when was the last time you were THIS excited about an upcoming season?
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chantruong
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 11:04 am    Post subject:

chantruong wrote:
2012 unfortunately. I really felt like we were a lock for the finals. That year really showed me that you cant jam a bunch of good players together and expect it to work.


I would like to add that 2012 was exciting due to how the Howard trade transpired. The trade didnt resolve until August iirc and some teams were play. Ofcourse BPSN was spewing bs like the nets were the frontrunners and Lakers would never be able to trade bynum for howard straight up. That trade felt like in the face to ESPN to me. As you can see i always felt that ESPN was anti laker pro east coast. Unfortunately they were the ones that got the last laugh.

Last year ended up being one of the first years in a while where i followed the team closely. The hype was real during and after summer league.
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venturalakersfan
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 11:39 am    Post subject:

Last season
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 11:51 am    Post subject:

venturalakersfan wrote:
Last season

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Richcbt
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2018 12:28 pm    Post subject:

CalisFinest wrote:
I thought the West was ours when we got Dwight and Nash, especially with Harden being shipped off to HOU in that same offseason.


I'm glad folks are remembering how excited we were during that off-season. As a long term season ticket holder, I was invited to be bused off to Vegas for a pre-season game, and we had a party by the pool in which we all got to pose with Dwight, Laker Girls, etc. I spoke briefly with Mitch Kupchak and told him "You're not only the executive of the year...you're the executive of the decade!" and meant it very sincerely. Had injuries not hit us hard, we would have been quite good that year, but alas...
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El Seano
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:05 am    Post subject:

2012 without a doubt. More so than adding Nash and Dwight I remember signing Jamison to the bench and thinking that team would be nearly impossible to beat.

I can't think of another situation where the end result was so far from my expectations...and it was startlingly obvious fairly early on that things weren't going well at all. That season then led to the worst 5 year window in franchise history...4 of the 5 highest loss totals in a season in franchise history (and the fifth was in the 1950s). 4 of the 5 lowest win percentages in franchise history. Year after year of uninspired, dull listless teams whose main purpose each year was to lose as much as possible. The sole highlight each year was seeing how our top draft pick performed:

- Randle broke his leg 8 minutes into the season opener leading to what is by far the worst Laker season I've ever seen with the sole bright spot being Jordan Clarksons emergence and that only happened in the last 20 or 30 games.

- Russell didn't have a bad rookie year but we had the worst season in franchise history and won 17 games.

- Brandons first year he was shaky and showed a few little flashes after the ASG. We're all reeling from the fact we spent all that money on Deng and Mozgov who are almost immediately obviously vastly overpaid. The lone bright spot being we had a coach in Luke we actually believed in.

Last year is the first time since 2012 I was actually positive about the team. The youth culture was forming. Lonzo was a storyline all year long, if not necessarily always a good one, but he added intrigue. Kuz balled out and made the scouting dept. look like geniuses. Hart flashed talent regularly. We had a diligent FO for the first time in a very long time. We won more than we had in a long time, were no longer tanking and took some major scalps. It felt good to be a Laker fan again.

This season is literally taking all of that good stuff, adding the progression of the youth to it and then throwing in the best player in the world for kicks. That's before the wildcard intrigue of how all these one year pieces will fit or mold together and the added intrigue of having max money next year once again WITH the games biggest player already in the fold (which in my mind makes it MUCH easier to get that second piece.

It's more exciting than 2012 because this feels like we built it. Like we struggled for it. 2012 was awesome and sudden but we all knew we mortgaged our future at the time we just didn't care because it looked like we were destined to win and win big for maybe 2 or 3 years.

This time I don't think anybody expects a title next year but there is sensible reason to be incredibly optimistic and it just feels way less likely to blow up in our faces than the Dwightmare did. Even if it somehow did we still have all our picks and we still have max money.

It's a good time to be a Laker fan again. We've finally come to the light at the end of the tunnel.
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governator
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:25 am    Post subject:

Dwight-Nash
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pokoy
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:25 am    Post subject:

Thought 2012 also.... but honestly I'm leaning towards 1996 (am I that much older than everyone?).

We had a good, young, entertaining, but unproven nucleus. We got rid of players who we were attached to or invested in like Vlade and Anthony Peeler to clear cap space to sign one of the best players in the league in Shaq. Mo Wagner reminds me of Kobe. We were all excited about the potential but knew we probably had a few more years before we could really contend.
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King Randle
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 6:04 am    Post subject:

governator wrote:
Dwight-Nash


Yeah probably this year...Dwight, Nash, Kobe and Pau...Don't remind me on how that season ended up.
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ZoTimeLakers
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:40 am    Post subject:

I was pretty excited for last season and the youth movement. Was really thrilled with last year's rookie class.

I would say the last time I was this excited about a season for the championship expectations though would be 2012 with Nash and Dwight. I remember talking about how that team could've pushed to be one for the ages after rattling off title after title. Not too mention the Heat/Lakers rivalry I thought was going to bud after finally getting Kobe/Bron in the Finals.
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Hellspawn
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:26 am    Post subject:

Pretty damn excited, I'd have to put it somewhere around #4 below, though the "potential" ceiling for that team was obviously much higher if Dwight and Nash had both been healthy, that is tempered by the fact that our expectations were also much higher.


1. After getting Shaq
2. After getting Malone/Payton
3. After getting Pau
4. After getting Nash/Dwight
5. After post-achilles Kobe realized he needed to retire so free agents would be interested in us again and our young guys could get some run (sue me, it's true)

edit: How did I forget Malone/Payton?


Last edited by Hellspawn on Tue Sep 04, 2018 12:29 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Inspector Gadget
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:40 am    Post subject:

ZoTimeLakers wrote:
I was pretty excited for last season and the youth movement. Was really thrilled with last year's rookie class.

I would say the last time I was this excited about a season for the championship expectations though would be 2012 with Nash and Dwight. I remember talking about how that team could've pushed to be one for the ages after rattling off title after title. Not too mention the Heat/Lakers rivalry I thought was going to bud after finally getting Kobe/Bron in the Finals.


I remember some were projecting us to win 70 games when we got Nash/Howard, never saw or witnessed a hyped up team like the 2012 Lakers crumble as fast as they did. At least the 04 team went to the finals despite the crazy drama and the unfortunate injury to the mailman.
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Hanging from Rafters
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:12 am    Post subject:

There was talk of beating the Bulls record and winning more than 72 games after getting Howard and Nash. Antoni (no D lol!) was Nash’s coach for his MVPs and Amare has his best seasons as a big man too so the outlook for Dwight was high. Plus rumors were Phil wasn’t sure maybe wanted road games off so was ok with passing on him. Gotta be 2012.

On a side note, I’m more excited about next season than I am about this one. Hope I’m proven wrong but don’t think we will compete for title this season and competing for titles is what excites me about my Lakers!
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greenfrog
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 1:22 pm    Post subject:

2010-2011. It's hard to be more excited than the season after a championship.
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Inspector Gadget
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 1:27 pm    Post subject:

greenfrog wrote:
2010-2011. It's hard to be more excited than the season after a championship.


We looked like a team that was gonna 3 peat, we started 8-0 if I’m not mistaken.
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Steve007
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 1:27 pm    Post subject:

Another reason the Howard-Nash experiment was expected to work is we expected those guys to play on the team for more than just one year. Unlike the 2004 team we thought the 2012 super team would have at least a 2 year run at it.

Last edited by Steve007 on Tue Sep 04, 2018 3:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Hellspawn
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 2:28 pm    Post subject:

Not with two bad backs, unfortunately.

But if they were both healthy, AND winning, I think Nash could have been a mitigating force between Kobe and Dwight, getting Kobe to reel it in a little and getting Dwight to take sh!t more seriously. And yeah, would have lasted more than a year in that case.

Maybe another year with malone and Payton too if Malone didn't hurt his knee and we beat Detroit.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 8:54 pm    Post subject:

When we got dwight and nash
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epak
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 9:01 pm    Post subject:

Inspector Gadget wrote:
greenfrog wrote:
2010-2011. It's hard to be more excited than the season after a championship.


We looked like a team that was gonna 3 peat, we started 8-0 if I’m not mistaken.


Then Kobe's leg fell off.
Sucks that his knee was pretty much bone on bone.

Gasol sucked against the Mavs.
And freaking Jason Terry scored 19 ppg off the bench.
Metta, Barnes and Blake sucked.
How pathetic.
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adkindo
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:45 pm    Post subject:

hard to believe our 1st regular season game is 6 weeks from tonight! Our 1st preseason game is 3.5 weeks away? Is that correct?
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gblews
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:43 pm    Post subject:

Last time I was this excited, was 2000, after we hired Phil. I truly thought that we had a real chance to win a championship after dumping Dull Harris.
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Goldenwest
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:32 pm    Post subject:

pokoy wrote:
Thought 2012 also.... but honestly I'm leaning towards 1996 (am I that much older than everyone?).

We had a good, young, entertaining, but unproven nucleus. We got rid of players who we were attached to or invested in like Vlade and Anthony Peeler to clear cap space to sign one of the best players in the league in Shaq. Mo Wagner reminds me of Kobe. We were all excited about the potential but knew we probably had a few more years before we could really contend.


really?
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Judah
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:56 pm    Post subject:

Goldenwest wrote:
pokoy wrote:
Thought 2012 also.... but honestly I'm leaning towards 1996 (am I that much older than everyone?).

We had a good, young, entertaining, but unproven nucleus. We got rid of players who we were attached to or invested in like Vlade and Anthony Peeler to clear cap space to sign one of the best players in the league in Shaq. Mo Wagner reminds me of Kobe. We were all excited about the potential but knew we probably had a few more years before we could really contend.


really?

Read the next sentence lol.
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jonnybravo
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:03 am    Post subject:

Judah wrote:
Goldenwest wrote:
pokoy wrote:
Thought 2012 also.... but honestly I'm leaning towards 1996 (am I that much older than everyone?).

We had a good, young, entertaining, but unproven nucleus. We got rid of players who we were attached to or invested in like Vlade and Anthony Peeler to clear cap space to sign one of the best players in the league in Shaq. Mo Wagner reminds me of Kobe. We were all excited about the potential but knew we probably had a few more years before we could really contend.


really?

Read the next sentence lol.


Went to summer league game #2 with Kobe/Fish at the Pyramind at CSULB and I can tell you for a fact that everyone that was there knew we had something ridonculous. The Kobe we have now? Nah, that far exceeded what we expected but Mo Wagner caliber of expectation? Nope...not to anyone that followed SL in 96.
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 12:19 am    Post subject:

Mini Mamba wrote:
When we signed Mozgov and Deng


All you Celtics fans are the same!!!
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 4:06 am    Post subject:

Richcbt wrote:
CalisFinest wrote:
I thought the West was ours when we got Dwight and Nash, especially with Harden being shipped off to HOU in that same offseason.


I'm glad folks are remembering how excited we were during that off-season. As a long term season ticket holder, I was invited to be bused off to Vegas for a pre-season game, and we had a party by the pool in which we all got to pose with Dwight, Laker Girls, etc. I spoke briefly with Mitch Kupchak and told him "You're not only the executive of the year...you're the executive of the decade!" and meant it very sincerely. Had injuries not hit us hard, we would have been quite good that year, but alas...

Mitch was an absolute Wizard before the MozDeng debacle. I really think he could be one of the greatest execs ever but was ruined by Jimbo.
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