11/11 Game Thread: Lakers (1-6) @ Magic (3-5) | 4:00 PM

[moonpie]

When: November 11th, 2015, 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST
Where: Amway Center in Orlando, Florida
How: TV-TWC Sportsnet Lakers/TWC Deportes/FS Florida, Radio-ESPN 710 AM/1330 AM ESPN DEPORTES/ESPN 580

Projected starting Lineups (LAL vs. ORL):

PG: #1 D'angelo Russell (6'5, Rookie, Ohio State)

SG: #6 Jordan Clarkson (6'5, 2nd Year, Missouri)

SF: #15 Metta World Peace (6'7, 16th Year, St. Johns)

PF: #30 Julius Randle (6'9, 2nd Year, Kentucky)

C: #17 Roy Hibbert (7'2, 8th Year, Georgetown)


VS

PG: #4 Elfrid Payton (6'4, 2nd Year, Louisiana-Lafayette)

SG: #5 Victor Oladipo (6'4, 3rd Year, Indiana)

SF: #10 Evan Fournier (6'7, 4th Year, France)

PF: #12 Tobias Harris (6'9, 5th Year, Tennessee)

C: #3 Dewayne Dedmon (7'0, 3rd Year, USC)


Coaches' Tale of the Tape:

Lakers: Byron Antom Scott (Age: 54)
•Years Coached: 15
•Playoff Appearances: 4 (33-24 Record, 2x Finals Appearances from 2001-2003)
•Record: 438-587
•Accolades: NBA Coach of the Year (2008), 2x NBA All-Star Head Coach (2002, 2008)

Magic: Scott Allen Skiles (Age: 51)
•Years Coached: 14
•Playoff Appearances: 6 (18-24 Record)
•Record: 446-438
•Accolades: N/A

Projected Bench Matchups:
Marcelo Huertes (Brazil) vs. CJ Watson (Tennessee)
Lou Williams (South Gwinnet HS) vs. Shabazz Napier (Connecticut)
Nick Young (USC) vs. Mario Hezonja (Croatia)
Larry Nance Jr. (Wyoming) vs. Aaron Gordon (Arizona)
Tarik Black (Kansas) vs. Channing Frye (Arizona)

Injury Report:
-Kobe Bryant (OUT)-Back
-Nikola Vucevic (Doubtful)-Knee
-Jason Smith (Doubtful)-Knee

Eye candy for this game: Emily Grey

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[Aaramirez16]

I would love if Russell gets fed up n snaps back at byron

[Spens1]

that pic for Russell

anyway no excuses here for Scott, if you can keep Williams on whilst he's playing like a scrub, you can sure as hell keep Russ on

[EArl]

This is a winnable game. I wonder how long Scott will last.

[Dr Aki]

I would love if Russell gets fed up n snaps back at byron

byron's plan ALL ALONG

also, got a day off work to watch this game

[moonpie]

Russell bout to pull a Latrell Sprewell on Byron.

"I need to feed my damn family, Coach!"

[Tarik_shaq]

Emily is such a sexy pornstar.

[Laker_Kid]

This is a winnable game. I wonder how long Scott will last.

most of the games so far has been winnable. but unlike others, im not expecting much. everything we've seen so far like losing leads or falling into one is all part of a rebuilding team... shows inexperience. as the season goes on and the team starts to gel, we'd be able to secure winnable games. but again, im not expecting anything. the most important thing is to develop them and i hope they dont get too discouraged but rather stay hungry.

and yes, best eye candy so far. emily *drools*

[FrozenIceCubes]

Scott has single handidly destroyed this team. He's not using the veterans the right way and even though developing the young trio is a main priority he has kicked them in the curve... this season is gonna end up being a big mess and I can't wait to see what excuses the FO has this time.. especially with the injury excuse out the window.

[ArC_man]

I predict Russell plays 30 minutes, clearly BScott was resting him yesterday to unleash him on the Magic this game to gain confidence.

[Slava]

I predict Russell plays 30 minutes, clearly BScott was resting him yesterday to unleash him on the Magic this game to gain confidence.

He'd have gotten more joy against the likes of Dragic and Calderon than he will against Elfrid and Oladipo.

[FrozenIceCubes]

I would love to see this line up..

PG: Russell
SG: Kobe
SF: MWP
PF: Randle
C: Hibbert

I think that line up gives us the best chance to win... And inserting Clarkson as the 6th man role makes sense especially with Lou stinking up the joint.

[Braiantauxx]

Payton gonna stretch Russell doe.

[dockingsched]

hopefully Russell gets to play in the 4th quarter tonight, he's 11th on the team in 4th quarter minutes and it seems like he's most certainly earned more time on the court:

http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2015/11/11/dangelo-russells-in-game-splits-show-strong-play-in-2nd-halves/

Yes, Russell needs to play for development reasons but there are some numbers which say he probably should be playing in the 4th quarter based on merit. Namely, that Russell does his best work in the 2nd half of games, showing especially strong play in the 3rd quarter. The numbers are below:

In the 2nd half of games, Russell has made 15 of his 29 field goals (51.7%)
In the 2nd half of games, Russell has made 4 of his 12 three-point field goals (33.3% — league average is 33.7%)
In the 2nd half of games, Russell has 9 assists to 5 turnovers, nearly a 2-1 ratio
In the 2nd half of games, the Lakers’ offensive efficiency is 5.4 points better when Russell is in the game (100.3) than when he is on the bench (94.9).
In the 3rd quarter, Russell’s shooting numbers are even better — 57.1% shooting from the field, 40% shooting from behind the arc.

if Russell is doing his best work in the 3rd period wouldn’t it make sense to bring him back into games to let him build on strong play? Instead, Russell has sat out the entire 4th quarter in three of the team’s seven games and only played more than 5 minutes in a 4th quarter twice this year.

It is always important to note that the season is young and that there is more than one way to develop a player. Bringing a player along slowly isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just as force-feeding a guy minutes is not always a good thing. However, based on the number of games Russell has sat out entirely and his level of play in 2nd halves (and the 3rd quarter specifically), it would seem that there is a lack of balance between the pace in which he’s being brought along and what he might be ready for. This disconnect is frustrating to watch play out night after night.

[moonpie]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MarkG_Medina/status/664565148842094592[/tweet]

[moonpie]

Interested to see the highflyers tonight off the bench-Nance and Gordon

[mcscotty]

Dang. All I'm getting is the Craptors and Philly game. Stuck in Canada for 3 months.

[SashaTheMachine]

We will get wrecked.

[ArC_man]

MWP gassed

[Michael Lucky]

Great start by Russell. 7 points 3 rebounds 2 assists in 7 minutes.