PSG2 | Los Angeles vs Toronto | 10/4/15 | 4:00 PM (PDT) | Prime Ticket

[mattd13]

wes looks lost and not doing much. paul is surely the better fit and should start.

[mattd13]

the second unit is a mess and it will take a while. I do not see the threesome of jamal, lance, and Austin playing together working out. lance can help if he is not scoring but the other two are a accident waiting to happen. Austin has a long way to go to help every day. he could start by leaving his ego at home.

[QRich3]

Seems like Cole is a better fit for the bench unit.

Let's hope Doc get's dissuaded from that small ball bench lineup

correct me if I am wrong, but a small ball lineup's most important asset/characteristic is unselfishness to make extra pass to the highest percentage shot and outrunning the floor against bigger, slower team.

our small ball unit does not make that extra pass and does not run the floor out of defensive stop.

in fact I prefer the second unit of

Pablo - Lance - Pierce - Josh - Cole as that team can rotate and defend size or speed.

I know there is little chance Doc sits his own kid and Jamal as third stringers but that second unit has 4 guys who can play D and 1 guy who can run an offense.

Nor does it shoot well enough to get an offensive advantage to offset the defensive and rebounding problems... I honestly don't see this 2nd unit ever working out as constructed. I completely agree with you that sitting Crawford and Austin would be a great start. I mean, we all knew Jamal had to be traded ever since they got Lance, it seems Doc and his minions are the only ones who don't.

Best case scenario, Austin has a few hot performances to start the year, and some team with no starting PG (Brooklyn pls?) wants to give him a starting role, so Doc doesn't feel bad letting him go for a bigger role than here. And Crawford is let go for whatever anyone offers. I'd take a bad contract for him, or a player who's never gonna play, or a TPE. Just get the man outta here so the rest of the bench can develop some chemistry.

i've thought for a long time that doc doesn't actually know how to properly utilize small ball, or why it's even good.

He's stubborn as a baby, but he knows basketball though. He can see things that none of us can, like converting Blake into a full time playmaker when all of us were clamoring for him to play more inside. He kind of showed us there why he's a coach and we're on the internet. But yeah, he's hardheaded as hell.

[og15]

Doc's problem isn't whether or not he is smart or understands basketball, he is, but like QRich said, it is that he is stubborn in some areas. Many coaches are, but being malleable is an important characteristic.

...but one thing I have worried about since his first season bringing in guys like Mullens and Jamison and expecting a good defense is that he overly trusts in his ability to coach players into being better than they are, and that can be a problem when you also have a basketball operations role. When you have someone else fully at the helm of the other role, they are able to save you from yourself and they get players that have proven they can do certain things.

Now every coach does this to some degree, but Doc seems to start every season with the plan of converting and coaching up some players into more than might be realistic.

Still, let's take a step back. We're talking about a second unit that is attempting to go street-ball against NBA defenses since they haven't done much in terms of offense. So at least to some extent their lack of success is understandable. You can give Chris Paul nothing but pick and rolls with minimal movement and he'll figure things out, but he's a superstar, you can't do that with Austin Rivers for example.

[BlzMwt]

what was the preseason record last year?

[madmaxmedia]

You guys all on board with Wes Johnson being the starter?

I really don't like it for a couple of reasons, but I'm taking a wait-and-see on it...

Doc's problem isn't whether or not he is smart or understands basketball, he is, but like QRich said, it is that he is stubborn in some areas. Many coaches are, but being malleable is an important characteristic.

I think that's what success can do to you- you made it work (well, more than just work- you made it to the top of the mountain), so you settle in on a certain approach and don't consider alternatives.

I guess for me, I accept the bad with the good with Doc, because there's significantly more good than bad IMO. I think he's the right coach for this roster, on a different team I might not think so.

[madmaxmedia]

Seems like all the bench players need to start to maximize talent. Tempted to start Lance because his confidence looks killed with the bench.

He's said all the right things so far, and has talked about being happy to come off the bench and trusts the coach to utilize him well and put him in best opportunities to succeed and help the team. I'd like to see him in the starting lineup anyway, but that's a different issue. I didn't see the game, but he obviously didn't have a good line tonight.

[McAdoo]

I like wes in the starting line up, his defence looked pretty decent he just needs time to fit in on offense.
It's way too early to rush to judgment on the bench but so far it looks like exactly what it is, a lineup with way too many ball dominant players. I like cole in there for the mere point of having at least one guy who doesn't need the ball.

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[madmaxmedia]

I like wes in the starting line up, his defence looked pretty decent he just needs time to fit in on offense.
It's way too early to rush to judgment on the bench but so far it looks like exactly what it is, a lineup with way too many ball dominant players. I like cole in there for the mere point of having at least one guy who doesn't need the ball.

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That is why I though Wes might be a better fit with the 2nd group as a spot-up shooter and transition guy.

There is a fine line between having a lot of guys who can handle the ball in a unit, vs. having a lot of ball-dominant guys in a unit. Guys need to move the ball around, but guys also need to move around off the ball.

[LACtdom]

I'm interested to hear your opinions on Dawson, Wilcox, Hayes and Pablo in their limited minutes.