Aloha,

While most of the attention will go to AD and Russ, look at the starters

Russ +1
AD + 3
DJ + 4
Bazemore + 6
Monk + 31

While Monk had 17 points 4 for 9 from 3 and 3 assists. That plus 31 shows that he was playing well on defense as well. Also a shout out to Reeves who was on the floor with a monk during that run that erased that 12 point deficit.

Aloha,

One of the main arguments for adding a 3rd star will be tested tonight with LeBron sitting out. This could be problematic because a Pop coached team always plays smart and hard. The biggest issue is at the 3. We really only have Bazemore and perhaps Reeves in 3 guard sets. It will be interesting to see how the rotations work. I do know that we probably won’t see AD starting at the 5 tonight.

Aloha,

Just a few observations.

1 This was a quality win. I watched some of the Clippers game, and these guys are for real. I could see them making one of the top 6 seeds this year.

2. The energy was much better tonight. We needed it against these guys .

3. While we won the game, our starters lost. There are still a lot of kinks to work out.

4. Melo is going to win us a lot of games this year. While there a temptation to start him, I prefer him coming off the bench. He gives us something we haven’t had since LeBron arrived. A constant big time scorer running with the 2nd unit.

5. We really could have used Nunn tonight. While Bazemore is a very good defender, it’s asking a lot of him to stay with an ultra quick PG like Ja. he’s better suited to guard wings.

6. Reeves continues to impress.

7. Monk looked more like the guy we saw during preseason before he got hurt. 2 for 3 from 3, 12 points and 4 assists will get it done.

8. While Westbrook’s shot is still off, we saw his true value for this team as a playmaker tonight.

9. 12 block shots and over 50% from 3 is the kind of trends I like to see.

10. AD looked like the DPY tonight. Still, I would like to see him grab a few more board.

Aloha,

I was thinking, what if we didn’t make the trade and our roster looked like this:

Guards
Nunn
Ellington
Monk
Caruso
KCP
Rondo
Reeves

Guard/Forward
THT
Bazemore

Forwards
LeBron
Kuz
Melo
Ariza

Centers
AD
Howard

Would we be a better team? Thoughts?

Aloha,

It’s very easy to see why we lost.

Free throws GH 25-30 83% Lakers 9-19 47%

Bench scoring Warriors 55-29

Rebounding 50 to 45 GS
Offensive 9- 5 GS

Defense was poor as well. Giving up 121 points on a night that Steph had a poor shooting.

Hopefully we will get a few more healthy bodies back because our lack of depth really hurt.

Aloha

Well the preseason hasn’t been exactly smooth
so far. I’m not to concerned, I still think the Lakers will be the team to beat, but there is A LOT of work to do. Losing to a Warriors team without Steph and Green, when our big 3 played was not encouraging. When you add 11 new players to your roster there is bound to be a real long learning curve. The first year of the big 3 in Miami saw a team with 3 hall of famers get off to a 9-8 start. Fortunately we have a very favorable early schedule and should be able to pick up a lot of wins on sheer talent alone. If you recall last year we started fast with a lot of new faces but we also were winning ugly. I expect a lot of early ugly wins this year. Compounding our problems is injuries. We have lost 2 of our 4 small forwards. I suspect we will see LeBron at the 3 with Melo at the 4 until we get a little more depth back. I would love to see us sign Ennis to a non guaranteed deal. We would have until mid December to guarantee it. Ironically we were once a guard heavy squad, we currently only have 4 healthy guards. Fortunately both Monk and Nunn appear to be ready soon, possibly for opening night. You never know for sure. So it’s going to be a rocky start, even if we are winning, it may not be pretty for awhile.

Aloha,

My biggest take away from this game was Malik Monk tossing his name into the starting SG spot conversation. Everything else was pretty typical first preseason game stuff.

Aloha,

With LeBron and Russ not playing tomorrow, my eyes are going to be on THT. I’m interested in seeing what the team is seeing in him this off season. I read a lot of articles where he is mentioned. Media day both LeBron and Frank brought him up without being asked and a few other guys raved about him. He is still JUST 20, half the guys drafted in the first round this year are older. So there are plenty of growing pains ahead but he must be showing a lot if so many people are being so complimentary.

Aloha,

I was thinking of the 3 topics I will be following closely this season.

1. How Westbrook fits with LeBron.

2. Can our defense remain at least a top 10 defense after losing 3 quality defenders.

3. THT’s over all defensive development. And can he add a reasonable 3 point shot to his already impressive offense in the paint.

What are yours?

Aloha,

While there seems to be a never ending series of articles about how Russ and LeBron will fit together, there is a bigger issue, one that maybe more important. It will be nice having Russ running with LeBron to ease his playmaker burden but I think the bigger benefit will be when LeBron rests. This has been a problem for the Lakers ever since LeBron arrived. The offense stagnates when LeBron rests. I suspect that Russ and LeBron will rarely rest at the same time. The Lakers would stagger AD and LeBron but that doesn’t have the same impact because AD is a big, not a playmaker. Russ running the show when LeBron rests is what I am looking forward to the most.

Aloha,

I’m still waiting on our 14th player. Normally I would be on NBA hibernation mode. But with our lack of size on the wing I’m still holding out hope that we can land Ennis. That said I have been thinking of the surprises and disappointments of the off season.

Surprise: Signing Westbrook. While it cost us a couple of core defensive players, I don’t think anyone expected this. It was all about Buddy until it wasn’t. I think it helped that the Wizards wanted to get out from under Westbrook’s massive contract but still I don’t think anyone thought we could land a superstar with what we had to trade. Plus we added 3 2nd round picks which no one saw coming. As far as fit. We lead the NBA in basketball IQ. We will figure it out.

Disappointment: Not landing either Otto Porter Jr or Batum. We could could have used either. Especially they both were signed to minimums. They both had the size that we lack. I understand that Batum probably felt a connection with the Clippers and until Kawai returns he will have a big role. Porter Jr probably saw a bigger role with the Warriors as well. Still either would have been huge.

Surprise. Signing Bazemore for the vet minimum was a very pleasant surprise. After a quality season with the Warriors I thought he was at least a mini mid level player. While Melo, Ariza and Ellington were on about everyone’s free agent radar, signing Bazemore came out of the blue.

Disappointment: Losing Alex. The guy was just a glue guy and one of the best defensive guards in the NBA. He had such an amazing chemistry playing with LeBron. His defense will be missed. He shot over 40% from 3 but didn’t shoot a lot. I think that is more about coaching and our schemes really were not 3 point shooting friendly.

Surprise: Again Out of no where we sign Monk and Nunn two young guys with upside. We also signed them both for under market value. With the age of this roster it’s going to be important having some young legs to throw out there. Nunn especially still has the kind of star upside that I would never thought we could get for 5 mil. He had been projected at the full MLE. And Monk at 22 was probably at least a 5 mil player.

Disappointment: losing Marc and then replacing him with Jordon. Who could have guessed that the Drummond signing would have consequences this year. Marc was the perfect fit for this offense while DJ is a more Dwight lite. I would have felt better if we had landed Boogie instead. But honestly, there has to be some reason for that. Perhaps Boogie didn’t want to come back. Maybe he got upset that we turned to Marc the summer before and not him after spending half a year with the Lakers.

Surprise: Well not really, I kind of expected THT to come back. To maintain a championship level team I think it’s important to develop at least a couple of young players. THT played like a high lottery pick last year and he has the tools, work ethic and desire to be an all star caliber player. At only 20, I think he is a head of schedule. I guess the surprise for me was he didn’t wait for an offer sheet. That could be the Klutch connection but I think it’s more about wanting to stay a Laker. After Westbrook, his development will be the 2nd most interesting story of the season.

Disappointment: Not bringing back Keef. Why we wouldn’t bring back a big mean combo forward when we lack size at the forward is beyond me. Especially after he claimed to want to retire a Laker. The only thing I can think of is he didn’t like his role once we signed Melo. He would not get a lot of minutes. Still it would be nice to have another small ball 5 on the team in case AD goes down.

Surprise: Landing Reeves and Ayayi, two guys that were projected 2nd rounders without a 2nd round pick. Now it’s been said they both turned down being drafted so they could sign with the Lakers but none of the articles explained how they could do that. Is there different rules in the 2nd round. If anyone knows please share because none of the articles explained how it could be done.

I would be interested in hearing other surprises and disappointments.

Aloha,

I have been checking in on the Lakers this off season more then usual this time of year, because of the additions, but Primarily because everything is settled by now. The Gasol question is still the largest remaining one. Publicity Marc has said he intends to return. He has not made any statements about retirement. Yet we are supposed to be after DJ. It would make little sense carrying 3 traditional centers when our greatest remaining need is a wing defender with size. The interesting thing is DJ has cleared waivers but he is still unsigned and Marc is still on the roster. This is a crazy business and you never know what’s going to happen but it has always seemed unlikely that the Lakers would cut him for DK when they have Dwight. Marc offers a different skill set while DJ is pretty much Dwight lite. So are they waiting on Marc? Is there a trade in the works? Who knows but after such a great off season, I think it would be a huge error carrying 3 traditional centers. Beside if AD were to go down, LeBron is about the only guy on the roster that you could plug in at the small ball 5, which I’m not sure I like.

A lot has been made about Westbrook’s awkward fit but I’m not worried. This team is loaded with high IQ players so they will figure it out. I suspect both Russ and LeBron will both play more off the ball then they are use to but they will adapt.

I’m the most curious about the younger guys. We invested in THT and think that was a good thing. He showed a lot of on ball defensive ability last year, he just needs to clean up his rotations, which is typical of 20 year olds. Hopefully he can raise his 3 point shooting % as well. His stroke looked good hopefully it’s a confidence issue and that’s resolved. I don’t expect him to sky rocket to a 40%er in one off season but he can lift it to 35% this year that would be great.

Nunn is the guy that is really on my mind. Many pundits feel he may have been the steal of the free agency period. He is thought of as an under rated defender but because of his size he will probably be defending the point most of the time. I see him getting most of his minutes with LeBron playing the Avery Bradley role. Defending the point but a much better scorer. Unless he really under performs, I don’t think we will see much of Rondo. All the pundits from Picus, to the Spectrum Lakers crew to others I read believe Rondo won’t see many minutes. At least in the regular season. I agree with Jamie here, if Rondo plays a lot, something is terribly wrong. Either injuries or under performance.

Aloha,

I was just thinking about Rondo if we do indeed add him. While I’m okay with having Rondo, if he ends up playing a lot of minutes something is terribly wrong. I look at him as insurance policy for injuries to Westbrook or even LeBron. But I’m wondering how we will utilize Nunn. He is a terrific scorer and an underrated defender. But he is basically an undersized SG. I didn’t see him starting because we would have an extremely small back court. I saw him spending a lot of time running with LeBron when Westbrook rests. Sort of the same role Avery Bradley played. LeBron was the point guard on offense while Avery defended the point. And I really hope that is how it plays out because Rondo while a pesky defender, isn’t the defender he once was and he is no where near the scorer that Nunn is. How they use Nunn is an intriguing question for me.

I have also been pondering out defense. While the offensive fire power that we added will make being the top defense in the NBA less important we will still need to be a top 10 defensive team to sniff another championship. And we have issues there. We lost several top notch defenders in KCP, Caruso, Kuz and Wes. Even Dennis was very good on ball with the speed and quickness to stay with his man full court. And also keep in mind that both KCP and Alex were both 6’ 6” which gave us a lot of defensive versatility. Also Kuz has been developing in a very good defender over the last 2 seasons and at 6’ 9” he presented a lot of problems for the opponents wings. None of the players we added are as good defensively as the player they replaced with the possible exception of Bazemore. And if we do start LeBron at the 4 it will mean we will have an undersized wing at the 3. I know Trevor has been a great defender and brings a lot of experience but his best days as a man defender are past him plus we lack depth at the 4 as well so he will be needed there at times. Scheme will be everything this year.

I’m hoping THT takes a leap, actually it maybe more important for him to take a leap as a defender then as a 3 point shooter. He is long with a sturdy body to bang with so I think he may see even more minutes at the 3 then the 63% he played there last year. He showed signs of being a very good on ball defender last year. His problem has been in his rotations which isn’t unusual for a young player. I really believe THT could be breaking out by mid season this year. I won’t expect him to break out before he can legally buy a drink in November. I remember watching Randle and Ingram struggle early on but when you watched them you could see the talent oozing out of them. I see the same thing in THT, we lucked out getting a lottery talent in the 2nd round. And I don’t see him being part of any realistic mid season block buster trade because we just ran out of other trading chips and the chips we do have isn’t going to get us anyone much better. I think we will hold on to THT because 1. We have 3 superstars already 2. We can’t land another with what have to trade and 3. It’s very hard to sustain a dynasty without some home grown talent that you can go over the cap with. Hopefully we can find one or two more diamonds in the rough. We will need to.