Lakers 0-2

cowens/oldschool wrote:....and I got nothing against the Lakers, the player I hate on the most is Dwayne Wade

cow,

Sure you don't...


:=)


bob


.

Bob,

Yeah, isn't that Cowens the most gracious guy you've ever seen when it comes to Celtics opponents? He just loves everybody and is a great ambassador for the spirit of good will toward everything about the NBA.

I want to be him when I grow up.

Sam

sam wrote:Bob,

Yeah, isn't that Cowens the most gracious guy you've ever seen when it comes to Celtics opponents? He just loves everybody and is a great ambassador for the spirit of good will toward everything about the NBA.

I want to be him when I grow up.

Sam

sam,

I know. And he calls me a pitbull. Ok, maybe I am a bit. Ok, maybe more than a bit. Maybe the difference between Cow and me is that I like to smile and lift the opponent's chin a little higher before I sock them. I'd probably wait until the Lakers have a 10-game losing streak this season before I'd jump on them. After all, last season is last season, for all of us.


I want to be me when I grow up, I just don't know when that will be.


bob


.

Hey Bob, do you want to settle on Lefty O'Doul's so we can notify people?

Sam

The Lakers offense looked significantly better last night compared to Tuesday night. It's very hard to win games when you turn the ball over 24 times and that is what the Lakers did last night.

I think it was Cow who said yesterday that it looked like Dwight has lost a step. Dwight is a little rusty, but he looked great on the court last night. Instead of trying to score with his back to the basket, Dwight turned and went left or right around his opponent almost evey time he received the ball. He was either fouled or had a good look at a close distance to the rim.
I am not sure how Dwight goes 3-14 in free throws one game then 15-19 last night.

Kobe is still have issues with his foot but he still shot the ball for the second straight game.

Obviously, Nash is the one having the hardest time to start the season.
He is now the guy who passes the ball to the guy who passes the ball to the guy that scores. He didn't all of a sudden become a bad player or forget how to play. His leadership of the offense is a work in progress. He shin injury doesn't help things but he should be back soon, if not tomorrow night.

The Lakers defense did not do a good job last night. Nash and Blake struggled with rookie point guard Damian Lillard. Boy, I bet NJ/Brooklyn is kicking themselves now for trading away the 6th pick in the draft for Gerald Wallace.

As an fyi, LA's losing streak is now 12 if you could the last two OKC games last year...

No one's mentioned that Nash left last night's game after 16 minutes with a leg injury. I hope it's not serious.

Sam

sam wrote:No one's mentioned that Nash left last night's game after 16 minutes with a leg injury. I hope it's not serious.

Sam

Sam,

It happened with about 3 minutes left in the first half. He left the game but started the second half and was hobbling too much to play, so he came out after only 1 minute into the 3rd quarter. It did not seem to be serious. I believe that is the same ankle he rolled late in the preseason. This is apparently more of a shin injury.

sam wrote:Hey Bob, do you want to settle on Lefty O'Doul's so we can notify people?

Sam

sam,

I'm ok with Lefty O'Doul's. I wanted to go there and make sure they're ok with us commandeering a TV, but it is a nationally broadcast game, the Warriors game doesn't start until 2 hours later (10:30 ET vs 8:30 ET) there are a couple of TVs in the backroom if you remember, college football should be mostly over by 5:30 PT and baseball's over (with a happy ending for the fans out here) so I don't suppose it would be too much of a stretch to assume we'll be ok.


bob


.

tjmakz wrote:

sam wrote:No one's mentioned that Nash left last night's game after 16 minutes with a leg injury. I hope it's not serious.

Sam

Sam,

It happened with about 3 minutes left in the first half. He left the game but started the second half and was hobbling too much to play, so he came out after only 1 minute into the 3rd quarter. It did not seem to be serious. I believe that is the same ankle he rolled late in the preseason. This is apparently more of a shin injury.

ESPN is describing it as a "lower left leg contusion", meaning he got bruised. Not a ligament, etc. Nash did say that he came out after only 1 minute in the 2nd half because

"It was sore but I went out to try and play and then I planted on it
and it just kind of gave out on me," Nash said. "It was sore and
functionally I couldn't plant on it, or push off on it, or accelerate."

The two-time MVP said that lateral movement caused the leg to "flare up"
early in the third quarter, effectively ending his night.


Must be a pretty bad bruise for the leg to "just give out". Nash is 38 years old and will be 39 by the time the playoffs come. When I remind people of this, they're often stunned to find out he's that old. We're just so used to seeing players play we forget about Father Time. And so do they.



bob

cowens/oldschool wrote:WOW this kid Batum has posterized Kobe a few times already very very easily, according to the boxscore these 2 wings of the Blazers really took it to whatever wing counterpart was guarding them.....they're defensive problems are not exclusively Nash.

Batum is extremely athletic. He can posterize anyone when he gets going and drives to the basket.
There is a reason why Minnesota was willinging to offer him a big contract this past summer, which Portland immediately matched.

Batum and Lillard should be studs in the NBA.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Sam who'd you rather have as a BU point, Steve Blake or Jet or Barbosa?

cow,

I realize you asked this to sam, but jumping in here I have to say I'd rather have just about anybody than Steve Blake. He was awful as a starter in Portland and was barely tolerable as a backup for D-Fish ONLY because they were playing the triangle which allowed him to just go to the corner and wait for a pass and not have to actually run an offense like a point guard. Basically, he was 35-year old Derek Fisher without D-Fish's heart, grit and leadership. He does, however, have the 35 year old's athleticism (or less), speed (or less) and limited point guard skills (or less).

As a starter in the more point guard-oriented Princeton Offense, as opposed to the post-oriented Triangle, I expect him to be an abomination.

Sorry TJ, just NOT a Steve Blake fan...


bob


.

Cow,

I'm not a Blake fan, but I'd probably rather have him as a backup PG than Terry because I think the adjustment from shooting mode to playmaker mode greatly reduces Terry's effectiveness.

I want to say I'd prefer Barbosa over either of the other two, but frankly, i haven't seen what he can do at PG. I never judge a potential PG based primarily on his shooting ability. That will never, never happen. I hope Danny gives Barbosa some run at the point—at least in practice, which will hopefully warrant some game time at the position.

There are so many variables involving this team. But I'm happy that most of them have the potential to be positive rather than being apprehensive question marks.

So, if you're watching tv, you must have power. That's a good thing.

Sam

bob,

I don't disagree with anything you said.
Blake has had two terrible years with the Lakers and it's not like he will be getting any better. At some point I expect LA to trade Blake and/or Duhon for some other teams problem/ineffective player or to release one of them and eat the remaining amount that is on their contract. Blake has had one of the worst PER's in the league over the last two years. I wish they would give Darius Morris a chance as the back up pg but I guess LA doesn't feel he is ready or is as good as I think he can be.

I wouldn't mind LA picking up Jonny Flynn off of waivers but I can only assume that he is still available because he is not that good. If Nash is healthy and running the team like he can, LA's backup pg position will not make or break the team.

To answer Cow's question, would you rather have Barbosa or Terry as Boston's pg?

Mike Brown sounds confident about what he is doing with the Lakers offense. It makes sense that they work on this new offense. With Gasol being a great passer for a big man, this offense should work in time. It won't be great for Nash's assist numbers but I don't think he cares much about that at this point of his career.

Brown suggested that headaches created now by the offense would eventually disappear.

“We could spread the floor and play pick-and-roll all the time … but it will make us one-dimensional,” he said. “And when we’re in seven-game playoff series, for sure the later we get into the playoffs, they’ll be able to take us out of the offense because we’ll be so one-dimensional. What we’re trying to do, we’re trying to eliminate that and be hard to guard because it’s a read-based offense.”

via Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times

cowens/oldschool wrote:never noticed Batum before, hes got legit wing talent and Lilliard looks to be the real deal too.

Batum has been a solid player for several years and has improved each year. Portland had to match a $46 million/4 year offer from Minnesota to keep him, which I thought was overpriced, but he's a versatile, complete player. He's not a go-to guy, but he's an excellent complementary player who defends well and contributes in a lot of areas -- scoring, rebounding, steals, threes, even a few blocks and assists -- and has a low turnover rate. Very nice player. Batum and Aldridge are easily my favorite players on that team.

I didn't know anything about Lillard, but he sure looked good last night. He's a rookie and the season is long, so we'll see how it goes. Consistency is hard to come by with rookies. We'll see how he does against teams that have their act together, which the Lakers currently do not. It seems like each year there's a rookie or two that sneaks in under the radar or otherwise outperforms expectations, like Kawhi Leonard and Kenneth Faried last season. Maybe Lillard will be one of those guys.

Outside

I have a question, probably best answered by GYSO.

My die-hard Laker friend, Will, has suggested that the Lakers should go after Delonte West to play backup PG for Nash. My initial response, after saying he'd be an asset to LA, was to say that because the Lakers are sooo far over the $74.2M hard cap they can't sign anybody.

What if they cut loose a non-guaranteed contract, but are still over the hard cap? Can they sign him then?


bob


.

bob,

The Lakers could sign West if they cut one of their players.
They could cut one of their two non-guaranteed contracts (Sacre or Johnson-Odom) or one of their guaranteed contracts (Earl Clark or Duhon would be first to go.)
The Lakers could then sign West to either the NBA minimum or could offer him up to $1.59m which is the amount they have remaining from the mini-MLE after they signed Meeks.
The Lakers don't have a hard cap this season.
You only have a hard cap if you are eligible to use the full Mid-Level Exception AND use that Exception.

bob,

As tj says, the $74.3M "hard cap" only comes into play if a team (us for example) use the full MLE. There are a couple more exceptions that trigger the hard cap.

The Lakers are way past caring about crossing the luxury tax limit and can easily afford to get West under contract, if they want.

gyso