Our Lakers Pick Lookin' Good

LA is one broken Brook Lopez foot away from being in the bottom 2-5.

worcester wrote:LA is one broken Brook Lopez foot away from being in the bottom 2-5.

That is true.

dboss

steve3344 wrote:

fierce wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

fierce wrote:

swish wrote: It's fun to crow about the relative difference in the talent level between the Lakers and the Celtics - but beware - It will soon be the Lakers turn to venture into the free agency market -
and we all know how quickly the addition of a couple of elite players can turn things around.

swish

Not so sure about that.

The OKC Thunder added a couple of elite players to go along with last season's league MVP and look at where the Thunder are right now.

Remove Brook Lopez and all the Laker starters are going to be bench players for other teams.

Lakers are 5 years away from being relevant again, regardless of who they add in free-agency in the summer.

Fierce,

Suppose they add LeBron and Paul George?


bob

.

If they add Lebron and Paul George then they will be a playoff team.
But they won't get past the Warriors.

Nor will anybody if they stay healthy.

I feel like the Warriors are beatable this year. Even assuming Curry comes back and they stay healthy, they just don't have the dominant vibe they have had the past couple of years - Houston, Boston, Cleveland, or SA (if Leonard ever comes back) could knock them off. They may very well end up winning it all, but I'm not sure it is the lock everyone still assumes it is.

Shamrock1000 wrote:

steve3344 wrote:

fierce wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

fierce wrote:

swish wrote: It's fun to crow about the relative difference in the talent level between the Lakers and the Celtics - but beware - It will soon be the Lakers turn to venture into the free agency market -
and we all know how quickly the addition of a couple of elite players can turn things around.

swish

Not so sure about that.

The OKC Thunder added a couple of elite players to go along with last season's league MVP and look at where the Thunder are right now.

Remove Brook Lopez and all the Laker starters are going to be bench players for other teams.

Lakers are 5 years away from being relevant again, regardless of who they add in free-agency in the summer.

Fierce,

Suppose they add LeBron and Paul George?


bob

.

If they add Lebron and Paul George then they will be a playoff team.
But they won't get past the Warriors.

Nor will anybody if they stay healthy.

I feel like the Warriors are beatable this year. Even assuming Curry comes back and they stay healthy, they just don't have the dominant vibe they have had the past couple of years - Houston, Boston, Cleveland, or SA (if Leonard ever comes back) could knock them off. They may very well end up winning it all, but I'm not sure it is the lock everyone still assumes it is.

Rock

The Warriors have this mystique about their invincibility.  But before Celtics fans prognosticate about beating them, the Celtics have to first win the ECF and that likely involved a 7 games series against the Cavs.  Lebron is a freak of nature and there is no evidence that he is not up to the task of taking his team to the finals again.

I think that if we had Hayward we could match anyone's offense.  It will take additional layers of improvement to beat them this year.  Guys like Brown, Rozier and Smart would need to take a few steps forward.  Notice I did not mention Tatum.  That is because he is ahead of the other 3 offensively.  Tatum is a prime time scorer.  Next year we should be measurably better with Hayward and with a little luck of the Irish, a high first round big.

When Hayward got hurt no one could have imagined that this team would be leading the pack at 21-4.  Then again the impact of great coaching was grossly underestimated.  Aside from that, this team has a lot of talent even without Hayward.

dboss

dboss wrote:

Shamrock1000 wrote:

steve3344 wrote:

fierce wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

fierce wrote:

swish wrote: It's fun to crow about the relative difference in the talent level between the Lakers and the Celtics - but beware - It will soon be the Lakers turn to venture into the free agency market -
and we all know how quickly the addition of a couple of elite players can turn things around.

swish

Not so sure about that.

The OKC Thunder added a couple of elite players to go along with last season's league MVP and look at where the Thunder are right now.

Remove Brook Lopez and all the Laker starters are going to be bench players for other teams.

Lakers are 5 years away from being relevant again, regardless of who they add in free-agency in the summer.

Fierce,

Suppose they add LeBron and Paul George?


bob

.

If they add Lebron and Paul George then they will be a playoff team.
But they won't get past the Warriors.

Nor will anybody if they stay healthy.

I feel like the Warriors are beatable this year. Even assuming Curry comes back and they stay healthy, they just don't have the dominant vibe they have had the past couple of years - Houston, Boston, Cleveland, or SA (if Leonard ever comes back) could knock them off. They may very well end up winning it all, but I'm not sure it is the lock everyone still assumes it is.

Rock

The Warriors have this mystique about their invincibility.  But before Celtics fans prognosticate about beating them, the Celtics have to first win the ECF and that likely involved a 7 games series against the Cavs.  Lebron is a freak of nature and there is no evidence that he is not up to the task of taking his team to the finals again.

I think that if we had Hayward we could match anyone's offense.  It will take additional layers of improvement to beat them this year.  Guys like Brown, Rozier and Smart would need to take a few steps forward.  Notice I did not mention Tatum.  That is because he is ahead of the other 3 offensively.  Tatum is a prime time scorer.  Next year we should be measurably better with Hayward and with a little luck of the Irish, a high first round big.

When Hayward got hurt no one could have imagined that this team would be leading the pack at 21-4.  Then again the impact of great coaching was grossly underestimated.  Aside from that, this team has a lot of talent even without Hayward.

dboss

Totally agree Dboss - Lebron is indeed a freak of nature, and I don't see any definitive signs that his decline has begun. Having Hayward would certainly help the Celtics beat Cleveland or anyone else. I'm still trying to make lemonade out of the situation, and keep telling myself that as devastating as Hayward's injury is, it may have resulted in more minutes/accelerated development of Tatum and Brown. I guess I am secretly holding out hope the Gordon will return close to form for the play-offs and Tatum and Brown will be that much further along.

To get back to the original point though, I still have a feeling the Warriors can be beaten. It may not end up being the Celtics, but I just have a sense that they may have already peaked. No real evidence - just a feeling....

The Warriors are not going to get better but perhaps their intensity game in and game out has declined opening the door for other teams to beat them.

The other reality is getting hit with the injury bug.  I suspect that both Boston and Houston could give them a run for their money.  

The Celtics match up well with them.  The problem is that they have to get past the Cavs and perhaps the Raptors first.  

Dboss

For what it's worth


Tom Westerholm @Tom_NBA

3 hours ago

On his pod today, Woj said GMs came away from Arizona/Texas A&M telling him Ayton is the No. 1 pick. Perhaps worth noting that one of the GMs in attendance was Danny Ainge.
reply retweet like

bob


.

bobheckler wrote:For what it's worth


Tom Westerholm @Tom_NBA

3 hours ago

On his pod today, Woj said GMs came away from Arizona/Texas A&M telling him Ayton is the No. 1 pick. Perhaps worth noting that one of the GMs in attendance was Danny Ainge.
reply retweet like

bob


.

with Ayton and other great young bigs already in the league, its just a matter of time before a franchise puts enough talent around a monster big, then we'll see the beast in the middle with a bunch of snipers hitting 3's.

Lakers beat Charlotte last night.  That was a big hurt, as far as us getting their pick, since they were tied with Charlotte going in.

So much for building through the draft, Charlotte's been doing that for a long time.

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are high draft picks, but they aren't anything...yet.  Championships are won by grizzled veterans who have been there and done that and aren't impressed anymore with the lights and pressure.  Look at the difference in our playoff runs two years ago vs last year's.  We went out in the 1st round vs Atlanta 2 years ago and we learned a lot from that loss.  Last year we had a better idea as to what it took to advance, and we did.  What were the differences in rosters between 2 years ago and last year's?  Not much, physically, the big differences were between the ears.  We have 4 returning players from last year, 4 players who advanced all the way to the EC Finals.  We have Kyrie with tons of playoff experience, and a ring, and we have Baynes who also has a ring.  We're in better shape this year, between the ears, than last year.



bob


.

Hi,
It's been 1/3 of the season and it doesn't look good: Lakers pick is way above the last 5. And their young pups getting more experience. OTOH, there's always a possibility of Lavar doing some super dumb things...

AK

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
It's been 1/3 of the season and it doesn't look good: Lakers pick is way above the last 5. And their young pups getting more experience. OTOH, there's always a possibility of Lavar doing some super dumb things...

AK

The pick was looking completely gone, but what a difference a week makes. Chicago has won five in a row. Atlanta and Dallas are the only bottom dweller teams which have been consistently delivering tanking excellence.

Since the Lakers peaked with a couple wins in a row and this thread went dormant, they have lost to the Knicks and Cavs.

Their next five games seem brutal.

GS
@Houston
@GS
Portland
Minnesota

The Lakers obviously have better odds in the last two of those than the first three, but assuming they lose all five, their win percentage will drop to .313 and back close to the #5 slot or in it depending on other teams. Memphis should eventually pass them if Conley comes back.

Hopefully at that point the Lakers will be carrying a seven game losing streak and a big drop in confidence.

The following five:
Memphis
Clippers
@Houston
@Minnesota
Oklahoma

They might win one of those?

If they go 1-9 in the next ten games they will be 11-26 and unreeling.

They have played the least amount of games so far in comparison to other bad teams. They only have two more wins than Dallas, one more than Sacramento.

It worked out following Brooklyn. There's a chance this Lakers pick might land high, too. I'm not trying to jinx it, but it looks like immediate stormy weather ahead for L.A..

worcester,

Your point made in your first post on this thread may have actually come true last night as Lopez did limp off the court in their overtime loss to the Warriors.

Although Lopez has not had a stellar season to date, losing him may certainly cost the Lakers a few more games until (if?) he does come back.

Worcester I think you put the kiss of death on Lopez.

Lakers are 8th from the bottom in losses and there is only a 4 game spread from last place to where they are.  Remaining games this month are tough for LAL.

However this may be toughest part of their schedule.

The pick is still in play.

Dboss

Lopez has been damaged goods his whole career, the one year Brooklyn had a chance with KG and Pierce and JJ and D Will, the one year window to really contend....he was injured.

As of 12/19/18:

The Lakers are 10-18, .357

In the end every plays the same number of games and, at the bottom of the league, what matters is wins.  Wins are harder to come by when you suck, so what matters, in this case, is "who has the fewest wins, not whose % is lower" because the % reflects an uneven number of games played to-date

Teams with the same or fewer wins than the Lakers:

Atlanta - 7

Dallas - 8

Chicago, Sacramento, Memphis - 9

This puts LA in 6th place with 3 teams right on their tail.


Focusing on the 3 teams that are only 1 win away from catching LA, their upcoming schedules through December (13 more days) are:

Chicago (7 games, 4 road)
Orlando
@Cleveland
@Boston
@Miami
NYK
Indiana
@Washington


Sacramento (7 games, 3 road)
@Philly
@Brooklyn
San Antonio
@LAC
Cleveland
Phoenix
Memphis



Memphis (7 games, 6 road)
@GSW
@Phoenix
LAC
@Phoenix
@LAL
@GSW
@Sacramento



LA Lakers (7 games, 3 road)
@Houston
@GSW
Portland
Minny
Memphis
LAC
@Houston



bob
MY NOTE:  Some strange scheduling by the league.  Lakers have TWO away games in Houston but no home games against them, Memphis has TWO away games in GSW but no home games against them AND TWO away games in Phoenix and no home games against them in a 2 week period?  No home-away.


.

winning percentage is a reflection of how often a team wins so it is a factor in trending where a team is heading. For example the Celtics have more wins than any team but are not at the top. There are a lot of factors to consider.

I think a team's road record is a vital stat. For example Memphis hits the road for 6 out of 7 and since they have a poor road record at 3-9 you would expect them to drop in the standings.

I also think that the point differential is relevant. The Lakers are 9th from the bottom at -3.

We will continue to check the scores. The Laker pick is still outside of the where we would like but it is still in the mix.

dboss

Last night:

Dallas beat Toronto.  This is good for us two ways.
Chicago beat Milwaukee.
Phoenix beat Memphis on a inbound alley oop with .6 left.  A perfect pass to Tyson Chandler. 
Clippers beat Sacto.


The relevant standings are, in order of wins and then %:

Phoenix         13-23     .361
Brooklyn        12-21     .364
Charlotte       12-21      .364
Lakers          11-21      .344
Chicago         11-22      .333
Sacramento   11-22      .333
Orlando         11-24      .314
Memphis        10-24      .294
Dallas            10-25      .286
Atlanta           8-25       .242


The Lakers play Memphis tonight.  Memphis will be on the 2nd game of a b2b after that heartbreaking loss in Phoenix.


bob



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With about 48 games to go - I'll wager a bet or two that there will be several more fan changes in opinion before the final standings are posted - a long, long way to go.

swish

swish wrote:With about 48 games to go - I'll wager a bet or two that there will be several more fan changes in opinion before the final standings are posted - a long, long way to go.

  swish

Swish,

Just a running update, not a final score.  


bob


.

Lakers have a ton of injuries as do we.

Hi,
Sorry if it's already been answered. Is Lakers' 2-5 determined by the results of the regular season or by the lottery? Thanks.

AK

good question!

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
Sorry if it's already been answered. Is Lakers' 2-5 determined by the results of the regular season or by the lottery? Thanks.

AK

I think that it is the lottery but the teams with 3 worst records can only drop 4 spots from where they finish in the regular season.

dboss

kdp59 wrote:good question!

Lottery. That determines your final position.

Lakers lost again last night. this time to Memphis