I liked Kuzma from the time I saw him was ballin' in the summer league with Zo. I've had enough time to assess him through objective eyes...at least I think objective.
Bottom line: he has good athletic ability and an uncanny ability to make awkward to the eyes shots; his main issue? low bball iq. We've got some really smart players, LeBron, AD, Green, Caruso, and Rondo. and because of them, and seeing Kuz since his rookie year, it's apparent that he's a bit short on being a very smart player.
And that's ok, as long we have the others around him.
Kuzma had 1 and half good games in the Finals, but people forget how key he was during the Portland and Houston series.
Fans only focusing on his offense but his defense shined in those series. Remember he was the one guarding CJ McCollum and Westbrook. And against Miami, it's not a big sample size but the times he guarded Jimmy, Butler shot only 2-7, the same guy who was shooting 55% in the Finals only shot 28% against Kuzma.
Yes kuzma defense was key in stopping butler after that explosion game
What stopped Jimmy was playing 47/48 minutes and being GASSED!
Kuz didn't do bunk. Kuz commits the same stupid fouls over and over. He easily committed 4-5 fouls on those 4 pt plays!!!! Duncan Robinson would be a 30 ppg scorer if he could play against Kuz every night!
Jimmy was not even switch hunting Kuz . He was having trouble mustering a good shot against him. Kuz has made that leap as an on ball defender .
I do agree with Kuz team defense though. He still ball watching and sometimes get caught on screens. Those are fixable with experience .
I notice a lot of times kuz will just watch the guy with the ball drive by and not help off his man. It is irritating but I have to wonder if some of it is by design of the coaching staff. Kuz is not a good shot blocker and is more likely to just foul and give the other team and AND1.
I think where he can improve is helping out by stepping in to take charges rather than being a help defender who's going to try and block the shot.
- LOSS
- My comment "Don't try to block every shot"
So maybe we're watching the same game but you have Kuz love glasses on?
Wow, maybe you should work on your reading comprehension as well. I said lot's of times Kuz will just watch the player driving in and stick to his man, rather than trying to help. Literally the opposite of "trying to block every shot." Also, I was obviously talking about his help defense and not his on ball defense.
Just because you saw one game where he fell for a pump fake twice does not mean he falls for every pump fake. In fact, against Butler I saw many plays where he just stood straight up despite multiple pump fakes.
Lakers are going to continue to start 2 bigs with Bron for the regular season, so Lakers won't be able to use Kuzma to his fullest capability. When he was able to start, he put up 21 ppg this year and first 2 years put up 16 ppg & 18 ppg. Lakers want to preserve having to play AD a ton of minutes at the 5 in the regular season, so it would make more sense to trade Kuz for a starting wing or guard will be a better fit for this Lakers team than Kuz off the bench if he isn't going to be a starter. Just be prepared for NBA media and other fanbases to suddenly flip into talking about how good Kuz is all of a sudden since he is finally away from the Lakers and that the Lakers can't develop young talent that get better away from the Lakers like Ingram, Russell, Ball, Zubac, T-Bryant, Svi, etc. talking points. You would think Kuz is terrible and awful with how much the Lakers hate cloud their minds, same way Kuz is viewed now in the same way all the previous young guys were viewed as Lakers. However, the league and front offices have much higher view of the Lakers young talent. I remember at the trade deadline a bunch of teams being interested in trading for Caruso, so the league is always going to fully understand and know the value on the Lakers young guys than what is perceived by the outside.
Trivia: Kuz shot 54% from corner 3s during the season but shot only 25% from elsewhere beyond the arc.
Coaching staff finally caught on and had him shoot half his 3pt attempts from the corner during the playoffs. He was 38.5% from the corner in the post season. 47.5% or 48/101 is his combined total.
That's a decent sample size. If he continues to work on that shot and be a sniper from the corner, he'd have far more value even if that regresses to 36-40% on more volume.
Trivia: Kuz shot 54% from corner 3s during the season but shot only 25% from elsewhere beyond the arc.
Coaching staff finally caught on and had him shoot half his 3pt attempts from the corner during the playoffs. He was 38.5% from the corner in the post season. 47.5% or 48/101 is his combined total.
That's a decent sample size. If he continues to work on that shot and be a sniper from the corner, he'd have far more value even if that regresses to 36-40% on more volume.
I appreciate you posting that info. In my mind I see him shooting that corner shot beautifully and didn't realize there was such a large disparity of his shots elsewhere.
You just connected a lot of dots in my mind. On the plus side that's a great %, on the negative side the scouting reports have got to be full of "keep him off the corners and run him off the corners!"
Kuzma had 1 and half good games in the Finals, but people forget how key he was during the Portland and Houston series.
Fans only focusing on his offense but his defense shined in those series. Remember he was the one guarding CJ McCollum and Westbrook. And against Miami, it's not a big sample size but the times he guarded Jimmy, Butler shot only 2-7, the same guy who was shooting 55% in the Finals only shot 28% against Kuzma.
Yes kuzma defense was key in stopping butler after that explosion game
What stopped Jimmy was playing 47/48 minutes and being GASSED!
Kuz didn't do bunk. Kuz commits the same stupid fouls over and over. He easily committed 4-5 fouls on those 4 pt plays!!!! Duncan Robinson would be a 30 ppg scorer if he could play against Kuz every night!
Jimmy was not even switch hunting Kuz . He was having trouble mustering a good shot against him. Kuz has made that leap as an on ball defender .
I do agree with Kuz team defense though. He still ball watching and sometimes get caught on screens. Those are fixable with experience .
I notice a lot of times kuz will just watch the guy with the ball drive by and not help off his man. It is irritating but I have to wonder if some of it is by design of the coaching staff. Kuz is not a good shot blocker and is more likely to just foul and give the other team and AND1.
I think where he can improve is helping out by stepping in to take charges rather than being a help defender who's going to try and block the shot.
- LOSS
- My comment "Don't try to block every shot"
So maybe we're watching the same game but you have Kuz love glasses on?
Wow, maybe you should work on your reading comprehension as well. I said lot's of times Kuz will just watch the player driving in and stick to his man, rather than trying to help. Literally the opposite of "trying to block every shot." Also, I was obviously talking about his help defense and not his on ball defense.
Just because you saw one game where he fell for a pump fake twice does not mean he falls for every pump fake. In fact, against Butler I saw many plays where he just stood straight up despite multiple pump fakes.
One game? Tell me how many times he made Duncan Robinson look like an All Star ?
Did u watch the Denver series where MPJ looked like a HOF going up against Kuz?
Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Posts: 1377 Location: Santa Monica
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:05 pm Post subject:
90% of this thread are "Lakers fans" disrespecting Kuz and calling him complete trash.
Then you have those same fans saying the Lakers should trade him for Beal or Lavine or some other all star.
Can someone please make it make sense.
How do you expect a player that you all completely clown every chance you get, to get you a player like Beal?
Lakers fans cant seriously be that dense. _________________ Everyting negative - pressure, challenges - is all an opportunity for me to rise.
-Kobe Bryant
Joined: 26 May 2016 Posts: 7825 Location: Long Beach
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 12:41 pm Post subject:
I'm on the fence with Kuz.. not sure what to think about him anymore. I can't get over those scoring outbursts he put up for a good stretch. That can't be a fluke. But then there's the inconsistency and poor court, and situational awareness.
@Rashard..
I think what they are saying is that he could be coupled with other assets to bring something of more value in. In addition them believing him to be trash doesn't mean other execs will feel the same. An argument could be made that he's a starting SF that will give you 18PPG.
90% of this thread are "Lakers fans" disrespecting Kuz and calling him complete trash.
Then you have those same fans saying the Lakers should trade him for Beal or Lavine or some other all star.
Can someone please make it make sense.
How do you expect a player that you all completely clown every chance you get, to get you a player like Beal?
Lakers fans cant seriously be that dense.
This is a common phenomenon when fans propose a trade. They often assume the player they don't like is more highly valued around the league than they value the player.
90% of this thread are "Lakers fans" disrespecting Kuz and calling him complete trash.
Then you have those same fans saying the Lakers should trade him for Beal or Lavine or some other all star.
Can someone please make it make sense.
How do you expect a player that you all completely clown every chance you get, to get you a player like Beal?
Lakers fans cant seriously be that dense.
This is a common phenomenon when fans propose a trade. They often assume the player they don't like is more highly valued around the league than they value the player.
Exactly.
LBJ + AD and savvy vets = Championship
LBJ + Lonzo + BI + Kuz + Hart and some savvy vets = 2nd round probably
Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 22839 Location: La Jolla, San Diego
Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2020 1:37 pm Post subject:
AD23 wrote:
I have no doubt Kuz would put up numbers for a non-championship team. He will get his looks and he will easily avg 15-20 ppg
This Laker team tho is primed to make runs for the next 2 year with AD and LBJ. Why not get the best players possible that will be a better fit.
I'm on the fence with this rationale. At it's core, I think good players can play anywhere. Players that need certain criteria, environment, rosters, etc... are they really good players? Don't we call these guys players who put up empty stats? Kuzma moves without the ball better than anybody we gave up in the AD trade. I don't understand his struggles.
I have no doubt Kuz would put up numbers for a non-championship team. He will get his looks and he will easily avg 15-20 ppg
This Laker team tho is primed to make runs for the next 2 year with AD and LBJ. Why not get the best players possible that will be a better fit.
I'm on the fence with this rationale. At it's core, I think good players can play anywhere. Players that need certain criteria, environment, rosters, etc... are they really good players? Don't we call these guys players who put up empty stats? Kuzma moves without the ball better than anybody we gave up in the AD trade. I don't understand his struggles.
Yes, empty stats. Remember that's why they use to label Kevin Love with the T-Wolves.
I have no doubt Kuz would put up numbers for a non-championship team. He will get his looks and he will easily avg 15-20 ppg
This Laker team tho is primed to make runs for the next 2 year with AD and LBJ. Why not get the best players possible that will be a better fit.
I'm on the fence with this rationale. At it's core, I think good players can play anywhere. Players that need certain criteria, environment, rosters, etc... are they really good players? Don't we call these guys players who put up empty stats? Kuzma moves without the ball better than anybody we gave up in the AD trade. I don't understand his struggles.
I don't think it's hard to imagine that Kuz would average 18-20 as a starter on another playoff team. He already did it last year with a superstar in Lebron and another scorer and future all-star Brandon Ingram.
That team was on track to make the playoffs till Bron got hurt. We were 20-14 on christmas 2018 when that team beat the Warriors. Warriors were 23-12. So that team was actually winning with Kuz as the 2B or 3rd banana. Kuz has only improved his defense since then.
I think Kuz could thrive if Lakers had a starting front court of AD/LeBron/Kuz. It won't happen but it could be great.
You know, that's a great point. I think that's something we were salivating over back during the "Good Times" of Kuz and then kind of forgot about once he started disappearing, as a result of playing next to LeBron and AD and not getting the same opportunities he was used to getting.
But the thing is...that was pre-Bubble.
Even though his production obviously fell off from the pre-AD years, I was extremely encouraged to see his active cutting, more active defense, and just overall joy at being on a championship team. You look at the timeouts and all of his interactions as the Lakers were making their run to the championship, you could see see each and every game he was getting more and more invested in the team and finding out the joy that comes from winning, and being on a championship team, not individual accolades. He was making some great passes at the end there and looking to pass off to make the play for his teammate, almost to the point of too much non-aggression. I loved seeing his kid-like joy during the championship ceremony.
He knows now what it's like to win a championship. He knows now what he needs to do to play with LeBron and AD.
I mean, that's not even counting if somehow DMC somehow gets anywhere near what he was capable of (even during GSW year), plus swap-outs here and there for upgrades!
I think Kuz could thrive if Lakers had a starting front court of AD/LeBron/Kuz. It won't happen but it could be great.
You know, that's a great point. I think that's something we were salivating over back during the "Good Times" of Kuz and then kind of forgot about once he started disappearing, as a result of playing next to LeBron and AD and not getting the same opportunities he was used to getting.
But the thing is...that was pre-Bubble.
Even though his production obviously fell off from the pre-AD years, I was extremely encouraged to see his active cutting, more active defense, and just overall joy at being on a championship team. You look at the timeouts and all of his interactions as the Lakers were making their run to the championship, you could see see each and every game he was getting more and more invested in the team and finding out the joy that comes from winning, and being on a championship team, not individual accolades. He was making some great passes at the end there and looking to pass off to make the play for his teammate, almost to the point of too much non-aggression. I loved seeing his kid-like joy during the championship ceremony.
He knows now what it's like to win a championship. He knows now what he needs to do to play with LeBron and AD.
I mean, that's not even counting if somehow DMC somehow gets anywhere near what he was capable of (even during GSW year), plus swap-outs here and there for upgrades!
You start Kuz at 2. He has shown enough defensively that he can hold his own guarding perimeter players.
Kuz needs to watch film and figure out how he fits in offensively with Lebron and AD. He was smart to work on his defense last offseason, but if he wants to be effective playing with two superstars he needs to perfect his off ball game. He’s been working on his all around game, handle, PnR scoring. F that! He just needs to practice corner 3’s, learning when to cut off bron and AD, and shooting while running off screens. Also, get in the best shape of your life and run, run, run! _________________ “like I never left”
Joined: 17 Jun 2003 Posts: 6284 Location: Central Coast
Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2020 9:06 am Post subject:
Kuz filled a big role for us last year, and his defense was much improved. I say we bring him back, unless he is part of some big deal to land us a very good player. _________________ LAKERS 2019-2020: NBA World Champions!
I think Kuz could thrive if Lakers had a starting front court of AD/LeBron/Kuz. It won't happen but it could be great.
You know, that's a great point. I think that's something we were salivating over back during the "Good Times" of Kuz and then kind of forgot about once he started disappearing, as a result of playing next to LeBron and AD and not getting the same opportunities he was used to getting.
But the thing is...that was pre-Bubble.
Even though his production obviously fell off from the pre-AD years, I was extremely encouraged to see his active cutting, more active defense, and just overall joy at being on a championship team. You look at the timeouts and all of his interactions as the Lakers were making their run to the championship, you could see see each and every game he was getting more and more invested in the team and finding out the joy that comes from winning, and being on a championship team, not individual accolades. He was making some great passes at the end there and looking to pass off to make the play for his teammate, almost to the point of too much non-aggression. I loved seeing his kid-like joy during the championship ceremony.
He knows now what it's like to win a championship. He knows now what he needs to do to play with LeBron and AD.
I mean, that's not even counting if somehow DMC somehow gets anywhere near what he was capable of (even during GSW year), plus swap-outs here and there for upgrades!
You start Kuz at 2. He has shown enough defensively that he can hold his own guarding perimeter players.
Wouldn’t mind Kuz at the 2. His defense is only going to get better and offensively it can’t be worse than Green. Dude just plays so much better as a starter
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