12 games in: The good and the bad

[markjay]

With the pickup of Chandler and the overall jelling of the team, the Lakers are now on a good roll (2-0 with Chandler, 4 of the last 5 overall), which I suspect will continue. If they win 2/3 of their remaining games, they will finish 53-19, which would have been good enough for third best record last year. I am hoping they can get a top 3, or even top 2, finish, and thus avoid having to play the Warriors until the Western Conference finals.

So far so good. The other good thing is that the "meme team" has performed magnificently. Rondo, Stephenson, and, especially McGee, are all contributing above expectations, and add in Chandler and we have a solid group of vets that make us one of the deepest teams in the league.

For me, here is the bad part though. Except for Hart, none of our young players seems to have taken a major step forward. Yes, it is early in the season, and yes, there have been some obstacles -- Ingram's suspension, Kuzma's brief experiment playing the 5, and Lonzo's off-season knee (and now ankle?) injury. But, at least so far, none of the three are showing signs of having a breakout season.

I hope that turns around, because ongoing development of our young core will be important for the long-term success of the team ---- whether as key parts of a championship lineup or value trade assets.

So yes, we are starting to meet my expectations (good), but more because of the unexpected contributions of our vets rather than, with the exception of Hart, unusual improvement among our young players (bad). Of course the caveat added is that it is still very early, and any of them could end up breaking out later in the season.

One other comment--if, indeed, LeBron was involved in selecting and recruiting this particular group of vets, he appears to be even more of a basketball genius than I realized.

[governator]

The goodest: Javale McGee/Tyson Chandler

The gooder: Josh Hart/Lance Stephenson

The good: LeBron/Rondo

The bad: defense

[SD2Hollyweird]

The Good: Lakers are fun to watch again; Center position; Lance; Josh Hart.

The Bad: Lonzo looking like he just couldn't give less of a f&^$ 80% of the time.
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I believe that a triangle, if it could speak, would say that God is eminently triangular, and a circle that the divine nature is eminently circular; and thus would every one ascribe his own attributes to God. - Baruch Spinoza

[mookielala]

Shout out to our old, overachieving centers. Feels weird to see the basket defended so well.

[Annihilator]

If BI, Lonzo and Rondo would learn how to shoot (including free throws) and Kuzma learned how to play defense, this could be a fantastic l year. I am starting to wonder whether Luke has the right assistant coaches in place to help the players learn these skills.
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“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”

--Anonymous

[levon]

Yeah, Lonzo needs a legion of skills coaches.

[venturalakersfan]

The good last night was hustle. We got almost every ball that hit the floor. Great effort.
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RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023.

[parsons777]

The good is also our SOS is 10th in the league and almost all our losses are to highly ranked playoff teams.

[Bard207]

[DShotMaker1824]

Tyson Chandler might just be our closer...
- EDIT - 8181 posts, take that Jalen Rose!

[Rek]