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How can we help Walton go from this:








to this?:








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What are some simple adjustments Walton can change to make the growth process easier for the group as a whole?

Starting Larry Nance Jr. at center?
Moving Russell to shooting guard?
Starting Ivica Zubac?
Playing Brandon Ingram at the four?

Concentrating on something that everyone has a chance at being successful at....... defense. More than any other aspect of the game it's 5 guys working together and effort. If he can change that end of the court the other will take care of itself. It's also where we seem to put the least effort unfortunately.

I would like to see us trade Young and put Clarkson in the starting lineup to see if that jump starts his past successes again. Let that play out the season then if we still see the massive inconsistency we can begin to look to trade him for a needed piece.

Zubac is an interesting one. I don't think he fits this offense and/or talent pool. Will Luke set up a more traditional offense to get him post touches or will it all be P&R with him? If we do either I think we need some shooting in the front court. Randle is good at a few things but stretching the floor or getting his defender out of the paint isn't one of them. The team is not complementary if you add Ingram and Zubac to the starters. We're missing some balanced pieces.

It was always going to be a tough year for him. The most realistic expectations were to improve 10 to 15 games IMHO. It seems we're on that track now. If not for the 10-10 start the fan base would most likely have a different view. That start was the outlier not what we are seeing now.

SHutdown Ingram and Russell.
Start Clarkson with Randle, etc. Increase their trade values for a pick or a 3d player if none of the big names are available. Needs to make sure whether Nick yOung will resign or not.... If not, trade him or bench him.

Hope for a top 3 pick and Luke to start fresh with a player that will help us next season

Keep on giving Russell and Ingram 30 minutes a game.

Try to convince Clarkson that passing the ball isn't a bad thing.

Give Mozgov a new pair of hands so he can start catching some of Russell's passes.

Starting Nance jr. at Center sounds really interesting.

Send Deng to the bench and possibly out of the rotation of Luke can't get him minutes at pf. Russell and Randle need two wings that can spread the floor beside them not just one, it's such a huge handicap with Deng out there. Might necessitate bringing Clarkson to the starting lineup and sliding Young to SF.

Ideally, if you dont consider age...

Deng is a more ideal fit than Randle to DLO.

Cut down the rotation. It's great that we have a ton of different players that can contribute, but by trying to play everybody every night we can never truly have any consistency on this roster.

I say cut the rotation to 8-9 players. Whether that means trading multiple guys to consolidate players into 1 or 2 players via trade who can give us exactly what we need every night, or benching guys like Deng and Moz so the guys that can actually play get the bulk of the minutes.

lake_show wrote:Cut down the rotation. It's great that we have a ton of different players that can contribute, but by trying to play everybody every night we can never truly have any consistency on this roster.

I say cut the rotation to 8-9 players. Whether that means trading multiple guys to consolidate players into 1 or 2 players via trade who can give us exactly what we need every night, or benching guys like Deng and Moz so the guys that can actually play get the bulk of the minutes.

I think the problem with that is player's will lose focus and energy. I seriously think Luke promised the bench guys legit minutes, hence why they always play with so much energy...

If we have DLO, Randle, Moz, Deng and Nick.

Other 3-4 would be

Lou
JC
Ingram
Nance

which is not sufficient imo. If you cut the bench, ideally either JC or louwill would need to go and you continue playing either black or Zubac.

Vesper wrote:Ideally, if you dont consider age...

Deng is a more ideal fit than Randle to DLO.

At pf you're probably right, but Randle is a core young piece who also needs to be given a chance to succeed. You gotta live with his current short comings just like Russell and Ingram.

Vesper wrote:

lake_show wrote:Cut down the rotation. It's great that we have a ton of different players that can contribute, but by trying to play everybody every night we can never truly have any consistency on this roster.

I say cut the rotation to 8-9 players. Whether that means trading multiple guys to consolidate players into 1 or 2 players via trade who can give us exactly what we need every night, or benching guys like Deng and Moz so the guys that can actually play get the bulk of the minutes.

I think the problem with that is player's will lose focus and energy. I seriously think Luke promised the bench guys legit minutes, hence why they always play with so much energy...

If we have DLO, Randle, Moz, Deng and Nick.

Other 3-4 would be

Lou
JC
Ingram
Nance

which is not sufficient imo. If you cut the bench, ideally either JC or louwill would need to go and you continue playing either black or Zubac.

Nah... I'm saying we sit Moz and Deng. Play Ingram in the starting line-up with either Balck, or Zu, and bring Nance, Lou, JC off the bench. Which I know might never happen because Moz and Deng are in there due to political reasons.

Or, trade a couple guys in a 2 for 1 trade (or something like that) where we can get a player that gives us what we need by himself instead of having to use 3 or 4 guys at the same spot (like we currently do at the PF spot).

Shutdown Mozgov, and Williams...

Pg: Russell Sg: Young Sf: Ingram Pf: Deng C: Randle
or
Pg: Russell Sg: Clarkson Sf: Ingram Pf: Randle C: Nance Jr

Play all the young guys big minutes... Make sure we get the pick... and work on the defense...


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Russell and Ingram are coming good so start them. Have Deng and Mozgov play very limited minutes (10-15 for Deng, next to nothing for Mozgov for being a complete scrub). Start Zubac and have Black as the main backup (couldn't possibly be worse than our current starting rotation). Consider benching/limiting Clarksons minutes (he's been awful at times) and maybe if a good trade offer comes along, take it.

land a top #3 pick

Look at the big picture moving forward, and assign minutes based on player development rather than winning games. I'd start all the young guys from this point on, Ingram, Russell, Nance, Randle, and Zubac. I still think Clarkson is going to be that solid Danny Green=esque championship caliber role player, so hold on to him. FO shouldn't make any drastic trades. We got Lou and Mozgov to boost our win record. That didn't work out so we need to use them off the bench.

For Clarkson haters...Statistically Clarkson is doing great, shooting over 50% from 2pt range...his 3pt. range isn't that bad but could be better. I'd also look into getting a true PG right now just to see what the team would look like playing Russell off ball.

But we need to get Ingram and Zubac on the court as much as possible. It's all about player development and getting them as much playing time as possible.

Luke comes from serious basketball mind pedigree - Coach Wooden, Bill Walton, Phil Jackson, Steve Kerr. He coached last year's warriors with great success. It's not the coaching.

On the court, he should keep patiently preaching what he's been preaching. Off the court, he should know by now who is a lost cause and who should stay. Do something with the roster before TD.

I suggest a fire sale style trade of Young, Clarkson, Deng. We need intense defense.


In Luke I trust.

he should really get more creative with his tie selection. it'll help motivate the team.

I also think that he should run lots of inside out with Zubac and Russell. Add Ingram and Nance to the same lineup for longer stretches, see what the baby Lakers tendencies look like for the future. Add a defensive point guard to that lineup and give it a year...

Freez/trade Lou, Swaggy, Deng and Mozzie for the rest of the the damm season ( try to get rid of them at deadline)

Play Russ/Clarkson/ingram/Randle/Zubac with Nance as 6th man .
Tanking+development of youngsters via big minutes.

What the doctor ordered.

I understand the sentiment to want sit Williams if he isn't traded, but there's value in Williams helping to keep the lakers in games so the youngsters can get meaningful minutes rather than a ton of garbage time.

Lou can stay for a bit because he's necessary instant scoring. Nick isn't.