| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
22
Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Apr 2013
Posts: 17063
|
 Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:46 am Post subject: |
|
|
| 24 wrote: | | I think he's trying to focus and go Kobe mode. |
This. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Gimme_the_rock
Franchise Player
Joined: 13 Apr 2001
Posts: 11882
Location: Looking outta the window, watching the asphalt grow ...
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 8:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| GoldenThroat wrote: | | fiendishoc wrote: | | Thanks GT! Always great to hear about stuff like this in detail. Did the Bucks / Raptors scouts say anything about our players? |
Not that I heard. I could tell that they liked Towns, but they spent most of their time talking crap about Payne. Didn't hear any Laker-related observations. The Milwaukee scout was at a Milwaukee/Pelicans game, so there was no reason to bring anything up about the Lakers. |
That's very interesting. I found myself really disliking Payne too.
_________________
We back. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gimme_the_rock
Franchise Player
Joined: 13 Apr 2001
Posts: 11882
Location: Looking outta the window, watching the asphalt grow ...
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2015 8:10 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| fiendishoc wrote: |
Yeah a bit disappointing to hear- but the Lakers had a certain 7'3 center who was the king of surliness, and it worked out pretty well for us fans. |
Randle is obviously well-spoken and mature in certain ways ... this is not one of them, obviously. Seems to be having a difficult time with being an NBA celebrity and, what's worse, being a Laker. He made mention in a recent interview how there was really nowhere to get away from attention when you're a Laker. Still not an excuse to be a Richard without regard but his journey is just beginning. Even Cap has recently seemed to change his tune.
_________________
We back. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
EmoDias
Starting Rotation
Joined: 15 Aug 2010
Posts: 266
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:04 am Post subject: |
|
|
I was hoping to meet some LG'ers as well but sat where a bunch of golden state fans were. They even stayed the whole Laker game. It was just awesome being able to see the game so up close since I can't afford the good seats during the regular season. One thing I haven't heard much about is the other Lakers summer invites. One guy that stood out to me was number 9.
Tony Mitchell looked like he was in a dunk contest during warm-ups. I liked what I saw from him in the game as well. He hustles on d, could hit the nba three, and is a good athete. I know our team is full, but players like him and Roscoe Smith from last year should get a closer look.
I thought it was weird that we once had Gerald Green on our preseason squad and didn't even give him much of a chance to shine. He then landed in Phoenix that year and has been pretty productive ever since. What did they see in him in our preseason games that we didn't? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
tony smith
Star Player
Joined: 23 Jun 2005
Posts: 1960
Location: West LA
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 8:18 am Post subject: |
|
|
| EmoDias wrote: | I was hoping to meet some LG'ers as well but sat where a bunch of golden state fans were. They even stayed the whole Laker game. It was just awesome being able to see the game so up close since I can't afford the good seats during the regular season. One thing I haven't heard much about is the other Lakers summer invites. One guy that stood out to me was number 9.
Tony Mitchell looked like he was in a dunk contest during warm-ups. I liked what I saw from him in the game as well. He hustles on d, could hit the nba three, and is a good athete. I know our team is full, but players like him and Roscoe Smith from last year should get a closer look.
I thought it was weird that we once had Gerald Green on our preseason squad and didn't even give him much of a chance to shine. He then landed in Phoenix that year and has been pretty productive ever since. What did they see in him in our preseason games that we didn't? |
I don't blame the Lakers for that. It took Green a loooooong time to put it together. That summer we had him on our squad, he was as clueless as they come. Poster child for otherworldly athlete with low b-ball IQ. He was BRUTAL that summer. Like cringe-worthy brutal.
From what I hear, it was in Phoenix that he really put the pieces together. Perhaps we could have kept him around so that he could gain that breakthrough on our watch... but not sure if that was as much the Suns doing as his own person Come to Jesus...
My .02. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
EmoDias
Starting Rotation
Joined: 15 Aug 2010
Posts: 266
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 12:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Yeah Green didn't look like anything special when he was auditioning with us but then all of a sudden he's a threat from three on the Suns as well as a go to guy off the bench. Lol go figure. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
LandsbergerRules
Franchise Player
Joined: 29 Aug 2004
Posts: 11197
Location: The Other Perspective
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 5:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
| 22 wrote: | | 24 wrote: | | I think he's trying to focus and go Kobe mode. |
This. |
Kobe mode without Kobe level ability = Rondo mode.
_________________
"Chick lived and breathed Lakers basketball…but he was also fair and objective and called every game the way it was played."
-from Chick: His Unpublished Memoirs and the Memories of Those Who Knew Him |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
LakerLanny
Retired Number
Joined: 24 Oct 2001
Posts: 47580
|
| Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2015 9:07 am Post subject: Re: My Summer League Experience |
|
|
| GoldenThroat wrote: | I'd encourage every basketball nerd to do this at least once. It's almost like the basketball version of Comic Con, where players, scouts, GMs, writers, etc. descend on one place for a few days. Here is my hodgepodge of experiences. You saw the on court stuff, so I'll leave that out.
Laker Related
-Laker Nation was out in full force. The vibe for the first game was absolutely wild, with people standing during the entirety of warmups. Felt more like a playoff game than a SL game. Laker fans turned up in droves for these games.
-Robert Upshaw was great with the fans. Prior to one of the games, he went over and grabbed a Laker fan's sign + marker, and took the sign around to all of the other Lakers who were there in the tunnel, got their autographs, and gave it back. I saw him walking through the concourse alone after the Philly game, and congratulated him on the contract (thought he had actually signed it) and he laughed and said "thank you." He then started to get swarmed by Laker fans, and gave everyone the time of day. He'll learn really quickly that you don't use the same routes out of the building that the fans do when you're a Laker if you want to get anywhere quickly. 
-Unfortunately, Julius Randle was the opposite end of the spectrum, wanting nothing to do with the fans. I didn't have any interactions with him personally, but he didn't give anyone the time of day on a few different occasions, and was generally rude about it. I don't have any belief that athletes owe fans their attention, I just thought he was kind of (bleep) about it, in ways that other guys weren't. Between that and his demeanor on the court/bench (barking at teammates, sulking), I'm less of a Julius Randle fan than I was before the Summer League.
-The young guys seem to get along very well. They'd usually come out with their backpacks and headphones on in the 3rd quarter of the game before them. You could see them joking around, and generally enjoying each other's company. Russell & Clarkson seemed to get along especially well.
-Russell is taller than I thought he'd be. His height & length are legit.
-Prior to the Minnesota game, George Karl, Vlade Divac, Mitch Kupchak, & Jim Buss had a friendly conversation at mid court. A small group of Laker fans started a "Boogie! Boogie! Boogie!" chant nearby.
-Speaking of Jim Buss, he was also very gracious with fans, not only signing things, but talking to them and was just generally being friendly.
-Met up with a couple of LGs for the Philly game, which was great. They got to hear me babble only somewhat coherently about our offense for 2 hours.
Non-Laker Related
-As you might imagine, the level of fandom at the Summer League is on a different level than a regular game. One of my favorite parts of the experience was talking with fans of other teams, many of whom were very interested in my opinion of Russell over Okafor. There were real diehard fans everywhere, which was great. It's also a unique experience to be watching a game where there are fans of a good dozen different teams in the stands.
-There are two gyms there, and they're in the same building. One is the Thomas & Mack Center, which the Lakers played in every time, and then there's the Cox Pavilion, which is a tiny gym next to it. (which couldn't fit all of the Laker fans, so that's why they play at T&M) Those were my favorite non-Laker related games. Seeing NBA caliber talent in what basically amounted to a High School gym was pretty cool.
-I sat near scouts on a couple of different occasions, although I don't think they were working. They had their scout/front office passes, but didn't have anything to take notes. They were hilarious. One was a scout for the Milwaukee Bucks, who was roasting Michael Eric (SL Center for them), cracking up everyone around us, and then there were 3 Raptors scouts who absolutely HATED Adreian Payne, and were talking tons of (bleep) about him during the Laker/Minnesota game.
-Basketball people are EVERYWHERE. Everywhere you look, it's like "hey, there's Vlade! Look, Greg Foster is in front of me in the hot dog line. Hey, Greg Monroe's here! That's Jason Kidd over there, trying to be all incognito." The way that the building is set up means that there's a lot of interaction between fans & FO people and even players.
-I got to boo Mark Cuban to his face, which was awesome. He got a chuckle out of it. He seemed like a very cool dude. Lots of people (players especially) went out of their way to say what's up to him.
-Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was probably the most affable player I saw last week. He does a little shimmy at the free throw line, which was cracking our section up. After the game, he walked by and I said, "Shimmy, Rondae!" and he looked back at us and shimmied. He had a Lamar Odom-type of personality and his teammates seemed to love him.
-I got to eavesdrop on a conversation between Pete D'Alessandro and a Sacramento scout. D'Alessandro was the guy in charge in Sacramento before the cluster (bleep) started to happen, and he's in Denver now. He was talking about how he'll always have a place in his heart for Sacramento, but it was time to go. Nothing we didn't already know, but it was interesting to hear it from the horse's mouth.
-Mudiay is the most physically mature teenager I've ever seen. Holy (bleep) is he filled out. Kelly Oubre, on the other hand, looked less physically developed than the other guys his age. Probably bodes well for his future.
Anyway, I'll post more if I think of it. It was great seeing 6+ hours of basketball per day for 4 straight days. Looking forward to doing it again. |
Great observations, good read. Sounds like a great time, I noticed during the Lakers first summer league game what a giant spectacle the Las Vegas Summer League has become, there was a noticeable buzz even watching on TV.
Vegas is the perfect place to have it, I loved seeing all the NBA stars who just showed up to check it out and wear a little bling in Vegas.
The basketball I am not as big a fan of as it tends to be so unstructured, but nobody got hurt and our rookies showed both flashes and flaws so they got a taste at least.
As far as Randle, I am disappointed to hear the attitude stuff. I am a big fan of his, I think he could be feeling the pressure to perform a bit.
He has all the talent in the world, he just needs to slow down a beat, read the defense, then react with the right play and he will be fine. Right now he is just getting the ball and going, but he is showing that despite making mistakes, he can really move well with the ball for a player of his size.
Perhaps he becomes more comfortable with the fan and media interaction after tasting some regular season success and letting a little steam out of the pressure cooker?
_________________
Love, Laker Lanny |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
GoldenThroat
Moderator
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 37474
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Random memory that made me laugh that I forgot to share.
Right before a Toronto game, a Raptors fan was signing "I'm in love with Caboclo!" to the tune of "I'm in love with the Coco."
Will explain to older LG posters if necessary. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PLATNUM
Star Player
Joined: 17 Dec 2002
Posts: 7124
Location: L.A.
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Would LOVE to head out there next year and catch a few games.
However, I doubt my wife is gonna believe I need to take time off of work for a week to go to Vegas to "watch basketball". Tough sell.
Can one of the Mods write up a formal invite for all of us on some nice LG letterhead?? 
_________________
"Dread it, run from it... destiny arrives all the same." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Lowest Merion
Retired
Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 10720
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 5:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Hadn't read this thread until now. Great write-up, GT. Thanks for sharing. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KindCrippler2000
Franchise Player
Joined: 02 May 2003
Posts: 15821
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2015 6:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
-Russell is taller than I thought he'd be. His height & length are legit.
He's going to be a beast if he learns how to use it. Wouldn't even need the so-called "athleticism". |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Birmingham
Starting Rotation
Joined: 04 Apr 2013
Posts: 224
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 2:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Lowest Merion wrote: | | Hadn't read this thread until now. Great write-up, GT. Thanks for sharing. |
Ditto.
With GT's insights and NPZ's knowledge, LG is the place to be for info-hungry Laker fans.
I'm glad to be on board. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
KindCrippler2000
Franchise Player
Joined: 02 May 2003
Posts: 15821
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 3:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| EmoDias wrote: | | Yeah Green didn't look like anything special when he was auditioning with us but then all of a sudden he's a threat from three on the Suns as well as a go to guy off the bench. Lol go figure. |
Just another example of a player maturing late in his career. DeMarre Carroll is also 29 and he had a career season. There's no question Green had tremendous talent and athleticism, but he needed to work on his IQ and decision making. I think he's found the perfect balance now. Wishing him the best in Miami.
Goes to show players can make it in the league long after their "early" years if they have the work ethic. Luck is just preparation meeting opportunity. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kikanga
Retired Number
Joined: 15 Sep 2012
Posts: 29285
Location: La La Land
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 3:34 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Just saw this thread for the first time. Great write-up GT.
_________________
"Every hurt is a lesson, and every lesson makes you better” |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
scoobs
Star Player
Joined: 19 Aug 2005
Posts: 4746
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 4:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| LandsbergerRules wrote: | | Randle's play on the court during SL seemed selfish and his interviews seem to show a big ego. It's interesting to hear that his demeanor toward fans was similar. |
Ship his ass out! jk |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Agent P
Starting Rotation
Joined: 24 Jul 2015
Posts: 324
Location: Twin Falls, ID
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 4:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Thanks for all the info GT! Would love to make it there one of these years. Like a basketball comic-con. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Harlemlakerfan
Star Player
Joined: 19 Mar 2014
Posts: 2716
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 4:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I went last year. One of the greatest basketball experiences ever! If you love the NBA, the summer is the best experiences. Players are literally, just casually walking around. Coaches, announcers, just crazy. I was at one game and BJ Armstrong was sitting right behind me and Jordan Clarkson sat 2 rows behind me with Kendal Marshall. Greats experience! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Agent P
Starting Rotation
Joined: 24 Jul 2015
Posts: 324
Location: Twin Falls, ID
|
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2015 9:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Harlemlakerfan wrote: | | I went last year. One of the greatest basketball experiences ever! If you love the NBA, the summer is the best experiences. Players are literally, just casually walking around. Coaches, announcers, just crazy. I was at one game and BJ Armstrong was sitting right behind me and Jordan Clarkson sat 2 rows behind me with Kendal Marshall. Greats experience! |
That's awesome. I'll have to convince my wife that we are there for something else though. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
non-player zealot
Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Posts: 21365
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 10:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Birmingham wrote: | | Lowest Merion wrote: | | Hadn't read this thread until now. Great write-up, GT. Thanks for sharing. |
Ditto.
With GT's insights and NPZ's knowledge, LG is the place to be for info-hungry Laker fans.
I'm glad to be on board. |
Bham, do you think a blog collabo between me and you (you bringing the analytics minded-approach into the game) could be of value to the site?
_________________
GOAT MAGIC REEL
SEDALE TRIBUTE
EDDIE DONX! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
kikanga
Retired Number
Joined: 15 Sep 2012
Posts: 29285
Location: La La Land
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
| non-player zealot wrote: | | Birmingham wrote: | | Lowest Merion wrote: | | Hadn't read this thread until now. Great write-up, GT. Thanks for sharing. |
Ditto.
With GT's insights and NPZ's knowledge, LG is the place to be for info-hungry Laker fans.
I'm glad to be on board. |
Bham, do you think a blog collabo between me and you (you bringing the analytics minded-approach into the game) could be of value to the site? |
I like that idea. 
_________________
"Every hurt is a lesson, and every lesson makes you better” |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
GoldenThroat
Moderator
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 37474
|
| Posted: Thu Oct 01, 2015 11:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| non-player zealot wrote: | | Birmingham wrote: | | Lowest Merion wrote: | | Hadn't read this thread until now. Great write-up, GT. Thanks for sharing. |
Ditto.
With GT's insights and NPZ's knowledge, LG is the place to be for info-hungry Laker fans.
I'm glad to be on board. |
Bham, do you think a blog collabo between me and you (you bringing the analytics minded-approach into the game) could be of value to the site? |
Are you talking about me, or Birmingham? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
non-player zealot
Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Posts: 21365
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ainsley
Starting Rotation
Joined: 24 Jun 2015
Posts: 409
|
| Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2015 11:55 am Post subject: Re: My Summer League Experience |
|
|
| GoldenThroat wrote: |
-Robert Upshaw was great with the fans. Prior to one of the games, he went over and grabbed a Laker fan's sign + marker, and took the sign around to all of the other Lakers who were there in the tunnel, got their autographs, and gave it back. I saw him walking through the concourse alone after the Philly game, and congratulated him on the contract (thought he had actually signed it) and he laughed and said "thank you." He then started to get swarmed by Laker fans, and gave everyone the time of day. He'll learn really quickly that you don't use the same routes out of the building that the fans do when you're a Laker if you want to get anywhere quickly.
|
That's awesome to hear. Not gonna lie, I had a lot of doubts initially about signing Upshaw. His talent was undeniable, but I was afraid he was going to be a bad influence on the young guys. Thankfully though, it seems I was completely wrong. Watching his interviews and hearing the reports from training camp make it seem like this guy really wants to turn his life around.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
