Nance Jr comes back and then what’s the rotation? Kuzma Randle Jr Till he gets sorted out again, Juniors lack of a 3 ball makes him odd man out. KK brings it all. Randle beast-mode off bench becoming a show in itself.
Randle is a center at this point. Walton has played Randle as backup center basically all of this season. Kuzma staarts, Nance comes off the bench with Randle.
Yea, agst lesser 5’s but, Embiid, Boogie et al will make short work of Julius. How about this for uptempo lineup: Corey B KCP Clarkson Kuz Nance Can’t wait. KCP a real dog and will have a go at anyone. Plenty length there.
Embiid made short work of every big man the Lakers had. Too fast and skilled for Bogut and Lopez, too long and big for Julius. Nance would've been fed into the woodchipper that day too I'm sure. I think Julius held his own against every other matchup we've seen this season.
Having Nance potentially start over Kuzma coming off injury when Kuzma is by far the team's most effective scorer is my first moment where I seriously question Luke's future in LA.
When we get down to splashing cash on a couple free agents next summer then the picture comes into focus for everyone. LBJ brings more than his own caddy when he gets to town.
This assumes we are able to draw big name FAs, which I'm not sure about. We've swung and struck out on that plate before.
Jr looks OK tonite. The front line mix continues. Kuzma and Ingram then go Randle and Nance to batle inside. More pts with first pair but not so much D.
Laker trade rumors: (per John Ireland/Laker radio guy) Are Nance/Randle being showcased? Note only 20 mins for Kuzma last nite. Leave your best big scorer on bench? In favor of Nance (who’s sketchy most often from outside) and Randle who still bricks it from beyond 5’? Is Luke actually making the rotation calls or Magic/Pelinka? Brutal schedule ahead including 3 with Dubs (2 home/1 away). Changes coming.
Nance messes with the balance of the rotation. The Lakers have three roughly comparable starting-calibre bigs in Lopez, Kuzma, and Randle. All three of them deserve starting-level minutes, so the way Luke did this when Nance was injured was to use Kuzma and Lopez as starters and then use Randle to fill in the gaps as the primary guy off the bench. Now Luke has decided to, for whatever reason, make Nance a starter and take a LOT of Kuzma and Randle's minutes, despite Kuzma and Randle being better players than Nance. It messes in a bad way with the offensive spacing, balance of the rotations, etc. Nance is a useful player; there are teams out there who could use someone like Nance, but his biggest weaknesses, namely lack of any sort of shot, tendencies to get overpowered on the boards, and offensive passivity, are hugely highlighted on a team that NEEDS more offensive power. Someone needs to be traded, and one of Nance or Lopez are the two guys that make a lot of sense to me to trade to a contender for some kind of asset or a SG/SF role player that can perma-bench Brewer.
B2B losses. No excuses. Couple mins left and 41 turnovers in 2 games. That says a lot about season so far. Rockets too good. Smooth flow.
No excuses? I tend to think that the Rockets and Warriors are the two best teams in the NBA right now. The Lakers just aren't on their level. Simple as that.
Rockets look primed for a playoff bust. CP3 & Harden are a joke on D. Enjoy it while it lasts. Capela can’t cover up for those two all the time.
CP3 is far from a joke on D, and Harden isn't trash when he gives effort. I think this might be the Rockets' year when they capitalize. Last year they crashed because Harden ran out of gas. This year, with CP3 handling some of the load, I think the Rockets will be in better shape.
Uh we talking ‘bout same 6’ PG who disappeared for Flippers all those playoffs? Too short & lot of miles on the wheels. CP is marginal on D. Harden is laughable at times. D’Antoni gonna run/shoot and hope 2 outgun you. Ckng the stats: currently CP3 is 13th among PG’s in +/- rankings. On the RPM metric: CP3 is 64th & Harden 66th.
Jason Whitlock today: Source told him (unconfirmed yet) Lonzo to G League is on the table now. Whitlock sez LaVar & Gelo on CNN this morning were speaking “mistruths” about the shoplift spree. JW said that after Gelo’ s credit card was “declined” he (Gelo) started the entitlement -acting-out -bullshit shop lifting. Gelo/LaVar said today Gelo was just following the others. Typical LaVar - throw 2 young black men under the bus (Whitlock’s words) to front for your Ferarri- driving punk son. LaVar’s world spiralling out of control now.
Lakers 107-104 Sixers Fine bit of ball from Zo & Ingram on winning trey. I didn’t think we had a chance in Philly. Sweet!
Embiid is such a problem though... No big on the Lakers even has a prayer of defending him. Too big and strong in the post for Randle/Nance, too skilled and fast on the perimeter for Lopez/Bogut.