I think this is a tentative list... only one that is for sure is Kobe.
Looks like they are intending to split Randle's minutes at the 3 and 4 and so have him slotted in between the two positions. This was all before we hired Byron and before we've even had a minute of training camp so this could and should all change over time.
(Let me first say that "All this is contingent upon Nash being at 100%", which has been reported)
I'm going with the starting unit being:
PG Nash
SG Kobe
SF Johnson
PF Boozer
C Hill
Here's why: Nash's passing & shooting will make the load easier on offense for Kobe (hopefully this will mean more energy for him on the defensive side cuz with Kobe and Nash in, our perimeter defense will be garbage). Which is why you need Johnson and Hill in the lineup with Kobe and Nash. Hill and Johnson will be there for help defense, garbage points, put backs and to run the pick and roll with Nash. Boozer has shown his ability to play pick and roll effectively while in Utah. Hill and Johnson will benefit from Nash if they set strong picks; not those stupid slip screens that Dwight used to set. For that minute and a half we saw Nash and Kobe on the floor, Nash was the release valve for Kobe on those plays where he kicks it out from the post, ala Derek Fisher.
Watch how good Nash makes Earl Clark, Jamison, Dwight (pay attention to the sloppiness of Dwight's picks) and even Sacre look on the pick and roll. This can easily be Hill, Johnson, Davis or Boozer.
And our second unit will be:
PG Lin
SG Henry
SF Young
PF Randle/ Kelly
C Davis
Here's why: Lin with the second unit will allow him to be his most effective. He can't be the PG who brings the ball up the floor gives it to Kobe then waits for his shot. They did that to him in Houston making him give up the ball to Harden or wait for Dwight to establish post position and then give the ball up. It not only neutralized his ability to collapse a defense but it also took away his court vision showing his ability to make plays for teammates off the dribble. I feel our second unit will be very reminiscent of our offense last year, with a lot more defensive intensity. Lin as the PG will automatically make our second unit an uptempo team. Think about it Young had his best last year running and gunning, Lin is most effective doing the same, Kelly will be the stretch 4 spotting up in the corner and hustling back on defense. Davis will be there for garbage points and to run the pick and roll with Lin to initiate the offense in half court sets. Lin and Henry will be our most effective option on the defensive perimeter. This second string will have effectively 3 guys in Lin, Young and possibly Randle that can create their own shots. I feel as a group with the right defensive coaching this could be one of the most effective second units in the NBA.
Watch how good Lin makes these guys, I think Lin can make Randle as effective as Terrence Jones this year, replace Casspi with Xavier running back cuts and filling the lanes or Davis setting the picks (it can work for short stretches against a lot of second team defenses in the league)
(Let me first say that "All this is contingent upon Nash being at 100%", which has been reported)
I'm going with the starting unit being:
PG Nash
SG Kobe
SF Johnson
PF Boozer
C Hill
Here's why: Nash's passing & shooting will make the load easier on offense for Kobe (hopefully this will mean more energy for him on the defensive side cuz with Kobe and Nash in, our perimeter defense will be garbage). Which is why you need Johnson and Hill in the lineup with Kobe and Nash. Hill and Johnson will be there for help defense, garbage points, put backs and to run the pick and roll with Nash. Boozer has shown his ability to play pick and roll effectively while in Utah. Hill and Johnson will benefit from Nash if they set strong picks; not those stupid slip screens that Dwight used to set. For that minute and a half we saw Nash and Kobe on the floor, Nash was the release valve for Kobe on those plays where he kicks it out from the post, ala Derek Fisher.
Watch how good Nash makes Earl Clark, Jamison, Dwight (pay attention to the sloppiness of Dwight's picks) and even Sacre look on the pick and roll. This can easily be Hill, Johnson, Davis or Boozer.
And our second unit will be:
PG Lin
SG Henry
SF Young
PF Randle/ Kelly
C Davis
Here's why: Lin with the second unit will allow him to be his most effective. He can't be the PG who brings the ball up the floor gives it to Kobe then waits for his shot. They did that to him in Houston making him give up the ball to Harden or wait for Dwight to establish post position and then give the ball up. It not only neutralized his ability to collapse a defense but it also took away his court vision showing his ability to make plays for teammates off the dribble. I feel our second unit will be very reminiscent of our offense last year, with a lot more defensive intensity. Lin as the PG will automatically make our second unit an uptempo team. Think about it Young had his best last year running and gunning, Lin is most effective doing the same, Kelly will be the stretch 4 spotting up in the corner and hustling back on defense. Davis will be there for garbage points and to run the pick and roll with Lin to initiate the offense in half court sets. Lin and Henry will be our most effective option on the defensive perimeter. This second string will have effectively 3 guys in Lin, Young and possibly Randle that can create their own shots. I feel as a group with the right defensive coaching this could be one of the most effective second units in the NBA.
Watch how good Lin makes these guys, I think Lin can make Randle as effective as Terrence Jones this year, replace Casspi with Xavier running back cuts and filling the lanes or Davis setting the picks (it can work for short stretches against a lot of second team defenses in the league)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYzQBlX7s0
Unless you think Nash can play over 20 mpg, I don't see the logic with him starting. Once he comes out in the first, Lin would have to play 30-35 min of the remaining 40-42 minutes left in the game. Logistically it makes no sense. And unless you want Lin to not play at all with the first unit (which I'm pretty sure won't be the case), Lin's going to have to play with the first unit anyway. Might as well start him. He's probably a better defender than Nash at this point too.
Of course... this all goes out the window if nash is indeed fully healthy and can play 30 minutes a night.
(Let me first say that "All this is contingent upon Nash being at 100%", which has been reported)
I'm going with the starting unit being:
PG Nash
SG Kobe
SF Johnson
PF Boozer
C Hill
Here's why: Nash's passing & shooting will make the load easier on offense for Kobe (hopefully this will mean more energy for him on the defensive side cuz with Kobe and Nash in, our perimeter defense will be garbage). Which is why you need Johnson and Hill in the lineup with Kobe and Nash. Hill and Johnson will be there for help defense, garbage points, put backs and to run the pick and roll with Nash. Boozer has shown his ability to play pick and roll effectively while in Utah. Hill and Johnson will benefit from Nash if they set strong picks; not those stupid slip screens that Dwight used to set. For that minute and a half we saw Nash and Kobe on the floor, Nash was the release valve for Kobe on those plays where he kicks it out from the post, ala Derek Fisher.
Watch how good Nash makes Earl Clark, Jamison, Dwight (pay attention to the sloppiness of Dwight's picks) and even Sacre look on the pick and roll. This can easily be Hill, Johnson, Davis or Boozer.
And our second unit will be:
PG Lin
SG Henry
SF Young
PF Randle/ Kelly
C Davis
Here's why: Lin with the second unit will allow him to be his most effective. He can't be the PG who brings the ball up the floor gives it to Kobe then waits for his shot. They did that to him in Houston making him give up the ball to Harden or wait for Dwight to establish post position and then give the ball up. It not only neutralized his ability to collapse a defense but it also took away his court vision showing his ability to make plays for teammates off the dribble. I feel our second unit will be very reminiscent of our offense last year, with a lot more defensive intensity. Lin as the PG will automatically make our second unit an uptempo team. Think about it Young had his best last year running and gunning, Lin is most effective doing the same, Kelly will be the stretch 4 spotting up in the corner and hustling back on defense. Davis will be there for garbage points and to run the pick and roll with Lin to initiate the offense in half court sets. Lin and Henry will be our most effective option on the defensive perimeter. This second string will have effectively 3 guys in Lin, Young and possibly Randle that can create their own shots. I feel as a group with the right defensive coaching this could be one of the most effective second units in the NBA.
Watch how good Lin makes these guys, I think Lin can make Randle as effective as Terrence Jones this year, replace Casspi with Xavier running back cuts and filling the lanes or Davis setting the picks (it can work for short stretches against a lot of second team defenses in the league)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYzQBlX7s0
Seriously? Nash? He's a broken record at this point.
Nash will not start as his last year in the league, he plays for money now
I seriously hope not. Sure he was league MVP, but he wasn't anything close to that when he was a laker here in his tenure, not even close. He should have only gotten vet minimum for his contribution. Anyways, hope lin could play. You might as well let him grow. Lin has a lot more to offer being just 6th man Houston level than Nash has had starter as a laker. I don't understand why the media still wants Nash to be the starter.
Both lineups provide: low-post scoring, back-to-the-basket post-ups, strong screeners for PnR, glass cleanup guys, wing D, flat out scorers, etc. If this roster can be put together, though unlikely, this is a top 6 team in the West (still some injury prone guys).
I don't believe Nash will start even if he is healthy. He will more than likely play a role similar to what Jason Kidd did with the Knicks two years ago. That being said if Nash wants to start by all means he should. He has earned that right by being one of the all time greats at the pg position.
(Let me first say that "All this is contingent upon Nash being at 100%", which has been reported)
I'm going with the starting unit being:
PG Nash
SG Kobe
SF Johnson
PF Boozer
C Hill
Here's why: Nash's passing & shooting will make the load easier on offense for Kobe (hopefully this will mean more energy for him on the defensive side cuz with Kobe and Nash in, our perimeter defense will be garbage). Which is why you need Johnson and Hill in the lineup with Kobe and Nash. Hill and Johnson will be there for help defense, garbage points, put backs and to run the pick and roll with Nash. Boozer has shown his ability to play pick and roll effectively while in Utah. Hill and Johnson will benefit from Nash if they set strong picks; not those stupid slip screens that Dwight used to set. For that minute and a half we saw Nash and Kobe on the floor, Nash was the release valve for Kobe on those plays where he kicks it out from the post, ala Derek Fisher.
Watch how good Nash makes Earl Clark, Jamison, Dwight (pay attention to the sloppiness of Dwight's picks) and even Sacre look on the pick and roll. This can easily be Hill, Johnson, Davis or Boozer.
And our second unit will be:
PG Lin
SG Henry
SF Young
PF Randle/ Kelly
C Davis
Here's why: Lin with the second unit will allow him to be his most effective. He can't be the PG who brings the ball up the floor gives it to Kobe then waits for his shot. They did that to him in Houston making him give up the ball to Harden or wait for Dwight to establish post position and then give the ball up. It not only neutralized his ability to collapse a defense but it also took away his court vision showing his ability to make plays for teammates off the dribble. I feel our second unit will be very reminiscent of our offense last year, with a lot more defensive intensity. Lin as the PG will automatically make our second unit an uptempo team. Think about it Young had his best last year running and gunning, Lin is most effective doing the same, Kelly will be the stretch 4 spotting up in the corner and hustling back on defense. Davis will be there for garbage points and to run the pick and roll with Lin to initiate the offense in half court sets. Lin and Henry will be our most effective option on the defensive perimeter. This second string will have effectively 3 guys in Lin, Young and possibly Randle that can create their own shots. I feel as a group with the right defensive coaching this could be one of the most effective second units in the NBA.
Watch how good Lin makes these guys, I think Lin can make Randle as effective as Terrence Jones this year, replace Casspi with Xavier running back cuts and filling the lanes or Davis setting the picks (it can work for short stretches against a lot of second team defenses in the league)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYzQBlX7s0
I think Nash is still better than Lin at this point but I am concern with his minutes as a starter. He may start the year off healthy but go down later in the season with more minutes as a starter. If Nash goes down, is the team comfortable with Clarkson as backup? Having Nash play mix minutes with the starters and 2nd unit would both preserve his health and let him play an important role this season.
Starting Nash will likely be too demanding on his body, as he not only has to run the offence, but to guard against the other teams' best PGs and screeners, and play help defences at the same time. He will likely end his career injured.
It is much better for Nash to run the second team. He can also start on back-to-back-to-back games. Lin is known to play badly on these games.
(Let me first say that "All this is contingent upon Nash being at 100%", which has been reported)
I'm going with the starting unit being:
PG Nash
SG Kobe
SF Johnson
PF Boozer
C Hill
Here's why: Nash's passing & shooting will make the load easier on offense for Kobe (hopefully this will mean more energy for him on the defensive side cuz with Kobe and Nash in, our perimeter defense will be garbage). Which is why you need Johnson and Hill in the lineup with Kobe and Nash. Hill and Johnson will be there for help defense, garbage points, put backs and to run the pick and roll with Nash. Boozer has shown his ability to play pick and roll effectively while in Utah. Hill and Johnson will benefit from Nash if they set strong picks; not those stupid slip screens that Dwight used to set. For that minute and a half we saw Nash and Kobe on the floor, Nash was the release valve for Kobe on those plays where he kicks it out from the post, ala Derek Fisher.
Watch how good Nash makes Earl Clark, Jamison, Dwight (pay attention to the sloppiness of Dwight's picks) and even Sacre look on the pick and roll. This can easily be Hill, Johnson, Davis or Boozer.
And our second unit will be:
PG Lin
SG Henry
SF Young
PF Randle/ Kelly
C Davis
Here's why: Lin with the second unit will allow him to be his most effective. He can't be the PG who brings the ball up the floor gives it to Kobe then waits for his shot. They did that to him in Houston making him give up the ball to Harden or wait for Dwight to establish post position and then give the ball up. It not only neutralized his ability to collapse a defense but it also took away his court vision showing his ability to make plays for teammates off the dribble. I feel our second unit will be very reminiscent of our offense last year, with a lot more defensive intensity. Lin as the PG will automatically make our second unit an uptempo team. Think about it Young had his best last year running and gunning, Lin is most effective doing the same, Kelly will be the stretch 4 spotting up in the corner and hustling back on defense. Davis will be there for garbage points and to run the pick and roll with Lin to initiate the offense in half court sets. Lin and Henry will be our most effective option on the defensive perimeter. This second string will have effectively 3 guys in Lin, Young and possibly Randle that can create their own shots. I feel as a group with the right defensive coaching this could be one of the most effective second units in the NBA.
Watch how good Lin makes these guys, I think Lin can make Randle as effective as Terrence Jones this year, replace Casspi with Xavier running back cuts and filling the lanes or Davis setting the picks (it can work for short stretches against a lot of second team defenses in the league)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGYzQBlX7s0
I think Nash is still better than Lin at this point but I am concern with his minutes as a starter. He may start the year off healthy but go down later in the season with more minutes as a starter. If Nash goes down, is the team comfortable with Clarkson as backup? Having Nash play mix minutes with the starters and 2nd unit would both preserve his health and let him play an important role this season.
Great post by StnlyRoper, I agree with your projected starting lineup and have posted the same as well.
Nash is supposedly healthy at present, if so I think he starts for the reasons you pointed out above...he can still be very effective if he can just actually play.
I could see Nash starting and playing the first 8 minutes with Lin coming in and playing the last 16 of the first half.
Then you give Nash another 8 minutes to start the second half, bring in Lin for the next 12 minutes and see which one you want to go with for the final 4 minutes of the game depending on how they are playing.
So Lin would still have a lot of overlapping minutes with Kobe, it will be interesting to see that dynamic as I think it best to have Lin do a majority of the ballhandling with Kobe moving off the ball. But it seems the team in the past has a tendency to just give Kobe the ball late in the shot clock and say "bail us out"
Front line will certainly be Hill, Boozer and I think as you do Johnson. Have to have Hill and Johnson in for defensive purposes and Boozer is a proven NBA vet and will start ahead of the rookie Randle.
Davis and Randle and perhaps Kelly coming off the bench is an upgrade for sure, Nick Young and Henry could also see minutes at the SF spot obviously at points during the game.
The roster actually turned out better than I expected but a lot has to go right as far as health of Kobe and Nash and Hill. _________________ Love, Laker Lanny
Great post by StnlyRoper, I agree with your projected starting lineup and have posted the same as well.
Nash is supposedly healthy at present, if so I think he starts for the reasons you pointed out above...he can still be very effective if he can just actually play.
I could see Nash starting and playing the first 8 minutes with Lin coming in and playing the last 16 of the first half.
Then you give Nash another 8 minutes to start the second half, bring in Lin for the next 12 minutes and see which one you want to go with for the final 4 minutes of the game depending on how they are playing.
So Lin would still have a lot of overlapping minutes with Kobe, it will be interesting to see that dynamic as I think it best to have Lin do a majority of the ballhandling with Kobe moving off the ball. But it seems the team in the past has a tendency to just give Kobe the ball late in the shot clock and say "bail us out"
Front line will certainly be Hill, Boozer and I think as you do Johnson. Have to have Hill and Johnson in for defensive purposes and Boozer is a proven NBA vet and will start ahead of the rookie Randle.
Davis and Randle and perhaps Kelly coming off the bench is an upgrade for sure, Nick Young and Henry could also see minutes at the SF spot obviously at points during the game.
The roster actually turned out better than I expected but a lot has to go right as far as health of Kobe and Nash and Hill.
I do not see why Nash should start if he is going to play only 16 min in many games, especially given that he is going to be a defensive liability even if he is healthy. Playing Lin 16 min straight is not ideal either.
Nash healthy? I would have thought we would have realized last year that's he's a corpse...nonetheless, he will probably start
Nash
Kobe
Johnson
Boozer
Hill
That will be when the season starts...I think it changes during the course of the season as Randle gets more reps and opportunities and Nash falls out due to injury and Lin takes over his starting position.
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