Who should start and who should end the game.

[logical24]

After watching AB back on the floor last night i saw a lineup that the Lakers can def close out with.

Starting lineup:

WB
AB
Kent
LeBron
AD

2nd Unit:

Rondo/Nunn
Monk/Wayne
THT/Ariza
Melo/Sekou
Dwight/DJ

Closing Lineup:

WB
AB
Kent
Bron
AD

4 shooters with WB bringing down the ball and creating.

[pio2u]

TBD

[troy]

I don't mind if WB starts or ends games as long as he plays smart like Rondo and realizes that he's not a natural scorer. If he would just focus on setting up shooters in the right spot and getting rebounds, using his physicality on defense, and NOT SHOOTING the ball, he may be an asset in both starting and closing games.

But if/when he chooses to shoot, it's almost like a turnover, because anything more than a layup will be a miss on his part.

[Cyberfreak444]

[Koalita]

I don't like the 2nd unit, not a fan of having Monk & Melo at the same time on court.

IMHO WB & Rondo should not play significant minutes together, neither Monk & Melo. We need some shooters around our non-shooter guards, and we need some defense to help our less capable defenders...

I'd like to see AR a bit more, but that is another story.

The closing lineup is ok, although it'll probably go to whoever is hot/making an impact on D for the 2&3 spots

[TooMuchMajicBuss]

My early season impression: Melo gets way too much playing time IMO. No ball movement, players don't get rewarded for cutting to the basket, he's simply going to shoot every time he gets the ball, and he doesn't play a lick of defense. In specific situations he could help us. For extended stretches as a sixth man he's the polar opposite of everything that makes a team successful on either end of the court.

Westbrook - I think he'll find a way to play alongside LBJ/AD. It's a matter of time.

Defense - I like that we picked up Bradley, and so far Baze is doing a respectable job from what I can see. We just need more players on the floor who are committed to communicating and understanding where they should be on the floor whatever the opponent throws at us. If players like Monk can't learn to do this they have no business getting playing time when a guy like Melo is taking up floor space too.

Again, it's early, a lot can change, I hope it does change.

[LakerSD]

Russ
AB/THT/Reaves/Nunn
Bazemore
Lebron
AD

Opening and closing lineups need to have defensive capability. Right now the 2 spot should go to AB until one of THT/Reaves/Nunn separate themselves with offense but also ability to play defense.

AB making 3s and playing defense is still a guy you put out there to open and close games. It’s up to the other 3 to close that gap.

Melo/Monk/Ellington have not shown ability to close games because their defense is that bad.

[textbook]

Nunn
Baze
Ariza
Lebron
Davis

Second unit

Westbrook
AB
Tht
Melo
Howard

Reserves: Wayne, Rondo, reaves, Monk, cut dj and bring in Simone else

[LakersRGolden]

Start/Close: Big 3 + AB + Baze

No LeBron
Current: WB / AB / Reaves / AD / Howard
Healthy: WB / Ellington or Monk / THT / Ariza / AD

Just LeBron
Current: Nunn / Baze / LeBron / Melo / DJ
Healthy: Monk or Nunn or Rondo / Baze / THT / LeBron / Howard

Biggest Rule: Monk and Regular Season Rondo are never on the floor with Melo

[Chick's Magic Johnson]

It's hard (and foolish) to read too much into one game, but so far my only conclusion drawn is that DAJ is toast. He looked bad in pre-season and looked even worse in Game 1. He started both the 1st and 3rd quarters and got one shift of sixish minutes each time. I hope he's relegated to the far end of the bench before too long, because he's adding nothing and I don't expect that to change.

[Hanging from Rafters]

Still too early to reasonably tell but at the time of their signings and now after preseason and game one I felt the following players were wasted space:

D Jordan - Drummond didn’t work out, DJ is much worse
Ariza - good not same Deng money, expect production falls off cliff the same
Ellington - poor defense so bad it out weighs any positives
Monk - poor defense so bad it out weighs any positives

I wanted:

Cousins Instead of DJ - Faulk D Cousins, head case and production may not return but I wanted to swing for the home run even tho possible strike out instead of bunting cause a HR wins if you land it! (Think 11/8/3 with 1.5 blks, 35% 3pt)

Morris Instead of Ariza - Maybe a wash but for continuity Bring back Morris, stretch 5/4 plus some defense and 3pt shooting

Ennis Instead of Ellington - Ennis shot 47% fg overall and 42% 3pt, plays defense and @6’6” can guard big SFs

Matthews Instead of Monk - Bring back Matthews, plays defense and can hit the 3

Above stuff off topic, sorry for rant, back on topic below:
Start:
WB
AB
Baze
LB
AD

Major minutes to Nunn, THT, Dwight
Limited minutes Rondo, Melo
DNP coaches decision to Monk, Ellington, DJ

[jodeke]

Difficult to assign a starting and second unit. This is a brand new team. There are only 3 holdovers from last year's roster, THT, AD, and LeBron. Right now

STARTERS

1) Rondo
2) Monk
3) Lebron
4) AD
5) DJ


CLOSERS

Other than AD and Bron I'm hopelessly confused.
_________________
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America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

[Hanging from Rafters]

[jodeke]