T-28: Who will lead the Lakers in assists per game?

Post #1 » by **Slava** » Fri Sep 2, 2016 3:49 pm

T-29: Which player will be the first to get cut from the roster: Nick Young/Travis Wear tied at 44%
T-30: Which player will lead the Lakers in scoring: D'Angelo Russell (56%)

As always vote and discuss.

Post #2 » by **Kilroy** » Fri Sep 2, 2016 4:05 pm

APG? I'm betting it'll be Huertas again... Total assists will probably be Russell though.

ROballer · Post #3 » by **ROballer** » Fri Sep 2, 2016 5:18 pm

Russell

5.5 apg will do it on this team, that's doable for him

He's also getting 22 a game, and those who think he'll only jump 3-4 ppg, with real starters mins, no Byron Nazi Scott on his ass, and 20 shots a game Kobe out of the picture....can go ahead and watch anything else, cause they don't know what they're talking about

I said 22 and I'll stick to it ....but in the worst possible scenario, he'll still get 20 and shut up all the doubters, who still think this isn't his team right now

22/5/5.5/1.5 spg ....MIP candidate (probably will lose to Schroder) and fringe All-Star, probably will make it if a guard gets injured

Sig me, I dare you

danfantastk32 · Post #4 » by **danfantastk32** » Fri Sep 2, 2016 5:41 pm

Kilroy wrote:APG? I'm betting it'll be Huertas again... Total assists will probably be Russell though.

I expect that D'angelo will prob play 35ish-40ish minutes...with Clarkson prob playing backup, in an effort to keep him on the floor. I see Huertas being more garbage-time this season. I don't see him playing more than 8-10 mpg. That discrepancy is why I vote for D'angelo on this one.

I'm also hoping to see D'angelo play more of the Steve Nash or CP3 style of PG than Curry or Irving. Nash shot his fair share, and was good enough that it really made things hard on defenses. But at the end of the day, he was pass-first. If his man drifted...he made them pay...but that was not his first option. I hope to see D'angelo getting 9-11 assists, and scoring 18-20 points. Maybe not this year...but growing towards that. I hope the coaching staff work with him alot this year, and come up with schemes that are a little more like the Suns of 10 years ago. I think that will favor our team more...and I think D'angelo will be very effective in that role.

Some can disagree....but I think if Walton wanted to coach the GSW, then he shoulda just stayed there. We're the Lakers. I look at our roster, and I don't think we're anything like the Warriors. Ball movement is great...but we dont have 4-5 players who are outright lethal from the 3. Do we even have 1? Having D'angelo drive the ball in and pull out bigs and then finding mismatches will be much better for us, than just raining 3's. I think D'angelo is very suited for the CP3 / Nash type of play.

I hope the Coaches see that, and work on that with him this year. We will see D'angelo's assist numbers look really really good. If not this year, then the next. Curry is the flavor of the day right now....and with good reason. But if you aren't shooting 50% from 3, or something crazy like that....then your just a ball-hog who takes stupid shots. Curry make GS what they are. That and the fact that the 2nd best 3-point shooter in the league just so happens to be his partner in crime. We don't have anyone like that....so let's work on doing what we will be good at.

warrenpeace · Post #5 » by **warrenpeace** » Fri Sep 2, 2016 8:14 pm

danfantastk32 wrote:
Kilroy wrote:APG? I'm betting it'll be Huertas again... Total assists will probably be Russell though.

I hope to see D'angelo getting 9-11 assists,

That's selfish basketball and not winning basketball in today's NBA.

danfantastk32 · Post #6 » by **danfantastk32** » Fri Sep 2, 2016 10:39 pm

warrenpeace wrote:
danfantastk32 wrote:
Kilroy wrote:APG? I'm betting it'll be Huertas again... Total assists will probably be Russell though.

I hope to see D'angelo getting 9-11 assists,

That's selfish basketball and not winning basketball in today's NBA.

9-11 assists would put him between #2 and #5 according to last years APG. If he wanted to get more, that would be great..but that's certainly good in todays game.

NYCLaker · Post #7 » by **NYCLaker** » Sat Sep 3, 2016 1:50 am

9-11 is too unrealistic....

I say 6-7 should be his goal as a lead guard.

warrenpeace · Post #8 » by **warrenpeace** » Sat Sep 3, 2016 9:27 am

danfantastk32 wrote:
warrenpeace wrote:
danfantastk32 wrote:
I hope to see D'angelo getting 9-11 assists,

That's selfish basketball and not winning basketball in today's NBA.

9-11 assists would put him between #2 and #5 according to last years APG. If he wanted to get more, that would be great..but that's certainly good in todays game.

You rarely see a team winning the championship with anyone averaging more than 7 assist per game in today's NBA. You have to be a ball dominant (selfish) point guard to average that many assist. This is one of the reason that the Suns never won the championship with Steve Nash, and the reason that I believe the Clippers will never win a Championship with Chris Paul.

The Last 8 NBA championship were won by teams that didn't have anyone chasing the league assist title. Show me a team with a player averaging 10-plus assist per game, and you are looking at a team that's not going to win the championship. Rajon (assist selfish) Rondo led the NBA in assist last season with 11.7 assist per game, and the Kings were a lottery team. Lebron led the Cavs with 6.8 assist per game and Steph led the Warriors with 6.7 per game. So no, I don't want anyone on the current Lakers team averaging north of 6 assist per game. More than that would indicate a bad system.

Post #9 » by **Slava** » Sat Sep 3, 2016 9:35 am

Neither Nash nor Chris Paul ever selfishly chased the assist title. That criticism is valid for Rondo but that is not the reason either Suns or clippers did not manage to win a title.

warrenpeace · Post #10 » by **warrenpeace** » Sat Sep 3, 2016 11:16 am

Slava wrote:Neither Nash nor Chris Paul ever selfishly chased the assist title. That criticism is valid for Rondo but that is not the reason either Suns or clippers did not manage to win a title.

Yes I agree that neither Nash nor Chris Paul are selfish players, but they are both ball dominant point guards who want the ball in their hands so they can set-up their teammates. I prefer the Warriors method that emphasis greater ball movement, where everyone touches the ball.

Mirjalovic · Post #11 » by **Mirjalovic** » Sat Sep 3, 2016 11:49 am

D'Angelo Russell

Huertas will have best apg per 36 tho

stan francisco · Post #12 » by **stan francisco** » Sat Sep 3, 2016 5:07 pm

Russell.

MAMBAEMD · Post #13 » by **MAMBAEMD** » Sat Sep 3, 2016 10:02 pm

Russell
Followed by Huertas
Followed by Deng

tugs · Post #14 » by **tugs** » Sun Sep 4, 2016 1:01 am

I could see Randle making plays and Russell and Clarkson scoring. You know, ala Draymond.

simon24 · Post #15 » by **simon24** » Sun Sep 4, 2016 1:35 am

Russell.

aaron_gray · Post #16 » by **aaron_gray** » Sun Sep 4, 2016 3:30 am

Slava wrote:Neither Nash nor Chris Paul ever selfishly chased the assist title. That criticism is valid for Rondo but that is not the reason either Suns or clippers did not manage to win a title.

Not really sure Chris Paul's and Nash's assist numbers are comparable, given that their respective teams used to be on the opposite end of the pace spectrum (back when CP3 was still in New Orleans). I wouldn't be able to point you to specific evidence right now, but I do feel like this criticism of stagnant offensive play is somewhat valid for Paul. Then again, selfish play can produce very efficient basketball. The real question is whether or not it reduces the rest of the team's collective motivation to play defense.

danfantastk32 · Post #17 » by **danfantastk32** » Sun Sep 4, 2016 8:00 pm

Im not quite sure how setting up your teammates for assists constitutes as "selfish basketball".

Nash and the Suns started the whole 7-seconds or less offense, and had terrific ball movement. I think Russell would fit that style. I don't know a whole lot about what CP3 does these days, because I dont watch that so-called team. But I do remember how he played at New Orleans...and Russell would be great at that too.

You want him to play more like Irving? Fine.....go get Lebron. That will help turn Russell into more of a shooter. Much easier when defenses are busy with this freak of nature you call a teammate.

Want him to be more like Curry? I hope you have some sorta injection that makes guys shoot north of 45% from the 3. Or guess what? Your defender's gonna float off of you, the other defenders will stay home....and no ball movement. Russell ain't shabby at the 3. But he ain't Curry. You gotta shoot north of 45% with defenders ordered to stick to you like glue the second you come over half-court. You know what else helps? How about 6 other players you can pass to who shoot higher 3point % than any Laker? That kinda helps, don't it? Iggy had the 8th best 3p% on that team last year (I omitted 2 guys who almost never played) and his % was tied with Russel (our best).

This team ain't the Warriors. The sooner we realized that, and work towards stuff we'll actually be good at, the better. You wanna guy like Curry?.....well A) Get in line B) Go watch the Warriors....cause there's this guy there that does a really G* damn good Curry impression.

It's just my opinion....but if Luke is smart....he'll have Russell breaking down defenses...pulling out their bigs...and doing things like pick n rolls with Randle and Mozgov. I think Russell will have alot more assists this year. He's got my vote for leader

Post #18 » by **Slava** » Sun Sep 4, 2016 8:32 pm

aaron_gray wrote:
Slava wrote:Neither Nash nor Chris Paul ever selfishly chased the assist title. That criticism is valid for Rondo but that is not the reason either Suns or clippers did not manage to win a title.

Not really sure Chris Paul's and Nash's assist numbers are comparable, given that their respective teams used to be on the opposite end of the pace spectrum (back when CP3 was still in New Orleans). I wouldn't be able to point you to specific evidence right now, but I do feel like this criticism of stagnant offensive play is somewhat valid for Paul. Then again, selfish play can produce very efficient basketball. The real question is whether or not it reduces the rest of the team's collective motivation to play defense.

In New Orleans, CP3 was regularly playing with the likes of Tyson Chandler and Mo Pete, David West etc while putting up insane 125 offensive rating seasons. Those are the kind of blue collar players that basically want you to dominate the ball and get them easy shots so they can do their job on the defensive side. So I don't think his approach was in any way bad for motivation.

iamworthy · Post #19 » by **iamworthy** » Sun Sep 4, 2016 8:40 pm

Kilroy wrote:APG? I'm betting it'll be Huertas again... Total assists will probably be Russell though.

So then you have Huertas getting the backup PG minutes and not Jose?

Post #20 » by **Kilroy** » Mon Sep 5, 2016 4:26 pm

iamworthy wrote:
Kilroy wrote:APG? I'm betting it'll be Huertas again... Total assists will probably be Russell though.

So then you have Huertas getting the backup PG minutes and not Jose?

I think Jose will end up starting next to Russell, with Huertas coming off the bench for him next to Clarkson, sooner or later...
And whoever is on the floor with Russell is going to be giving up assists to him, so I think Huertas will still ultimately have the best stats.

I think having Jose's shooting in the starting lineup is going to be too attractive to pass up unless Clarkson really does become lights-out.

Who leads the team in assists