RealGM

When: October 30th, 2015, 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST
Where: Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California
How: TV-TWC Sportsnet Lakers/CSN-CA, Radio-ESPN 710 AM/KHTK SPORTS 1140 AM

Projected starting Lineups (LAL vs. SAC):

PG: #1 D'angelo Russell (6'5, Rookie, Ohio State)

SG: #6 Jordan Clarkson (6'5, 2nd Year, Missouri)

SF: #24 Kobe Bryant (6'6, 20th Year, Lower Merion HS)

PF: #30 Julius Randle (6'9, 2nd Year, Kentucky)

C: #17 Roy Hibbert (7'2, 8th Year, Georgetown)


VS

PG: #9 Rajon Rondo (6'1, 10th Year, Kentucky)

SG: #23 Ben McLemore (6'5, 3rd Year, Kansas)

SF: #8 Rudy Gay (6'8, 10th Year, Connecticut)

PF: #15 DeMarcus Cousins (6'11, 6th Year, Kentucky)

C: #00 Willie Cauley-Stein (7'0, Rookie, Kentucky)


Coaches' Tale of the Tape:

Lakers: Byron Antom Scott (Age: 54)
•Years Coached: 15
•Playoff Appearances: 4 (33-24 Record, 2x Finals Appearances from 2001-2003)
•Record: 437-582
•Accolades: NBA Coach of the Year (2008), 2x NBA All-Star Head Coach (2002, 2008)

Kings: George Matthew Karl (Age: 64)
•Years Coached: 26
•Playoff Appearances: 22 (80-105 Record, 1x Finals Appearance in 1996)
•Record: 1142-773
•Accolades: NBA Coach of the Year (2013), 4x NBA All-Star Head Coach (1994, 1996, 1998, 2010)

Projected Bench Matchups:
Marcelo Huertes (Brazil) vs. Darren Collison (UCLA)
Lou Williams (Missouri) vs. Marco Belinelli (Italy)
Nick Young (USC) vs. Caron Butler (Connecticut)
Ryan Kelly (Duke) vs. Omri Casspi (Israel)
Brandon Bass (LSU) vs. Kosta Koufos (Ohio State)

Notables not playing:
-None

Eye candy for this game: https://instagram.com/missmiafit/

Scott said after practice today that Russell will be the primary ball handler for next game.

So why was it made a point to put Russell off the ball in game 1?

was there some sort of injury/disciplinary action involved we don't know about or was Scott just being weird like usual?

Marionettetc wrote:So why was it made a point to put Russell off the ball in game 1?

was there some sort of injury/disciplinary action involved we don't know about or was Scott just being weird like usual?

Byron gonna Byron

moonpie wrote:

Marionettetc wrote:So why was it made a point to put Russell off the ball in game 1?

was there some sort of injury/disciplinary action involved we don't know about or was Scott just being weird like usual?

Byron gonna Byron

I guess so.

I'm fine with moving people around and trying out lineups, but this was the biggest WTF I've seen out of Scott so far.

We brought Russell in explicitly because of his court vision and ball handling, so we'd have an actual point guard prospect for once since Van Exel - then we stick him at the 2 in his first professional game?

It's not just about sticking him at the 2 because in an ideal world with an ideal coach, both JC and Russell are interchangeable. They're both "guards". Don't need to complicate it any further than that. What was most alarming was the way in which he was used. We weren't running him off screens, he didn't touch the ball at all for long stretches of time, and the times he was actually open, he didn't get the ball.

I mean seriously. Something is very wrong when it's the year 2015 and Kobe is posting a usage rate more than 10% higher than any of your young 3.

It's gonna be amazing, Julius Beast vs Cousins !

Moonpie, we're supposed to post eye candy not eye sores.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcKv3rQ2h-c&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lqzyNMrTCc[/youtube]

I really hope Byron isnt blowing smoke up our asses because seeing Russell 90% of the time completely uninvolved in the offense was depressing.

Also I'm pretty sure Willie Cauley-Stein is getting the start over Koufos.

Wavy Q wrote:I really hope Byron isnt blowing smoke up our asses because seeing Russell 90% of the time completely uninvolved in the offense was depressing.

I think Byrons job will depend on the growth of Russell. I could see sometime in the near future Byron scrapping this offense and running something else if Russell is not flourishing in it. I give it about 30 to 40 games.

The Regime wrote:Moonpie, we're supposed to post eye candy not eye sores.

Gonna need Deep's input here

The Regime wrote:Also I'm pretty sure Willie Cauley-Stein is getting the start over Koufos.

I'm just going off with who they started last game

Mirjalovic wrote:It's gonna be amazing, Julius Beast vs Cousins !

WCS

"Five players had more than Russell’s 36 touches, including reserve power forward Ryan Kelly (39), who played five fewer minutes than the rookie"

this pisses me off way more than anything else tbh.

Wavy Q wrote:I really hope Byron isnt blowing smoke up our asses because seeing Russell 90% of the time completely uninvolved in the offense was depressing.

My mother said that it looked like the other players didn't even like playing with Russell, and was trying to freeze him out of the offense. There can't be any truth to that, right?

I guess Russell is following that eating order. 2nd year guys like Clarkson/Randle eat 1st, Russell 2nd, Kobe needs to be last. He simply can't be shooting that much otherwise we're going to be a lottery team with no lottery pick...


At least Russell doesn't have to worry about Rondo having a career shooting night. All he has to worry about is Rondo's cutting which I'm sure Russell is already use too since he did that so much last night. Let's hope for a W. Last game still bothers me a lot...

Interesting to note that Clarkson said the change (Russell to PG) was "Coach's and Kob's" idea.

It makes sense to me. Clarkson (just like Randle) will push if they get the rebound, otherwise give Russell the ball in the half-court. Even if Russell weren't the 2nd guard int he lineup in game 1, it was obvious that the ball-movement was poor. This is partially Kobe's fault for ball-stopping, and also Clarkson (as PG), and Randle as a sort of slashing playmaker--we gotta reverse the ball.

In his interview, Russell said that if someone hasn't touched the ball in a while, he'll be able to note that and get them touches. That's something we didn't see a great deal of last game, and why I have hopes Russell can be that lead-guard. He's not just a great passer, but also has a distributor's mindset.

Let him focus on his strengths and gain confidence, and the shooting and dominant scoring potential will come.

Hopeful this seemingly minor tweak is one of the keys to making this season work.

Lakers lose this game and I think the season goes down hill.. This is a must win game