2014-15 Official Lakers Season Thread, Vol: We Love Each Other

[pmatic]

Scott is official. Ugh.

 

[tay1]

 

[Johnny_Cakes]

Scott is official. Ugh.

Don't see the issue here. They won't overachieve like Dantoni team.

 

[pmatic]

Scott is official. Ugh.

Don't see the issue here. They won't overachieve like Dantoni team.

Truuuue.

 

[kingjaffejo]

Ahh welp! I think this has been a productive day!

 

[kingjaffejo]

Don't see the issue here. They won't overachieve like Dantoni team.

I keep saying this. Like I still don't understand why everyone is in "disgust" with Scott ...I thought this is what everybody wanted

We. The Lakers. Are really in here discussing who's better of a coach between friggin MDA and B Scott!

This is really an all time Laker low
We're living in the last days boys lmao

 

[pmatic]

I wanted some tactical acumen and entertainment to come with the losses!

 

[senorroboto2k5]

The way I see it:

Bad coach is gonna help a bad team be bad. That's cool - as long as he doesn't stunt any development in the young guys.

Young, promising coach could've also helped the team be bad, while also potentially growing into a keeper over the years. Better option.

I'm not mad at option A, but it just means they're gonna need to ride this ride again once Byron's worn out his welcome. But who knows who'll be fussing over their current contracts or whatever by then, so maybe it works out better. And there's also a risk of Randle/Clarkson/Kelly getting the short end of Byron's rotations.

 

[lakers29]

I think byron will do just fine.  (although, i thought Dantoni would be decent since he had Nash...but dantoni was terrible.  I think we are just scared as fans.  but byron should be better, at least kobe respects him somewhat. 

 

[pmatic]

I think byron will do just fine.  (although, i thought Dantoni would be decent since he had Nash...but dantoni was terrible.  I think we are just scared as fans.  but byron should be better, at least kobe respects him somewhat. 

Kobe respected and was a fan of D'Antoni's to start too.

 

[lakers29]

Kobe respected and was a fan of D'Antoni's to start too.

very true haha.  but that clip of him laughing at dantoni subbing him out of a game, showed he had no respect for him as a coach. 

I mean if he sucks...its like oh well, back to team tank.  I was on board last year from the start. 

 

[senorroboto2k5]

And Kobe is probably gonna do the same to Byron

 

[pmatic]

Kobe respected and was a fan of D'Antoni's to start too.

very true haha.  but that clip of him laughing at dantoni subbing him out of a game, showed he had no respect for him as a coach. 
I mean if he sucks...its like oh well, back to team tank.  I was on board last year from the start. 

I don't remember that, but nothing beats this:

 

[goldmember]

Kobe respects MDA man but it doesn't mean he'll follow his lead

I mean Kobe says NO to Phil too ..at times when he tried to sub him out

 

[essential1]

Not a sub but





This is a lack of respect for a coach

 

[CP1708]

Kobe respected and was a fan of D'Antoni's to start too.

very true haha.  but that clip of him laughing at dantoni subbing him out of a game, showed he had no respect for him as a coach. 
I mean if he sucks...its like oh well, back to team tank.  I was on board last year from the start. 

I don't remember that, but nothing beats this:

I remember that night was the end for me and Mike Brown.

I wanted him shot, killed, revived, stabbed to death, revived, and hung.

Literally the worst moment of any coach in sports history.

If I remember right, he was fired within 48 hours. That was 48 hours too long. Shoulda been dead before they reached the showers.

 

[tay1]

I remember that night was the end for me and Mike Brown.

I wanted him shot, killed, revived, stabbed to death, revived, and hung.

Literally the worst moment of any coach in sports history.

If I remember right, he was fired within 48 hours. That was 48 hours too long. Shoulda been dead before they reached the showers.

wherd?

 

[miamib30514]

Byron got another oppo, good for him.

 

[pmatic]

Bresnahan:

Lakers' roster hasn't gotten much of a boost in off-season

These off-seasons just keep getting rougher.

The Lakers wanted Carmelo Anthony. Struck out.

They offered Pau Gasol $29 million over three years. He said no.

The Lakers followed up last year's whiff on Dwight Howard with a silent summer consisting of very little new energy and a lot of familiar faces.

Jeremy Lin is in after losing his starting job in Houston.

Carlos Boozer was plucked from the waiver wire after being continually benched in Chicago's crunch time.

Jordan Hill is back at the outrageous price of $9 million next season.

Kobe Bryant turns 36 in a few weeks and Steve Nash, at 40, is the league's oldest player. At least there will be some entertaining moments from Nick Young, for better or for worse.

Here's a look at the roster as it stands now.

GUARDS: One of the first questions the new Lakers coach (presumably Byron Scott) will have to answer is who starts at point guard: Lin or Nash?

Nash played only 15 games last season.

Lin couldn't keep the starting job in Houston because of Patrick Beverley, who averaged 8.7 points and 1.8 assists in the Rockets' first-round playoff exit against Portland. Ouch.

Here's a nod for the starting job to Lin, who is 15 years younger than Nash, who will no longer get partisan treatment because Mike D'Antoni is no longer the coach.

Bryant gets the start at shooting guard. He played six games last season. He made $30.5 million and scored 83 points. That's $367,470 per point. The Lakers are hoping for a little better return on their money after signing him to a heavily scrutinized two-year, $48.5-million contract extension.

If he doesn't look like the old Bryant, there will be problems. Lots of them. Not a good thing for a team that thoroughly bored its fans at Staples Center by finishing with the worst home record in the West (14-27).

FORWARDS: The Lakers actually won something!

Boozer fell into their laps after Chicago decided he wasn't worth $16.8 million. The Lakers' bid of $3.3 million was enough to win the services of an aging power forward who played only the first and third quarters toward the end of last season, replaced by younger and more active Taj Gibson in the second and fourth quarters.

And at small forward …

Therein lies the problem.

Right now, it's looking like Xavier Henry, who played only half a season because of injuries, or Wesley Johnson, who seemed to float in and out of the Lakers lineup … and drift around the court most games.

Bryant could also see time at the position, too, depending on whom the Lakers hire to coach their team.

CENTER: Gasol said no to the Lakers' advances, so Hill became the backup plan to start at center.

Hill is an average player who doesn't look like such a lottery bust after posting career highs in scoring (9.7 points a game) and rebounding (7.4) in his fifth NBA season.

His supporters point to his per-48-minute averages of 22.3 points and 17.1 rebounds. But reality points to something else — he tended to flame out quickly and stayed on the court for only 20.8 minutes a game last season.

Basically, he's an energy guy who can't sustain energy for long periods of time.

BENCH: Swaggy P!

If nothing else, the Lakers bought themselves four more years of Young for the relatively fair price of $21.5 million. He'll be ebullient off the court, unpredictable on it and a reporter's best friend when quotes and context are needed.

Most eyes, though, will be on rookie forward Julius Randle, who already looks like a high-value pick after the Lakers took him seventh overall in last month's draft.

He was highly entertaining on the Lakers' summer-league team, acting more like a point guard than power forward with his crashing drives toward the rim from atop the key.

Randle also showed smart passing skills, kicking out to open shooters, and some decent post moves. He's a good outside shooter, but not great, something he'll need to work on between now and October.

Beyond that on the bench, there will be big men Ed Davis and Robert Sacre, second-year forward Ryan Kelly, the loser of the Johnson-Henry starting competition, and second-round draft pick Jordan Clarkson, who showed some flair in summer league.

And, of course, Nash, might be a reserve. The Lakers would have waived him had they signed Anthony and Gasol, but now they'll eat the final year of his contract in one $9.7-million chunk instead of spreading it out over three years and taking up precious cap space in the summers of 2015 and 2016.

OFF-SEASON GRADE: C-. Maybe even a touch lower.

Nothing can be worse than last season.

The Lakers were 14th in the Western Conference and 27-55 overall as Bryant and Nash failed to stay on the court.

Pencil them in for 12th in the West next season and a victory total in the low 30s. And practically no chance at a championship.

At least that's what Las Vegas says.

Earlier this month, as the Lakers wooed Anthony, MGM Resorts International had them at 12-1 odds to win the championship next season. That has since fallen to 30-1.

Gambling site Bovada thinks even less of the Lakers, dropping their championship odds from 33-1 on July 11 to 50-1 a few days ago. Their company at that price: Toronto, New Orleans and Memphis.

It isn't all doom and gloom for the Lakers.

Minnesota will finish below them after trading Kevin Love for draft picks and youth, whenever that happens.

Utah was somehow below them last season and that was without any injury excuses. Denver and Sacramento will also give them competition in the West's basement.

The Lakers are ahead of a few teams, but look like a good bet to miss the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1975-76.

Link

 

[grandtheftbike]

 

[pmatic]

Ziller:

Byron Scott is a good coach who can't solve the Lakers' problems

When the richest team in the NBA takes all summer to find a coach, watching them settle on someone who has "journeyman" scratched all over his resumé might seem like a disappointment. While other franchises are nabbing interesting hires like Quin Synder or David Blatt, or proven winners like Lionel Hollins, the L.A. Lakers landed on Byron Scott, he of a career .444 winning percentage as coach, and a man who seemingly didn't get a single serious look from the other half-dozen teams hiring this offseason.

It really is a pattern-busting hire. Consider the other head coaches hired this offseason: Steve Kerr, Snyder, Blatt, Hollins, Jason Kidd, Derek Fisher, Stan Van Gundy and Flip Saunders. The final two are the only guys who'd been a head coach for at least two NBA franchises previously. Van Gundy has been one of the league's most sought-after free agents since leaving Orlando, and Saunders hired himself in Minnesota. So really, the Lakers hiring Scott, who has previously coached three teams and did not seem to be in much demand, was unique this offseason. That old coaching carousel canard would be dead (for now) if not for L.A.

The Lakers' decision to hire Scott is certainly boring in the context of 2014, but that doesn't make it bad. The money ($17 million over four years with only three guaranteed) represents the new norm for head coaches; in fact, Scott might be a little underpaid given his experience. Regardless, coaching salary only matters when an owner is too cheap to buy out the last year or two of a bad tenure. It doesn't count against the cap and it's dwarfed by player payroll. The Lakers have shown a willingness to buy out coaches who aren't a good fit, and this contract won't make the Buss family think twice if things go sideways.

As for Scott's chops, many will and have pointed to his dismal run in Cleveland, where the Cavaliers were consistently among the league's worst teams, especially on defense. But that was part of the deal: he coached the first post-LeBron year in which the club barely even had any youth to develop. Anderson Varejao is the only member of that team still in Cleveland, and a good portion of that roster is currently out of the league. The lineup improved gradually, adding Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson in 2011-12 and Dion Waiters for Scott's final, fatal season. It was a total lack of improvement in 2012-13 that felled Scott, but remember that Irving missed 23 games and Varejao only played in two dozen. Most would admit that roster was not built to win, either, and in fact another coach (Mike Brown) failed with a modified version of it a year later despite adding Luol Deng midstream.

Canning Scott in 2013 was justifiable as far as these things go in the NBA. But there were much weaker cases against Scott in his two previous dismissals. Scott took the Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals immediately prior to being fired midseason in 2003-04 (thanks J-Kidd!) and had a really solid run in New Orleans, which included a 56-win season and some pretty savvy work while Chris Paul dealt with injuries. In 2009-10, the then-Hornets started 3-6, earning Scott his walking papers. Under Jeff Bower, the team finished 37-45. I dare say Scott wasn't the problem.

So that's where the Lakers find themselves: making a typical NBA coaching carousel hire in a wholly atypical offseason, picking up an undervalued, affordable coach despite being able to afford basically any coach the franchise wants. Fit is a huge part of any coaching hire, but we really have no idea what sort of team Scott will be dealt this season until we know more about Kobe Bryant's health, and the 2015-16 season is even more mysterious at this point. But on its merits alone, this is a fine decision for a team in purgatory. No coach was going to solve the Lakers' conundrum this season, and it's unlikely Byron Scott will make things any worse.

The problem for Scott is that the Lakers' likelihood of winning big any time soon is remote, so there's a strong chance he piles up more losses than wins and ensures that this is the last NBA head coach contract he ever signs. This season is shaping up to be pure torment in L.A. The West is fantastically deep, the Clippers look poised to be great again, and the Lakers' important offseason ended up keeping much of last season's 27-win roster while adding Jeremy Lin, Ed Davis and Carlos Boozer. L.A. only keeps its pick if it ends up with a top-five selection, which will be very difficult without lottery reform. Making the playoffs may be even more difficult. Even with a healthy and spectacular Kobe in 2012-13, L.A. barely snuck in, and that team had a better supporting cast and an easier chase in the West.

Even then, simply making the playoffs isn't usually enough to sate the masses. What would Scott have to accomplish to walk away unbruised? A deep run? A sixth title for Kobe? How impossible does that look? Scott wins by getting one more big NBA contract, and that will certainly help him sleep comfortably for the rest of his life. And he gets to run the team he bleeds for. But after he's done counting money and once the sheen of returning to the Lakers dulls, he's really in a no-win situation as he ties the end of his career to that of Kobe. The odds of this working out favorably for Scott are low.

That said, as Scott knows all too well, few tenures in the NBA end well. Might as well go out in style.

Link

 

[Maximus Meridius]

Lakers' roster hasn't gotten much of a boost in off-season

Really? We ain't notice.

 

[la kb24]

this is going to be a loooong season...

 

[goldmember]

Don't really need a breakdown of the current situation just to say that we suck

 

[bravelude]

lol. well see how it goes