I cannot say I'm privy to any communication between Dwight and the Rob Pelinka, but Dwight might have been asking for more money than Rob was willing to offer.
More importantly, we're pretending that the happy honeymoon between Dwight and the Lakers would continue into this season. I am not confident that the bliss would have continued. The man has a long record of pissing off teammates and coaches with his behavior, demands and distractions.
You're projecting a chemistry issue that didn't exist, nor were there signs that it would have.
You mean a chemistry issue that didn't exist during a shortened season, when all other avenues of NBA employment were closed off to him. That's why the team had the leverage to offer only a non-guaranteed contract. If he screwed up last season, he knew it was his last rodeo.
There's a lengthy history of franchises, players and coaches who were continuously pissed off at Dwight, including Kobe Bryant. If you think he's suddenly found Jesus one night, fine, but it runs counter to the history of Dwight Howard.
Fact remains.. You're projecting conflict. With no evidence that there was any brewing. Howard was fine. smh.
Fact remains, you're ignoring his 15 year history of causing discord. It's ok though, let's just pretend that Dwight is a changed man and ignore the the most recent lawsuit in a long history of screwing people. But hey, let's go one step further: let's pretend that the Lakers front office lives in that fantasy land and didn't sign him because Rob is incompetent.
Zero lob points and zero transition points from Gasol. I miss the days when Howard would just run the floor and get easy dunks because the other bigs couldn't keep up with him.
Letting Dwight get away was the one thing this off season that I didn't like, everything else was perfect.
It takes two to tango though and Dwight somehow panicked and managed to get himself out of town by accident really I think.
One game does not make a season, but Howard's lob finishing and interior defense were stellar last season and right now Gasol is doing none of that.
You're aware Gasol was a better interior defender than Dwight right?
It seems a lot of people assume "Rim Protection" and "Interior defense" is only reflected in blocked shots. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
Joined: 12 Apr 2005 Posts: 506 Location: Hermosa Beach, CA
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 10:47 pm Post subject:
angrypuppy wrote:
SocalDevin wrote:
angrypuppy wrote:
SocalDevin wrote:
angrypuppy wrote:
I cannot say I'm privy to any communication between Dwight and the Rob Pelinka, but Dwight might have been asking for more money than Rob was willing to offer.
More importantly, we're pretending that the happy honeymoon between Dwight and the Lakers would continue into this season. I am not confident that the bliss would have continued. The man has a long record of pissing off teammates and coaches with his behavior, demands and distractions.
You're projecting a chemistry issue that didn't exist, nor were there signs that it would have.
You mean a chemistry issue that didn't exist during a shortened season, when all other avenues of NBA employment were closed off to him. That's why the team had the leverage to offer only a non-guaranteed contract. If he screwed up last season, he knew it was his last rodeo.
There's a lengthy history of franchises, players and coaches who were continuously pissed off at Dwight, including Kobe Bryant. If you think he's suddenly found Jesus one night, fine, but it runs counter to the history of Dwight Howard.
Fact remains.. You're projecting conflict. With no evidence that there was any brewing. Howard was fine. smh.
Fact remains, you're ignoring his 15 year history of causing discord. It's ok though, let's just pretend that Dwight is a changed man and ignore the the most recent lawsuit in a long history of screwing people. But hey, let's go one step further: let's pretend that the Lakers front office lives in that fantasy land and didn't sign him because Rob is incompetent.
But Rob isn't incompetent. He had reservations.
Well, let see what happens with Dwight in Philly this season. He had a very nice first game.
You're right it wasn't close... Gasol was a lot better.
Gasol had a plus/minus differential of 7.7.
On offense, the team scores 0.8 fewer points when he’s on the court, however on defense, the team allows 8.5 fewer points when he is on the court which is the 95th percentile among all players in the NBA.
Gasol also spent 78.5% of his time defending bigs, according to Krishna Narsu's versatility statistic, and ranked in the 96th percentile in post defense, according to NBA stats.
He allowed just 0.47 points per post touch, the tenth fewest among NBA players.
Gasol was also
91st percentile overall defensively
79th percentile against PnR ballhandlers
88th percentile against single high PnRs
Last year as well his defensive plus/minus was the 2nd best it'd been for his entire career, which includes his DPOY season.
In addition to that Gasol ranked
96th Percentile - Rim Deterrence
91st Percentile - % of Rim Shots Contested
85th Percentile - Rim Contests
80th Percentile - Blocks
72nd Percentile - Rim dFG% vs Expected
89th Percentile - Rim Points saved
100th Percentile - Lineup Perimeter Defense
https://twitter.com/Tim_NBA/status/1330676484160286723
So yeah, the TLDR is... Gasol's still got it defensively and was one of the best defensive bigs in the league last year. Just because Dwight jumped higher and was more athletic didn't mean Gasol wasn't still a beast defensively.
So you're definitely right when you say it 'wasn't close', but it wasn't Dwight who was better.
It would behoove you and anyone else that has... to stop underestimating Gasol and the value he brings to a team defensively, and understand how fortunate the Lakers are to have him.
You can stat until your blue in the face....did u watch the game? Embarrassing? Dwight is superior...period. Gasol is a joke at 36....he’s done being productive. Old, slow, overweight, stiff. Better than Dwight....yeah right.
So your argument is "I don't care about the overhwelming evidence that Gasol was one of the best defensive centers in the league last year. What I saw in Game 1 of the Season tells me EVERYTHING I NEED!"
No MJ.... not just one game...look at last year....he began to fade quickly. Very telling signs. Same thing with Danny Green he really began to deteriorate in the finals 2 years ago...was just a glimpse of he himself last year and was set packing. Analytics are overrated on so many occasions. Toughness, energy and grit to me are much more important than stats. Again...time will tell and if you’re proven right about Gasol I’ll be the first to apologize and tip my hat to you. But I honestly don’t see it. AD IMO will have to play a lot of the 5 this year something he doesn’t like and hopefully won’t wear him down....Have a great Christmas and hoping you’re right as a huge Laker fan I want to see them win like you do.
No they can manage. Eventually in the playoffs, AD will play more in the center spot. McGee and Dwight are almost unplayable in the playoffs except for Dwight vs Jokic. Vogel will find a way to improve the paint defense.
Wish we couldve gotten Ibaka. He fits any team. Clips got better with him, he’s a 3 and rim D
You are branded as clippers fan if you state facts. Ofcourse they got much better. Itseems that everyone on the team can shoot 3pt
Nets and clippers seems like best teams right now. Way too much fire power.
Wish we couldve gotten Ibaka. He fits any team. Clips got better with him, he’s a 3 and rim D
You are branded as clippers fan if you state facts. Ofcourse they got much better. Itseems that everyone on the team can shoot 3pt
Nets and clippers seems like best teams right now. Way too much fire power.
lmfao, here we go again. Everyone in the Lakers can hit 3s too except harrell. Whay the hell are you smoking?
Last edited by leking006 on Fri Dec 25, 2020 9:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
Wish we couldve gotten Ibaka. He fits any team. Clips got better with him, he’s a 3 and rim D
You are branded as clippers fan if you state facts. Ofcourse they got much better. Itseems that everyone on the team can shoot 3pt
Nets and clippers seems like best teams right now. Way too much fire power.
lmfao, here we go again
It’s obvious Federer is a Clippers fan lol. Pattern has been there for a while now.
I don’t think we do. Did anyone notice that the driving lanes were more open compare to last season? Partly due to gasol standing outside a lot. AD had more room to operate, and when they send doubles, we have 3 good passes on the court.
Also trez had a lot of room to do his thing, and he certain did great. Personally I don’t see how Dwight and trez would’ve worked together giving they both stand in the lane a lot. Trez is a much better offense player and rotates faster on defense especially on pick and rolls.
We might not have a traditional , but we have big wings and AD.
I don’t think we do. Did anyone notice that the driving lanes were more open compare to last season? Partly due to gasol standing outside a lot. AD had more room to operate, and when they send doubles, we have 3 good passes on the court.
Also trez had a lot of room to do his thing, and he certain did great. Personally I don’t see how Dwight and trez would’ve worked together giving they both stand in the lane a lot. Trez is a much better offense player and rotates faster on defense especially on pick and rolls.
We might not have a traditional , but we have big wings and AD.
It’s the D that’s concerning. Players get to the rim to easily right now. That didn’t happen last year.
I don’t think we do. Did anyone notice that the driving lanes were more open compare to last season? Partly due to gasol standing outside a lot. AD had more room to operate, and when they send doubles, we have 3 good passes on the court.
Also trez had a lot of room to do his thing, and he certain did great. Personally I don’t see how Dwight and trez would’ve worked together giving they both stand in the lane a lot. Trez is a much better offense player and rotates faster on defense especially on pick and rolls.
We might not have a traditional , but we have big wings and AD.
It’s the D that’s concerning. Players get to the rim to easily right now. That didn’t happen last year.
Penetrating layups against Gasol might make it look worse than it is (I'm guilty of it) but is there an actual stat of opp penetrating layup made FG percentage compared to last year (2 games in I know!!!)?
What's the minutes distribution going to be if we sign another center? Gasol, Harell and Morris were signed with the expectation to play.
IMO the mins distribution is not about those players getting benched for another center. It is more about trying to limit Gasol's exposure during the season. Just having another tool in the box for Vogel to use when needed.
Similar to the strategy of having "replacement" options for those nights James will need to to rest, load manage or whatever we want to call it.
Gasol will need nights off, likely so will Morris. Injuries happen. Certain matchups are going to be horrible for Gasol.
Having another center with size that focuses on playing in the paint is just covering the bases, not a threat to replace anyone's mpg. Except for when those other centers are unavailable.
Simply a viable option if one of the top 10-12 rotation players needs to sit out several games over the course of the season. Most nights the Lakers will be fine with current options. Suggesting another center is simply insurance from overusing the regular rotation players over a long season. Many who are older or limited defensively.
Then we have Harrell. There's no 'traditional big' that we would sign that would deserve minutes in front of him in Gasol's place.
WE have Gasol, AD, Harrell. That's all we need as far as bigs are concerned if all three are healthy. _________________ How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk
Then we have Harrell. There's no 'traditional big' that we would sign that would deserve minutes in front of him in Gasol's place.
WE have Gasol, AD, Harrell. That's all we need as far as bigs are concerned if all three are healthy.
You are right. The current roster can absorb the mpg.
On those "nights off " Both Davis and Harrell can simply play 38mpg instead of the current 30mpg they are playing. And if it is one of those two out for a couple games then Gasol and Morris can easily absorb/split those 30mpg. Maybe Dudley steps up and puts in some paint defense and rebounds.
No worries. No need for contingency plans. Especially as long as "all three are healthy" the entire 95-100 games this season.
JMO but I expect a center to be added when they can finally add a waived/ buy out player and they can financially make it work. Not sure of that timing but at some point that would be my first addition. Sounds like it wouldn't be for you. It's cool, we just disagree.
It befuddles me truly that anyone would go "This person from the G-League would be a better defender for us than Gasol who was statistically one of the best big defenders in the league last year."
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