Which player(s) need(s) to develop what ability for this team to overachieve?

lakersboy · Last edited by lakersboy on Sat Sep 24, 2016 4:13 pm; edited 2 times in total

Most people are projecting anywhere from 25-35 wins. What player improvement or breakout performance do you think would have to happen to make that go higher?

Examples:
Julius' outside shot?
Russell becomes a star?
Back court is unstoppable?
Ingram takes over both sides of the court?
Unstoppablee fast breaks?

I expect the guards to be impact shooters and scorers.
There won't be a hole in the middle of the defense.
The improved play on both ends by the sf's will be significant.
All those things will make a difference, along with a deep bench.
There should be better, more immediate chemistry because after youngsters spend the summer working out together.
The biggest surprises would be Julius developing a reliable jump shot and AB doing the same, thus deserving pt at sg/sf. Not sure if one, both, or none will happen.

oldschool32 · Franchise Player Joined: 24 Jun 2005 Posts: 20032

Russell playing at a very high level would make the Lakers better than anyone expects. Ingram could be in that boat too, but he's extremely young. When one of those guys starts scraping their potential the Lakers will win some more games, when both of them start seeing their potential, the Lakers will be back in the playoffs.
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lakersboy · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:24 pm Post subject:

Inspector Gadget · Retired Number Joined: 18 Apr 2016 Posts: 46674

One of the young players need to turn into a superstar.

the association · Star Player Joined: 03 Feb 2015 Posts: 1982

For my $$$, the lowest hanging fruit (leading to overachievement this season) would involve Randle miraculously acquiring improved body control / motor coordination.

Starting fresh with a brand new cerebellum isn't an option, so ...

greenfrog · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:51 pm Post subject:

Clarkson becoming a good defender would be nice.

SuperboyReformed · Star Player Joined: 07 Oct 2012 Posts: 4083

very simple...if ingram and young can reliably hit open threes, we will be surprisingly good.

lakersboy · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 6:55 pm Post subject:

Inspector Gadget · Retired Number Joined: 18 Apr 2016 Posts: 46674

TooMuchMajicBuss · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 7:05 pm Post subject:

Dang, just one player? That's tough because it could come from so many. Russell's the most important cog, and simply having a green light and averaging 24/8 with decent defense would be great. Problem is I don't think he has much improving to do to get to this point. Just no parking brake.

Brandon Ingram on the other hand - if he reached his 4 year potential this year, combined with Russell - wow would we be an exciting team to watch. Deadly shooting and ability to split the seams with a PG like Russell feeding him and keeping a defense reeling. He's already capable of creating problems on defense. I'd pick Ingram tearing apart defenses as a scoring threat inside and out.

Still.... Zubac morphing into a seven foot one superman with a skyhook thanks to Grass Fed Tim, Julius Randle turning into a BB genius, Nance Jr. dangerous from long range, Clarkson with stifling defense, ABrown killing any team who dares leave him open, Tarik Black with 6 inches more vert....

DangeRuss · Star Player Joined: 10 Feb 2016 Posts: 1418

Honeslty I think a lot of it is going to come down to randle. I think we kind of know what to somewhat expect from everyone else, but randle is kind of an unknown imo. If he can be an above average defender, that would be huge for us. I think him being a good defender is more important than him having an outside shot. So yeah, if randle can defend and shoot, I think we can be better than expected. I'm already expecting Dlo to improve exponentially in most areas, I'm expecting clarkson to be relatively the same, with a somewhat improved defense, I'm not expecting much out of Ingram yet except to play sound D and knock down the 3 at a respectable clip, from nance I'm expecting a similar player to last season with an improved range. But yeah with randle I don't really know what to expect. He could either look like a future all star or like a scrub

SuperboyReformed · Star Player Joined: 07 Oct 2012 Posts: 4083

defense · Retired Number Joined: 12 Jan 2010 Posts: 39531

Would take more than 1 player improving me thinks.

Russell learning to manage the team better
Clarkson turning into a good defender
Mosgov having one of his best seasons
Randle improving in just about every area
Nance playing well enough to deserve starting
Brown making shots
Zubac playing so well he solidifies the back up center minutes

If all that happens we might make the playoffs

activeverb · Retired Number Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 37470

Gomur · Starting Rotation Joined: 03 Jul 2016 Posts: 165

lakerjoshua · Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 9:02 pm Post subject:

J.C. Smith · Franchise Player Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 12672

Lakers_Jester · Star Player Joined: 17 Sep 2012 Posts: 5366

Practice · Star Player Joined: 14 Apr 2015 Posts: 4551

Anthony Brown being able to shoot would be a huge thing for us.

J.C. Smith · Franchise Player Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 12672

If I had to pick one thing I'd say Russell's playmaking. I expect him to come back and improved scorer, but if he can show us more of the playmaking we saw in college it will make a big difference. Luke's system seems to be a good fit for him, I expect a big season out of him.

AshesToAshes · Star Player Joined: 20 Jun 2009 Posts: 4837

how about... every single one of them.

it will take either amazing, noteworthy level of consistency from multiple guys or a rotating by game all-star level performances by different guys NIGHTLY just to hit 30wins.

They're college kids playing against the NBA for 2 more seasons which is why they're labelled the FUTURE.

We're looking for an overachiever in Dlo or ingram asap in order to package up the rest. If not, we move them all with the draft picks we'll get as they lose without trying to tank.

Don't get it twisted. We're in a search for "that guy" right now. Nothing more.

All the jianlians, mosgov's, dengs are just to provide an environment of opportunity to show potential. period.
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lewis · Star Player Joined: 23 Oct 2013 Posts: 1165

Clarkson - average defense at his position and 40% from 3
Russell - limit turnovers, great pick and roll play and average defense
Randle - outside shot, better inside outside passing, limit concentration lapses both on offense and defense
Ingram - show great defensive potential and outside shot
Mozgov and Deng - stay healthy
Zubac - earn around 15 backup minutes
Nance - great defense, outside shot, can initiate offense
Brown - lock down defender and decent 3 poi t shooter ( 34%)

blackmamba08 · Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 4:28 am Post subject:

I think it is important to build some team chemistry and team identity for the seasons to come. If we can make 25-30 wins plus team chemistry and young players improve on something little bit i am OK. I do not expect any of them become super stars next season. Also what is really importan is to to profile the boss for the team in future. I was looking last few days some games from champs run and you can see easily that black mamba was true boss. We need boss again because its great to have wide team with lots of pieces but you need to have a BOSS on the court. Ingram, DLO, JC. I really do not care. Just to find someone to take this team.

pio2u · Retired Number Joined: 26 Dec 2012 Posts: 54623

The entire team has to embrace the concept of: DEFENSE!!

KBH · Franchise Player Joined: 13 Sep 2008 Posts: 12171

Randle isn't the guy with the most upside on the team, but he's probably the guy with the greatest variance between the player his collection of talents suggests he could be and what he currently is. Or was the last time we saw him on the floor. So, I'll go with him.