Byron Scotts ideas and thoughts on his Lakers roster

[leeprettyp]

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-81037922/

His top priority, Scott wrote, is "to get our team to play defense on a consistent basis every single night."

"Accountability is obviously the first step. Desire & dedication are the next steps," Scott wrote.

Scott has an idea how he wants to deploy Bryant along with point guards Jeremy Lin and Steve Nash.

"We will have our share of PnR [pick and roll] because of those two guys & because of Kobe as well," explained Scott. "[Bryant will] be going in the post, mid-post, & elbows a lot. There'll be enough room for him to operate in space."

"I think Julius Randle has a lot of upside, great potential," he wrote. "Like everyone else, he's going to have to come in & work his way into the rotation. Which I'm confident he will."

As expected, Jordan Hill will get time at center -- possibly as the starter. Newcomer Ed Davis, a power forward, may also get time at the five.

"I envision Jordan getting good minutes at center position, using his speed & athleticism to his advantage," Scott wrote. "I like Ed's size. He's very good around the basket & can also block shots. He's gonna have to play in the post."

"I like what I saw of Jordan Clarkson," Scott wrote. "[I] think he's got great potential. I look at him now as just a guard, not a 1 or a 2."

Seems Scott's on board with Kobe being the primary post player on this team. Probably the best spot for him to operate at the tail end of his career. Good to see that we'll be expecting alot of Pick n Roll basketball when Lin is on the court which best utilizes his ability to get in the paint. Was kinda surprised that at this point we don't have Jordan Hill penciled in as the starting Center this season interesting. Also while I know he's not a shoe in to start at the PF position I still think Julius Randle is ready to play a starting role his rookie season. Boozer starting brings more vet experience and probably at this point would fit better with Lin on pick and roll offense. Also sounds like Clarkson will be getting some burn his rookie season (mainly because we can't rely on Nash playing nightly) I like the rookie confidence but remember he's a combo guard who focuses more on scoring. As much as I like the rookie I think bringing in Ramon Sessions would be perfect for this roster and would give us one of the best backup PG's in league. I haven't read anything on Sessions status and what teams he's interested in or getting interest from. The money has pretty much dried up so I'm not sure whats going on there. He could definitely help us

October's around the corner fellas. Thoughts on Eric Pincus article?

[ROballer]

Jordan Hill better start and get as many mins as he can handle....Jeremy Lin the same..don't care about anyone else

[H00PDREAMS]

I agree heavy minutes for Jeremy Lin. I think Scott will do much better at rotating players than Dantoni did.

[DEEP3CL]

Some of the things B pointed out I kinda already had thought of myself. I kinda knew he would make Julius earn his spot, and make no mistake about it Julius will earn it.

And I know I haven't been high on Nash at all this summer, but I'll admit if Byron uses Kobe,Nash and Lin in certain units I gotta admit that's some pretty damn high IQ on that perimeter. It also gives us multi options in certain sets.

But mainly I'm hyped for the fact Byron is already implanting the defensive mindset from the jump. I even heard Byron say if guys aren't playing D he will pull them, so if they want minutes they need to D up period.

Lastly all summer it was a bitch fess about not wanting or wanting Byron. I've always been of the belief that sometimes coaches have to go through a few jobs before they finally figure it all out. Very rarely are guys going to be Phil or Pat. These are the only two who had instant success from the starting gate in the modern NBA.

Byron can now take all of what he's learned from good to bad and make what works better for him and the team. What kept going over everybody head is that Byron wanted this job to make the Lakers right, all the other coaches wanted this job to try to erase past demons and make it about them. Byron cares about the Lakers and it's legacy. You think the last two coaches cared about that ?.........Hell no.

[BEazy]

Glad he's taking advantage of player's strengths instead of force feeding stupid philosophies down player's throats. Like DEEP said, Mike Brown and Antoni were all about themselves. Byron bleeds purple n gold and he won't go down without a fight and I must say that is reassuring.

[semi-sentient]

I like what I'm hearing from Scott, especially on the defensive end. We've got 3 good defenders in the starting lineup (Lin, Johnson, Hill), so it really comes down to him getting Kobe and Boozer to play harder on defense. If he can do that, as well as implementing a solid scheme, then we should be much improved over last season.

Offensively, it's good to hear that Kobe will be spending a lot of time in the post. That's where he'll be most effective both as a scorer and shot creator. Let Lin and Johnson do all the slashing/penetrating.

I'm kind of excited to see how this all works out, and also a bit concerned about Hill who is going to see an increase in minutes. I would love to see him play 30 mpg, but I just don't see how he can hold up for a full season.

[spaceballer]

I know people around the league aren't expecting a lot from the Lakers, but I'm really interested to see how things play out. Scott's saying the right things so far.

[KobeBryant24]

Whats Byrons defensive strageties? What kind of offense will we be playing?

[Hector_Reyes_8]

I agree, Lin should get heavy minutes. He fits in better alongside Kobe than Nash, being a better defender and being able to play off-ball. I'd like to see a Lin-Randle P&R. Davis should get minutes at the Center spot, he'd be used better there.

[TylersLakers]

He's talking as if Steve Nash can be a viable asset this season. I really hope so.

Defensive priority, I like it.

[dockingsched]

His teams in Cleveland were ranked 4th, 5th, and 2nd worst in the nba defensively. His hornets teams were below average defensively as often as they were above average. His last good defensive team was a decade ago on the nets. Hopefully all his talk leads to results on the defensive end.

[RollingWave]

Not sure how the spacing work with Kobe in the post in the current group. None of the bigs are good passers or have 3 point range. and Kobe himself is probably the team's best off ball cutter at this point . this seem to create a situation where we'll end up with most of our shots being 15 foot jump shots which has been proven to be a rather inefficient way of scoring.

The issue with Princeton offense set with this group is that you have a lot of guys who aren't the best passers or ball handlers in the world here, Lin's handle can be shaky for a PG, Young's off ball motion have never been his strong suit, and none of the big rate out as above average passers (Boozer in his prime was I guess, but that was a while ago.)

With so many new pieces moving around and a new coach, I really hope Scott stay simple offensively in the first year and just run a lot of horn based sets with either Kobe or Lin as the ball handler.

This would also be a good way to actually get the defense scheme up, by having a simplier offense you can focus more time and attention to the defensive end, the Lakers should have no problem getting a tough shot at all regardless of what they run offensively, so it stands that they should keep things simple and effective in the non-clutch situations.

[dAdo dA dEvil]

With Byron being the head coach i expect our guards (especially Lin) to play on a higher level. Something like CP3 and Kidd when he coached them . I know CP3 and Kidd is on another level but this season could be Lin's ticket to be on an all-star level with Byron's system. I also expect more alley-oop plays to our bigs (Hill / Davis / Randle) coming from Lin (Nash if he could play).

I like the idea of playing Kobe more on the post area. We know that Kobe is very effective in the post. His footwork is excellent and his low post skills is superb. As of the moment I can't think of any SG who can defend Kobe on the post one on one. Kobe on the post is a nightmare match up for the opposing team. If double team comes I know Kobe knows where to find the open guy ... or he could always do that trick where he throws the ball on the back board and go for the put back.

As we talk about defense I wonder if Byron could turn Hill into a defensive anchor. We all know that he could grab rebounds. I just want him to develop a shot blocking ability to defend the paint. Just let him focus on D and grab those offensive rebounds for put back on offense. Forget about that mid-range jumpers that MDA asked him to do. I like Hill but it makes me cringe watching him take those kind of shots. (It's like watching MWP shoots a 3). Let Boozer and Kelly take that jump shots.

I believe this season will be more exciting and more fun than the last one ...

[Edrees]

It sounds great, but Byron does need to realize that if we want to be a good defensive team, Steve nash can't play more than 18 mpg even if healthy. He is a severe defensive liability at this part of his career, and even worse pg defense than fisher was in his final years here because at least fisher could guard bigger, slower pg's with his muscle.

Lin can be coached to play D with practice, schemes, and effort. Nash is just too slow on his feet with his injuries and his age.

iIm optimistic about Scott and think he'll do a good job for reasons DEEP stated. Lets see what happens!

[Dr Aki]

well, if scott pulls it off (a good defensive team), then we're a lock for the 6-8 seed

cos the offense won't be a problem

[Ballerhogger]

I agree heavy minutes for Jeremy Lin. I think Scott will do much better at rotating players than Dantoni did.

He better..

[AdonisDeMarion]

SF:Bryant
PF:Boozer
C: Hill
SG:Nash
PG: Lin

Nash should be used as a spot up shooter

[Dr Aki]

SF:Bryant
PF:Boozer
C: Hill
SG:Nash
PG: Lin

Nash should be used as a spot up shooter

that lineup ain't playing defense

[semi-sentient]

Yeah, that's a horrible lineup.

Wes is one of our best defenders so he absolutely needs to start at the 3.

Nash can be our reserve PG.

[Michael Lucky]

nice to see Scott realizing that Clarkson shouldn't really be used as a 1 but more as a two at least that's my takeaway from what is written there. Having said that, commitment to D is great, but then again you need players that can play it and this roster is devoid of defensive minded players.