|| LocK Dis Up ||

Some thoughts...

1. Hibbert. Excellent game by him. 12points 10reb 4ast 2blks. Gave exactly what I thought he would.

2. Randle struggled from the field. Finished with 15 & 11. But the one positive is nobody, not Towns, not Dieng, not Garnett can stay in front of him. He will always beat them first step. Once he learns body control, he'll be much more efficient. He'll never be a 55% shooter, but high 40%-50% is plenty good enough. He'll never be great in terms of % because he will take a lot of attempts with plenty of contact. Positive, he'll get to the line a lot, negative if he doesn't get the foul call it's a higher risk shot. He needs to develop that right hand, but I think he can get away with it by going up with both, to get more control, while he develops a right.

3. Lou Will & Nick Young were really good.

4. Clarkson started out hot then died down. But still an overall solid game.

5. D'Angelo Russell is a PG. Not a shooting guard. He needs to be handling the ball and setting up the offense. It's one thing when Randle is taking the ball in transition off a missed shot. But when we have to inbound it, Russell should be the guy who has the ball the most. If you're going to have him stand around, you might as well never play him at all.

6. Bass should not play the 5. You either play him at the 4 or you play Kelly at the 4. Tarik Black is much more suited to play the 5.

7. Kobe deserves some of the blame because he had a few stupid heat checks.. But for the most part, his shot total is not on him. It comes from not having any option. There was a few times when Kobe had an option other than to shoot, he took it. Too often we gave Kobe a pass, everybody moved to the other side of the court, and then just sat there. There was no movement, no off the ball picks. NOTHING. And it's not like Kobe could pass it out, the next closest guy was so far away, it would be a turnover. And he can't dribble it back to reset the offense because by that time, you'll have under 10 seconds to run a new set.

When Kobe was coming off a screen, he made those shots. The fact that he is not getting more screens on and off the ball to free himself up or free someone else up is ridiculous. Hell have Kobe set some of the screens and pop out.

He shot 5-11 from 2, 3-13 from 3. Gotta limit the 3s to open shots, and clock winding down attempts.

8. Byron blew it by not calling timeouts, not trying to reset the offense when it got stagnant. As well as halting the offense by not running plays, and running so many damn isos. He's in the huddle after we blew a 15 point lead talking about defense, when we were shooting 3-18. He's an imbecile. I'd take literally any other coach in the NBA over him. I'd take Vinny Del Negro over him.

Kobe might be the only guy who heat checks after a miss

Choke a 16 points lead to start the '16 season..

Anyone notice metta in street clothes..

Of all people to get lit up by Ricky Rubio...

@LakersReporter 23m23 minutes ago
Scott said he thought the Lakers stopped playing as they should when up late in the 3rd; stopped attacking, settled for jump shots.



What in the hell is Byron's job?

Spectator

Lakers is the team to get your career high if youre a point guard in the NBA..

Essential1 said:

@LakersReporter 23m23 minutes ago
Scott said he thought the Lakers stopped playing as they should when up late in the 3rd; stopped attacking, settled for jump shots.



What in the hell is Byron's job?

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Byron is a certified idiot.

hoopcoach said:

Of all people to get lit up by Ricky Rubio...

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feels like another year of getting lit up by pgs 

Little upset to not see Brown and Nance. Or Black for that matter. But I guess we can't really have a 12 man rotation.

I hope Dlo gets it together man.. I would hate seeing that pick go to waste smh

Checking in real quick.

That was a disappointing ending.

The Black Mamba is out here chuckin', but he looked good and healthy. 

For Russell, he just needs to play more. I'm still not really worried about him. He will prosper.

Randle was alright.

I'm still optimistic for this squad! 

I have all but given up on the notion that Russell would eventually become a superstar. Too many things lacking. Way below average speed and athleticism. Can't draw fouls, can't finish in traffic or with with contact, and can't stay in front of guards on defense. Shooting was supposed to be his other calling card besides passing but literally the only baskets he has a knack for making are the mid range jumpers after he gets freed from a screen. Struggles from NBA 3s but I'll give him time to adjust on that.

Other than that, the selfies, weird haircuts, cut eyebrows are just I know he's a 19 year old kid, but he ain't any other 19 year old kid- if you're 2nd overall by the Lakers I want your *** to live, eat, and breathe basketball and not worry about stupid other ****.

I will be happy if he can average 12 and 8 in any of the upcoming seasons.

Everyone worried, nervous, or panicked about DLo, one game into his career, please look across the court at one Ricardo Rubio.

Players develop. Their games evolve.

Relax.

Not panicking. I was high on Russell before the draft and was fully behind taking him 2nd overall. All I'm saying is my previous expectation of him becoming a superstar seems too lofty given his physical shortcomings and expectations need to be adjusted.

Giving up on previous expectations does not equal to giving up on him.

iLL 949 said:

I have all but given up on the notion that Russell would eventually become a superstar. Too many things lacking. Way below average speed and athleticism. Can't draw fouls, can't finish in traffic or with with contact, and can't stay in front of guards on defense. Shooting was supposed to be his other calling card besides passing but literally the only baskets he has a knack for making are the mid range jumpers after he gets freed from a screen. Struggles from NBA 3s but I'll give him time to adjust on that.

Other than that, the selfies, weird haircuts, cut eyebrows are just I know he's a 19 year old kid, but he ain't any other 19 year old kid- if you're 2nd overall by the Lakers I want your *** to live, eat, and breathe basketball and not worry about stupid other ****.

I will be happy if he can average 12 and 8 in any of the upcoming seasons.

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All of this.... I want to see it I just cant

For one quarter BS needs to give Russell the green light and tell him to play his game

As much as it sucks, it may make more sense for Russell to play with the second unit of Kelly, Bass, Swaggy and Lou. They can all thrive off Russell creating in a way that the nominal starters probably can't.

I agree I like Huertes better being the primary ball handler with the starters. I think he won't force the ball to Bean.

The Lakers could start Russell, then sub him out after five minutes for Huertas. Just tell him to play hard as he can in those five minutes (Sixers are doing this to Okafor).

Then bring Russell back with a minute or two left in the first/third quarters or the opening minutes of the second quarter/fourth quarters. Russell can get his 25-30 minutes a game and Huertas can get his 12-15 minutes a game.

Edit:

In any case, whether he is starting or coming off the bench the Lakers are not putting him in the best situation to develop. But he's not helping himself either. He only has two moves right now; Surveying the floor and shooting a three from the wing or getting a pick, getting the help defender on his heels and shooting a 18 footer.

Byron..

Alright... I slept on this a bit. Maybe Kobe was a little rusty, or got gassed.

Sometime in the 3rd he was 8-16 with 21 points.. Then went 0-7. Could have just been off due to being tired, and it impacted his shot ever so slightly. Because out of the 16 he missed, there were a few that he shot that were good attempts, looked good, and just didn't go in. But that is basketball, missing easy looks happens. And if he's fatigued, he needs to figure out how to conserve his energy to give him high production all game.

He even admitted it was too many 3 pointers. I'll get to that in a minute.

How I would approach playing Kobe.
1. 25-32 minutes is the right range for Kobe minutes. Some games you need to be at the bottom of the range, some times you need to be at the top.
2. His shot total should stay at 18 shots per game. That's 4-5 a quarter, and you can do this even while keeping everyone in the flow of the offense.
3. Kobe was actually quite good when it was in the flow of the offense. Why are we not setting screens off ball for him is ridiculous. Or Hibbert coming over once Kobe gets the ball on the wing and set a screen. Hibbert was very good last night as a pick man. Try to get Kobe on the move with the ball, could open up a couple attempts at the basket.
4. When passing the ball to Kobe, they dumped it off, immediately get out of the way, to the point that they were so far away that if Kobe wanted to pass, it would have been a turnover. The other 4 guys also just stood there and waited for Kobe as opposed to moving without the ball, and making yourself open. When Kobe got the ball, the spacing was sometimes as if Byron said give Kobe the ball, then stand in a circle.

But this is not to say that Kobe should NEVER have ISO plays.. There's some times where it is actually a good game plan. When Wiggins is guarding him? NOOOO. But when you have Prince who is old and slow, you may have something you could exploit.

5. Why in the hell are we not running screens for him. Give him the RIP Hamilton special. Have him around the hoop, with another guy on the block, get Kobe a curl screen for a wide open 2 anywhere from 12-18 feet. Or hell Kobe setting a pick and popping out for a shot would be nice. Even OKC used a couple pick and pops with KD & Westbrook.

6. His 3 point shot isn't great, but he can make them. But his attempts at 3 should only happen on 4 occasions. 1. A small PG somehow gets switched on him that he can shoot over. 2. A big gets switched on him and gives him way too much room. 3. A catch and shoot as a result of a play where he is wide open.. 4. When the shot or game clock demands a shot.

It's clear the 3 pointer was why he looked bad. He took way too many flat footed shots from 3 that were not in rhythm.

7. Stop the damn heat checks. There are smart and dumb heat checks. Sometimes, you bring the ball up, get to the 3 point line, and they are giving you 5 feet. That is a smart heat check. Other times, you are guarded, but you're hot and throw it up. Kobe had both of those during the game. The goal is to swing him towards smart heat checks.



So how to get Kobe his shots, and make him an effective scorer.
1. Screen him when he has the ball to get him to go toward the hoop, set screens to free him up to get the ball for quick shots.
2. If Kobe has the ball, stop watching. Set picks, cut, come over to help. Because if he gets the ball 16 seconds in the shot clock, and has it for 5 seconds, and not a single guy is moving? He has to shoot because by the time he dribbles out to reset, it's 7 seconds, and you won't be able to get a decent play off.
3. No more flat footed 3s unless he's being guarded by a 1 or a 5, or the shot clock or game clock is about to expire.


There's no reason to think you can't get Kobe 21 points on 18 shots with around 40-43% shooting in the flow of the game, and in a way that still allows Russell, Clarkson & Randle to thrive.

CP1708 said:

Everyone worried, nervous, or panicked about DLo, one game into his career, please look across the court at one Ricardo Rubio.

Players develop. Their games evolve.

Relax.

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Yea and I know Ricky was a top 5 pick, but if Russ' career takes the same trajectory as Rubio's has thus far, don't act like you won't be disappointed.

I know players progress at different rates, I mean Emeka Okafor had a better rookie year than Dwight and then Dwight surpassed him with the quickness

I'm just saying, even looking at Rubio, he couldn't shoot for **** and was a horrible defender, but you could see his feel for the game and the one exceptional talent he had showing through even when he wasn't a finished product. I haven't watched every game and I missed last night cus my cable/internet is still out, but I haven't really seen any flashes from D-Lo that make me think our patience will pay off in the long run. Sure he can make some nice passes, but can he be THE guy to run the team and make other players better? I'm not sold on it yet. Hope I'm wrong.

Kobe playing 28 minutes last night should be how many minutes he averages every game. I would say somewhere between 25-32 minutes a game. I don't think anyone played for more than 30 minutes last night.