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TheBlackMamba
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 Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 1:53 pm Post subject: |
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Just playing devil's advocate here, and I don't necessarily agree with publicizing these borderline unrealistic expectations that Magic seems to have, but is it that terrible of an idea to set such a high standard at the top-most level of an organization?
I don't think we should assume that if the players don't meet Magic's exact expectations, they're automatically going to be on the trading block (if that ends up being the case, then obviously Magic deserves to be fired). But it's not a bad thing to add some extra motivation and pressure for these young guys as they enter the dog days of summer and go back to working out/developing their games full time again. It does somewhat create a culture of accountability and shows them that any lack of improvement and other nonsense won't be tolerated (and also the Dlo trade still being fresh in everybody's minds). And I don't think BI and Lonzo are fragile mentally, either (like a Kwa-MAY Brown in Washington), where this kind of pressure early on would break them.
I'd prefer that kind of team-building environment over something like the Suns, where they've put together a nice group of prospects, but there doesn't seem to be any tangible goal of becoming a winning team any time soon, judging by their offseason. It's all well and good to have a nice stable of shiny talent and assets, but if there's no sense of urgency to turn that into winning players any time soon and everything is ho hum in the meantime, then what's the point? Insane work ethic and a desire to be great from Day 1 is always going to be the most common marker of the high draft picks that end up being top NBA players, which is what Magic seems to be encouraging here.
We knew coming in that Magilinka were going to kick this rebuild into high gear and try their best to accelerate our timeline to becoming a contender again. So it's probably best to just get used to these kind of statements and enjoy the ride... |
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justsomelakerfan
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Joined: 16 Jul 2016
Posts: 10939
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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| TheBlackMamba wrote: | Just playing devil's advocate here, and I don't necessarily agree with publicizing these borderline unrealistic expectations that Magic seems to have, but is it that terrible of an idea to set such a high standard at the top-most level of an organization?
I don't think we should assume that if the players don't meet Magic's exact expectations, they're automatically going to be on the trading block (if that ends up being the case, then obviously Magic deserves to be fired). But it's not a bad thing to add some extra motivation and pressure for these young guys as they enter the dog days of summer and go back to working out/developing their games full time again. It does somewhat create a culture of accountability and shows them that any lack of improvement and other nonsense won't be tolerated (and also the Dlo trade still being fresh in everybody's minds). And I don't think BI and Lonzo are fragile mentally, either (like a Kwa-MAY Brown in Washington), where this kind of pressure early on would break them.
I'd prefer that kind of team-building environment over something like the Suns, where they've put together a nice group of prospects, but there doesn't seem to be any tangible goal of becoming a winning team any time soon, judging by their offseason. It's all well and good to have a nice stable of shiny talent and assets, but if there's no sense of urgency to turn that into winning players any time soon and everything is ho hum in the meantime, then what's the point? Insane work ethic and a desire to be great from Day 1 is always going to be the most common marker of the high draft picks that end up being top NBA players, which is what Magic seems to be encouraging here.
We knew coming in that Magilinka were going to kick this rebuild into high gear and try their best to accelerate our timeline to becoming a contender again. So it's probably best to just get used to these kind of statements and enjoy the ride... |
This is a really good post. I'm okay with these types of statements as long as they don't mean that said players are tradable or less valuable if they don't live up to such frankly extreme standards. I do hope it's an attempt at motivating or speaking it into existence (quote of the year imo).
We don't really know how this front office evaluates their young talent just yet, so it's a little worrying to hear statements like that & not know the consequences until the end of the season. But we did see this front office trade away a pretty productive second year player this summer, so it's not past them. |
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JohnWick
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Joined: 21 Jun 2017
Posts: 251
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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| TheBlackMamba wrote: | Just playing devil's advocate here, and I don't necessarily agree with publicizing these borderline unrealistic expectations that Magic seems to have, but is it that terrible of an idea to set such a high standard at the top-most level of an organization?
I don't think we should assume that if the players don't meet Magic's exact expectations, they're automatically going to be on the trading block (if that ends up being the case, then obviously Magic deserves to be fired). But it's not a bad thing to add some extra motivation and pressure for these young guys as they enter the dog days of summer and go back to working out/developing their games full time again. It does somewhat create a culture of accountability and shows them that any lack of improvement and other nonsense won't be tolerated (and also the Dlo trade still being fresh in everybody's minds). And I don't think BI and Lonzo are fragile mentally, either (like a Kwa-MAY Brown in Washington), where this kind of pressure early on would break them.
I'd prefer that kind of team-building environment over something like the Suns, where they've put together a nice group of prospects, but there doesn't seem to be any tangible goal of becoming a winning team any time soon, judging by their offseason. It's all well and good to have a nice stable of shiny talent and assets, but if there's no sense of urgency to turn that into winning players any time soon and everything is ho hum in the meantime, then what's the point? Insane work ethic and a desire to be great from Day 1 is always going to be the most common marker of the high draft picks that end up being top NBA players, which is what Magic seems to be encouraging here.
We knew coming in that Magilinka were going to kick this rebuild into high gear and try their best to accelerate our timeline to becoming a contender again. So it's probably best to just get used to these kind of statements and enjoy the ride... |
It's always good to set high expectations. Give these kids something tangible to shoot for. It'll be a self fulfilling prophecy. Like Lavar said speak it into existence |
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justsomelakerfan
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:06 pm Post subject: |
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| Lavar Ball is the best quote since Benjamin Franklin |
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dao
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Joined: 02 Jan 2013
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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| GoldenThroat wrote: | 1) I'm here for an actual level of tangible expectation on Ingram. That's great and overdue.
2) This is every player in NBA history who scored 20+ppg in their Age 20 season, with what they scored the year before in parentheses.
1) LeBron James.......27.2 (20.9)
2) Kevin Durant........25.3 (20.3)
3) Shaquille O'Neal....23.4 (N/A, rookie)
4) Kyrie Irving..........22.5 (18.5)
5) Devin Booker.........22.1 (13.8)
6) Carmelo Anthony...20.8 (21.0)
7) Anthony Davis.......20.8 (13.5)
8) Andrew Wiggins.....20.7 (16.9)
9) Adrian Dantley.......20.3 (N/A, rookie)
10) Elton Brand.........20.1 (N/A, rookie)
11) Tyreke Evans.......20.1 (N/A, rookie)
Brandon Ingram scored 9.4ppg last year and scored 20 points TWICE, while playing 28.8mpg, but he's gonna AVERAGE 20 per game this year? That's going from the laughably low (tangible) expectations on him to laughably high. You're expecting him to make (by far) the biggest leap in NBA history at his age. |
These are two very large jumps. With Ingram, you can't really say "he was a 9.4 ppg scorer as a rookie" and leave it at that, while ignoring the fact that he showed tremendous growth throughout the season that made his cumulative averages underestimate his level of play by the end of his rookie season. Ingram's growth curve peaked right before his knee injury which made him sit out three games and then play on a minutes restriction for the final 7 games of the season.
In the 10 games before the injury, his averages were 14.8 ppg, 52.6% fg%. This is a more accurate number to judge his final level of skill as a rookie than the cumulative averages. |
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dao
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:13 pm Post subject: |
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| justsomelakerfan wrote: | No kidding, I'd be thrilled with a 14-15ppg on solid efficiency scoring season from Ingram considering where he started. We all knew he's a project in development here. I would be gutted if he had a huge jump even to that level but then perhaps became tradable because he's not a 20ppg scorer in his second year. That's a legendary leap Magic is expecting. And making it public? That's so asinine  |
he peaked at this level last season. Final 10 games before the knee injury at the end of the season, 14.8 ppg, 52.6% fg%, 31% 3pt %
I don't think Magic is making this statement based on his personal assessment alone. I think it's probably based on a general consensus within the Lamers organization that Ingram is ready to explode. |
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ringfinger
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Joined: 08 Oct 2013
Posts: 29418
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:14 pm Post subject: |
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| dao wrote: | | GoldenThroat wrote: | 1) I'm here for an actual level of tangible expectation on Ingram. That's great and overdue.
2) This is every player in NBA history who scored 20+ppg in their Age 20 season, with what they scored the year before in parentheses.
1) LeBron James.......27.2 (20.9)
2) Kevin Durant........25.3 (20.3)
3) Shaquille O'Neal....23.4 (N/A, rookie)
4) Kyrie Irving..........22.5 (18.5)
5) Devin Booker.........22.1 (13.8)
6) Carmelo Anthony...20.8 (21.0)
7) Anthony Davis.......20.8 (13.5)
8) Andrew Wiggins.....20.7 (16.9)
9) Adrian Dantley.......20.3 (N/A, rookie)
10) Elton Brand.........20.1 (N/A, rookie)
11) Tyreke Evans.......20.1 (N/A, rookie)
Brandon Ingram scored 9.4ppg last year and scored 20 points TWICE, while playing 28.8mpg, but he's gonna AVERAGE 20 per game this year? That's going from the laughably low (tangible) expectations on him to laughably high. You're expecting him to make (by far) the biggest leap in NBA history at his age. |
These are two very large jumps. With Ingram, you can't really say "he was a 9.4 ppg scorer as a rookie" and leave it at that, while ignoring the fact that he showed tremendous growth throughout the season that made his cumulative averages underestimate his level of play by the end of his rookie season. Ingram's growth curve peaked right before his knee injury which made him sit out three games and then play on a minutes restriction for the final 7 games of the season.
In the 10 games before the injury, his averages were 14.8 ppg, 52.6% fg%. This is a more accurate number to judge his final level of skill as a rookie than the cumulative averages. |
I don't know that you can take 25 game or so stretch, and extrapolate that over 82 games though, which is the point I think.
Could he average 20 for a stretch? Probably.
Will he have more 20 pt games this year? I expect it.
But for him to average over 20 for a whole season would be highly surprisong and as GT noted, unprecdeneted. |
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epak
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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We definitely gotta readdress these pages once the season starts. The believers and non believers  |
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ringfinger
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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| epak wrote: | | We definitely gotta readdress these pages once the season starts. The believers and non believers |
We're all believers. We just believe in different things.
When there is nothing on the table, why wouldnt a fan shoot for the moon? |
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justsomelakerfan
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Joined: 16 Jul 2016
Posts: 10939
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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| dao wrote: | | justsomelakerfan wrote: | | No kidding, I'd be thrilled with a 14-15ppg on solid efficiency scoring season from Ingram considering where he started. We all knew he's a project in development here. I would be gutted if he had a huge jump even to that level but then perhaps became tradable because he's not a 20ppg scorer in his second year. That's a legendary leap Magic is expecting. And making it public? That's so asinine |
he peaked at this level last season. Final 10 games before the knee injury at the end of the season, 14.8 ppg, 52.6% fg%, 31% 3pt %
I don't think Magic is making this statement based on his personal assessment alone. I think it's probably based on a general consensus within the Lamers organization that Ingram is ready to explode. |
My whole thing on Ingram is looking at his trend of growth throughout last season as opposed to his overall numbers, but you're putting more faith in a 10-game sample size than the other 72 games? Sustaining his production at that peak in those 10 games over an 82 game sample size next season, efficiently, is a huge jump and would make him a serious MIP candidate. I think maybe Ingram becomes close to as good as everyone here wants him to be, but he needs more time to break out than his sophomore season. |
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HumanVictoryCigar
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Joined: 28 Apr 2014
Posts: 7601
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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| if Lonzo stays healthy, BI could possibly get up to 20 shots/game, add in more than average free throws if he is driving the basket and close to 20 ppg is within reach. One drawback of a Lonzo team as far as BI's stats will be the nights when somebody else gets hot and Lonzo - like a good PG should do, keeps feeding them. So Kuzma or Julius or KCP or somebody goes off, BI could put up 12 points and still have a really great game so we'll see see if BI can put up strings of say, 22 points, 17 points, 20 points, 13 points, 23 points... etc. etc. If he can show that kind of consistency night after night, Magic will be thrilled. |
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justsomelakerfan
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Joined: 16 Jul 2016
Posts: 10939
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Ingram's appeal isn't even really being a dominant scorer. He's more of a do-it-all forward with some ISO scoring potential. My favorite game he had last year was that game vs the Pacers where he had an impact everywhere but only scored 15 points. I loved his summer league game so much because he was everywhere. |
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dao
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Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 5572
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:33 pm Post subject: |
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| ringfinger wrote: | | dao wrote: | | GoldenThroat wrote: | 1) I'm here for an actual level of tangible expectation on Ingram. That's great and overdue.
2) This is every player in NBA history who scored 20+ppg in their Age 20 season, with what they scored the year before in parentheses.
1) LeBron James.......27.2 (20.9)
2) Kevin Durant........25.3 (20.3)
3) Shaquille O'Neal....23.4 (N/A, rookie)
4) Kyrie Irving..........22.5 (18.5)
5) Devin Booker.........22.1 (13.8)
6) Carmelo Anthony...20.8 (21.0)
7) Anthony Davis.......20.8 (13.5)
8) Andrew Wiggins.....20.7 (16.9)
9) Adrian Dantley.......20.3 (N/A, rookie)
10) Elton Brand.........20.1 (N/A, rookie)
11) Tyreke Evans.......20.1 (N/A, rookie)
Brandon Ingram scored 9.4ppg last year and scored 20 points TWICE, while playing 28.8mpg, but he's gonna AVERAGE 20 per game this year? That's going from the laughably low (tangible) expectations on him to laughably high. You're expecting him to make (by far) the biggest leap in NBA history at his age. |
These are two very large jumps. With Ingram, you can't really say "he was a 9.4 ppg scorer as a rookie" and leave it at that, while ignoring the fact that he showed tremendous growth throughout the season that made his cumulative averages underestimate his level of play by the end of his rookie season. Ingram's growth curve peaked right before his knee injury which made him sit out three games and then play on a minutes restriction for the final 7 games of the season.
In the 10 games before the injury, his averages were 14.8 ppg, 52.6% fg%. This is a more accurate number to judge his final level of skill as a rookie than the cumulative averages. |
I don't know that you can take 25 game or so stretch, and extrapolate that over 82 games though, which is the point I think.
Could he average 20 for a stretch? Probably.
Will he have more 20 pt games this year? I expect it.
But for him to average over 20 for a whole season would be highly surprisong and as GT noted, unprecdeneted. |
It would be a rare jump, no doubt. But Ingram's growth curv in his rookie year was extremely rare as well. He came into the league extremely raw, and is now growing at an incredibly rapid rate. He turned driving and mid range shooting from weaknesses to strengths in the middle of his rookie season, which tunred him into a mid-teens scorer at the end of the season. It's not like he just randomly had a nice stretch here, a nice stretch there. We can easily associate his statistics with tangible growth in skills.
Now we've seen him in the SL with a free throw stroke that looks totally revamped and pure. That's another potential weakness--->strength transition. He also looms stronger, and there's still 2 months left in the offseason for him to add strength. The added strength is the true x factor is this equation. It's potentially a true game changer.
Ultimately, I think Ingram will be AROUND 20 points per 36. I can't say 20 points per game because he might not get the minutes for that. But I'd be very surprised by anything less than 18 points per 36.
Last edited by dao on Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:39 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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LakerLogic
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Joined: 27 Mar 2005
Posts: 17886
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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| 17 pts attainable with Lonzo. |
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SocalDevin
Star Player
Joined: 26 May 2016
Posts: 7825
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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| justsomelakerfan wrote: | | Ingram's appeal isn't even really being a dominant scorer. He's more of a do-it-all forward with some ISO scoring potential. My favorite game he had last year was that game vs the Pacers where he had an impact everywhere but only scored 15 points. I loved his summer league game so much because he was everywhere. |
Ingram is a scorer that can do other things. Not the other way around in my opinion. So I could easily see him being a dominant scorer, especially if his aggression level stays where it is now. |
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Laker's Fan
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Joined: 27 Jun 2002
Posts: 12874
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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| ringfinger wrote: | | dao wrote: | | GoldenThroat wrote: | 1) I'm here for an actual level of tangible expectation on Ingram. That's great and overdue.
2) This is every player in NBA history who scored 20+ppg in their Age 20 season, with what they scored the year before in parentheses.
1) LeBron James.......27.2 (20.9)
2) Kevin Durant........25.3 (20.3)
3) Shaquille O'Neal....23.4 (N/A, rookie)
4) Kyrie Irving..........22.5 (18.5)
5) Devin Booker.........22.1 (13.8)
6) Carmelo Anthony...20.8 (21.0)
7) Anthony Davis.......20.8 (13.5)
8) Andrew Wiggins.....20.7 (16.9)
9) Adrian Dantley.......20.3 (N/A, rookie)
10) Elton Brand.........20.1 (N/A, rookie)
11) Tyreke Evans.......20.1 (N/A, rookie)
Brandon Ingram scored 9.4ppg last year and scored 20 points TWICE, while playing 28.8mpg, but he's gonna AVERAGE 20 per game this year? That's going from the laughably low (tangible) expectations on him to laughably high. You're expecting him to make (by far) the biggest leap in NBA history at his age. |
These are two very large jumps. With Ingram, you can't really say "he was a 9.4 ppg scorer as a rookie" and leave it at that, while ignoring the fact that he showed tremendous growth throughout the season that made his cumulative averages underestimate his level of play by the end of his rookie season. Ingram's growth curve peaked right before his knee injury which made him sit out three games and then play on a minutes restriction for the final 7 games of the season.
In the 10 games before the injury, his averages were 14.8 ppg, 52.6% fg%. This is a more accurate number to judge his final level of skill as a rookie than the cumulative averages. |
I don't know that you can take 25 game or so stretch, and extrapolate that over 82 games though, which is the point I think.
Could he average 20 for a stretch? Probably.
Will he have more 20 pt games this year? I expect it.
But for him to average over 20 for a whole season would be highly surprisong and as GT noted, unprecdeneted. |
I think it was the same interview but Magic also said he thought Ingram was 20 or 21 years old. So if you look at it that way maybe Magic thinks he's talking about 18-19 
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SocalDevin
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Joined: 26 May 2016
Posts: 7825
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 2:49 pm Post subject: |
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Think he's just giving him a number to press for. It's a motivational tactic, nothing more. Though one could argue the effectiveness of it.
20Ppg does seem in the realm of possibility. I'm thinking Ingram and Ball can both average around 17Ppg, especially if their J's are on. |
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Villain6Activated
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Joined: 22 Dec 2011
Posts: 6697
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:09 pm Post subject: |
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| epak wrote: | | We definitely gotta readdress these pages once the season starts. The believers and non believers |
I'll be ready to take my job as the new general manager of the Lakers once Ingram becomes a superstar
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“Life is too short. You have to keep it moving.” - Kobe |
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dao
Star Player
Joined: 02 Jan 2013
Posts: 5572
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| Laker's Fan wrote: | | ringfinger wrote: | | dao wrote: | | GoldenThroat wrote: | 1) I'm here for an actual level of tangible expectation on Ingram. That's great and overdue.
2) This is every player in NBA history who scored 20+ppg in their Age 20 season, with what they scored the year before in parentheses.
1) LeBron James.......27.2 (20.9)
2) Kevin Durant........25.3 (20.3)
3) Shaquille O'Neal....23.4 (N/A, rookie)
4) Kyrie Irving..........22.5 (18.5)
5) Devin Booker.........22.1 (13.8)
6) Carmelo Anthony...20.8 (21.0)
7) Anthony Davis.......20.8 (13.5)
8) Andrew Wiggins.....20.7 (16.9)
9) Adrian Dantley.......20.3 (N/A, rookie)
10) Elton Brand.........20.1 (N/A, rookie)
11) Tyreke Evans.......20.1 (N/A, rookie)
Brandon Ingram scored 9.4ppg last year and scored 20 points TWICE, while playing 28.8mpg, but he's gonna AVERAGE 20 per game this year? That's going from the laughably low (tangible) expectations on him to laughably high. You're expecting him to make (by far) the biggest leap in NBA history at his age. |
These are two very large jumps. With Ingram, you can't really say "he was a 9.4 ppg scorer as a rookie" and leave it at that, while ignoring the fact that he showed tremendous growth throughout the season that made his cumulative averages underestimate his level of play by the end of his rookie season. Ingram's growth curve peaked right before his knee injury which made him sit out three games and then play on a minutes restriction for the final 7 games of the season.
In the 10 games before the injury, his averages were 14.8 ppg, 52.6% fg%. This is a more accurate number to judge his final level of skill as a rookie than the cumulative averages. |
I don't know that you can take 25 game or so stretch, and extrapolate that over 82 games though, which is the point I think.
Could he average 20 for a stretch? Probably.
Will he have more 20 pt games this year? I expect it.
But for him to average over 20 for a whole season would be highly surprisong and as GT noted, unprecdeneted. |
I think it was the same interview but Magic also said he thought Ingram was 20 or 21 years old. So if you look at it that way maybe Magic thinks he's talking about 18-19 |
ok so maybe we can't really take everything Magic says seriously. I still think Ingram will be around 20 points per 36. |
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Villain6Activated
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Joined: 22 Dec 2011
Posts: 6697
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | “The guy only cares about winning and basketball,” Johnson said. “He’s quiet and doesn’t do anything else. He is a very intelligent young man and is our hardest worker.” |
| Quote: | | “My standard is higher than anyone else can set. So with things like that, I just take it all in, ” Ingram said. “I’ve been in this league for one year, so I don’t know what to expect my second year or my third year. But I just know I’m going to work the hardest.” |
| Quote: | | “I’m going into every single game with the ability to compete against every basketball player on the floor,” Ingram said. “I’m trying to be the best basketball player on the floor every single night. I’m trying to lead my team to more victories.” |
http://www.ocregister.com/2017/07/21/why-the-lakers-have-considered-brandon-ingram-untouchable-in-trade-talks/
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“Life is too short. You have to keep it moving.” - Kobe |
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22
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Joined: 05 Apr 2013
Posts: 17064
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:17 pm Post subject: |
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GT ending all the ridiculous hyperbole that goes on frequently on the boards  |
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Judah
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Joined: 23 Jun 2015
Posts: 4759
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:22 pm Post subject: |
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| justsomelakerfan wrote: | | TheBlackMamba wrote: | Just playing devil's advocate here, and I don't necessarily agree with publicizing these borderline unrealistic expectations that Magic seems to have, but is it that terrible of an idea to set such a high standard at the top-most level of an organization?
I don't think we should assume that if the players don't meet Magic's exact expectations, they're automatically going to be on the trading block (if that ends up being the case, then obviously Magic deserves to be fired). But it's not a bad thing to add some extra motivation and pressure for these young guys as they enter the dog days of summer and go back to working out/developing their games full time again. It does somewhat create a culture of accountability and shows them that any lack of improvement and other nonsense won't be tolerated (and also the Dlo trade still being fresh in everybody's minds). And I don't think BI and Lonzo are fragile mentally, either (like a Kwa-MAY Brown in Washington), where this kind of pressure early on would break them.
I'd prefer that kind of team-building environment over something like the Suns, where they've put together a nice group of prospects, but there doesn't seem to be any tangible goal of becoming a winning team any time soon, judging by their offseason. It's all well and good to have a nice stable of shiny talent and assets, but if there's no sense of urgency to turn that into winning players any time soon and everything is ho hum in the meantime, then what's the point? Insane work ethic and a desire to be great from Day 1 is always going to be the most common marker of the high draft picks that end up being top NBA players, which is what Magic seems to be encouraging here.
We knew coming in that Magilinka were going to kick this rebuild into high gear and try their best to accelerate our timeline to becoming a contender again. So it's probably best to just get used to these kind of statements and enjoy the ride... |
This is a really good post. I'm okay with these types of statements as long as they don't mean that said players are tradable or less valuable if they don't live up to such frankly extreme standards. I do hope it's an attempt at motivating or speaking it into existence (quote of the year imo).
We don't really know how this front office evaluates their young talent just yet, so it's a little worrying to hear statements like that & not know the consequences until the end of the season. But we did see this front office trade away a pretty productive second year player this summer, so it's not past them. |
“The great ones want pressure,” said Johnson, who cited the pressure Ball overcame at Chino Hills High and at UCLA. “The great ones eat pressure for breakfast. Just like me, when I got here, there was pressure. I was the No. 1 pick (in 1979). I didn’t care about that. I was going to play my game. And Lonzo’s going to play his game. The great ones do.”
^^He was technically talking about Lonzo in the above quote, obviously, but if you're searching for insight to help make sense of why he said this about Ingram, I think the above quote provides that. It's just his way of motivating Lonzo and BI because of how high he is on them. That's why this really isn't something to overreact to.
And he didn't sign off on trading Russell because he had insane expectations for him that he failed to meet. But this is why people will eventually have to accept that Russell got himself traded. If he had been doing everything in his power to show the Lakers that he was a true building block, someone who they couldn't afford to let go under any circumstance (like Ingram has, for example), he'd still be here. He was the one who made himself expendable. I hated to see him go too because he was one of my favorite players, but I've accepted the fact that he fumbled the opportunity he had here by his own doing. He wasn't the victim of an incompetent FO, like people so desperately want to believe. But it is what it is.
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Villain6Activated
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Joined: 22 Dec 2011
Posts: 6697
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:25 pm Post subject: |
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Pre All-Star Break:
8.0 points/4.1 rebounds/1.9 assists on 36% FG in 27 Minutes
Post All-Star Break:
13.2 points/3.9 rebounds/2.5 assists on 47% FG in 32 Minutes
Dude scored 5 more points on ELEVEN PERCENT better FG percentage while averaging more assists. Let's not even factor in his steals doubled and them some.
No one is overly exaggerating (bleep), that's a big jump. Dude went from scoring under 10 points on 36% shooting while being a bottom 5 player in the entire league to being a positive on the floor over the course of one all star break.
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SocalDevin
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Joined: 26 May 2016
Posts: 7825
Location: Long Beach
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Nothing was ended.. Only thing will end the debate is time. |
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Villain6Activated
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Joined: 22 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Sat Jul 22, 2017 4:27 pm Post subject: |
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| SocalDevin wrote: | | Nothing was ended.. Only thing will end the debate is time. |
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