2014-15 Lakers Season Thread (21-61) KAT

This summer, if the chance comes, Love, Rondo, Neither, or Both?

  • Love

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Rondo

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Neither

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Both

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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    0
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Houston hasn't budged in the standings since dwight went down

Plenty of teams passed on Whiteside :lol:. And clarkson...marc gasol...randle. give the guy a break
 
I really like not seeing a record number of 30 pt losses like the Antoni lakers, competing and playing hard so the youngsters learn what it takes to win, yet still losing to keep our top 5 pick, now if we can just see what Black has to offer I'll be content
 
Lizaker4Lizife said:
I really like not seeing a record number of 30 pt losses like the Antoni lakers, competing and playing hard so the youngsters learn what it takes to win, yet still losing to keep our top 5 pick, now if we can just see what Black has to offer I'll be content
Click to expand...

yea buddy got alot of shots in during warmups I thought he was gon play
 
By special request:

“With The First Pick In The 2015 NBA Draft …”
With March Madness around the corner and an undefeated season in sight, University of Kentucky head coach John Calipari has gone away from his much publicized platoon system. After playing his top players comparatively limited minutes over the first few months of the season, Cal has started to ride them down the stretch, most notably freshman phenom Karl Towns. In Kentucky’s 72–64 win at Georgia on Tuesday, Towns was limited to just 27 minutes because of foul trouble, but when he was on the floor, he was truly dominant (19 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block on 12 shots).

In fact, when Kentucky has been challenged in SEC play of late, they have gone to Towns, who seems to get better by the week:

  • vs. Georgia: 15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks on 11 shots
  • at Florida: 19 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks on 11 shots
  • at LSU: 12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals on 13 shots

Towns’ February surge comes too late, most likely, to put him in the Player of the Year race, but his overall numbers do now compare more favorably against Duke freshmen Jahlil Okafor, long considered the front-runner to be the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft.

  • Towns (per-40 minutes): 18.8 points, 12.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 4.4 blocks on 56.7% shooting
  • Okafor (per-40 minutes): 23.4 points, 12.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.8 blocks on 66.3% shooting

There is little doubt that Okafor is the better scorer of the two, but Towns is the better defensive player. At 7'0 250 with a 7'3 wingspan, he has the length, athleticism and timing to be one of the best shot-blockers and rebounders in the NBA.

1*rIeI5wnyk2ITOLSdDEYEow.jpeg


Quite simply, the paint is a no-fly zone when Towns is in the game:

1*q6_ft-2v9ebrYoKXxYrAuQ.gif


Georgia has two solid NCAA big men in Marcus Thornton and Nemanja Djuresic, and neither had much success creating 1-on-1 offense against Towns. Here, the Kentucky big uses his supreme length to swallow up Thornton on a face-up attempt:

1*YAOY2XwHoHINafpBqtfmug.gif


Trying to post Towns up is a largely fruitless exercise, too, as he has the bulk to push offensive players off the block and the length to contest their shot while staying in front of them:

1*iXvzfyPhtHcBgavO77fiQQ.gif


Opposing teams have had virtually no success in attacking Towns this season, something which you don’t see all that often for a freshman big man, no matter how talented.

1*B3OW8wAeEKDgW-hqalv5qg.jpeg


To its credit, Georgia was able to stay in the game against the Wildcats because they spread the floor, and by running multiple pick and rolls, forced the Kentucky big men to defend out to the three-point line. Towns does possess the athletic ability to be an excellent perimeter defender, but he’s still years away from developing the instincts to be able to contest shots without fouling. And even though the Bulldogs guards didn’t always make shots in the two-man game, they did manage to get decent looks — a virtual impossibility for Kentucky ‘s previous opponents this season:

1*ErxN4vCkGnCM7UwzIoioUw.gif


Georgia did find success in taking advantage of Towns aggressiveness on the defensive end of the floor. As one would expect for a freshman big men who is one of the nation’s best shot-blockers, Towns has a hard time resisting a pump fake in the lane.

1*AJUK4W3m92s1VTZdQMQmvg.gif


In fact, the biggest knock on Towns’ readiness to play at the next level is his astronomical foul rate (he averages 5.7 fouls per 40 minutes of action and has been in foul trouble several times over the last few weeks). Discretion is the better part of valor, and that’s one of the toughest things for a young guy with Towns physical ability to learn. When he can keep his hands straight up, and put the opposing ball-handler in jail around the rim, he has more than done his part:

1*SiMK48MYZoXtFRswQ4pVfw.gif


As Charles Barkley mentioned during the telecast, one of the most difficult aspects of playing Kentucky is the fact that they almost always have two seven-footers on the floor during the game.

Basically, even if you can get Willie Cauley-Stein out on the perimeter and away from the basket, Calipari still deploys a second elite shot-blocker in Towns behind him. Of course, this only works because Towns is the rare 7'0 player with the skill-set and athleticism to be able to play as a PF in the modern NBA, and that might actually be the most intriguing part of projecting him at the next level.

Towns is the rare rookie who will walk into the NBA with a size and athleticism advantage on the vast majority of the guys he will be going up against:

1*Cb98wXh2p90khGvXFeN4BQ.png


That type of size advantage translates just as well to the offensive end of the floor, where Towns can bully smaller players at the front of the rim. With the game on the line, Kentucky repeatedly went to Towns in the post, and there was almost nothing the smaller Georgia defenders could do to stop him:

1*C7nigDE8QQnNcTeiKV-rzg.gif


Even if you push him out of the lane, he can operate out of the mid-post just as easily, using his quickness to create an easy shot at the rim:

1*_LHNPxdJwlBuNx5Vri7vpA.gif


Towns shot chart shows a guy with few offensive weaknesses at the college level. You can run offense through him at the front of the rim, on the low block, and from the high post:

zlwv3r.png


Where Towns takes things to another level is his excellent passing skills. He just knows how to read the floor with his back to the basket. Watch him dissect a Georgia double-team and find the open man in a corner, which ends up resulting in an easy put-back dunk for Marcus Lee:

1*8u7vY4-IXRrBhyt4fb3QQg.gif


When Towns make plays like that, you can see why the vast majority of NCAA teams sit in a zone against Kentucky, just daring the ‘Cats guards to beat the from the perimeter. Devin Booker should have to give a percentage of his lottery paycheck to Towns and Cauley-Stein because he gets to feast on so many uncontested shots from the perimeter.

Say what you want about Calipari’s stacked roster, as much talent as Kentucky enjoys, everything starts with Towns — who simply took over the final few minutes against Georgia:

1*AxWxIo8E7GyUVz2zw_1A_A.gif


Even crazier, as dominant as Towns has been, he hasn’t really been allowed to showcase the full extent of his game. Because Kentucky sees so much zone (and Towns is usually playing with another big man who clogs the lane), they rarely use Towns in the pick-and-roll, which will undoubtedly be a staple of his game at the next level.

1*kd2FzsxDFpnTbfGJ_4gmpA.jpeg


Imagine Towns in a spread pick-and-roll with a high-level NBA point guard, surrounded by with NBA-caliber three-point shooters (i.e. not the Harrison Twins), and there’s really no telling what he could do.

1*_dbvp-MSSEw7mLMhsHDBdw.gif


Simply put, Towns is as impressive a prospect as has come out of the college game in recent memory. He is an athletic seven-footer with elite offensive upside, whose defensive game is NBA-ready right now, and he can comfortably swing between the center and power forward positions.

Towns projects as an elite scorer, shooter, rebounder, passer and defender, and in just his first season of college basketball, he is the best player on an undefeated team that has the chance to go down as one of the best in the history of the sport. You just can’t draw it up much better than that.

Forget 2015 — what with Okafor lurking. There aren’t any drafts where a player as gifted as Towns wouldn’t be able to make a strong case to be the No. 1 overall pick.

Happy hunting Knicks, Sixers and Timberwolves!
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The last sentence in the piece hurts.
 
Imagine Towns in a spread pick-and-roll with a high-level NBA point guard, surrounded by with NBA-caliber three-point shooters (i.e. not the Harrison Twins), and there’s really no telling what he could do.
Click to expand...

Nomnomnomnomnomnomnom
 
If it's not posted in here, it's in the NBA Draft thread or my Twitter timeline.

Edit:

CP1708 said:
Imagine Towns in a spread pick-and-roll with a high-level NBA point guard, surrounded by with NBA-caliber three-point shooters (i.e. not the Harrison Twins), and there’s really no telling what he could do.
Click to expand...

Nomnomnomnomnomnomnom
Click to expand...
A Randle and Towns pick and roll, similar to this is what dreams are made of:


 
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dis franxhise gone whack. no one knows who scouts? yet we see trisha takanowa behind the LA bench. also, whose that baldish ahmish cat that passes out towels n stuff. dude was lifeless, n reminded me of steve blake.
 
Some rumblings that Mudiay could go number one.

Lord please let it happen, I just need Towns to drop to us!

:nerd:
 
Bravelude said:
dis franxhise gone whack. no one knows who scouts? yet we see trisha takanowa behind the LA bench. also, whose that baldish ahmish cat that passes out towels n stuff. dude was lifeless, n reminded me of steve blake.
Click to expand...
Bruh.
 
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