The Annual Prediction Thread (Standings, Statistics)

[Kilroy]

You did calculate what the total ppg came out to right?

JC won't avg above 10 if every Laker is healthy.

I think the lakers can make the playoffs, but I think your stat lines are complete farce...

Bass and randle contributing 20ppg?

What do you mean the total PPG?

Just because those are their averages doesn't mean that's what our PPG will be as a team. If that's the case, our team would have averaged 169 points a game last season.

You realize Clarkson did average almost 12 points a game last year in his rookie year? Usually rookies have quite a big jump from one year to the second year.

You do realize that last year every guard on the Lakers was out for a good chunk of the season and he was essentially the number 1 option in a pg oriented offense?

Jabari brown averaged 12ppg last season................. Where's his big jump by your logic.

Your stats are completely impossible, unless half the whole team is injured again...

Perhaps it's time you enlighten us with your brilliant projections, instead of simply shooting sarcastic holes in everyone else's.

From what I can tell, you got nobody playing and the Lakers still making the playoffs.

[EArl]

40-45 FTW depending on if we stay healthy.

[TylersLakers]

You did calculate what the total ppg came out to right?

JC won't avg above 10 if every Laker is healthy.

I think the lakers can make the playoffs, but I think your stat lines are complete farce...

Bass and randle contributing 20ppg?

What do you mean the total PPG?

Just because those are their averages doesn't mean that's what our PPG will be as a team. If that's the case, our team would have averaged 169 points a game last season.

You realize Clarkson did average almost 12 points a game last year in his rookie year? Usually rookies have quite a big jump from one year to the second year.

You do realize that last year every guard on the Lakers was out for a good chunk of the season and he was essentially the number 1 option in a pg oriented offense?

Jabari brown averaged 12ppg last season................. Where's his big jump by your logic.

Your stats are completely impossible, unless half the whole team is injured again...

Jabari Brown will be a training camp cut, Michael Frazier will make the team over him and Holmes.

Clarkson did average 12 a game and yes he was the main cog in the attack, but his role will remain the same this year as it was the majority of last year.

Clarkson, Lou Will, D'Angelo Russell are all going to see a lot of playing time and when Kobe doesn't play in back to back's, he'll be the primary scorer on the team. Also, Anthony Brown/Michael Frazier will see extended minutes when Kobe doesn't play. So not much will change with Clarkson's role. Also, given the growth going into his second year, I think it's possible he'll be our most consistent player. Clarkson will play the most minutes on the team this year, barring injury. We also don't have a lot of guard depth, so your counter being that others were hurt and opening up opportunities for him doesn't make much sense.

I'm curious to see what your projections are.

[dan-fantastic]

I think one of the better things about this year, is that I can see it going in several directions. It's impossible to predict, and IMO...thats a good thing.

Problem 1: Let's face it....we got some youth here, and youth is inconsistent. Just when they look good, and Russel plays an even match against Westbrook, he'll go lay an egg the following 3 games. People will need to be patient. Randle, Clarkson, Russel, Nance...these guys have some learning to do. Some mistakes to make.

Problem 2: I dont know what most people saw, but the only thing worse than Kobe not playing, was Kobe playing. Do people already forget the multiple 30+ shot games last year? The 22% shooting...or whatever it was? Let me start off with the disclaimer, that Kobe's the greatest Laker of all time (IMO), love the guy....yada yada. Hey....Jordan was the best, but I dont want him on my team now. It just is what it is. Kobe will dominate the ball...and thats exactly what we DON'T want. It's a frustratingly small sample size, but people remember how Nash struggled his first season here? PG's who need the ball cannot co-exist with Kobe. Ask Nash, Payton. Barring an absolute miracle, I see Russel and Clarkson really dragging through this season with Kobe. He' just dominates the ball.

Problem 3: Until I see otherwise, Randle couldnt last through 1 quarter of pro basketball without his leg exploding. That absolutely cannot be brushed aside. Do we have the next Greg Oden? Really this whole team has just been decimated by injury for 3 straight years. I like to hope that Nash took his $27mil, and his bad juju away.....but we'll see. We might have some training issues or something, because this has been ridiculous.

Pro 1: I think that we have some real real promise and talent with our young guys. Russel, Black, Randle, Nance, Clarkson...these are some real promising pieces. We may not make much noise this year....but we should have some fun.

Pro 2: Hibbert is in his contract year. We all know what that typically means. And let's face it...the ability is there. We've all seen it.


If, if, if.....If Hibbert plays like a beast....If Kobe moves the ball...If Bass, and Williams play well. If Russel, and Randle come out the gate full charge, and Clarkson continues growth....If All those things happen, sure, we could make the playoffs. Think about how bad our luck went these last couple years. Well if the pendulum swings the other way, with GOOD luck, we could have a fun, speedy, youthful, team. Lots of shooters, creators, depth. With this defensive monster of a center in the back.

As for myself.....I kinda hope the farewell tour takes a back-seat. Russel needs to have the ball, and Scott needs to sit Kobe if he doesnt move it along. We have some guys that we just have to let play. I just hope our FA's (Hibbert, Bass, Williams) play well, and the new guys grow.....and we have something that looks attractive to FA's next year. We wont have a first-round pick.

Showcase our FUTURE....not our past.

Oh...almost forgot....I say 33-36 wins. Would love to see better, but I'll go with that.

[TylersLakers]

I think one of the better things about this year, is that I can see it going in several directions. It's impossible to predict, and IMO...thats a good thing.

Problem 1: Let's face it....we got some youth here, and youth is inconsistent. Just when they look good, and Russel plays an even match against Westbrook, he'll go lay an egg the following 3 games. People will need to be patient. Randle, Clarkson, Russel, Nance...these guys have some learning to do. Some mistakes to make.

Problem 2: I dont know what most people saw, but the only thing worse than Kobe not playing, was Kobe playing. Do people already forget the multiple 30+ shot games last year? The 22% shooting...or whatever it was? Let me start off with the disclaimer, that Kobe's the greatest Laker of all time (IMO), love the guy....yada yada. Hey....Jordan was the best, but I dont want him on my team now. It just is what it is. Kobe will dominate the ball...and thats exactly what we DON'T want. It's a frustratingly small sample size, but people remember how Nash struggled his first season here? PG's who need the ball cannot co-exist with Kobe. Ask Nash, Payton. Barring an absolute miracle, I see Russel and Clarkson really dragging through this season with Kobe. He' just dominates the ball.

Problem 3: Until I see otherwise, Randle couldnt last through 1 quarter of pro basketball without his leg exploding. That absolutely cannot be brushed aside. Do we have the next Greg Oden? Really this whole team has just been decimated by injury for 3 straight years. I like to hope that Nash took his $27mil, and his bad juju away.....but we'll see. We might have some training issues or something, because this has been ridiculous.

Pro 1: I think that we have some real real promise and talent with our young guys. Russel, Black, Randle, Nance, Clarkson...these are some real promising pieces. We may not make much noise this year....but we should have some fun.

Pro 2: Hibbert is in his contract year. We all know what that typically means. And let's face it...the ability is there. We've all seen it.


If, if, if.....If Hibbert plays like a beast....If Kobe moves the ball...If Bass, and Williams play well. If Russel, and Randle come out the gate full charge, and Clarkson continues growth....If All those things happen, sure, we could make the playoffs. Think about how bad our luck went these last couple years. Well if the pendulum swings the other way, with GOOD luck, we could have a fun, speedy, youthful, team. Lots of shooters, creators, depth. With this defensive monster of a center in the back.

As for myself.....I kinda hope the farewell tour takes a back-seat. Russel needs to have the ball, and Scott needs to sit Kobe if he doesnt move it along. We have some guys that we just have to let play. I just hope our FA's (Hibbert, Bass, Williams) play well, and the new guys grow.....and we have something that looks attractive to FA's next year. We wont have a first-round pick.

Showcase our FUTURE....not our past.

Oh...almost forgot....I say 33-36 wins. Would love to see better, but I'll go with that.

Good post.

I anticipate Kobe playing a little bit different most of the time this season. When he came back from that Christmas rest, his shot attempts went down to 14.5 in January and he averaged 7.8 assists over that span. I think we'll see mostly that with also normal Kobe every now and then for stretches.

The following are games after the Christmas rest:

vs Phoenix: 10 points (4-10), 7 assists, 8 rebounds
at Denver: 23 points (6-11), 11 rebounds, 11 assists
vs Memphis: 15 points (6-14), 9 rebounds, 8 assists
vs Indiana: 20 points (7-14), 6 rebounds, 6 assists
vs Clippers: 4 points (2-12), 8 rebounds, 7 assists (Yikes)
vs Miami: 12 points (3-19), 6 rebounds, 7 assists
vs Cleveland: 19 points (7-14), 6 rebounds, 17 assists
at New Orleans: 14 points (6-14), 7 rebounds, 2 assists

I think we'll see a lot of stretches where he plays like that. And except for the Clippers and Miami game, he actually shot the ball pretty well, right around 43-45% -- I could live with that number.