat Bev as a 3/D guy, along with Matt Ryan. Beverly is an above average shooter; if you get him open, he can knock them down. Whenever he's in, I'm sticking him in whatever corner, let LeBron drive and find him or Ryan. Bev shoots nearly 40% from 3-- Ham is misusing him.
- Russ gave the Lakers solid minutes today. 19 points in 30 minutes as the third option is something I'll take from him every single day. No real boneheaded plays, no real defensive lapses. Dude was solid, and I'm going to lay off him tonight.
- The Lakers' bench is basura, but that can be rectified with the correct lineups. Reaves, Ryan and Beverly should rotate; they all need to be playing when LeBron's playing. Catch and shoot all day. Westbrook should run the second unit with AD in. Him, Nunn, AD, and Gabriel give the Lakers a mix of playmaking, scoring and size that can be devastating for opposing teams. Gabriel would allow AD to play the 4, like he wants. I wouldn't ever have a lineup with AD and LeBron off the floor. The Lakers lose too much offense when that happens.
- Lonnie Walker needs to never step on the floor for the Lakers again. That is all.
TL:DR- the Lakers showed signs of life in this game. They are MUCH better defensively than last year. This is the defending champs; last year, the Lakers would have NEVER made a run while the Warriors' starters were in the game. Game got out of hand because they went up against a team with 4 guys (Curry, Poole, Wiggins, Klay) that can all go nuclear from 3, and they shot like shyt in return. LeBron shot himself out of this game, and AD started settling because he wants to play like a 7-Foot guard. Both of those guys got 30 points playing poorly. Lakers tighten that up, you have a competitive team.
I would still look to make some moves. Lakers need consistent shooting, period. Two more 3 and D guys, and you're looking at a tough out when healthy.
That's just how I see it.