The OtherArena

Steve Yohe · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2018 11:50 pm Post subject:

Ingram got himself suspended by being stupid. I would say it cost him his starting position.

And they play better with Ball, who looks much improved over last year. So I agree.---Yohe

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 16996

That was a good win. The Nuggets are no joke a good team that will be in the Top 8 in the West barring an injury to Joker. We need wins, especially home wins, against teams like that to make the playoffs. Can't be waiting until Feb to start doing that.

Steve Yohe · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2018 11:41 am Post subject:

Yeah Denver seems like a real contender. Watched N. O. the other night & they are going to be good too. Some things are changing.

It's nice to beat the top teams, but it's more important to stomp on the bad ones & middle of the road teams. Split with the best & destroy the rest.---Yohe

JAG · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 2244

Ugh.

Shoulda had that one.

Jagdip

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 16996

If we're an eventually 50 win team, we need to take at least one in a two game trip against teams like the Spurs and Wolves. Heck, the Wolves are their own trainwreck.

I don't actually think we're a 50 win team, and didn't think that going into the seasons.

Could take some solace that they weren't blown out in either game, and we competitive until blowing it at the end. But... yeah... they need to win some of this shit.

guren · Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 1205

I have been surprised at the number of minutes that JaVale has played so far. He played 31 minutes today and has averaged 26 through 7 games. In his 2 years with the Dubs, he averaged 9.6 and 9.5 minutes per game and played 20 minutes in a game just twice. He hasn't averaged over 20 minutes a game since 2011-12 with the Wizards. I hope he can keep it up without injuring himself (or his teammates).

By the way, there is a fun oral history of LeBron's first NBA game on The Undefeated.

It took just 12 minutes for LeBron James to put the NBA on notice

glenn

guren · Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 1205

From Pete Zayas's Twitter (@LakerFilmRoom):

Brandon Ingram in the First Half

6:22 with LeBron on the court = 0 points
7:03 with LeBron off the court = 17 points

Obviously it is just one game and Ingram just got back from his suspension, but it's worth monitoring to see if it becomes a trend.

glenn

guren · Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 1205

It's pretty interesting to check the Net Rating stats for the Lakers on stats.nba.com. If you go by players who have played at least 15 minutes per game, a certain 2-time champion center is at the top (+4.3) and a lanky point guard is way at the bottom (-11.6). LeBron is at +0.5 (109.6/109.1) through 7 games.

glenn

guren · Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 1205

Man, the Lakers have been having some issues at the end of close games. They nearly gave that one away. I am not sure why Matthews fouled LeBron with a couple of seconds left and no timeouts, but it almost worked out.

corrado · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 4847 Location: LI

Trouble in paradise:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25156914/magic-johnson-admonishes-luke-walton-los-angeles-lakers-slow-start

Well at least its not Bron who's calling out the coach. But you know the Lue to Lakers rumors are going to stay for a while.

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 16996

I have doubts that it will be Lue.

I do think this was bad on Magic's part. This team is almost exactly what it looked like on paper given the fucked up roster construction. That the games have been close tends to mask the flaws in the team. But we knew they would be a horrible defense coming into the year. We know they had issues at Big, which Javale's surprising start has partially hidden.We knew we were a bad 3P team (20th in attempts and 20th in % actually humors our shooting).

We're a "good" offense, though the 3rd in Points overstates how good we are given the high pace we play at. Their Offensive Rating (7th) is probably more accurate. But that also might overstate the offense because we haven't played many good defenses:

3rd Denver
11th Portland
18th San Antonio (2)
22nd Dallas
25th Minnesota
26th Phoenix
27th Houston

Okay... we've played mostly pedestrian-to-awful defenses. It's early in the season, so these things take time to shake out (noting Utah's defense is off to a slow start). But Dallas, Minn, Phx and Hou are all likely to end the year as bad defenses.

So our offense likely isn't *quite* as good as it currently looks, and the defense is every bit as bad as we expected coming into the year.

That's roster construction, not coaching.

Since Magic and Rob and Lebron can't ever admit that they constructed a screwed up roster, they will make Luke walk the plank.

jdw · Site Admin Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 16996

FWIW, I expect them to do something like bring in Mark Jackson... unless Bron tells them he doesn't want to play for Jackson.

Reasons:

* Defense
* they will overrate how good the offense is
* this will lead them to think Jackson's shitty offensive coaching won't be a problem
* Jackson will be credited with developing Steph, Klay & Green
* Starfucker pick - Magic and Rob will want to make a Big Splash

Not saying he would be a bad pick. If Bron is fine with him, and if he somehow can get a group of largely poor defensive players improve... that's not bad. The Lakers front office is clearly not an Advanced Metrics group (no other way to look at the roster composition and not come to that conclusion), so they aren't likely to but heads with Jackson over that issue like the Dubs did.

My thought: Eh

corrado · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 4847 Location: LI

I actually read some Twitter posts yesterday of Mark Jackson possibly be the next head coach. Moreso due to him being a part of Bron's Klutch group. Article from 2016:

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/report-lue-compromise-for-lebron-camp-which-wanted-mark-jackson/

Well that might explain a little, Mark Jackson being one of the leaders of the "best player on the planet" narrative. But we'll see if the Lakers will put under the rug, the reasons for Mark Jackson not coaching anymore.

I still think he has his eyes set on the Knicks job, even though it looks like he'll never get that job.

corrado · Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 4847 Location: LI

Seems as if the Lakers are going to sign Tyson Chandler to be the backup center. THat's some nice depth to have.

And like I said before, McGee had a solid Finals last year. Could be after Bron, the best acquisition of the Lakers this offseason.

guren · Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 1205

That was an impressive win in Portland and a huge collective performance by the reserves. Check out the individual +/- figures in the boxscore - all of the reserves were positive and the starters were all negative in a 4 point win. Lonzo's funk continued, but that was more than balanced out by Rondo, who was the best player on the floor for most of the minutes he was out there.