OPENING NIGHT 2018

 
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:29 am    Post subject: OPENING NIGHT 2018

I said in a post in the Lakers vs Trailblazers thread. Opening game is a precursor. Where are we and how far do we have to go? It looks like we have to put in some work. I didn't like Luke's rotations. I may be wrong but he may be in over his head. It's not a time for loyalty, he has to field the best players. Lonzo has to earn the starting position. I liked what I saw in Hart.
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Last edited by jodeke on Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:16 am; edited 1 time in total
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:31 am    Post subject:

I think Hart deserves to start... but I also think Luke wanted to give Lonzo a lineup where he could succeed and that made him more comfortable.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:40 am    Post subject:

Lonzo's game is exponentially better depending who's on the floor with him, whereas a guy like Rondo can set up the offense and make role players look good. I think Lonzo will eventually have to start and Rondo can run the 2nd unit. Lonzo brings more defensively as well. At the end of the day it comes down to who Lebron is more comfortable playing with. It does seem like Lebron and Rondo are playing chess while our young guys are playing checkers.

I was pleasantly surprised by McGee. His size and athleticism around the rim is a game changer. Kuzma won't survive this season as a backup 5. It's not a knock against him. He worked hard on his body this offseason, but you can't put stripes on a frog and call it a tiger.

I am concerned about shooting but not as worried as most are. I think our ability to run and score inside the paint can kind of offset the lack of shooting. If we can at least be around 20th in 3pt shooting we'll be ok as long as we are top 5 in pace. I'm more worried about our lack of size and giving up offensive rebounds.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:44 am    Post subject:

I know I will be in the minority but I think Lonzo needs to start sooner than later. He needs to play with Lebron who can run the show in the half court for him. I think he would also blend better having a big man to pass to as well. Rondo would keep the young guys in order in the 2nd unit and provide organization there. One or both of Rondo and Lebron need to be on the floor at all times for now.

That said, Lonzo didn't appear to be in game shape yet. Unfortunately, he looked the same to me as he did much of last year: stagnant, lost, and underutilized (whether that be his own doing or by design, who knows).

Hart was amazing in this game. I feel confident something good is going to happen any time he touches the ball.

I couldn't help but notice (like everyone else) that we have a three headed monster of problems: Defense (3 point line specifically), Rebounding, 3 point shooting. I think 1 or probably 2 of those issues needs to significantly improve for us to make some noise this year and go deep in the playoffs.

I was encouraged by the game overall though. We put up a fight against a tough team at home (especially on opening day). If a few things fell our way, we could have won, so we were in it. I think we need 15-20 games to really know what we have in this team.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 8:49 am    Post subject:

Im not worried Nik Stauskaus who I didnt even know was still in the league had the game of his life if he just doubles his career avg of 7 ppg we win the game, team will gel and start hitting 3's GO LAKERS !!! I cant wait for tomorrow night the crowd is going to be electric looking forward to seeing LeBron in person in a Laker jersey
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:01 am    Post subject:

pmacla wrote:
Im not worried Nik Stauskaus who I didnt even know was still in the league had the game of his life if he just doubles his career avg of 7 ppg we win the game, team will gel and start hitting 3's GO LAKERS !!! I cant wait for tomorrow night the crowd is going to be electric looking forward to seeing LeBron in person in a Laker jersey

Let us know what the crowd is like. My experiences at Staples, the crowd is late arriving, don't get into the game until the second half, don't give the team energy, not boisterous enough.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:07 am    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
pmacla wrote:
Im not worried Nik Stauskaus who I didnt even know was still in the league had the game of his life if he just doubles his career avg of 7 ppg we win the game, team will gel and start hitting 3's GO LAKERS !!! I cant wait for tomorrow night the crowd is going to be electric looking forward to seeing LeBron in person in a Laker jersey

Let us know what the crowd is like. My experiences at Staples, the crowd is late arriving, don't get into the game until the second half, don't give the team energy, not boisterous enough.


gone to quite a few games past several years and that is what it is like most of the time outside of Kobe's last game that was crazy. I think part of the problem is the Lakers in game presentation hasnt changed since the Showtime Era, I am older and would think they would start catering to a younger audience more, but would be nice to see them update some of teh same tired canned audience participation bits

Being this is on a Saturday night I expect the crowd to be on time and loud from the start of the game
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:09 am    Post subject:

Luke is building a team not just trying to win each and every game right now...give him time
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:10 am    Post subject:

Historically, we almost always lose road games in Portland, going back to when we were a championship team. The #1 problem by far is going to be the defense. Everything else is a distant #2.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:21 am    Post subject:

I could see what the Lakers are trying to do. They are trying to showcase Ingram and KCP for trade bait. Smart move by the Lakers, but hopefully it dont back fire. Leonard would be a better fit with his shooting and defense. AD would help with our defense and rebounding issues.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:27 am    Post subject:

KCP played last night ? I thought he was still on house arrest because I didnt notice him at all
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jodeke
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:32 am    Post subject:

The Lebrons wrote:
Historically, we almost always lose road games in Portland, going back to when we were a championship team. The #1 problem by far is going to be the defense. Everything else is a distant #2.


I hadn't taken notice to how long it's been since we beat the Blazers.

Lakers look to snap historic losing streak to Trail Blazers in season opener

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The Lakers have dropped their last 15 games to the Trail Blazers. They came close last season, losing to Portland by five or less in their three matchups, but they haven’t been able to get over the hump for years now.

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epak
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:32 am    Post subject:

I think 1st game of November will tell us more than 1st game of the season.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:42 am    Post subject:

Lakers played good enough to win. Defensive intensity was there. Offense was more or less there. Lakers basically lost because it was an away game at Portland who is very good at home especially against us, but most importantly because of the little things ur team usually learns with time and chemistry. Lack of chemistry turnovers, defensive lapses due to miscommunication and lack of practice in real game scenarios, and lack of experience with certain lineups in real games. In 2months we win these type of games. Without a doubt. I was very happy with how good we looked day 1.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:23 pm    Post subject:

This group played it's first game ever against last years 3rd seed on the road in Portland and was in the game until the last 4-5 minutes.

Theres alot to be fixed, but I don't know why people are freaking out after one game.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 3:37 pm    Post subject:

1ngr4m wrote:
This group played it's first game ever against last years 3rd seed on the road in Portland and was in the game until the last 4-5 minutes.

Theres alot to be fixed, but I don't know why people are freaking out after one game.


First and foremost, cause we’re fans of a team who just signed the best player in the world with a quickly improving young core and we have high expectations. But there’s also some legit basketball reasons:
1) They were the 3 seed last year but they won’t be this year. They are a fringe playoff team and nothing special IMO.
2) We lack quality perimeter defenders and that became apparent yesterday.
3) We lack size and are getting killed on the boards.
Those aren’t going to change drastically throughout the year. Rotations, ball movement, half court offense are some issues that can and hopefully will be resolved but there are some glaring weaknesses right now.
And I love Luke, but so far this year he has catered to the older players and there is a legitimate worry that he isn’t ready to handle/stand up to those guys. Lance and KCP played too much and were bad on both ends. Rondo was very good on offense but was pretty bad defensively and had some bad late turnovers and played too much. He played one of our top 3 players less than 20 min, he is coming off an injury and played bad, yet it was still obvious they needed him on the floor more. Ingram was a bright spot despite a few bad midrange jumpers and missed box outs, Hart was a bright spot on offense but was bad on D, Rondo ran the offense very well and LeBron was LeBron but despite that I didn’t see a lot to be hopeful of. We are finally supposed to be back and I’m more skeptical after that game than I was before.
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:53 pm    Post subject:

pmacla wrote:
Im not worried Nik Stauskaus who I didnt even know was still in the league had the game of his life if he just doubles his career avg of 7 ppg we win the game, team will gel and start hitting 3's GO LAKERS !!! I cant wait for tomorrow night the crowd is going to be electric looking forward to seeing LeBron in person in a Laker jersey


I'd love to agree with you on that, but I can't. Our perimeter D is inconsistent at very best. Nik "Don't Call Me Euro" Stauskas won't be an aberration this year. We gots some fundamental roster problems that can only be mitigated to a lesser extent with a lot more attention to detail and effort, but not solved without trade(s).
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 4:56 am    Post subject:

My belief (maybe it's my hope) is that this is all setting up for Lonzo to be much more relaxed and do great things without the same pressure he had on him last year to be the Superstar that he wasn't/isn't (at least not yet).

Most Lakers fans realize that he had a very productive rookie season, and despite the expectation that he would be flashy, the reality is that a lot of his production (rebounding, defense, most assists) are actually quite subtle, and playing with Lebron could actually help him to play his game without having to over-compensate with unnecessary flash.
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:22 am    Post subject:

My expectations are tempered.

Clint Capela is going to FEAST so I'm pretty much going to play him in DFS. lol
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