Season Opener Hot Takes

[PKABOOICU]

present them here-

-Brandon Ingram is a bust. Coming out of Duke, his weakness was body strength, and his strength was shooting. Ever since he came in to the NBA, his Jumper has been broke beyond imagination. He's showing flashes of getting to the basket, but he's just too weak. Pretty good defensive instincts. His jumper and confidence is what's holding him back. It needs to be found ASAP.

-Lonzo Ball got a a reality check. Game 1 of the season, and he's hounded by arguably the best 1 on 1 defender in the league; and taunted at mercilessly. Beverley really let him know that he's in for a long season. Somewhere, Lavar Ball is very worried.

-Larry Nance is a bright spot. Still hasn't developed a shot. I really dont see him in our future plans, but he's our best young piece right now every which way you look at it.

-Julius Randle has got to go. He might be buried on the bench this season. He does absolutely nothing besides the occasional 94 foot coast to coast contested layup. He got yoked on pretty hard by Blake Griffin, and that dunk will probably end up in the top 5 of the year.

-Brook Lopez is our best player, by far, but boy does he have rebounding issues. Too bad we can't teach an old dog new tricks. Running the offense primarily through him probably gives the Lakers the best chance to win, but the dude is always 12 feet away from the basket on defense. Its like he's allergic to rebounding.

-Kuzma needs to see the floor more to get acclimated to the grind of the regular season. Just give him all of Randle's minutes, and lets see what he can do against elite talent.

-Clarkson is just the same ole Clarkson. Ball stopping guard looking to get his. As long as JC is our best weapon, we're in trouble. However, I like him coming off the bench for 22 minutes a night. I just dont like his game too much. Nothing has really improved from his rookie season outside of his jumpshot.

-Caruso, Ennis, Deng, Zubac, and any other player outside of KCP is trash now. KCP needs to come back and lead the team with some of his versatility and leadership. I think he'll be fine.

[Spanish_Laker]

Pretty much agree with everything.
Ingram is terrible, he should have been traded this summer, not D-Lo.
Ball will be fine I think, in summer league he also had a terrible debut, I think he will be all right.
And Randle is just an expendable player, I wish we had traded his ass to Indiana for PG last summer.

[TKainZero]

That starting lineup is awful

Are we really going to run deng out there?

Ball was abused... (gonna be a long year)

[BBBKobe]

Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka will not bring the Lakers back to the glory days.


The D'Angelo trade was a franchise mistake, why not give Ball , Russell, Ingram, Kuzma, and Nance a chance together?



Ingram might have to go in order to move Deng. Maybe it won't be a major loss..

[Laker_Kid]

gotta love the doomsday attitude from so called Lakers fans. keep it up!

[snaquille oatmeal]

I wish we still had Metta to knock around arrogant PGs that show off by abusing our 19 year old rookie.

IB looked nervous af. He needs to relax and let the game come to him and not force it.

Lonzo did ok, didn’t panic and he feeling things out on the court.

Lopez needs a reminder that he is a big and rebound on defense.

Kuz was also nervous af, but he will get over it faster than IB

Randle should be six man

[TylersLakers]

Lonzo will be fine. Limited pre-season. I'm more so concerned he has a history of injuries. That's my one concern about him.

I hate Deng in the starting line-up as a SF.

I also don't like Randle on the bench and playing 18 minutes. Yes, his effort wasn't good at times, but with as good of a pre-season as he had and as good of an off-season he had, he should be starting. Nance was empty stats to me in my opinion. Which leads to my next point:

Randle was a pretty good creator in half court sets last year. Especially when it comes to dribble hand offs. This starting line-up, outside of transition opportunities and Lopez post ups, has ZERO creators on it. Randle needs to start for this reason. And if Bogut is going to be in the rotation, I would almost rather see Deng play backup PF instead of Nance to add shooting to that second unit. This time is so devoid of shooters.

Not impressed with Luke tonight.

[BeanBurrito]

Why is Deng starting over someone who can still run?

Maybe we can look into hiring that assistant coach from the Warriors if this doesn't work

[TylersLakers]

Also, at one point in the second half, we had one of the worst line-ups out there I could have ever imagined. Brewer, Randle, Clarkson, Bogut, and some other non shooter. Just brutal.

12 guys played. The only one who wouldn't have played if it was a close game was Tyler Ennis because he played all of his minutes in the fourth quarter.

11 guys in a rotation is way too much.

In no particular order, here should be the guys playing:

- Lonzo -- (30-35 mins)
- Ingram -- (32-34 mins)
- Lopez -- (25-28 mins)
- Kuzma -- (20-24 mins)
- Randle -- (28-32 mins)
- Clarkson -- (22-26 mins)
- Nance (or Deng) -- (15-18 mins)
- Caruso (or Ennis) -- (12-15 mins)
- Bogut -- (10-12 mins)

[lamscott]

Lonzo would have had a better stat line if he didn't immediately just give it up to his crappy teammates as soon as he crossed the half court line. He needs to CP3 the ball and control the offense.

He made a bunch of nice passes to teammates who either bricked the jumpshot or had no clue on what to do with it thereafter.

[gts1]

so far Lonzo looking like Lakers brought a poodle to a dog fight, dude played spineless..

Randle needs to play with an edge, spent all that time getting bigger and stronger yet still tries to finesse guys... he's big and strong and fast needs to play likes he's big strong and fast.

Ingram looks like he's lost, some of that has to be on the coaches, it's like they keep telling him to let the game come to him so he's just waiting..

Nance is Nance, all hustle, needs to find a go to shot, something he can rely on, but otherwise you can't fault the guy he comes to play

Put Kuzma in the starting rotation slide Ingram over to his normal position

Took Lopez too long to figure out his shot wasn't falling and to get closer. He could help Randle and Ingram if he played closer to the basket, he's too good in the paint to be hovering around the perimeter.

Clarkson needs to find his niche.. looked okay for the most part, once the rotations sort out the bench will look better. Clarkson and the bench looked they practiced one way then the coaches moved everything around on them.. Maybe because of KCP's suspension, Deng should be coming off the bench. the one thing they need from him is veteran grit and toughness, show the kids how to bring it every night and he's not really showing that

[MrDollarBills]

Nets fan here.

If you're expecting Lopez's rebounding to improve: don't. It will save you guys some unwanted stress.

[TyCobb]

From Game 1:

- Luke put the players and the fans in a bad spot after the first game with his amateur rotations.
- Beverly was more into the game than all of the Lakers combined--yet Lonzo got him in foul trouble and played his game without problem. I was worried about Lonzo's dribbling with Beverly on him, but he was in control except for one strip by Pat.
- Kuzma moves so well on the court it is disgusting that Randle and Nance get more play when we've had plenty of time to figure out what they are capable of doing.
- Brook Lopez played outside of his game. He dribbled the ball way, way too much for a big. A lot of forcing the issue. No defense.
- Ingram... yyeeessh. Dude has like the weakest back I've ever seen. His upper body just collapses backwards on contact and he throws up a shot that barely grazes the target.
- Randle. Sick of his attitude. Obviously he is pissed he lost his starting spot, but he has no defensive dna in his body. His offensive moves are bully the opponent. So tired of it.
- Clarkson. Was an aggressive scorer off the bench, however, too many two point jumpshots. When he is on the court, nothing is natural and he thrives off chaos (garbage time) in order to create offense (like Randle).

In other words, we barely have the players capable of playing the system we are trying to play. It also doesn't help that a player we do have that can play in the system (kuzma) doesn't get any time with Zo.

Walton really got worked tonight and he needs to be more decisive.

[Kilroy]

Up until last night, opposing defenses have been guarding Kuzma with 2s and 3s... Last night we saw what happens when the opposing team puts someone on him that can body him up, or makes sure he's a focus of the D... I think it's going to be a different world for him from now on. Teams aren't just going to leave him open to shoot and they're not going to let him have open lanes to the basket... He's going to have to adjust now.

Lonzo wasn't super effective other than picking up for the anti-rbound that is Lopez... But I saw him adjust to the intensity of the game and basically do the right things starting in the 3rd... I think he'll be fine, but standing next to grown men like Beverly, you can see how soft he is... He's got some work to do before he'll be a legit Star... But no reason not to keep starting him. I think I understand more now though, why Luke was preaching patience and minute limits...

Ingram seems like he's trying to skip all the fundamental work he needed to do and go straight to "KD-lite" offensive creator... And he sucks pretty bad at it... Worried about his lack of explosiveness and inability to elevate for his shots... The skills are there, but his body still seems a long way off, and now I wonder where his head's at... Because he's playing stupid now...

JC, Randle and Lopez seem to be the only guys on the team right now who can create their own shots... Lopez was banging pretty good with DAJ and making those shots... Not sure why we're letting him shoot outside shots so much right now... Let that happen later. JC is probably our best creator at this point. Hard to not start him at the 2 right now IMO...

Randle is what he is... People mad at him because he's not Brow or Griffin are silly to me, but ouside of getting dunked on by Griffin when he tried to help Bogut who got taken out of the play, he was pretty solid. And even on that play, he elevated to meet Griffin and make the shot harder. He got Grif in the face with an elbow on the play... He looks quicker and looks like he can stay in front of his man better now... He also made some really nice passes from the perimeter, that were bobbled... Like Balls passes were. If Ingram's going to try to force every shot and put the ball on the floor every time someone passes to him, I'd rather have Randle get those touches, honestly... At least he makes about 50% of those...

We need a knock down jumpshooter and we need JC to think more catch and shoot (he was pretty good at that in year 2)...

I think I'd gamble on Kuzma figuring out how to create space for himself and start him over ingram... JC and Kuz can both get out and run, and Randle's good in transition too... Plus you need his rebounds and outlets.

Ball
JC
Kuz
Randle
Bogut

I'd probably platoon Bogut/Lopez with them popping in and out of the game for each other often, but I think we need Bogut's defense to create transition opportunities to start games.
I think Ingram needs to sit for a while and figure out how to play the right way with his current physical limitations.

[Michael Lucky]

Lonzo would have had a better stat line if he didn't immediately just give it up to his crappy teammates as soon as he crossed the half court line. He needs to CP3 the ball and control the offense.

He made a bunch of nice passes to teammates who either bricked the jumpshot or had no clue on what to do with it thereafter.

Yeah it is pointless to pass the ball to players along the perimeter who are scared to shoot a 3.

[Kswiss]

From Game 1:

- Luke put the players and the fans in a bad spot after the first game with his amateur rotations.
- Beverly was more into the game than all of the Lakers combined--yet Lonzo got him in foul trouble and played his game without problem. I was worried about Lonzo's dribbling with Beverly on him, but he was in control except for one strip by Pat.
- Kuzma moves so well on the court it is disgusting that Randle and Nance get more play when we've had plenty of time to figure out what they are capable of doing.
- Brook Lopez played outside of his game. He dribbled the ball way, way too much for a big. A lot of forcing the issue. No defense.
- Ingram... yyeeessh. Dude has like the weakest back I've ever seen. His upper body just collapses backwards on contact and he throws up a shot that barely grazes the target.
- Randle. Sick of his attitude. Obviously he is pissed he lost his starting spot, but he has no defensive dna in his body. His offensive moves are bully the opponent. So tired of it.
- Clarkson. Was an aggressive scorer off the bench, however, too many two point jumpshots. When he is on the court, nothing is natural and he thrives off chaos (garbage time) in order to create offense (like Randle).

In other words, we barely have the players capable of playing the system we are trying to play. It also doesn't help that a player we do have that can play in the system (kuzma) doesn't get any time with Zo.

Walton really got worked tonight and he needs to be more decisive.

Agree with most of these points. Lopez actually usually can be really good from the outside, the whole team just wasn't hitting tonight. If we can move Randle for anything that would be amazing. I'd love to see Kuzma starting. My ideal lineup/minutes is:

Starters-
Ball (34)
KCP (28)
Kuzma (32)
Nance (28)
Lopez (32)

Bench-
Caruso (10)
Clarkson(24)
Ingram (20)
Randle (16)
Bogut (16)

[milesfides]

It's one game, and we're a young team. Clippers are full of vets. Not surprising.

But make no mistake, a healthy Bogut >>>>> Lopez. Our problems start at the defensive end, and Bogut is unequivocally one of the best defensive anchors in the league.

Second, Larry Nance is a good defender. He was our best defender last year (defensive real plus minus), and it wasn't close. Overall, he's one of the better big man defenders in the league - he's not just average, he's good.

But unless Nance starts taking and making that three, he's best as our small ball center.

Aside from those two, everybody else is a mess on defense. But a big part of that is your center. Brook is not good. Never was. It kills your team defense when your center can't defend the pick and roll, rebound, close out on shooters, protect the rim, etc. He's just too slow. We need to unload Lopez in a hurry, because if Brook Lopez is starting for your team and getting a lot of minutes, you're going to get killed on defense almost every game.

I'm not worried about our rookies. Lonzo, Kuzma, and Caruso need experience and more burn. They have to be evaluated month-to-month.

But Randle, Clarkson, and Ingram? Same old, same old.

[dockingsched]

Hot take: Lonzo is so far away from becoming any sort of scoring threat that we’re underestimating how much it’s going to limit the impact he has. He simply can’t seem to be able to create a good shot for himself.

[Crooked-I]

Luke - his decision on that starting lineup was horrible and he didn't adjust. His rotations were equally as horrible. And I've seen better offense in a pick up game. Did they work on anything the entire training camp? Out of everyone, he was the worst of them all.

Randle - He was flat out horrible. Some of those jumpshots were some of the ugliest bricks i've ever seen. I thought one of them cracked my TV. And his defense was non-existent, i'd trade him for a high 2nd rounder if I could. He just doesn't give the effort that he needs to give to be a good player. He needs to make up for his short comings with effort and intensity, but he just doesn't do it night in and night out. And i'm starting to think that'll never change.

Ingram - Seems mentally weak to me. Luke put him in a position where he has to score and create his own shot and that just isn't him. It killed his confidence and it spiraled downhill. He got a pass last season, but with D'lo not being here this season to be the scapegoat, I think fans are gonna be calling for his head if he doesn't pick it up.

Lopez - I think we're gonna see a lot of 20+ field goal attempts a game this season. He's the only one who can create his own shot in the starting lineup which is troubling. And his rebounding numbers were pitiful. I've read in the past people say he doesn't get a lot of rebounds cuz he just boxes out and lets his teammates get the board. I definitely didn't see that yesterday. He just doesn't have that mentality to go for rebounds.

Lonzo - His rebounding is elite for a guard he's got some hops. But other than that I didn't see much. I'm gonna give him some time tho as I do with all rookies. It takes a while to figure it out and he was being guarded by Beverly. Also doesn't help that Luke put him out there with that horrendous starting lineup that doesn't play to his skillset.

Nance - Same player as he always was. Nothing new here. But something tells me his body won't be able to handle starters minutes. He plays too reckless. There was this play where he jumped for an alley oop over Griffin's back that almost ended up in disaster. He's got hops but he's got to be smart with it. Too eager to yoke on fools.

Deng - Sucks ass

Kuzma - I'm going to chalk it up to first game jitters. He's the least of our young players i'm worried about. 3-4 of years in the weight room and NBA experience and he'll be a legit 2nd or 3rd option on a team.

Clarkson - He's the only other player on the team besides Lopez that can create his own shot which is why he had so many shot attempts. He's probably going to be a big part of our offense this year, not sure that's a good thing. Maybe when KCP comes back he'll tone it down a bit.

Bogut - Looked old and slow. Don't think he's 100%. And looked rusty with his passing. His timing was off.

Everyone else - meh

[TyCobb]

pretty damn accurate.