Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:50 pm Post subject: I honestly can't see us winning the chip this year
And it's not because we went 0 - 6 in preseason, losing by an average of 15 ppg, nor is it because of their ages, The Lakers look simply lost out there. Again, they continue to defer to LeBron to create rather than creating as a unit. That's why defenses are able to easily clamp down Lakers as the game progresses because they know we are looking to LeBron for the shot. I also can't see the Lakers perfecting chemistry in one season with all the roster changes. That's why Phoenix, GS, Dallas, and others play so fluid because they have developed that chemistry with minimal changes to the core and bench. Let's see what happens, but it's my belief that we won't be successful this year.
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:01 pm Post subject: Re: I honestly can't see us winning the chip this year
The title team two years ago only had 5 returning players: KCP, Lebron, Kuzma, Caruso, and Rondo.
This years team only have three technically with Lebron, THT, and AD. But Dwight and Rondo just won a title with this team a year ago last week. So for the most part its the same situation.
Joined: 03 Oct 2003 Posts: 8330 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:05 pm Post subject: Re: I honestly can't see us winning the chip this year
phantasyman wrote:
And it's not because we went 0 - 6 in preseason, losing by an average of 15 ppg, nor is it because of their ages, The Lakers look simply lost out there. Again, they continue to defer to LeBron to create rather than creating as a unit. That's why defenses are able to easily clamp down Lakers as the game progresses because they know we are looking to LeBron for the shot. I also can't see the Lakers perfecting chemistry in one season with all the roster changes. That's why Phoenix, GS, Dallas, and others play so fluid because they have developed that chemistry with minimal changes to the core and bench. Let's see what happens, but it's my belief that we won't be successful this year.
Way too early to say this when the regular season hasn't even started. This isn't like 2003-04 when Shaq and Kobe were at each other's throats before the season started and we had no adequate depth.
Westbrook didn't exactly defer to LeBron in that last preseason game. Probably more than anything else, injuries will determine our chances of winning the chip.
I still think shooting is an issue. We signed more shooters this season, however my concern is none of our Big 3 are considered shooters, unless somehow Carmelo turns back time to 6 years ago and can make a Big 4. _________________ Tacos
Joined: 19 Nov 2007 Posts: 4375 Location: Lake Nacimiento
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2021 10:43 pm Post subject:
Yeah, not sure how anyone can look at the rest of the Western Conference and think we have no chance? There's really no other great teams this season.. Some really good ones for sure but nobody i'm legitimately afraid of if we're remotely healthy.. The two toughest teams as of now imo are the Nets way above everyone else and then possibly the Bucks depending what AD is showing up in the series but both are in the Eastern Conference.
Especially the 3 teams you listed, not even remotely worried about any of them outside of possibly the Warriors if Klay comes back and is an elite 2 way player still but i'm not seeing that happening his first year back.
It's one thing to be hesitant since we obviously have plenty of question marks and uncertainties but to be a Lakers fan and think we have no chance looking at our roster while looking at the rest of the Western Conference this season I do not get at all. Just like both of the last 2 seasons it will come down to health more then anything else. We're pretty clearly a top contender at worst this season.
Lebron has the ball out high, because he at least is a 3 ball threat. If you want Westbrook with the ball that far out, defenses will collapse. Then Bron looks for Westbrook on the move. This is what they did in Wade in Miami, I believe, more often that not it was one guy on the move while the other handled the ball.
We would want Westbrook to catch and handle the ball closer to the wing and in, not beyond the 3 point line and out. So Bron still running the point or QB from that point is smart offense IMO.
As for the other issues, we need to give the big 3 5 games where they all play 30+ minutes each and then we will have an idea of the strengths and weaknesses.
About the ring, as Milwaukee showed this past season, it is not about being the most together team in the RS, it is about the playoffs and the team that gets the right situation and the right things happen in the right time. The Lakers need to just focus on each game and trying to get better.
Can't say this. Would you have looked at this past season and said the Suns would be in the Finals?
Injuries will be a bigger factor than anything else. If we have a healthy Lebron and Davis, we will have a great shot at getting out of the West. The Nets might be a problem but they have their own problems.
Eh. We'll see. The #1 issue is defense. If our defense is easily exploited this year, then that limits our prospects for a championship. Our offense can be better than what we saw in the preseason, but it's not going to be good enough to overcome a bad defense.
The #2 issue is depth. We really don't have any. A lot of people mistake width for depth. Width means that we have 14 functional players. Depth means that we have the ability to withstand injuries or other absences.
People will say that no one can replace Lebron, and that's true. But how bad is it if one of our big three go out? We have no depth at all behind Davis. If he goes out, we're probably starting Carmelo, which is cringeworthy. We don't even have Morris and Kuzma, who were poor substitutes but at least functional. We also have no depth at all behind Lebron. I guess Westbrook could take over some of his playmaking role, but again, we're probably trying to use Carmelo to cover for Lebron's absence. We were supposed to have Ariza, but we don't as of now. We don't have Kuzma, Morris, and Matthews, who were poor substitutes but at least enough to function. We do have depth at guard, so we can withstand an injury or absence from Westbrook. Rondo could fill the playmaking role adequately, and we have Nunn for offense.
So that's where we are. Lebron and Davis better stay healthy. We really have no one backing them up. Again, the point is not that we lack backups who are just as good as Lebron and Davis. Instead, the point is that we don't have anyone who could fill the gap other than Carmelo. _________________ Internet Argument Resolved
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 35813 Location: Santa Clarita, CA (Hell) ->>>>>Ithaca, NY -≥≥≥≥≥Berkeley, CA
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 6:58 am Post subject: Re: I honestly can't see us winning the chip this year
J.C. Smith wrote:
The title team two years ago only had 5 returning players: KCP, Lebron, Kuzma, Caruso, and Rondo.
This years team only have three technically with Lebron, THT, and AD. But Dwight and Rondo just won a title with this team a year ago last week. So for the most part its the same situation.
Weird that the bubble championship was just a year ago when it was technically two seasons ago. _________________ Damian Lillard shatters Dwight Coward's championship dreams:
Joined: 15 Jul 2002 Posts: 6938 Location: searching for the mojo of Dr. Buss
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:07 am Post subject:
How can you tell anything before the team has played a single regular-season game looool.
Health will be the issue. Nothing else. If AD, LBJ, and Westbrook stay healthy, we're competing for everything.
IF LBJ and AD were healthy last season, I believe we repeat and fairly easily so. _________________ "He may say it's not you, it's him.... but it's really you."
Joined: 14 Apr 2001 Posts: 144462 Location: The Gold Coast
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:16 am Post subject:
Age, shooting and health will be the main factors. Followed by the idea that Westbrook can reinvent his game in his 30’s. They could win it all but I would give the field a 99% advantage. _________________ RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023.
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 8:55 am Post subject: Re: I honestly can't see us winning the chip this year
phantasyman wrote:
And it's not because we went 0 - 6 in preseason, losing by an average of 15 ppg, nor is it because of their ages, The Lakers look simply lost out there. Again, they continue to defer to LeBron to create rather than creating as a unit. That's why defenses are able to easily clamp down Lakers as the game progresses because they know we are looking to LeBron for the shot. I also can't see the Lakers perfecting chemistry in one season with all the roster changes. That's why Phoenix, GS, Dallas, and others play so fluid because they have developed that chemistry with minimal changes to the core and bench. Let's see what happens, but it's my belief that we won't be successful this year.
Lebron's been to the NBA Finals almost his entire career. Why do u still doubt his ability to carry the team? Defer to Lebron? Ofc everyone knows what's coming when Lebron has the ball. It's just a simple matter of if our supporting cast could knock down wide open jumpers. If they can, we win. If they cant, we don't win. It's actually as simple as that. _________________ LeGoat! LeMazing! LeGend!
The 2019-20 team was great on defense from the beginning. You also didn’t question their athleticism tbh. Both those things set the tone for that season.
This 2020-21 (long way to go obviously) has set the tone of “we will be fine” attitude and they may, but I’m never a believer in that mindset, load management mindset or whatever you want to call it.
The biggest impact though is on the defensive end. This version of the Lakers doesn’t look nearly as imposing and a lot of it is going to be depending on AD to erase mistakes. Yes, AD was dominant in 2019-20, but he also had great perimeter defending and help defense from KCP, Caruso, Bradley, Green, Dwight and McGee and even Kuzma played well on that end.
This season it’s basically Bazemore, Dwight and potentially the emergence of Reaves.
The preseason has shown a pattern of where the Lakers get gashed in spurts and it’s either a lead lost or the opponent takes a big double digit lead.
Brodie is the "new DWade". his outside shot is shaky at best (still better than Wade's though). what he's good at is being a fricken MONSTER out there. straight dunkin' over fools.
LBJ has a somewhat respectable outside shot, so they'll let Russ be the slasher.
AD has gotta be aggressive like he was in our chip season though.
It is a long season and anything can happen. I will admit the odds are clearly against us. To complicate matters, there is little to no path to fix potential problems that may come up (the price for having a big 3). We really need things to work out perfectly (and have some luck) for us to win it all. There are a lot of good teams (maybe not championship contenders) we have to deal with.
I totally agree with @AH and @SD on the potential of our defense taking a hit. Vogs will definitely have to earn his check this year, but hopefully he can flex his defensive acumen once again.
The motion offense looks promising, but with a squad that’s seasoned AF, will they have the legs to keep that same energy on defense?
biggest issue to me is that AD Was very out of the shape in the preseason, he couldn't finish the shots like he did before. maybe it was because of the weight he added, but he looked very bad. wouldn't add more weigh put more pressure on AD's lower body? if AD can turn it around, i am confident we can beat most teams.
Age, shooting and health will be the main factors. Followed by the idea that Westbrook can reinvent his game in his 30’s. They could win it all but I would give the field a 99% advantage.
You are correct. But there’s always the trade deadline and buyout market. IMO we still need 2 positions. A younger 3&D forward, and a defensive guard… like… like a… Alex Caruso. _________________ “You have to dance beautifully in the box that you are comfortable dancing in.” - Kobe Bryant
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 11:41 am Post subject: Re: I honestly can't see us winning the chip this year
phantasyman wrote:
And it's not because we went 0 - 6 in preseason, losing by an average of 15 ppg, nor is it because of their ages, The Lakers look simply lost out there. Again, they continue to defer to LeBron to create rather than creating as a unit. That's why defenses are able to easily clamp down Lakers as the game progresses because they know we are looking to LeBron for the shot. I also can't see the Lakers perfecting chemistry in one season with all the roster changes. That's why Phoenix, GS, Dallas, and others play so fluid because they have developed that chemistry with minimal changes to the core and bench. Let's see what happens, but it's my belief that we won't be successful this year.
I'm not worried about them developing "chemistry." I'm worried that we prioritized names over fit, and loaded up on guys who aren't great defenders.
In some ways, it's the same story as the last two years: Everything hinges on the health and performance of Lebron and AD. That said, I think we had backslid from the ring team because of the aforementioned focus on names and disregard for defense.
The motion offense looks promising, but with a squad that’s seasoned AF, will they have the legs to keep that same energy on defense?
And how do you load manage when you have no depth at the positions of the players whose load you want to manage? _________________ Internet Argument Resolved
Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 8518 Location: Left coast
Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 4:29 pm Post subject:
They’ll score, but they won’t stop many people. Bringing in Bradley could help, but the bench isn’t going to be good enough to go 5 deep like in the past. They lost all the preseason games after being outplayed by all the other benches.
A poor bench without proven defensive stoppers or game changers isn’t a recipe for a ring. Meantime, I lack confidence in this version of Lebron and my confidence in A.D.’s durability and practice habits is only a smidgin more. If they win….great. If they lose, I won’t be surprised.
All times are GMT - 8 Hours Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6Next
Page 1 of 6
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
