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Coach Scott Interview

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Re: Official 2014 Free Agency discussion 

Post#1 » by Danny Darko » Thu Aug 21, 2014 12:17 am

Judging by some of Scott's statements, it sounds like he feels wing is our strongest position. I'd guess he's looking at a big center and possible pg insurance if anything: 1 on 1 with Byron scott

I think Wesley has not played to his potential at all. He's shown signs, but I think the kid is so talented, I'm really hoping it can be a break out year for him. Now, obviously, he has to come to camp and win that spot, and that's on him. Or I could also put Kobe at that spot and put Steve next to Jeremy in the backcourt. There’s some flexibility there. But I've always been intrigued with Wesley, and I thought Xavier was excellent until he got hurt last year. But when you include Kobe and Swaggy, the wing is probably our strongest position.
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Re: Byron Scotts ideas and thoughts on his Lakers roster 

Post#2 » by ArC_man » Thu Aug 21, 2014 1:59 am

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/140820by ... _qa?cid=FB

Q/A with Byron from yesterday. A lot of things covered including defensive/general coaching philosophy, specific players (Randle, Kobe, Nash, Lin, etc), SF position, and more.
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Coach Scott Interview 

Post#3 » by crazyeights » Thu Aug 21, 2014 2:13 am

Mike Trudell sat down with Scott, giving us a sense of where things stand:

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On defense:
Scott: Defensive philosophy has to be constant. This is no knock on Mike at all, but there were games where they were playing defense one way, and other games where they played it differently. When I go into the season, there are three ways we’re going to guard side pick and rolls, for example: we’re going to down it, hard show, or red it (trap). If you do it from day one, guys get better at it because they’re working on it every day in practice. I want to establish those things day-to-day, and if you do that, it takes a lot of the thinking away and gets back to reacting.


MT: You can play defense differently if you have a rim protector that you don’t really have on the currently shaped roster.

Scott: We’ll have a plan, but it will depend some on how guys play in training camp. With that said, we can't force everything defensively to (Jordan) Hill or (Carlos) Boozer, so we'll focus more on forcing guys to certain places and corral them instead of trying to block shots. What I see during the first few days of practice will make an impact there, so we can have an identity on that end of the floor.


MT: How do you specifically play screen/roll differently with a team that doesn’t have a true rim protector?

Scott: You’re going to have to play a lot of help the helper to keep the ball from getting into the paint. That’s a lot of rotations, a lot of help, a lot of stunt and recover, where the guy with the ball sees one-and-a-half or two defenders every single time. You want to clog up the paint as much as possible and make the opponent take contested jump shots.



On Randle:
MT: You just came off the floor from a workout with No. 7 overall pick Julius Randle. What have you seen from him so far in this gym?

Scott: I see a young man that's raw, but he has great feet and great quickness for his size, and he's strong as a bull. You can tell that he wants to get better. Next week we’ll have a better idea, because he’ll be in better shape and be able to work even harder. But I love those attributes, being strong, big and quick for his size. That’s a very good combination to have.


MT: Nobody at summer league could defend the Texas native 1-on-1, which you’d expect. He likes to face guys up from about 15 feet and drive by them, as he did consistently in Vegas, but has said he’s also comfortable posting guys up. How much influence do you want to have on his game, as opposed to letting it happen?

Scott: The one thing I’ve seen is that Julius can do both. He doesn’t mind banging in the post, but he’s also capable facing up from 15 feet and either going around someone or pulling up. Having that type of versatility is only going to make him better, especially with some of the things I want to do on offense.


MT: How do you account for a rookie like Randle that needs playing time to develop, when a guys like Boozer and Hill may have an edge based on their NBA experience in helping you win right way? Sort of a macro vs. micro look?

Scott: They can play together, because we're going to be small no matter what without a true center. Now, there aren’t many true centers in the whole league. But Julius will get plenty of chances to play a lot of minutes. We know he’s a rookie and needs to develop, and a lot of that will come in training camp and in practice. I think he’ll do just that.


MT: Anything else you want Randle to get accomplished before camp starts?

Scott: We’re been working on his post game and face up game, but the biggest thing is to get him in shape. As a rookie, you don’t want to come into training camp out of shape. Then the season is halfway over by the time you get acclimated. We want him to get in great shape right now, and then he can start learning the system on both ends of the floor. We're already putting him through a lot of defensive things right now to get him going.



On filling out coaching staff and son, Thomas:
Scott: Hopefully we will figure out the staff by the end of this week. Obviously (GM) Mitch (Kupchak) has to get everybody signed and things like that.

MT: By the way, your son Thomas has worked in various capacities on your staffs in New Orleans and Cleveland, and was an assistant coach with the D-Fenders last season. I know you’d love to have him involved here on your staff once again…

Scott: The one thing with Thomas is I've always had a dream of having him on my bench as one of my coaches. He told me recently that it's a dream of his as well. It’s really cool to be able to have all the time we spent together in New Orleans and in Cleveland and now here back in L.A. For him to continuously grow as a coach and get to the next level is important to him, and I’m really proud of his development and of the fact that he wants to be on my staff. But the thing I love about him is that he hasn’t been given anything. He’s earned all of this by working his butt off.


On the evolution of the shooting guard:
Scott: When I played, a lot of two guards weren't posting up. Many were catch-and-shoot guys that would take it to the basket with one or two dribbles. They didn't really create like Jordan and Kobe did for themselves or their teammates. A lot of the things that I did were created for me off of pin downs, or Magic (Johnson) getting into the paint and drawing my man, so that I could catch it and go by him while he’s running out. It’s evolved into a two guard with point guard skills. Watching MJ do it over the years, and now Kobe, I think both of those guys have revolutionized the position. Kobe would probably tell you that he’s not on MJ’s level because he doesn’t have six rings. It’s all about the championship rings to him.



On Nash:
Scott: With Nash, it’s going to be interesting. Steve hasn’t played a lot in the last year, and the clock is ticking. I did see him working out here a couple of days ago and he looked fantastic. He says he's pain free for the first time in a while, and hopefully he'll be healthy, number one, and hopefully he’ll be able to provide some things for us on the offensive end especially.



Lin:
Scott: Jeremy is a guy who I like. I coached against him, and I love that he's not afraid of the moment. He doesn’t mind taking big shots, and he’s very gritty, tough and intelligent. Those are all things I think will fit well with things we’re trying to do.


MT: The Lakers haven’t had a break-you-down-off-the-dribble point guard in some time, but Lin can do that; he gets to the paint better than most guys in the NBA. How do you account for that on offense?

Scott: I love that. He’s a triple threat type of player, and can be very effective out of pick and rolls as a result. He can shoot, finish at the rim or make plays for other guys. We also have Kobe that can do that, Steve if healthy can still do that, and Swaggy P (Nick Young) can get his shot at any time. When you have three or four guys that can get shots for themselves or their teammates, that makes us better as a team.



Clarkson:
MT: Rookie Jordan Clarkson played really well in summer league, if mostly looking for his own shot as opposed to playing like a “classic” point guard. Your thoughts on what you’ve seen?

Scott: We play two guards, two forwards and a center, not necessarily making everyone do different things. Both guards should be able to run the offense, make things happen on the strong or the weak side. You just have to play basketball. Clarkson I think can do that. He’s a rookie and will make some mistakes, but I loved what I saw in the summer league from Clarkson. His athleticism and length, which will help him on defense, and the way he pushes the ball up the floor … I really liked what I saw.


On next year's mindset:
MT: The expectation of this franchise, and the fan base, is that the Lakers will compete for championships and nothing else. Now, heading into this season, that’s unrealistic based on the talent other teams in the West have. I know it’s a roster made to be as good as possible this year while keeping the flexibility in the roster to bring another max level star here. How do you reconcile that contrast?

Scott: I know it's going to be a tough road, but when I start training camp, the first thing I’m going to tell our guys is that that our goal is to win the championship. I want them thinking that way from day one. People aren’t picking us to make the playoffs, sure, but that’s not how we’re going to approach it. We have to change the mindset. I know it may take a year or two, and I think Kobe knows that, but he already has that championship mindset. It's not hard to convince him. Convincing everyone else is the biggest trick we have to do, but that’s how we have to do it.


On Wes, Swaggy, and SF position:
MT: You don’t have much experience on the wing next to Kobe in a potential starting line up, with Wesley Johnson and Xavier Henry being the options assuming you like Swaggy P coming off the bench as a scorer. What has to happen in that position?

Scott: I think Wesley has not played to his potential at all. He's shown signs, but I think the kid is so talented, I'm really hoping it can be a break out year for him. Now, obviously, he has to come to camp and win that spot, and that's on him. Or I could also put Kobe at that spot and put Steve next to Jeremy in the backcourt. There’s some flexibility there. But I've always been intrigued with Wesley, and I thought Xavier was excellent until he got hurt last year. But when you include Kobe and Swaggy, the wing is probably our strongest position.



On Swaggy and sixth man:
MT: Nick Young really did exceed expectations last season, averaging 17.9 points per game mostly off the bench, never quitting, at least working hard on defense. I know you like Swaggy P.

Scott: I liked how he played and how he was giving full effort on the defensive end, and I really love his energy. He cared about winning. He changed his whole persona, what people thought of him. I’d never seen him play defense before. I also saw him being unselfish at times where he made passes. I do love Swaggy coming off the bench.


MT: And you’ll likely use him as the sixth man?

Scott: Probably. He will play together with Kobe as well, but I do love his energy and firepower being able to score the ball off the bench.



On our bigs:
MT: You have lots of options to mix and match guys in the frontcourt, with Hill, Boozer, Randle, Ed Davis and even Ryan Kelly in a stretch four role or Robert Sacre in a defensive center in big match ups. I assume training camp will iron much of it out?

Scott: We have time to work that out, mix and match it up, see who plays better together. I think that will be fun. Let them compete. But I do think Boozer might be better with Julius just because he's a veteran guy and is talkative out there and could help him. But Jordan could too. Ed Davis is a guy that could be in that mix, so we have a lot of guys that will be fighting. He’s been known to block some shots, and won’t be a bad guy in there on the weak side to come over and help. He’s been in here most every day working out, has been really serious about it.


He had more to say about Kobe, you can check it out here:http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/140820byronscott_qa?cid=TW.
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Re: Byron Scotts ideas and thoughts on his Lakers roster 

Post#4 » by spaceballer » Thu Aug 21, 2014 2:18 am

ArC_man wrote:http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/140820byronscott_qa?cid=FB

Q/A with Byron from yesterday. A lot of things covered including defensive/general coaching philosophy, specific players (Randle, Kobe, Nash, Lin, etc), SF position, and more.


Thanks for posting this. I can't wait for the season to start, just so we can end all the talk and uncertainty and finally see how thing are going to shape up, for better or worse.
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Re: Byron Scotts ideas and thoughts on his Lakers roster 

Post#5 » by semi-sentient » Thu Aug 21, 2014 2:31 am

Good read.

I'm glad he's going to implement the Princeton slowly instead of forcing it down everyone's throat from day one. Guys need time to adapt and learn how to move in that offense. Early on I think we'll see Kobe posting up a ton as well as Lin and Boozer working the PNR quite a bit.

Loved what he said about this team developing a defensive identity. The Lakers have been all over the place defensively the past few seasons, with no accountability whatsoever, and definitely no noticeable defensive scheme. I'm pretty excited to see how this team evolves and whether or not Scott can motivate them to put in consistent effort on defense.

Scott is saying all the right things and seems very sincere. I never really got that impression from the Mike's, nor did I think they ever really had a long term plan.
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#6 » by Slava » Thu Aug 21, 2014 2:45 am

Good stuff, I liked what he had to say about Johnson. There's a very good player somewhere in there and Scott could be a very good mentor for him.

I think Wesley has not played to his potential at all. He's shown signs, but I think the kid is so talented, I'm really hoping it can be a break out year for him. Now, obviously, he has to come to camp and win that spot, and that's on him. Or I could also put Kobe at that spot and put Steve next to Jeremy in the backcourt. There’s some flexibility there. But I've always been intrigued with Wesley, and I thought Xavier was excellent until he got hurt last year. But when you include Kobe and Swaggy, the wing is probably our strongest position.


He comes across really well in that interview, may be LA is making him feel more settled being home and all that.
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#7 » by TyCobb » Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:33 am

Hard to see Boozer off the bench, so does that mean Julius starts with Boozer at center? I think I read it wrong.
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#8 » by crazyeights » Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:33 am

I definitely think a guy with his dream job will lay it all out there. Also, loved what he said about Wes.

Sounds like early favorites to start are:

Lin
Kobe
Wes
Boozer
Hill

I found this bit interesting:

Scott: We have time to work that out, mix and match it up, see who plays better together. I think that will be fun. Let them compete. But I do think Boozer might be better with Julius just because he's a veteran guy and is talkative out there and could help him. But Jordan could too.


Is he saying playing Boozer with Randle? Would Boozer be the center there? IIRC Boozer would guard centers in Chicago because he's a solid man-to-man defender.

Man...if Nash and Kobe could string together one healthy season together, it would be awesome to watch as a basketball fan. I'd never count those two out.
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#9 » by RollingWave » Thu Aug 21, 2014 6:23 am

This interview sounds a least a little more comforting that he won't go and try to do too much on offense in the early going.
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Re: Official 2014 Free Agency discussion 

Post#10 » by ChokeFasncists » Thu Aug 21, 2014 7:24 am

Danny Darko wrote: 1 on 1 with Byron scott

Or I could also put Kobe at that spot and put Steve next to Jeremy in the backcourt. There’s some flexibility there. But I've always been intrigued with Wesley, and I thought Xavier was excellent until he got hurt last year. But when you include Kobe and Swaggy, the wing is probably our strongest position.

The best case scenario for this team could be real interesting, meaning Kobe being healthy, Nash and Boozer not getting too old, Lin getting his swagger back and Randle playing well.

Boozer
Randle
Kobe
Lin
Nash

That'd be a pretty good lineup to have on the floor.

Young as sixth man off the bench, Johnson probably start for 3&D and Hill probably starting at the 5; interesting stuff, not bad, definitely gonna make the playoffs in the East.
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#11 » by BJGOAT3 » Thu Aug 21, 2014 8:28 am

I am optimistic about this team, however health is a big concern for this roster. Aside from Lin and Boozer, all the integral pieces of the team can potentially miss a lot of time and understandably coach Scott wouldn't have anything to do about it due to lack of depth. Even though the team is filled with potentially good contributors, in case Kobe misses time the team will have to show exceptional character to keep up with the competition level.
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Re: Official 2014 Free Agency discussion 

Post#12 » by Dr Aki » Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:13 am

ChokeFasncists wrote:Boozer
Randle
Kobe
Lin
Nash

That'd be a pretty good lineup to have on the floor.


that team would give up 140 points a game
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Re: Official 2014 Free Agency discussion 

Post#13 » by dirtymike » Thu Aug 21, 2014 1:21 pm

Dr Aki wrote:
ChokeFasncists wrote:Boozer
Randle
Kobe
Lin
Nash

That'd be a pretty good lineup to have on the floor.


that team would give up 140 points a game

Easy!
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#14 » by crazyeights » Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:55 pm

And score 180!
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#15 » by crazyeights » Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:56 pm

Seriously though, if you read Choke's post he was still saying Johnson and Hill would start for defense. He put out that lineup as a potent one for stretches of a game.
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#16 » by ChokeFasncists » Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:01 pm

crazyeights wrote:Seriously though, if you read Choke's post he was still saying Johnson and Hill would start for defense. He put out that lineup as a potent one for stretches of a game.

Thanks. No way it's good idea to start that team. For stretches it'd be interesting, maybe not even finishing.

They aren't that bad defensively anyways in the best case scenario. With Johnson covering the best wing for the majority of the game, a healthy Kobe can be counted on to defend the best wings for small stretches; Boozer isn't very good at D but he played under Thibs afterall, should be adequate for a middle tier team; Nash is bad, no doubt, he probably comes off the bench; Lin is not a bad defender at all, no problem; Randle in the best case scenario would mean he pans out and can hold his own defensively against the big boys, that's an unknown and probably will happen only towards the end of the season.

The starting lineup of Hill, Boozer/Randle, Johnson, Kobe and Lin would be pretty adequate defensively; especially since Scott is emphasizing it right from the start.
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#17 » by Dr Aki » Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:32 pm

fine, that "lineup" would have a DRtg of 140
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#18 » by TrippyNate » Fri Aug 22, 2014 12:29 am

Dr Aki wrote:fine, that "lineup" would have a DRtg of 140


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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#19 » by kblo247 » Fri Aug 22, 2014 12:57 am

Nash works as the starting SG if he's willing to channel Reggie, Rip, and Ray. We saw firsthand his days of ball handling vs pressure was gone, but if he is willing to use screens and catch and shoot, he can help the team and provide a dynamic that opens the floor. The catch is a second unit that's different from the first with Hill, Wes, Nick, and X.

Lin / Henry
Nash / Swaggy
Kobe / Wes
Randle / Kelly or Davis
Boozer / Hill


I put 0 faith in Wes earning minutes or a starting role, he's not even earned a niche in the league yet. Nash's tarting also ensures Nick gets an even slot at the 2. Wes inconsistency and Xavier's health is why I'm fine with looking at Beasley.

Hell of they would take the minimum I'm fine with looking at Beasley and Bynum to fill out the roster
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Re: Coach Scott Interview 

Post#20 » by junot111 » Fri Aug 22, 2014 2:29 am

I like how Nick Young's name is just "Swaggy" now. Are we gonna hear B. Scott shout out instructions to "Swaggy" from the sidelines during games? Like "Swaggy get back on D!"

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