Game 36: LA Lakers at Memphis Grizzlies, 12/29/2021 8:00 PM

[SlimShady83]

THT is trade bait ...

He is the same player as Johnson and infact Johnson in the few games I've seen him Is a way better defender then THT
Both need help offensively I'm not going for another 3-4 years of THT or what ever is left on contract, THT just another Kuzma, at least Kuzma could score from time to time.

[euphorbus]

I had time to watch the first half and the last four minutes. So many things come to mind, but that is what makes basketball exciting. The two most important:

1) The Lakers as a whole are not paying attention to detail: things like court awareness, boxing out, secondary assists, establishing optimal rebounding position. This is hardly unique to LA. So many players leave college after one year, many lack the fundamentals that players in the 1980s and 1990s took for granted.

2) The second night of a back-to-back, with an old team. As another poster put it, "they were gassed" at the end and made poor plays and poor decisions. The fourth quarter is where the intensity ramps up in the NBA. Memphis had it, LA did not.

As I said during the game, Coach Fizdale needed to put in some fresh legs to bolster the bench, such as Ellington, late in the third and early in the fourth quarters, or put Howard back in.

[Landsberger]

It's interesting how young players do not play well with LeBron. I think they know he doesn't want them here and it's just a matter of time if he gets his way.

THT, to me, seems rather pedestrian in his skill set (I don't care how long his arms are either) and needs time to develop. That said, he's getting a lot of attention because he's the only player on the team that has a future other than a couple of years.

[Hans1984]

They played well for 2.5 quarters.

[euphorbus]

It's interesting how young players do not play well with LeBron. I think they know he doesn't want them here and it's just a matter of time if he gets his way.

I have to disagree here. LeBron plays well with both Reaves and Monk, the two other young players on the team. Coach Fizdale commented that “Whether it’s a pocket pass back to the big, or take it all the way and finish, or come off it and rise from three, he’s starting to find his game. The one thing I know is that when LeBron James has the ultimate confidence in you, boy that has to feel good and I know LeBron’s got big-time confidence in Malik Monk.”

https://lakersnation.com/lakers-news-david-fizdale-praises-mature-temperament-of-malik-monk/2021/12/29/

LeBron invited Reaves to train with the team in Nevada before pre-season started and is largely responsible for the upgraded contract. Sometimes in the NBA, you can play well and try to prove you belong, but never get rewarded, or only a cursory look. That did not happen in this case.

If you said that James prefers veterans (which he does) and that he often lacks patience with younger players, I would agree with you. At the same time, I have read that he counsels the younger guys like Horton-Tucker off court. Whether he has patience to be a head coach, I tend to doubt it. Even Magic Johnson could not handle working with the young guys, 20, 21, 22 years old.

[bearadonisdna]

Laker dudes I return trying to help get you guys some wins . Lbj playing at goat level but I know wins are important .
Last time I was here I suggested lbj at PF , not the worst idea but not the best . This is what I thought of recently :

5.Howard -24| Jordan -24
4.Carmelo -35 | Stanley Johnson-13
3. RWB- 22 | THT-20 | Bradley -6

1. LBJ -35 | RWB-13
2. Monk-35 | THT-13

1st option : Lebron
Moral of the story , RWB plays sf.
Lbj and RWB are both engines but Lebron has the better shooting and floor game .

Basically you got to take the ball out of Russell’s hands. He leads the league in turnovers and he makes bad decisions . Here Lebron takes the ball out his hands . Russell is no longer a 1a ball handler but can be a secondary ball handler as a Sf.

Also I feel that could could help some of the AD and Lebron FC overlapping. Now AD and RWB can 2 man game it all night without the expense of Lebron .