Laker Expectations

[Sedale Threatt]

You'd be hard-pressed to find many teams, at our age, that have bounced back from an ass-kicking like the one Dallas gave us to win the championship.

But after watching the Mavericks do what they've done, with a bunch of aging vets, I suppose I'll hold out hope that we might be able to make another run or two.

Certainly if Gasol can get his mojo back, Bynum continues to improve -- and makes defense a priority, not just an inconsistency -- and Bryant can recharge and continue to manage aging, that's a pretty decent core.

But as semi already pointed out, we've got a ton of flaws. Lack of shooting, perimeter D -- coaching can only do so much with corpses -- and bench play are going to be tough to overcome.

[BEazy]

My expectations for next season is doing exactly what Mike Brown wants to do PLAY DEFENSE. I hope he puts everybody in their place about all the smack talk hes been getting. The dude seems like a down to earth coach and has a looot of connections some how. This is probably a blessing in disguise if you ask me.


My ultimate goal for next season under Mike Brown: Los Angeles Lakers #1 defense in the NBA.

[desertlakerfan]

Actually I think guys like Blake, Barnes, Ebanks, Caracter and Artest might thrive in a new system. They would at least be spared the confusion of being in an alien offense.

Guys like Fisher and Walton might feel they are excess to requirements with no real role other than leadership and team spirit.

A ball handling free spirit like Odom might do better than he did in the confines of the triangle and I can really see both Kobe and LO average slightly higher than normal assists per game.

Exactly. We especially have to try and make something out of the Blake signing, coming off the bench in a triangle based offense obviously didn't work out the way we wanted. Fisher is terrible, we were ok with him as a starting PG as long as we were winning, that's no longer the case.

Instead of unrealistic trade scenarios(we have no valuable pieces outside of our bigs, and if we want to win we shouldn't trade our bigs for a pg), we should all start warming up to the idea of Blake as our starting PG next season. Hopefully a more defined role, more minutes, and a different offensive system will be enough to get Blake going and improve our starting 5. I also think Fisher could thrive in the back up guard role as a spot up shooter and vet presence on the court against second units.

Now if we can find a FA that's better than Blake and somehow afford him as well as the backup big we'll likely need to sign then I'm all for it. Otherwise I'm on board to give Blake a chance starting over Fisher in Mike Brown's new system.

[picc]

Lack of hunger and apathy played as much of a role as age and shooting.

Compare Dallas to the Laker team of 09:

- Dirk's glare/look that he's been giving after every big shot is like the new kobe jaw jut
- Dirk/mavs werent that excited being presented with the WC trophy, like how the Laker team during the 09 trophy pres looked like they just saw someone beating their mother

We could have beaten Dallas under different circumstances. That being, as a team they wanted it 10x more than we did. Look how hungry Dirk is, its almost exactly how Kobe looked in 09. Everyone has a chip on their shoulder, they're all playing for their lives every possession. That was the Lakers in 09. Shannon Brown was playing hard D and shooting within the offense, Odom was hitting shots he'd never hit before, Gasol was calling for the ball, etc.

LA lost the hunger, and with it they lost the spark teams need to compete for a title. I remember hearing how Odom said to a fan in game 3 or 4 "we're going to win", and it came across so nonchalant and arrogant....I knew then that not only were we not the same team, but that we probably deserved to lose.

Give me this same team with a new energy and the spark back, and I put them against anyone. I'm expecting changes to come because thats the name of the game, but the biggest change needs to come from within themselves.

[desertlakerfan]

Steve Blake is useless.... his job was to hit open shots and he could not do that. Brown can go, we should replace him with Barbosa.

He was relatively useless in the role/system we tried to put him in last season. He hasn't been useless throughout his career, its up to management and the new coaching staff to get more out of him. I'd love to sign Barbosa but we have no idea what the new CBA will look like and if there will even be a MLE, plus we need to sign a backup big that can actually play instead of just sit at the end of the bench with the rooks while we overwork Gasol.

[chefy]

With this roster, anything less than a Finals appearance would be a fail, in my opinion.

and yea +1 on improvements on defense.

[Wile E. Coyote]

Their expectation is to win a championship.

Realistically, I think this current roster with some minor changes can get to the conference finals. I don't think they can beat Miami or Chicago or perhaps even Oklahoma City if they don't vastly improve the point. Bynum improving to a 20/10 player is not going to cover up the other deficiencies in the starting five.

[The_Trade_Seer]

Championship or bust, period.

This unit with minor tweaks can legitmately contend for a title for at least the next 3 years.

[GOBB]

Lack of hunger and apathy played as much of a role as age and shooting.

Compare Dallas to the Laker team of 09:

- Dirk's glare/look that he's been giving after every big shot is like the new kobe jaw jut
- Dirk/mavs werent that excited being presented with the WC trophy, like how the Laker team during the 09 trophy pres looked like they just saw someone beating their mother

We could have beaten Dallas under different circumstances. That being, as a team they wanted it 10x more than we did. Look how hungry Dirk is, its almost exactly how Kobe looked in 09. Everyone has a chip on their shoulder, they're all playing for their lives every possession. That was the Lakers in 09. Shannon Brown was playing hard D and shooting within the offense, Odom was hitting shots he'd never hit before, Gasol was calling for the ball, etc.

LA lost the hunger, and with it they lost the spark teams need to compete for a title. I remember hearing how Odom said to a fan in game 3 or 4 "we're going to win", and it came across so nonchalant and arrogant....I knew then that not only were we not the same team, but that we probably deserved to lose.

Give me this same team with a new energy and the spark back, and I put them against anyone. I'm expecting changes to come because thats the name of the game, but the biggest change needs to come from within themselves.

Do you think Kobe lost the hunger? Considering he wants to be the GOAT I would hope not.

[Dr Pepper]

Its always championship or bust but imo the Lakers need a roster overhaul to make that a reality. They were drained physically and mentally, their chemistry and talent also nosedived.

Having a shortened season like 1999 would also be a challenge for a new coach and for the veterans with high mileage since 1999 was packed with games each week.

[hermes]

lets manage expectations...

NOTHING SHORT OF A RING WILL DO!

still the truth

this guy has a good grasp on things

[magic1fan]

we don't need an overhaul. yes we have a weak ass bench but we've had that since we started winning again. we need a point guard and someone to back up kobe and we will be fine. this is still a contender. with a new passion for defense we should be ready and able to take back what we will be loaning to either dallas or miami this season.