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Oct-10-18
 | | plang: The Knights are way overdue to win a Stanley Cup. |
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Oct-11-18
 | | HeMateMe: so...this is probably Klay Thompson's last year with the Warriors? I haven't heard anyone in the media mention it yet. His contract is up at the end of the year. I think they paid steph Curry too much, some sort of massive $400M+ contract. Money should have been set aside to pay Thompson, keeping Durant, Thompson and Curry together. Well, Four straight NBA finals, and they won three of those--pretty damn good run. If the Lakers look like a serious team, like a group on the rise, I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up there. Problem is, I don't think other NBA players really like Lebron. Kevin love is so far the only star that has really wanted to join LeBron. Miami was different, because the big three had roughly equal billing, that wouldn't be the case in L.A. Lebron's presence means a max contract is automatically soaked up and he has de facto assistant coach authority. Could really see Klay T. getting signed to a max deal with the Knicks, who stink, but--it would be Thompson's team, no ifs ands or butts. Can't see him going to a small market, not after having had the fun of being in the national spotlight for so much of the time. |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: announcers said tonight that Lonzo Ball shot just 45% from the free throw line last season. Can such a thing be true? An NBA guard, 45%? We're in Wilt/Clifford Ray territory, here.... |
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| Oct-11-18 | | unferth: yeah, but it was only 71 attempts. he shot 67% from the line in college. he'll get better. |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: 71? that can't be accurate. How can a starting NBA guard, 35 mpg, shoot only 71 free throws for the entire season? I think the bigger problem is, a guard who is scared to attack the rim, who can't finish (shoot accurately), is not a long term asset to a team. Even long ball specialists like Ray Allen and Steph Curry attacked the rim when the opportunity was there. Ball is not an NBA player. Rajo Ronda is with his fifth team in five years, so he's not really an NBA player anymore. The Lakers don't really have a point guard. I predict the Lakers will finish 44-38. It'd be nice to get this guy suited up
<https://cdn-s3.si.com/s3fs-public/i...> But, he'd have to lose some weight. |
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| Oct-11-18 | | unferth: at age 19, Ball averaged 7 assists and 7 rebounds a game, played excellent defense, and ran the team's offense very well; the Lakers played much better with him than without him. the only knocks on him are his shooting and aggressivenes, but both of those figure to improve. he's already clearly an NBA player & (absent injury) has years of growth ahead of him. Rondo's pretty much the same player he's always been, Brandon Ingram has looked great in his time at the point, and of course LBJ is a point forward. the Lakers are more likely to have too many ballhandlers than too few. |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: 7 points and 7 boards a game doesn't seem like much to me, not for a starter. It's a team of bricklayers. I know you're a Lakers fan and want to hope for the best but the way the game is played today both guards have to be able to shoot. |
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| Oct-11-18 | | unferth: it was 7 assists and 7 boards, not points, and both of those are terrific for a point guard; he scored 10.2. his shooting needs to improve, for sure, but "team of bricklayers" is absurd. they were tenth in the league in FG% last year, and that's going to go up. the current Lakers are built to be a high-pace/high-pressure team; instead of trying to outplay Golden State & Houston at the 3-based game, they're going to rely on transition buckets and tough D. whether it will work or not, we'll see. |
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Oct-11-18
 | | saffuna: Not all great players were great as rookies. Dirk Nowitski (age 20) averaged 8 points on 40% shooting in 20 minutes. Shot 20% on threes. |
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| Oct-11-18 | | unferth: yeah, the guy Lonzo has been compared to since he was at UCLA is Jason Kidd, and he's still tracking him closely through their rookie seasons: JK 11.7ppg/7.7apg/3.4tov/5.4rpg/1.9stl/.385fg/.698 ft LB 10.2ppg/7.2apg/2.6tov/6.9rpg/1.7stl/.360fg/.451 ft the biggest difference is that Lonzo was a year younger. |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: well, I looked at their 2017-18 stats at NBA.com. The Lakers were 16th in ppg and 30th in rebounding. Certainly the rebounding will improve with LeBron and rondo there, but I still think you need 5 players on the floor who can shoot, and the guards especially have to knock down open looks when they come off the screen on pick and rolls. Lonzo just wants to pass the ball each possession, he's afraid to look bad missing shots. But as you say, he's young and might improve some in that area. Magic Johnson will be patient for about one season, and then Lonzo Ball is gone. |
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| Oct-11-18 | | unferth: <I still think you need 5 players on the floor who can shoot> that's the new paradigm, sure, but only for a few years now, and even so there aren't that many teams that can actually run five shooters out there at a time. anyway, the Lakers have decided not to fight fire with fire; they've seen Houston et al. lose at out-Warrioring the Warriors, and they're not going to try. they've seen Cleveland and a few others have some success by punishing GS inside, so that's the plan--bring in tough, athletic vets (Rondo, McGee, Stevenson) to supplement LBJ & the athletic young guys (Ingram, Kuzma, Ball, Hart), run teams out of the gym, & punch 'em in the teeth on D. don't know that I'm sold on the plan, but at least it's a coherent strategy. |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: punch 'em in the face got Cleveland a 4-1 thrashing in the NBA finals last year. The only game the Cadavers actually won was by just a couple of points, a moral victory... Houston is only one player away from competing with the Warriors. They need another player besies Hardon to attack the rim. That player was Chris Paul, until he got injured. Houston may yet beat the Warriors in the playoffs, especially if Klay Thompson leaves in free agency at the end of the year. The Lakers are a butt-ugly pick up squad right now. They are at least a year and two new players away from being relevant. |
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Oct-11-18
 | | chancho: Erm, Cleveland got swept. |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: no, they won a game in the finals, didn't they? |
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Oct-11-18
| | chancho: Nope. |
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Oct-11-18
| | plang: fake news?!? |
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| Oct-11-18 | | unferth: if by "relevant" you mean serious title contenders, I agree--but "butt-ugly pickup squad", come on. they're loaded. |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: loaded with...what? Last season they finished below .500. They've added 34 year old LBJ. They added Rondo, his 5th team in 5 years. He'll be on the bench or waived, within a year. If LeBron makes them 10 games better than last year, then ok, they make 8th seed in the western playoffs, but that doesn't seem like success to me. |
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Oct-11-18
 | | perfidious: Even in the murderous Western Conference, Lakers could get home court in the first round; Warriors and Rockets are clearly superior, but LA should be strong enough to finish fourth out there overall. |
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| Oct-11-18 | | unferth: <loaded with...what? Last season they finished below .500. They've added 34 year old LBJ. They added Rondo, his 5th team in 5 years. He'll be on the bench or waived, within a year.> 34-year-old LBJ is still the best player on the planet by a mile; Rondo is still a very effective passer/defender. beyond that, their young guys are really good & improving fast. I know you don't really follow this stuff, but Brandon Ingram is likely on the cusp of stardom. Ball we've discussed; he's at a minimum a solid young player and quite possibly a budding star. Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are all serious young talents on the upswing. They have a superstar, some young coming stars, and a nice combo of youth and vets. <If LeBron makes them 10 games better than last year, then ok, they make 8th seed in the western playoffs, but that doesn't seem like success to me.> I swear we had this exact conversation when LBJ decided to return to Cleveland. |
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Oct-11-18
| | plang: I think the Rockets will fall back a bit this year. No reason why the Lakers can't be the #2 seed. ...and I am stll predicting that the Spurs will be a lot better than people think. |
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| Oct-11-18 | | Keyser Soze: <perfidious: Even in the murderous Western Conference, Lakers could get home court in the first round; Warriors and Rockets are clearly superior, but LA should be strong enough to finish fourth out there overall.> At ease I would say. Hmm is just a LeBron hater. Trust me a 34 yo LeBron with this LA roast can have some 50-32 record |
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Oct-11-18
| | HeMateMe: the lakers won 38 games last year. You ARE what your record says you are...age 34 is 34. No one can defy father time. kevin Durant and Steph Curry have surpassed LeBron. The greek freak, the Brow and a healthy Kryrie Irving might be better than LeBron. someone HAS to run the pick and roll in this shooting conscious NBA. Rondo and lonzo ball can't make an open jump shot. That means the defenders don't have to switch, don't have to cover them, thus the shooter is smothered. I'm not sure if they can even make a contested layup, they try so infrequently. But hey, I hope they do well. Its good for the NBA to have a playoff team in los Angeles. |
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Oct-11-18
| | plang: Tou are so biased against James - you have zero credibility. He was clearly still the best player in the league last year - when he starts to show some sign of slowing down - then we'll talk. PS: ditto with Brady...and Brees |
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