Suns @ Lakers

[SlimShady83]

This team lacks rebounders can't keep giving up on rebounds

[SlimShady83]

Also I think Rui has lost his motivation for being benched and a 6th man role.

He really should start just because of that IMO

[ROballer]

After a sublime preseason, we're back to being the same inefficient offensive team.

We got lucky the Suns basically had Durant and a bunch of non scorers today, we would've been blown out with just Booker, not even Beal. And by most NBA teams.

Good luck with the Kings with this showing, they're dropping their 120 regardless of what we do defensively.

[Hans1984]

Barely beating a Suns team without Booker and Beal isn't a big achievement. I couldn't understand why so many "experts" thought this years team would be great. I think it's going to be a long season.

[stan francisco]

We held them to 11 points in the fourth?

I like.

[MAMBAEMD]

The Suns went cold but our defensive rotations were really good.
And LBJ was strong in the 4th.
Defense does still matter in this league .

Great win against a very good team, even though they didn’t have Booker and Beal.
A win is a win.

[tamaraw08]

We held them to 11 points in the fourth?

I like.

Against a team with one tired Aging Star with 4 non scoring teammates coached by a defensive minded Vogel? that sound about right.

[mighty_duck]

Are we sure Gabe is a better shooter than Schröder?

No, never has been.
Gabe career FG 39%, 3P 33%
Dennis career FG 43%, 3P 33%
Good defender, but nowhere near the driver or distributer Dennis is. A poor shooting shooting-guard in a point-guard's body.

Gabe had a good postseason run last year, but that should never have warranted 33 million in guaranteed money. He's the dictionary definition of a vet-minimum guy.

To a lesser degree, the same is true of Rui (not vet-min, but still massive overpay based on one good postseason run).

Oh well, gotta run with what we have for now.

[crazyeights]

Are we sure Gabe is a better shooter than Schröder?

No, never has been.
Gabe career FG 39%, 3P 33%
Dennis career FG 43%, 3P 33%
Good defender, but nowhere near the driver or distributer Dennis is. A poor shooting shooting-guard in a point-guard's body.

Gabe had a good postseason run last year, but that should never have warranted 33 million in guaranteed money. He's the dictionary definition of a vet-minimum guy.

To a lesser degree, the same is true of Rui (not vet-min, but still massive overpay based on one good postseason run).

Oh well, gotta run with what we have for now.

Lol Schröder’s release is so slow he couldn’t get a shot off in the WCF. Give me Vincent every day. Our whole team is cold to start the season, probably because we got flashbacks from a game 1 smacking. We’ll get it back.

[Beethoven]

Cold start to the season? cmon guys it has been two games.

You can be either

1-1
2-0
0-2

and we are right in the middle. Better start than last year.

[Landsberger]

So much for load management. Suns without 2 20 point scorers and we had to come from behind late to win. A win is a win but this one showed us that we're a year older version of last year's team at best.

Over under on the first injury to Davis or Bron by Thanksgiving?

[stan francisco]

So much for load management. Suns without 2 20 point scorers and we had to come from behind late to win. A win is a win but this one showed us that we're a year older version of last year's team at best.

Over under on the first injury to Davis or Bron by Thanksgiving?

That’s a lot of cheer a bit too far ahead of the holidays. We’ve replaced half our roster, don’t exactly think we’re too old.

LBJ is too old.

AD is fragile.

I agree that neither should play over 30 mpg. I’d keep LBJ at 26 for now, AD no more than 30. Until the playoffs.

It was fun to see Wood and AD playing pick n roll and killing it. How to stop that? Put the other coaches on notice. Go huge.

[tamaraw08]

So much for load management. Suns without 2 20 point scorers and we had to come from behind late to win. A win is a win but this one showed us that we're a year older version of last year's team at best.

Over under on the first injury to Davis or Bron by Thanksgiving?

That’s a lot of cheer a bit too far ahead of the holidays. We’ve replaced half our roster, don’t exactly think we’re too old.

LBJ is too old.

AD is fragile.

I agree that neither should play over 30 mpg. I’d keep LBJ at 26 for now, AD no more than 30. Until the playoffs.

It was fun to see Wood and AD playing pick n roll and killing it. How to stop that? Put the other coaches on notice. Go huge.

I think the minutes of the 2 depends on the competition or quality of the opponents.
D’Lo, Reaves and Rui were also expected to contribute more like combine for like 40-50 points. While Gabe, Prince, Wood etc pitch in for 12-18 points but unfortunately have been struggling with their efficiency.
I’m irked by Ham’s decision to bench Christie while putting his trust on Cam. He claims he likes to use a 5-out formation and yet kept using a checker like Reddish. It’s not like Max is a very poor defender like Ellington.

[Ball so hard]

Are we sure Gabe is a better shooter than Schröder?

No, never has been.
Gabe career FG 39%, 3P 33%
Dennis career FG 43%, 3P 33%
Good defender, but nowhere near the driver or distributer Dennis is. A poor shooting shooting-guard in a point-guard's body.

Gabe had a good postseason run last year, but that should never have warranted 33 million in guaranteed money. He's the dictionary definition of a vet-minimum guy.

To a lesser degree, the same is true of Rui (not vet-min, but still massive overpay based on one good postseason run).

Oh well, gotta run with what we have for now.

Lol Schröder’s release is so slow he couldn’t get a shot off in the WCF. Give me Vincent every day. Our whole team is cold to start the season, probably because we got flashbacks from a game 1 smacking. We’ll get it back.

So you prefer Gabe because his shot looks better, to hell with the actual result. How’s that for logic? I get it!

[Landsberger]

So much for load management. Suns without 2 20 point scorers and we had to come from behind late to win. A win is a win but this one showed us that we're a year older version of last year's team at best.

Over under on the first injury to Davis or Bron by Thanksgiving?

That’s a lot of cheer a bit too far ahead of the holidays. We’ve replaced half our roster, don’t exactly think we’re too old.

LBJ is too old.

AD is fragile.

I agree that neither should play over 30 mpg. I’d keep LBJ at 26 for now, AD no more than 30. Until the playoffs.

It was fun to see Wood and AD playing pick n roll and killing it. How to stop that? Put the other coaches on notice. Go huge.

The Roster that will make a difference in games is largely the same. The fluff on the bench changed over but none of those guy are making a dramatic difference.

We will go as Bron and Davis go... no one else can make a game changing impact on a daily basis. If those 2 have to carry the team we will have to again be a .500 team that slips into the insanity that is the current playoff format and hope for a few weeks of consistent health. Not seeing this team in the top 1/2 during the regular season.

[Ball so hard]

So much for load management. Suns without 2 20 point scorers and we had to come from behind late to win. A win is a win but this one showed us that we're a year older version of last year's team at best.

Over under on the first injury to Davis or Bron by Thanksgiving?

That’s a lot of cheer a bit too far ahead of the holidays. We’ve replaced half our roster, don’t exactly think we’re too old.

LBJ is too old.

AD is fragile.

I agree that neither should play over 30 mpg. I’d keep LBJ at 26 for now, AD no more than 30. Until the playoffs.

It was fun to see Wood and AD playing pick n roll and killing it. How to stop that? Put the other coaches on notice. Go huge.

The league released a report a few weeks ago that states something along the lines of the perceived benefits of load management are no longer supported by scientific data. However, you continue to advocate for a form of load management. I'm not even sure I believe the 'no longer' part of that claim… I believe load management rarely worked. Sure I can see the benefits for certain players such as Kawhi. I've been arguing for a while now that limiting AD's minutes, in particular, has next to no benefit, given the nature of his many injuries.

[tamaraw08]

So much for load management. Suns without 2 20 point scorers and we had to come from behind late to win. A win is a win but this one showed us that we're a year older version of last year's team at best.

Over under on the first injury to Davis or Bron by Thanksgiving?

That’s a lot of cheer a bit too far ahead of the holidays. We’ve replaced half our roster, don’t exactly think we’re too old.

LBJ is too old.

AD is fragile.

I agree that neither should play over 30 mpg. I’d keep LBJ at 26 for now, AD no more than 30. Until the playoffs.

It was fun to see Wood and AD playing pick n roll and killing it. How to stop that? Put the other coaches on notice. Go huge.

The Roster that will make a difference in games is largely the same. The fluff on the bench changed over but none of those guy are making a dramatic difference.

We will go as Bron and Davis go... no one else can make a game changing impact on a daily basis. If those 2 have to carry the team we will have to again be a .500 team that slips into the insanity that is the current playoff format and hope for a few weeks of consistent health. Not seeing this team in the top 1/2 during the regular season.

No Laker fan in his right mind would dispute your point about their heavy reliance on James and AD. But the Lakers are hoping that their 2 Vital cogs would be fresher by Playoffs. They committed a ton of money to keep D'Lo, Reaves and Rui hoping these guys can somewhat sustain their productivity they saw late in the season.
D'Lo averaged 18 pts, 6 assists 41% from 3 in 17 RS games, was ok in the playoffs until he wet the bed vs Denver where he shot under 14% from 3pt area with 3 of those games they lost by an ave of 4.3 pts,.They probably thought if only he shot 35% and not 14%... things might have been a little different?
Reaves averaged 17.6 pts, 5.5 assists, 44%3pt% in his 23 post Allstar games.
Rui just ave 9pts, 5 Rebs in the RS with the Lakers but showed a lot of promise in the playoffs with 12 pts and whopping 67TS% in 16 games.
No it would be foolish to assume these guys can duplicate those numbers but they probably assumed they are still in good shape even if those stats dip a bit esp with a full training camp that they can get about 45-55 pts/game from them, hence less work load for James and AD.
You add more consistent 3pt shooters like Prince and Wood, both shot above 37% career and hopefully they space the floor much better.

[Landsberger]

That’s a lot of cheer a bit too far ahead of the holidays. We’ve replaced half our roster, don’t exactly think we’re too old.

LBJ is too old.

AD is fragile.

I agree that neither should play over 30 mpg. I’d keep LBJ at 26 for now, AD no more than 30. Until the playoffs.

It was fun to see Wood and AD playing pick n roll and killing it. How to stop that? Put the other coaches on notice. Go huge.

The Roster that will make a difference in games is largely the same. The fluff on the bench changed over but none of those guy are making a dramatic difference.

We will go as Bron and Davis go... no one else can make a game changing impact on a daily basis. If those 2 have to carry the team we will have to again be a .500 team that slips into the insanity that is the current playoff format and hope for a few weeks of consistent health. Not seeing this team in the top 1/2 during the regular season.

No Laker fan in his right mind would dispute your point about their heavy reliance on James and AD. But the Lakers are hoping that their 2 Vital cogs would be fresher by Playoffs. They committed a ton of money to keep D'Lo, Reaves and Rui hoping these guys can somewhat sustain their productivity they saw late in the season.
D'Lo averaged 18 pts, 6 assists 41% from 3 in 17 RS games, was ok in the playoffs until he wet the bed vs Denver where he shot under 14% from 3pt area with 3 of those games they lost by an ave of 4.3 pts,.They probably thought if only he shot 35% and not 14%... things might have been a little different?
Reaves averaged 17.6 pts, 5.5 assists, 44%3pt% in his 23 post Allstar games.
Rui just ave 9pts, 5 Rebs in the RS with the Lakers but showed a lot of promise in the playoffs with 12 pts and whopping 67TS% in 16 games.
No it would be foolish to assume these guys can duplicate those numbers but they probably assumed they are still in good shape even if those stats dip a bit esp with a full training camp that they can get about 45-55 pts/game from them, hence less work load for James and AD.
You add more consistent 3pt shooters like Prince and Wood, both shot above 37% career and hopefully they space the floor much better.

I hope for it as well.

Consistent and 3 point shooting don't go together regardless of final shooting %. Consistency gets higher the closer you are to the basket. It's not "old fashioned".... it's science. Sure we need players who space the floor but it would also be nice to have your 6'-10" player, who shoots nearly 68% in the paint.... well.... actually shoot more in the paint.

We're off to a 1-2 start that could easily be 0-3.

Finally, hoping for anything to change, or consistency, in Russell is a waste of time. He is what he is. His best days in the NBA were the fashion shoot with Randle.