What the hell happened to our role players?
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ZeroDark30_
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:06 am    Post subject:

Honestly there’s no excuse. Just time to get rid of many of them. They had plenty of time, plenty of opportunities to get better. All I ever heard on this board was that the absence of Bron and AD would make them more confident. So, what happened? They were pathetic at home and on the road. Meanwhile, the Suns role players did what any good team does, show up at home. We couldn’t even force a game 7...
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ZeroDark30_
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:09 am    Post subject:

RashardA wrote:
Kuz is the easy target and he'll get slandered to hell and back the entire summer.

He had a horrendous game and there is no defending that but the Lakers were down 43-18 before they even started to try.

That's not all on Kuz but he's the low hanging fruit and he most likely will not be back and it will probably be the best thing to happen to him for the sake of his career.

The Lakers started acting a fool on the Suns in game 3 and everything went to hell after that.

Karma is a you know what.

The Suns just totally and completely destroyed the Lakers.

In all honesty anyone not named AD or Bron should not return next season.

Role players have to deliver when the lights get bright and every last one of them crumbled.

Entire summer until he’s moved right? This should be the end of the road for Kuzma. LA isn’t for everyone. Two postseasons in a row he’s been terrible. The bright lines are too much for him.
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Theseus
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:15 am    Post subject:

They were exposed by injuries to star players so they all had to expand their roles in order to succeed. Very difficult for guys who have only played one way for most of their careers.

Also the Suns were rested and hungry with some solid defenders on their team. Mikal Bridges is a really good defensive player and he was causing havoc.
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JUST-MING
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:53 am    Post subject:

Would Danny Green have slowed down Devin Booker? Devin cooked Wes.

Devin had a 2/11 game last year against Danny on Feburary 10.
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TheBlackMamba
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:58 am    Post subject:

Omar Little wrote:
Health, continuity/chemistry, belief, role.

We brought in a lot of people in the off-season, including a couple who were supposed to carry some load and let Bron and AD coast a bit. We started off very very well. But the short turnaround and whatever luck you like to ascribe left us with two stars down a lot and not healthy when there from that point on.

And any team built around two Uber stars and role players isn’t going to be very good when the role players have to create and fill roles that aren’t theirs. It was a tough drag to and through the play in. Bron came back too early trying to avoid it and hurt himself again.

And even with all that they win the play in, and put their foot on Phoenix’s neck briefly. But the basketball gods took AD again. And the team was just too tired and beaten up (Bron and KCP out there on one and a half kegs) to hold on against a team that got hot and got back to believing in themselves.

The suns are a good team that deserves their seed and while the experience and matchups had the lakers winning that series, fate intervened and they weren’t the type of team to either roll over or not capitalize. So you tip your cap and you get some rest and you come back again.

So it goes.


Pretty much nailed it. The part that hurts the most is that we did have our foot on their neck briefly, despite everything that transpired up to that point and we STILL weren't even at full strength...but we had the series at 2-1. The roster had its holes, but a healthy Bron/AD and arguably a historically great defense still put us in the conversation with any team in the league. They had potential to be special, in a different way from last year's team. Alas...such is life.
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TheBlackMamba
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 12:00 pm    Post subject:

JUST-MING wrote:
Would Danny Green have slowed down Devin Booker? Devin cooked Wes.

Devin had a 2/11 game last year against Danny on Feburary 10.


Everyone looks better on defense with a healthy AD, though. I don't think any of the guys we let go were saving us from Lebron not being in good form due to injury and lack of rhythm, and AD not playing at all.
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WC13
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 12:05 pm    Post subject:

TheBlackMamba wrote:
JUST-MING wrote:
Would Danny Green have slowed down Devin Booker? Devin cooked Wes.

Devin had a 2/11 game last year against Danny on Feburary 10.


Everyone looks better on defense with a healthy AD, though. I don't think any of the guys we let go were saving us from Lebron not being in good form due to injury and lack of rhythm, and AD not playing at all.


Is there a like button?

It's all about AD being out...role players can't take the place of an all-star. That's why they are role players.

AD plays at full capacity, the Lakers win...they looked like they were going to roll over the Suns. He's out...they lose.
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Luis5150
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 12:30 pm    Post subject:

WC13 wrote:
TheBlackMamba wrote:
JUST-MING wrote:
Would Danny Green have slowed down Devin Booker? Devin cooked Wes.

Devin had a 2/11 game last year against Danny on Feburary 10.


Everyone looks better on defense with a healthy AD, though. I don't think any of the guys we let go were saving us from Lebron not being in good form due to injury and lack of rhythm, and AD not playing at all.


Is there a like button?

It's all about AD being out...role players can't take the place of an all-star. That's why they are role players.

AD plays at full capacity, the Lakers win...they looked like they were going to roll over the Suns. He's out...they lose.


As simple as that... and you got to see it in Game 3. AD doesn't get that hyper-extended knee and the Lakers win the series
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UKUGA
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:05 pm    Post subject:

Kuzma looked scared every time he had the ball the last two games.
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AD23
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:28 pm    Post subject:

Blame injuries to our 2 stars missing 2 months each.

It sidetracked any sort of development on rotations.

It is what it is. Season over. Reset and get better.
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LakerLanny
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:03 pm    Post subject:

UKUGA wrote:
Kuzma looked scared every time he had the ball the last two games.


That makes two of us.
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Laker_Jocker
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 04, 2021 2:25 pm    Post subject:

I think it was a combination of things:

Lakers added 3 guys to the rotation (DS, AD2, Harrell) that really have no idea how to to sacrifice/contribute to a winning team concept. In addition to this there was a HUGE amount of disjointed playing time due to roster changes and the coach's lack of consistency with minutes/matchups. Maybe this was due to FO pushing for minutes in hopes of keeping DS/AD2 happy for next year and coach's failure to figure out the Harrell conundrum. (Don't get me started on Kuz as I think that is clearly a failed experiment - i can't think of one thing he is good at consistently) Injuries also were HUGE in that there was an overall lack of team cohesion due to lack of playing time with the "anchor" players (including AC and KCP).

Regardless, the end result was a play-in game and the 7th seed:

"Out of the 74 NBA champions, most of them have come from the No. 1 (53) and No. 2 (12) seeds. That’s 65 titles between the two seeds and the rest were divided between the third (7), fourth (1) and sixth seeds (1)." "Lowest seed to reach NBA Finals = 8 New York Knicks 1998-99, 6 Houston Rockets 1994-95, 5 Miami Heat 2019-20, 4 Cleveland Cavaliers 2017-18"

So, I think everyone is aware that a 7 seed isn't supposed to beat a 2 seed.

My guess is that there likely wasn't the extra effort with any of the players put in for "digging deep and shocking the world" by doing the little things necessary to win and/or motivate each other to be better. It was glaringly apparent that team chemistry was pretty low compared to last season. Having 4-5 key players with various lingering injuries as well as tired from a short offseason doesn't help with the motivation level either.

I am not saying all of this as excuse for the product put on the floor (cause it was really bad) but I am not real critical of the individual role players for what ultimately happened based on the circumstances of the season.
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governator
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 5:54 am    Post subject:

Maybe I'm wrong but it's more on the coaches for not maximizing the role players
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 6:03 am    Post subject:

calistrtballr wrote:
Dwight, Green, Rondo, McGee.....mega F up Pelinka


Exactly. While everyone else is reaching, making excuses, talking about injuries and so forth, what you said is just the fact of the matter. Pelinka made an idiotic move by breaking up a championship squad after it's 1st championship.
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PayasoLoco
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 6:49 am    Post subject:

UKUGA wrote:
Kuzma looked scared every time he had the ball the last two games.

Mayb he was nervous knowing Kendall was watching He was a 4 yr College player sand now going to 5th NBA year he is who he is at this point. Needs to b in uptempo lotto bound team to reach potential.

we gotta get rid most of the role players. Watch every playoff game and you will not see a team missing as many WIDE OPEN 3s as our role players. I get chemistry issue but missing open 3s is inexcusable.
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ThePageDude
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 6:56 am    Post subject:

PayasoLoco wrote:
UKUGA wrote:
Kuzma looked scared every time he had the ball the last two games.

Mayb he was nervous knowing Kendall was watching He was a 4 yr College player sand now going to 5th NBA year he is who he is at this point. Needs to b in uptempo lotto bound team to reach potential.

we gotta get rid most of the role players. Watch every playoff game and you will not see a team missing as many WIDE OPEN 3s as our role players. I get chemistry issue but missing open 3s is inexcusable.


Kuzma was bad this playoffs, I agree, and is a mediocre player, particularly for this team that needs a decent 3-point shooter to open the lanes for LBJ. Thing is after LBJ he's the only one who has enough length to defend the big SF's in this league like Kawhi, PG etc. I'm all for trading him, but we must find a way to get a 3/4 hybrid perimeter 3&D on the roster that can play significant minutes - not just spot minutes. I wish we had found a way to sign Batum.
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WC13
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:17 pm    Post subject:

It would have been interesting to see how well the 2019-2020 championship team with Dwight, Green, Rondo, and McGee would have done without AD and Lebron.
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Runway8
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 1:27 pm    Post subject:

JUST-MING wrote:
Would Danny Green have slowed down Devin Booker? Devin cooked Wes.

Devin had a 2/11 game last year against Danny on Feburary 10.


Nah, if he's cooking, he's cooking. He's career average from downtown is 35%. He's not elite like Dame, Curry, KD. Look at the game log. He was good in 3 games, sucked in 3 games. We finish this series in 5 if we were healthy. You drag out a series long enough, the chances of seeing this type of performance from a great scorer goes up!

I would like the Suns to win the whole thing because I rather say we lost to the champs. But I don't think Booker is there yet.
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phantasyman
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 05, 2021 2:37 pm    Post subject:

Nothing. Phoenix just bullied them and we got scared. For the first time, you actually saw Lakers playing with fear.
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Lurkernomore
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:14 am    Post subject:

I don't think anything happened to them, this is what they are. They may have underperformed a little, but if we take off our Laker-colored glasses we have the worst roster in the league 3-12. Seriously, look at each player.

Gasol - Proved to be too old, probably a 15-minute contributor at this point in his career. Is just too slow to defend PNR. Can't get out to guard against stretch 4/5 if we don't switch and doesn't have the quickness to defend the bucket if we do.

Harrell - Other than age, similar to Gasol. Plain and simple, he ISN"T a 5.
Moreover, he didn't seem good for team chemistry, maybe there's a reason the Clippers were happy to let him go. Lakers have to hope he opts out.

DS - Have the Lakers over a barrel. There is no way to replace his talent if we just let him walk.

Kuz - He is what he is. He isn't going to pull off a Randle-like improvement.

KCP - Mental midget. Confidence is so fragile, LBJ has to yell at him so he shoots wide open 3s.

Caruso - Nice story and all - G-league guy who earned regular minutes on a championship team - but, he can't handle the ball, can't create for himself and isn't a consistent enough shooter. If he gets anything close to a MLE offer, Lakers can't afford to keep him, not with our salary cap situation.

THT - People need to pump their brakes on this guy. His shooting is terrible, he gets blown by as a 1:1 defender and has no concept of team defense and only has one move - drive to the rim and finish with a back-handed layup on the left side of the rim. Terrence Mann is 3x the player that THT is.

Kieff - A good run in the bubble, will likely not accept min vet and will be gone.

Wes - At his salary, he is a serviceable bench player, 15 minutes a game. Have to hope he shoots better from 3.

AD2 - He'll be gone.



The stars aligned last year - Clippers got beat by Denver, the Heat were injured and role players (Kieff and KCP, especially) played better than expected. The FO got complacent thinking that bubble Kieff, KCP would show up again this year. Losing Rondo and Dwight hurt more than expected due to DS and Gasol/Harrell experiments not working out as could have been expected.
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LakerSD
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 07, 2021 10:17 am    Post subject:

How many multiple accounts exist on LG?

Lot of the same language/statements
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