Road to a Championship start here, 2022 Draft.

[Whole Truth]

Dyson’s on ball defense is there, but his off ball and overall team defense needs a lot of work still. Jonas was yelling at him and CJ basically every possession towards the end of the 2nd.

With that said, I still think it’s worth him getting minutes over Graham.

Best way to learn is experience. IMO

Agree with your take but he like others were a little rushed offensively too. Some sloppy passes & weak TO's

[Whole Truth]

I get the Jonas sub. He was off offensively 2nd half, Mavs were allowed to foul him at the rim & Green needed the switchability.

What was the reason CJ closed over Alvarado, was it his injury from earlier in the game ?

With BI out Jose & CJ are/were the teams 2 best shot creators available. I thought overall Joas played a better game than CJ. Was it Green just felt more comfortable riding the vet to close, was Jose injured from earlier in the game ?

I get that CJ was creating gravity & had 7 dimes as a result, their was impact in his game. However, he was 6-20 (30%) on volume, with 3 weak TO's & porous defense too, with a couple good defensive possessions sandwhich inbetween. He shoots 40% or has a better shot selection, this is a comfortable win & should have been. Mavs were closer than they should have been & I know refs also played a part in that but still.

Again Green closed with CJ & Devonte on Doncic in a 2pt game. It's not a winning strategy/decision, though they pulled out the win. Doncic got an open look at the rim but front rimmed due to fatigue not contest one game after Olynyk got the best of CJ for a loss.

Nice win overall shorthanded so it's hard to be critical of a win but there was things in this game to still clean up.

[Whole Truth]

When BI is back .. I hope CJ will be held to the same team standard in games Jonas is playing well in.

[Whole Truth]

Good games from Naji, Murphy, Daniels & Alvarado with the core out.

Naji roughed up Luka with other defensive looks, where he was 2-13 from 3 with 2 airballs shorted & a late game front rim.

Murphy, putting up an efficient 22pts on 8 shots & only 2 FT's to offset CJ's 6-20 shooting. If Murphy is not perfect, it's a loss.

Daniels in his debut played Doncic one on one as best as anyone could. Gave Green some good minutes & production

Alvarado, set the tone early.

[Whole Truth]

It's obviously early to look at standings but it's interesting & encouraging that 3 of the teams projected bottom 5 concerning the Lakers pick are currently 4-0. 3-1, 3-1, while the Lakers are 0-3 heading into Denver, Mini, Denver.... NO's. Lakers are already -3 games from 2 of the projected bottom feeders. With no clear skies in sight when u look at their early schedule.

In Lakers first 20 games, I had Jazz & Spurs as 5 "free" wins, which don't look so free anymore. LA not picking up those gimme games from teams throwing their seasons because the teams are still trying to be competitive early makes a high pick for NO's, palpable.

Getting Pops Spurs for 3 clustered games where he can stick it to LA at a point in LA's tough early schedule that could litterally make or break their season before it starts.

At some point Jazz & Spurs are expected to tank the year but Portland who has aspirations is a surprise 4-0. Pushes a projected team out & even if Portland were to collapse, they're already +4 on LA

If LA were to start like the Pels 3-16 do they have the depth & resolve to dig out that hole ?

Stars are aligning for a perfect storm.

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[Duke4life831]

I get the Jonas sub. He was off offensively 2nd half, Mavs were allowed to foul him at the rim & Green needed the switchability.

What was the reason CJ closed over Alvarado, was it his injury from earlier in the game ?

With BI out Jose & CJ are/were the teams 2 best shot creators available. I thought overall Joas played a better game than CJ. Was it Green just felt more comfortable riding the vet to close, was Jose injured from earlier in the game ?

I get that CJ was creating gravity & had 7 dimes as a result, their was impact in his game. However, he was 6-20 (30%) on volume, with 3 weak TO's & porous defense too, with a couple good defensive possessions sandwhich inbetween. He shoots 40% or has a better shot selection, this is a comfortable win & should have been. Mavs were closer than they should have been & I know refs also played a part in that but still.

Again Green closed with CJ & Devonte on Doncic in a 2pt game. It's not a winning strategy/decision, though they pulled out the win. Doncic got an open look at the rim but front rimmed due to fatigue not contest one game after Olynyk got the best of CJ for a loss.

Nice win overall shorthanded so it's hard to be critical of a win but there was things in this game to still clean up.

Ya thats the thing I dont get. Jonas got benched because they took advantage of the defense with him. I feel bad for Jonas because its not like he was playing bad defense, but again you could see him yelling at CJ and Daniels after almost every possession. Neither one were playing correct defense and it was leaving Jonas out on an island and he was just getting screwed over. So ya bringing in Nance who has the mobility to handle that space made sense.

Im not even against CJ getting the minutes to close out the game, he had tunnel vision too often but he still was running the offense well enough and moving the ball. The thing I dont understand is why did Graham end up with more minutes than Jose? This is 2 of the last 3 games now that Jose starts off the game hot, then basically loses out on minutes in the 2nd half to Graham. I get Graham made 4 3s, okay but he missed 2 huge FTs and outside of those 4 3s, brought nothing to the table in his 27 minutes and we cant overlook him not being a good defender. And again, why the hell is it a CJ/Graham backcourt on the court when its the last possession of the game and youre on defense? Those two suck on defense and they're tiny, bring in defensive players and guys with size.

Overall I agree 100% with what youre saying. CJ is being treated like he is on BI's and Zion's level. While in reality he is on Jonas level. And to be clear that is a good level, but not your franchise cornerstone level. One frustrating thing (and it has to really frustrate Jonas) is Jonas is the one that gets sent to the bench when teams exploit the CJ/Jonas PnR. Its not CJ who gets sent to the bench.

[Duke4life831]

Read on Twitter

This right here is exactly why Im such a big fan of Jose. This is elite level defense even if this play doesnt end up with him getting a steal. The awareness from him is just next level.

First of all he is a coach out on the floor, shoving Naji to go and double. Also with them being in the zone, he knows the flash to the FT line is one of the best ways to break a zone. What does he do, plays fantastic space defense. Keeping within distance to not allow the easy pass to the FT line, while knowing he can close out (but not over close out) if the pass goes to Dinwiddie. Pass goes to Dinwiddie, who then kicks it to the FT line man. Jose again playing it perfectly sees Kleber get the ball and turn and knows he can attack while not being burned by a quick kick out right back to Dinwiddie. That is just next level defense from him. And again this isnt even touching on his ability to defend on ball and defend the PnR.

Compare that to CJ (on the bottom video, top video is good Naji)

Read on Twitter

On the bottom video you see CJ doing nothing. He isnt coming over and helping on the drive, he isnt even close enough to Dinwiddie to prevent Luka from kicking out to him. That isnt good team defense, ya its not horrible in a way where his man is the one scoring. But just standing around in the nowhere man's land of helping and not helping on a drive isnt doing anything positive for your defense. This is relying on Nance defending Luka 1 on 1. Nance did a good job here, but that isnt the defense scenario you want.

The video above does show Naji with good awareness. Smart double on Luka, then getting over to the corner shooter and not over closing on him, but forcing him off the 3pt line and into a contested floater (which isnt his game).

Then you compare that to this

Read on Twitter

Graham over closes on Bullock which then leads to a wide open 3 attempt. Bullock is essentially a 40% 3pt shooter, this is a horrible result to a defensive play. Over close by Graham, CJ standing under the rim doing nothing and a 40% 3pt shooter with a wide open 3.

Naji played good team defense, Nance played good team defense. Jose is just elite at it. Watching him on the defensive end either on ball or off ball, compared to CJ/Graham, its just night and day.

Dont get me wrong, a win is a win, cant complain about that. But youre playing with fire with lineups like this. Especially when you got the announcers and stuff praising CJ for his defense last night. He was bad on that end (like always). But they see missed shots like this with guys like CJ and Graham out there and just assume they're playing good defense. No Dallas late in the 4th just missed shots that they normally make. Again ya a win is a win, but man its annoying to hear CJ being praised for his defense and Willie riding with a lineup that has both CJ and Graham out there. Pels didnt pull out the win in the 4th because of good coaching, that was luck.

[Whole Truth]

I'm assuming injury might have played a factor in Jose not playing. He hurt himself earlier in the game though he continued to play.

I don't know Greens reasoning for playing both CJ & Graham to question him but from the outside looking in It doesn't make sense to me to have your 2 worse guard defenders in on Luka for a final defensive possession. A game after the new Jazz coach got CJ switched on Olynyk for winner. Luka got an open look he just front rimmed because of fatigue. They could have gone for the tie but chose not to go to OT.

One of the media need to ask Green why. When I hear his reasoning then I'd be able to form an accurate opinion.

[Whole Truth]

With 3 starters out there was really no high expectations over the last 2 games but I'm upset over the Suns loss & not because they loss.

Everyone talks about the high PNR issues, Jonas does get exposed in it & it's supposed to be Nance's fortay. Jonas was +/- 0 to Nance -19 in 14 mins in a 13pt loss. Defense was an issue, it wasn't the main issue. It was the offense & game management. CJ is not a lead guard I know but for what seems a smart person his decision making is very questionable on court. He's easily baited into playin 1 on 3 & rushing the clock. Suns plan still hasn''t changed from last yrs PO's & apparently we have yet to adjust. CJ's 30% on volume leaves no margin for error on defense.14 misses is 42 potential pts. Poor efficient without an air tight defense is recipe for loss & CJ is a defensive liability in combination with that lack of efficiency. Porltand a little surprisingly has started their season 5-1.

CJ 6-20, 0-5 from 3. 30% efficiency, is exactly how he played during the Suns entire PO matchup. The good news is, without Crowder, Suns won't have the luxury to leave Bridges on CJ when BI returns to court but CJ at the same time needs to play much smarter than he is.

Jonas was 11-16 for 25 pts. Instead of CJ forcing his, with Ayton out no less for Bizz 2nd half, the guard play was too forced when they could have actively hunted the Jonas missmatch but didn't. In this game Jonas should have had more touches than CJ with their perimeter D Bridges focused on containing him short handed. I've seen this movie with Derozan before.

I can live with the open missed 3's late in this game, they were good takes & the team was probably fatigued playing short handed. I can't live with CJ forcing his game, it's hard to watch. CJ is a skilled scorer but he's being baited into forcing over 2-4 defenders instead of involving his teammates. Is it that he felt he needed to carry & can't trust the talent he's playing with or is it straight up tunnel vision of a career scorer ?.

[Whole Truth]

Cats hanfing tough vs Warriors without Terry & Ball. Pels worse loss of the season has come at the hands of the Jazz.

[Whole Truth]

Mathurin put up 32/5/2 against the Nets.

[Duke4life831]

I just want to point out yesterday was the perfect example of good Zion and bad Zion.

1st quarter Zion had 4 shot attempts 1-2 from the line, with 1 TO and 1 assist. He was unbelievably predictable on the offensive end and pretty much a black hole. Pels also only scored 18 points in the 1st quarter (obviously not all because of Zion).

The rest of the game, 6 assists to 13 shots for Zion. Far less predictable whenever he got the ball, which also led to a much better team offense.

Dont think this is a big deal since he has been out for so long and still is knocking off the rust. Just thought last game was a great example of the good and the bad of Zion so far.

[Whole Truth]

I just want to point out yesterday was the perfect example of good Zion and bad Zion.

1st quarter Zion had 4 shot attempts 1-2 from the line, with 1 TO and 1 assist. He was unbelievably predictable on the offensive end and pretty much a black hole. Pels also only scored 18 points in the 1st quarter (obviously not all because of Zion).

The rest of the game, 6 assists to 13 shots for Zion. Far less predictable whenever he got the ball, which also led to a much better team offense.

Dont think this is a big deal since he has been out for so long and still is knocking off the rust. Just thought last game was a great example of the good and the bad of Zion so far.

He was much better initiating the offense top of the key vs the low block. He's looked far more effective facing up than with his back to the basket. His handles aren't tight but he should be initiating the offense when on court. Drive or kick, rinse & repeat. In BI's return, NO's need to follow Lakers lead sending Westbrook to the bench & make CJ the supersub where his game is best paired with Nance than Jonas.

IMO, Zion has natural chemistry with Murphy but I'd be good with Alavarado as an option too, which would pair CJ's shot creation & experience with Daniels defense & raw game off the bench.

Jonas - Nance/Hayes
Zion - Murphy/Nance
Herb - Naji/Murphy
BI - CJ
Alvarado - Daniels

or

Jonas - Hayes - Nance
Zion - Nance
Murphy - Naji/Daniels
Herb - CJ/Graham
BI - Alvarado/Daniels

[Whole Truth]

Utah stomping Memphis by 30. They will sit atop the West with a 6-2 record after tonight.

Portland who was not in the PO discussion has also started off hot with a 5-1 record

Even Spurs are currently 5-2

That's 3 supposed bottom feeders sitting atop the West forcing projected PO teams like Denver, Mavs, GS & Clippers outside the current top 8.

Jazz aren't just beating bottom feeders either, they look like they can sustain their play. IMO Portland & Spurs are more likely to fall to earth but they currently have a 4 game head start over LA for a race to the bottom

Kings won, Nets won, Leaving Hoston, Magic & Lakers the only teams with 1 win. NO's have an opportunity tommorrow to sap the little boost o f confidence LA got from beating Denvers bench.

[Whole Truth]

Don't take any opponent lightly.

Put your foot down & squash that catipillar running across Davis' face.

[NYG]

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Just curious, if KD was open to coming to New Orleans, would you trade Brandon Ingram, Jaxson Hayes and picks for him? If so, how many picks?

[Duke4life831]

.

Just curious, if KD was open to coming to New Orleans, would you trade Brandon Ingram, Jaxson Hayes and picks for him? If so, how many picks?

I know you werent asking me but Ill chime in. BI would be the last guy I would trade if I were the Pels. Id trade Zion before BI and I dont think KD on this team fits.

[Duke4life831]

Sorry but what the hell was that?

Graham getting the same amount of minutes as Jose? Why? Jose leads the spark in the 2nd half which made this a game again. Gets subbed out with 6.5 minutes to go in the 4th and never returns, even in OT.

Willie's end of game coaching is becoming a serious concern. First of all his unwillingness to sub CJ out, even in defensive situations. Which almost blew up in his face tonight with CJ making a horrendous rotation which lead to a wide open corner 3 (which LA missed). Then what the hell is anyone doing standing in the paint that final defensive possession? That shouldve been the only thing that was discussed in the huddle, if they want to take a 2, please let them. Dont defend a 2pt shot, only worry about a 3. Yet guys are getting caught up on switches in the paint? Really?

Jonas not a part of this team? Ya I get it he had a rough 1st half. Guess who else had a rough 1st half, Zion, CJ, Naji. Man it wouldve been nice to have some size in there to grab some of those rebounds that LA was grabbing all 2nd half and OT.

CJ is passing the ball nicely, Ill give him that. But this is exactly what I talked about prior to the season. Everyone was talking about how CJ was going to take the step back and be the 3rd option for this team. CJ dominates the ball and is the leading shot taker for this team, by a wide margin so far. And its not just because BI and Zion missed time. Going back to the Utah game when BI got hurt, CJ and Zion have played 3 games together. CJ has taken 17 more shots than Zion over those 3 games. 17 more shots!!! And its not like he has been good, he has a sub 50 TS% for the season so far.

But going back to my issues with Willie so far this season, it seems like CJ has the longest leash on this team for some reason. The CJ/Jonas PnR defense gets picked apart, sit Jonas not CJ every time. Why? This game was so frustrating to watch.

[Whole Truth]

I know NO's are short handed still but this loss was maddening on so many levels, it's not even worth mentioning.

Guess why there was odds that NO's couldn't get a 10pt lead against the worst team in the league at any point in the game. All the **** NO's did to beat themselves, a **** tone of momentum calls went LA's way in this one.

On to the next.

[Whole Truth]

Sorry but what the hell was that?

Graham getting the same amount of minutes as Jose? Why? Jose leads the spark in the 2nd half which made this a game again. Gets subbed out with 6.5 minutes to go in the 4th and never returns, even in OT.

Willie's end of game coaching is becoming a serious concern. First of all his unwillingness to sub CJ out, even in defensive situations. Which almost blew up in his face tonight with CJ making a horrendous rotation which lead to a wide open corner 3 (which LA missed). Then what the hell is anyone doing standing in the paint that final defensive possession? That shouldve been the only thing that was discussed in the huddle, if they want to take a 2, please let them. Dont defend a 2pt shot, only worry about a 3. Yet guys are getting caught up on switches in the paint? Really?

Jonas not a part of this team? Ya I get it he had a rough 1st half. Guess who else had a rough 1st half, Zion, CJ, Naji. Man it wouldve been nice to have some size in there to grab some of those rebounds that LA was grabbing all 2nd half and OT.

CJ is passing the ball nicely, Ill give him that. But this is exactly what I talked about prior to the season. Everyone was talking about how CJ was going to take the step back and be the 3rd option for this team. CJ dominates the ball and is the leading shot taker for this team, by a wide margin so far. And its not just because BI and Zion missed time. Going back to the Utah game when BI got hurt, CJ and Zion have played 3 games together. CJ has taken 17 more shots than Zion over those 3 games. 17 more shots!!! And its not like he has been good, he has a sub 50 TS% for the season so far.

But going back to my issues with Willie so far this season, it seems like CJ has the longest leash on this team for some reason. The CJ/Jonas PnR defense gets picked apart, sit Jonas not CJ every time. Why? This game was so frustrating to watch.

It wasn't going to take long for Green's end of game management to rare it's head, we saw this coming when Luka bricked an open look.. Unfortunately as you point out this was by far worse than just a substituation problem. Hope Green can make the necessary adjustments. He's growing with the team also.

More concerning than Greens end of game management for me was Zion's overall play. He put up 27 5 7 which is great but he was also a team high -13 & the Pels played their best in this game when he was on the bench.

I also keep hearing about how good the shooting coach is but this team can't make FT's.. 1 FT to ice the game...

Lakers also didn't shoot well but most of the three's they did make were shot clock & buzzer beating. Sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way. lol