Game 11: Los Angeles Lakers (4-6) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (4-7) - WIN - 5-6

[Kilroy]

I mean, their is no lie.

Wow just wow!

Fook Rose lost all respect, which was very little to begin with, but now all gone.

Why though? Lonzo was weak. 1-6

Rose was fronting... Earlier in the game he tried to cross Ball over like 4 times in a row and couldn't shake him. When he went for the 5th, Ball basically walked away dribbling the ball... It was one of the most humiliating steals I've ever seen.
Rose was still dribbling but he didn't have the ball anymore...
Sucks there's no clips of that up yet... After ball did that to him, Rose went quiet for a while and we went on a run.

[evilpimp972]

Well he closed the first half, didn't he? He played worse in the second and Rondo closed over him. Lakers play better with Rondo on the floor, so what exactly is the problem other than you disliking Rondo?

I have a problem with Rondo playing 17 minutes straight to close a game in which he wasn't even that good (he played okay, but 1/7 is what you want?)
Lol he closed the first half, thank god he did, he is the starter.

Rondo played very well in the second half. Made a number of good plays in the 4th. Lonzo was 1-6, so why did he deserve to close using that logic?

Point is whoever plays well and helps the team more will close.

I guess we have a different opinion of "playing very well"
Crazy situation where the sophomore is held to a higher standard than a 31 yo former "star"

Anyway, go check that Denver game, Lonzo wasnt good untel the 4th quartier, things like that wont happen now

[ILC]

No, they're held to the same standard. Whoever plays better that game gets to finish it. You just can't make your peace with the fact Lonzo is not that guy so far.

[No name]

No, they're held to the same standard. Whoever plays better that game gets to finish it. You just can't make your peace with the fact Lonzo is not that guy so far.

Come on man. Lonzo player well to start. Got mass subbed. Rondo gets left on no matter his game. Lonzo is simply a ceremonial starter.

Rondo will get his minutes no matter what. Lonzo will not. Thats not being held to the same standard.

[ILC]

No, they're held to the same standard. Whoever plays better that game gets to finish it. You just can't make your peace with the fact Lonzo is not that guy so far.

Come on man. Lonzo player well to start. Got mass subbed. Rondo gets left on no matter his game. Lonzo is simply a ceremonial starter.

Rondo will get his minutes no matter what. Lonzo will not. Thats not being held to the same standard.

He played well to start, he closed the first half. He did not play well in second, he didn't close.

Rondo played badly vs Mavs, Lonzo closed. This is not rocket science

[TyCobb]

No, they're held to the same standard. Whoever plays better that game gets to finish it. You just can't make your peace with the fact Lonzo is not that guy so far.

Come on man. Lonzo player well to start. Got mass subbed. Rondo gets left on no matter his game. Lonzo is simply a ceremonial starter.

Rondo will get his minutes no matter what. Lonzo will not. Thats not being held to the same standard.

He played well to start, he closed the first half. He did not play well in second, he didn't close.

Rondo played badly vs Mavs, Lonzo closed. This is not rocket science

They subbed out LeBron at 7:25 in the 3rd. Walton's rotations and minutes have been extremely bizarre all season.

[TyCobb]

Why though? Lonzo was weak. 1-6

And Rondo was 1-7.

[Crooked-I]

Wow just wow!

Fook Rose lost all respect, which was very little to begin with, but now all gone.

Why though? Lonzo was weak. 1-6

Rose was fronting... Earlier in the game he tried to cross Ball over like 4 times in a row and couldn't shake him. When he went for the 5th, Ball basically walked away dribbling the ball... It was one of the most humiliating steals I've ever seen.
Rose was still dribbling but he didn't have the ball anymore...
Sucks there's no clips of that up yet... After ball did that to him, Rose went quiet for a while and we went on a run.

Saw that too. That was some lock down defender level stuff. Rose is a tough guy to guard especially the last couple of games.

[Dr Aki]

man, some players like to play with an edge.

this is nothing

[Landsberger]

Luke should put the players on the floor that have the best chance of finishing a win. Not sure why he would do anything else. The development year was last year. We’re on the clock with expectations this year. Ball will get his chance.

My entire point is that Ball won't get his chance. And lol at development year last year, might as well trade Ball + Ingram really fast because you're gonna be disappointed. They are still developing, unless you expect 21 yo to crush the league right now. Luke is just scared to lose his job.

He got only a couple less minutes than Rondo. That isn't a chance? it isn't like he's playing 15 minutes to Rondo's 35.

What I meant by "development year", and I'm not sure you really care at this point, was that last year we could afford to play developing youth over experienced vets. The vets were here to teach the younger guys primarily. This year it's flipped a little. The vets are here to provide experience and stability in a season that is supposed to mean something. Ball can develop behind Rondo. It seems like it's more of a transferred "pride" thing that Ball isn't finishing games over actually an evaluation of the value on the floor of the 2 guys. The thought seems to be that Rondo's presence and successes will hold Ball back to the degree that we may as well trade him over what we're doing now.

As for 21 year olds crushing the league. Who said that?... oh... that's right.... you did. This plays to the idea that the only thing keeping Ingram, Kuzma and Ball away from all time great status is the ineptitude of the Lakers leadership, the signing of veterans at their positions and that only fans know the truth. If you review the top 5 picks in all of the drafts going back throughout the "one and done" era you'll find a majority of them were nearly topped out by 21. Not saying that these guys are, rather that I trust the leadership to know who's ready for what and when. My thoughts on them are posted all over the place in here. I think we have 3 very good young players. I have't seen anything that tells me we're sitting on an all time great or even a first option on a contender in this group. To me they are in a perfect situation to be primary supporting players to a veteran superstar.... which we have. We need a few pieces around them and some consistent coaching and I think this rough start will be in the rearview mirror. If Ball closes some of the holes in his game and plays with some consistency then what you want will take care of itself.

[Landsberger]

Rose was fronting... Earlier in the game he tried to cross Ball over like 4 times in a row and couldn't shake him. When he went for the 5th, Ball basically walked away dribbling the ball... It was one of the most humiliating steals I've ever seen.
Rose was still dribbling but he didn't have the ball anymore...
Sucks there's no clips of that up yet... After ball did that to him, Rose went quiet for a while and we went on a run.

This was a great individual defensive play.... loved it.

You and I see the defense differently I believe. If you watch the game again and concentrate on what our younger guys(and even some of our veterans) do when the ball is on the opposite side of the floor from them you'll see the inexperience and mistakes that are killing our team defense. These great individual plays make the game fun to watch and create fodder for the internets but if this team is going somewhere that swipe means little if he's still got his body turned 180 degrees to his man with his hands at his sides for 80% of the possession. Ingram, and Kuzma do this in stretches as well. Our defensive problems rarely are on the ball.

Jackson hit the nail on the head when Ingram gave up a 3 to Butler in the 3rd quarter (I believe). He said that Ingram bit on the fake drive (Butler used it to create enough space to shoot over him) due to a lack of trust in the balance of the defense behind him(everyone thinking as a group of individuals on defense). This is what I believe as well. This is our defensive problem.... not that Ingram got faked out. When the unit begins playing like a unit the individual plays we remember will be woven into a much more effective defense. I put this at Walton's feet and circumstance at the moment. The players get a little bit of a break here because we've have no consistent lineups and the suspensions. It's early.... I think it will happen.

[stan francisco]

LeBron is ruining all our attempts to any semblance of team defense. He should of course lead, not hide behind the kids. It’s embarassing.

Magic should let him know that if that’s all he can give on that end during the beginning of season, he’ll have to come off the bench beginning of season. Right? Until he’s ready to move his ass on defense.

Or will Magic look the other way and point fingers at Luke?

LBJ, stop the primadonna bull, roll up your sleeves and dig in. Care.

His legs are not shot yet, he almost bumped his head on the jumbotron on that dunk yesterday. Is he just saving his knees, stat padding while resting on defense, playing offense only. Is this him passive aggressively getting Luke fired? What? Wtf is he doing?

He’s played great defense with team USA and in the playoffs seemingly can dominate on that end, too. When he wants to.

It’s called team defense not because the team takes care of that for the king while he rests.

Get off that high horse, King. Get down here with the pawns and dig in on D with the rest of them. Try to lead by example.

Beating KAJ’s and Malone’s scoring records etc would mean nothing to us LA fans if he doesn’t bring a ring or three before retirement.

[Jedi32]

Why did minny sign deng?

[Kilroy]

LeBron is ruining all our attempts to any semblance of team defense. He should of course lead, not hide behind the kids. It’s embarassing.

Magic should let him know that if that’s all he can give on that end beginning of season, he’ll have to come off the bench beginning of season. Right? Until he’s ready to move his ass on defense.

Or will Magic look the other way and point fingers at Luke?

LBJ, stop the primadonna bull, roll up your sleeves and dig in. Care.

His legs are not shot yet, he almost bumped his head on the jumbotron on that dunk yesterday. Is he just saving his knees, stat padding while resting on defense, playing offense only. Is this him passive aggressively getting Luke fired? What? Wtf is he doing?

He’s played great defense with team USA and in the playoffs seemingly can dominate on that end, too. When he wants to.

It’s called team defense not because the team takes care of that for the king while he rests.

Get off that high horse, King. Get down here with the pawns and dig in on D with the rest of them. Try to lead by example.

Beating KAJ’s and Malone’s scoring records etc would mean nothing to us LA fans if he doesn’t bring a ring or three before retirement.

Last night in the first, I think... Ingram got switched onto Towns and I think LeBron was on Wiggins...

Wiggins ran by Towns and Ingram battling down low with LeBron trailing... Ingram was getting manhandled pretty bad so he called for a switch with LeBron...
LeBron stopped cold and stared at him... And basically did nothing...
Wiggins went out to the 3pt line, when Ingram tried to follow, Lebron didn't move to take Towns... Ingram looked at him like 'You got him or not?' but LeBron still made no real effort to switch... Ingram wasn't sure if he could leave Towns, so he was left to pretty much try to defend both of them... and couldn't close on Wiggins... Wiggins got an open 3.

I'm inclined to give LeBron the benefit of the doubt on taking it easy at this point in the season... But that series pissed me off...

[BEazy]

Finally people are seeing what I've been seeing since the 1st game of the season. We got Goodwill LeBron.

[stan francisco]

LeBron is ruining all our attempts to any semblance of team defense. He should of course lead, not hide behind the kids. It’s embarassing.

Magic should let him know that if that’s all he can give on that end beginning of season, he’ll have to come off the bench beginning of season. Right? Until he’s ready to move his ass on defense.

Or will Magic look the other way and point fingers at Luke?

LBJ, stop the primadonna bull, roll up your sleeves and dig in. Care.

His legs are not shot yet, he almost bumped his head on the jumbotron on that dunk yesterday. Is he just saving his knees, stat padding while resting on defense, playing offense only. Is this him passive aggressively getting Luke fired? What? Wtf is he doing?

He’s played great defense with team USA and in the playoffs seemingly can dominate on that end, too. When he wants to.

It’s called team defense not because the team takes care of that for the king while he rests.

Get off that high horse, King. Get down here with the pawns and dig in on D with the rest of them. Try to lead by example.

Beating KAJ’s and Malone’s scoring records etc would mean nothing to us LA fans if he doesn’t bring a ring or three before retirement.

Last night in the first, I think... Ingram got switched onto Towns and I think LeBron was on Wiggins...

Wiggins ran by Towns and Ingram battling down low with LeBron trailing... Ingram was getting manhandled pretty bad so he called for a switch with LeBron...
LeBron stopped cold and stared at him... And basically did nothing...
Wiggins went out to the 3pt line, when Ingram tried to follow, Lebron didn't move to take Towns... Ingram looked at him like 'You got him or not?' but LeBron still made no real effort to switch... Ingram wasn't sure if he could leave Towns, so he was left to pretty much try to defend both of them... and couldn't close on Wiggins... Wiggins got an open 3.

I'm inclined to give LeBron the benefit of the doubt on taking it easy at this point in the season... But that series pissed me off...

Yep. Thats just the type of leadership that builds camaraderie and unity in the locker room, will motivate Ingram to follow LBJ’s lead, make BI jump in front of a train for him.

Primadonna / matador defense is not ignored in LA, LeBron. It’s not respected. Neither is talking about having your brother’s back, and then not do as you preach. Around here, we can spot gold diggers with a taste for the leisure from many milesfides away.

If he wants to be the man around here, he’d better start playing Luke’s defense. If not, I’d start questioning why exactly he’s not giving any effort on that end. He won’t take the fall if we have a bad record. I wonder if Luke’s defensive system perhaps (demands lots of crazy chasing) might speed up his knees’ aging, jeopardize his chances at breaking individual records? Reaching here.

He knows how to play solid defense. And any idiot can decide to give effort. On any level of team sports, you have to have your team mates’ back. Right now, LeBron doesn’t.

[stan francisco]

Finally people are seeing what I've been seeing since the 1st game of the season. We got Goodwill LeBron.

Since game 1, yes. You’re not alone.

I don’t think he wants to play Luke’s defense.

Edit-
The first 5-7 games were defensively so disorganized I assumed he was just waiting for the kids to settle down. I guess not. He’d better turn it up soon.

[Spens1]

Why though? Lonzo was weak. 1-6

And Rondo was 1-7.

Rondo at least passed the ball nicely. Lonzo defended well yes, but what passing was their from him.