OT: LOL at LAL

[moqui]

Duhon is really terrible.

Zach Lowe had a good article about the Lakers today. Puts a lot of the defensive blame on both Dwight and Kobe.

I put the blame on Kupchak and Jim Buss.

Everybody and their sister knew that the Lakers needed to get younger & more athletic after last season . . . but the "brain trust" went in the opposite direction, bringing in one of the oldest point guards in the league and a center coming off of back surgery. their other two main pieces didn't get any time off because they represented their countries in the Olympics and both played all the way into the finals.

hmmm, whoever could have predicted that this old & injury-recovering team might have some physical breakdowns?

 

[CorduroyG]

I put the blame on Kupchak and Jim Buss.

Everybody and their sister knew that the Lakers needed to get younger & more athletic after last season . . . but the "brain trust" went in the opposite direction, bringing in one of the oldest point guards in the league and a center coming off of back surgery. their other two main pieces didn't get any time off because they represented their countries in the Olympics and both played all the way into the finals.

hmmm, whoever could have predicted that this old & injury-recovering team might have some physical breakdowns?

i dont think theyd be in much better shape if they kept bynum

 

[moqui]

i dont think theyd be in much better shape if they kept bynum

you really think that the only options that were available to them were the ones they played?

 

[Gabjon]

I put the blame on Kupchak and Jim Buss.

Everybody and their sister knew that the Lakers needed to get younger & more athletic after last season . . . but the "brain trust" went in the opposite direction, bringing in one of the oldest point guards in the league and a center coming off of back surgery. their other two main pieces didn't get any time off because they represented their countries in the Olympics and both played all the way into the finals.

hmmm, whoever could have predicted that this old & injury-recovering team might have some physical breakdowns?

How is that different than the Knicks? 2 guys on the Olympics, got older and not younger, Amare still hurt....

 

[CorduroyG]

you really think that the only options that were available to them were the ones they played?

im just talking about the bynum for howard trade, that was a no brainer. howard is regarded as the best center in the league and is only 26 years old. and was healthy every year until last year. bynum is hurt just about every year and only 2 years younger than howard. and not as good.

 

[moqui]

How is that different than the Knicks? 2 guys on the Olympics, got older and not younger, Amare still hurt....

• the Knicks' Olympians are in their 20s and have played thousands less lifetime minutes than Kobe & Gasol
• the Knicks were already younger & more athletic than the Lakers and needed leadership more than legs
• the Knicks added a 28 year old point guard, not a 38 year old point guard

 

[Gabjon]

• the Knicks' Olympians are in their 20s and have played thousands less lifetime minutes than Kobe & Gasol
• the Knicks were already younger & more athletic than the Lakers and needed leadership more than legs
• the Knicks added a 28 year old point guard, not a 38 year old point guard

I here you but if Phil was the coach do think the Lakers would this bad?

 

[4evaOrange]

Mark Stein reports the Lakers are not happy with either one and are looking to move one or both

Bring him in...Give him a shot, not much to lose right? I think he will play good with these guys. He will be a true point guard in that spot and still have the chance to score...

 

[Knicks411]

I still think that if Nash comoffs.es back and they keep him healthy they will be a tough out in the playoffs. But obviously I think a lot less of them than I did in the summer.

So Steve nash has played 2 games, and Grant Hill 0. That Phoenix medical staff might be pretty good.

 

[CorduroyG]

Obviously my 60 win total ain't gonna happen

But assuming nash and gasol come back and they stay relatively healthy they'll make a run and snag a 4 or 5 seed in the playoffs and be the team that everyone will want to avoid in 1st round.

Sent from my SCH-R720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[OrangeDW]

Id love to see Johnny get another shot, but they have a young D. Morris(who I think is very good) and a vet Duhon. Who's spot does Johnny take if this does happen?

Duhon sucks, but D'antoni loves him. I mean, he knows what to do, he's just not very good at it. Can't shoot to save his life.

And Morris really isn't good at this point. He's 6'5 and reasonably athletic and young, but he hasn't done much.

 

[moqui]

news today:

Howard out "at least a week" with torn labrum

Gasol out indefinitely with a concussion, will not travel with team on 2 game Texas road trip

Jordan Hill out indefinitely with a hip injury, will not travel

Lakers are going to look like a Filipino team - no players over 6-6 - until they call Robert Sacre up from the D League

I'm starting to re-think my 53 win cap on the Lakers

 

[Gabjon]

news today:

Howard out "at least a week" with torn labrum

Gasol out indefinitely with a concussion, will not travel with team on 2 game Texas road trip

Jordan Hill out indefinitely with a hip injury, will not travel

Lakers are going to look like a Filipino team - no players over 6-6 - until they call Robert Sacre up from the D League

I'm starting to re-think my 53 win cap on the Lakers

LOL! Lakers are done! and I love it!

 

[CorduroyG]

moqui nailed this one, decent chance they dont even make the playoffs.

 

[Knicks411]

season is gonna be ugly for them. even if they make the playoffs they wont be getting a home series.

I think Dwight might actually leave. I'd bet on him staying, but its possible.

 

[moqui]

over the last four full NBA seasons, it has taken an average of 48.5 wins to nail down the 8th playoff spot in the West . . . Lakers have to go 34-15 the rest of the way to get to 49 wins.

 

[cuserulesall]

LOL! Lakers are done! and I love it!

No doubt , lakers suck and i'm loving every minute of it !

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

 

[Knicks411]

over the last four full NBA seasons, it has taken an average of 48.5 wins to nail down the 8th playoff spot in the West . . . Lakers have to go 34-15 the rest of the way to get to 49 wins.

Yeah but right now the 8 seed is on pace for 45 wins, and the 9th place team is on pace for 41. So I'll go under on 48.5

 

[Gabjon]

There next 3 games are at Houston, at San Antonio and vs OKC with no Pau or Howard...they're done!

 

[kirbivore]

In a year where the Lakers are staring at the lottery, they traded their 2013 first round pick to Phoenix with no lottery protection.

 

[moqui]

I have to revive this old thread just to LOL one more time, having just read this:
"The Lakers have an old beat up team and during the offseason they need to bring in some young talent."

"The Lakers are old and need to get young" has been the post mortem analysis for three consecutive seasons, but GM Lurch Kupchak and his princeling boss just keep wheeling out older and older squads.

 

[Knicks411]

I feel like they're going to try and move Gasol.

I'm not sure what else they can really do, I think they are pretty capped out. Probably amnesty Artest.

I still would've done what Kupchak did though. Not sure what moves for young talent there was out there.

Edit: Also worth noting he had a trade to get Chris Paul, which was called off by Stern.

 

[moqui]

I still would've done what Kupchak did though. Not sure what moves for young talent there was out there.

I've always been a Steve Nash fan, but a defensively challenged point guard with over 35,000 miles on the odometer and who was going to turn 39 mid season was the very last thing the old slow Lakers and their porous perimeter D needed. It was a stupid move of that set the season up for failure.

Pau's contract is an expiring deal, so it isn't as scary, but the math is inescapable - the Lakers are going to have to eat a bad contract or two to move his $20M. Will it be worth it for one young talent who in all likelihood is not going to be superstar level? They will have to hope that Artest opts out so they can use the amnesty on one of those contracts. In the end, I bet they are going to end up deciding that what Pau gives them is more than they get offered in return, and they will send out the same core group, a year older, with another motley collection of minimum salary guys to masquerade as a bench.

Edit: Also worth noting he had a trade to get Chris Paul, which was called off by Stern.

Lurch gets too much credit for that non-deal. The trade for Paul was a bust not because "Stern called it off," but because the team owner always has the final say, and the team owner at the time were the 29 other guys competing with the Lakers. Stern was just a messenger boy, doing what his bosses told him to do. In the real world, that deal never had a chance of getting over the ownership hurdle.

 

[Knicks411]

I've always been a Steve Nash fan, but a defensively challenged point guard with over 35,000 miles on the odometer and who was going to turn 39 mid season was the very last thing the old slow Lakers and their porous perimeter D needed. It was a stupid move of that set the season up for failure.

It was probably also a risk since they couldn't bring the Phoenix medical staff with him. But I'm not sure who they would have at PG if they didn't pick up Nash. Ramon Sessions? I don't think he is really moving the needle for them. (As a Knicks fan, I didn't want them to move Shump for Nash, for whatever that is worth).

Pau's contract is an expiring deal, so it isn't as scary, but the math is inescapable - the Lakers are going to have to eat a bad contract or two to move his $20M. Will it be worth it for one young talent who in all likelihood is not going to be superstar level? They will have to hope that Artest opts out so they can use the amnesty on one of those contracts. In the end, I bet they are going to end up deciding that what Pau gives them is more than they get offered in return, and they will send out the same core group, a year older, with another motley collection of minimum salary guys to masquerade as a bench.

Yeah, Pau may be tough to move. And I don't know who the coach is going to be next year, but it never seemed like D'Antoni had any interest in utilizing Gasol's best attributes, so I'm thinking if he is the coach next year than they look to move him. But they have Kobe and Gasol coming off the books next year; assuming they can re-sign Dwight (and I suppose this is true even if they don't) the best move may just to play out next season with a similar cast of characters to last year, and then have a top of cap space to work with next summer. (When Lebron can opt out...)

Lurch gets too much credit for that non-deal. The trade for Paul was a bust not because "Stern called it off," but because the team owner always has the final say, and the team owner at the time were the 29 other guys competing with the Lakers. Stern was just a messenger boy, doing what his bosses told him to do. In the real world, that deal never had a chance of getting over the ownership hurdle.

Maybe, but the point I was attempting to make was that Kupchak was trying to make the Lakers younger and quicker, and he thought he had a deal in place that was going to do that.