It’s hard to be too upset after the Lakers Opening Night loss – at least it is for myself. I spent the night at Staples Center in the 300 level, taking in a night of hoops, a wealth of youth, and an energy I hadn’t felt in the arena in over two years.
The lack of electricity is understandable. The team racked up 48 wins over the last two years – a total that the Lakers reached or exceeded 36 times in single seasons in the franchise history. An apparent lack of solidarity in the front office, a lack of consistency at head coach, and a general lack of health among the players led to the two worst seasons in Lakers history. And while all of the problems weren’t resolved heading into this season, there are clear signs that the Lakers are starting to move out of their funk and into a more promising era of Lakers hoops – and it was definitely felt in the 45 minutes leading up to tip-off.
Staples was near capacity before the start of the game, and the fanbase was eager to see these new-look Lakers. “I’m just happy Kobe is healthy, man,” said David, a 19-year old fan who sat in my section. “I’m excited to see the rookies, too. But I’m here to see Kobe’s return.
Before things began, however, the Lakers observed a moment of silence to show their respect for Flip Saunders, who recently passed away after being treated for Hodgkin lymphoma. Along with the observed moment of silence, the Lakers paid tribute to Saunders by wearing warm-up shirts with “FLIP” written across the chest. The typography was in a style that resembled the team’s old Minneapolis logo – a nice touch to tie the two franchises together, signaling that the NBA is more of a family than the on-court battles would suggest.
As noted earlier, all the Lakers (not just Kobe) are wearing a tribute shooting shirt for Flip Saunders pic.twitter.com/GkQoaM9rC7
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) October 29, 2015
After the moment of silence, the Lakers introduced the Timberwolves (Kevin Garnett had a healthy mix of cheers and boos from the crowd), and then got into the home team intro – which after all of these years is still one of the most unique intros in all of sport. The white curtain, the bridging of multiple eras of Lakers hoops, and the voice over after the curtain drops: “This is a franchise with 16 NBA titles, the most wins in NBA history. The home team, your Los Angeles Lakers.” Goosebumps. Darius already covered the details of the game, but there were a few things that stood out to me from taking in the game live: This was my first time seeing Jordan Clarkson play live. Both of the games I went to last year, he received a DNP-CD. Seeing Clarkson work in person is a bit of a different experience. He moves a lot more fluidly than I previously gave him credit for. Watching him turn the corner off screens is akin to watching Eric Bledsoe before his knee injury. Looking to get to the rim, sneaky explosive, just not as strong. He’s also starting to move into a leadership role, even signaling to Kobe that he didn’t want a screen late in the 4th quarter, and attacking Minnesota in a P&R set that led to free throws (the one he missed proved to be costly). The Jersey game at Staples last night was phenomenal. One of the first that stood out was a rookie Eddie Jones jersey, and for those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know I have a love for all things Eddie. There was a nice Nick Van Exel jersey, a James Worthy, Jerry West, and Robert Horry. There was the usual abundance of Kobe/Magic jerseys, but the one that took the cake wasn’t even a Lakers jersey. Look at the glory of this Timberwolves JR Rider jersey.
This. Jersey. pic.twitter.com/YaCQXXXBR5 — Phillip Barnett (@regularbarnett) October 29, 2015
Lastly, it was just a damn fun game. Kobe didn’t have his best shooting night, but he showed flashes of his old self. Clarkson/Russell/Randle all showed the promise of a trio of guys who can grow together. Roy Hibbert provides an excellent defensive and veteran presence. Lou Williams and Nick Young are going to be fun as hell off the bench, and their collective fun quotient can only rise when Marcelo Huertas is on the floor. It’s too early in the season to set any kind of expectations in the win/loss column, but we have enough to look forward to a team that is going to be fun to watch, despite the youth of the core and the frustration that comes with a veteran gunner stuck in his ways and an old school coach with oft times antiquated coaching philosophies.
Opening Night was a generally fun, and entertaining game. And I suppose if the Lakers are going to lose a tough one down the stretch to open the season, at least it was to a team like the Timberwolves, still in the midst of the aftermath of losing the man the Lakers honored before the night officially got started. Rest in peace, Flip Saunders.
Oldtimer says
Defense win games. Chuckling shots on perimeter where Swaggy P lurks may look good at first glance but in totality, they disappear when he does not defend his position. I think Lakers were showboating when their lead mushroomed to 16 pts. T’wolves worked harder in the end in honor of their coach Flip Saunders.
BigCitySid says
– Hoping Kobe’s 1st game back was an aberration and not the norm for 2015 – 2016.
Paul says
Byron Scott is confused. He views the offense as one big experiment. Moving Russell back to point guard. Duh!! What was he thinking in the first place.
Craig W. says
I too loved the first half – and not just because the Lakers were leading.
The stretch in the 3rd/4th qtr was what really frustrated me. I expected a letdown, but for the coach to simply let the players play it out, without any apparent help/guidance/pause (i.e. timeout to coach), seemed very unnatural. My gosh, this is an almost completely new team, with half of it being rookies and 2nd year men. You simply cannot let the players keep making the same mistake over and over without some kind of correction. I don’t care if the correction doesn’t work, but learning doesn’t happen when you are continually trying to run your head through the same wall.
Kev The Bold says
I’m with you Paul.
The mysterious thought process behind moving D’Angelo off the ball, to a position which could not have panned out even in practice is curious.
All it did was make D’Angelo’s game look bad; and combined with Rubio’s opportunistic decision to take advantage of our kids, gave fuel to the Okafor fanatics, who had dreams of reliving the Shaq Kobe era via Clarkson & Oaks.
For them I say: Okafor would have been a safer bet. A solid big man with polished offensive skills.
Yet, no scout or expert would or will say Okafor has the potential to be greatest center in NBA history.
About D’Angelo’s potential however, the sky is the limit. He could be THE BEST.
Long time, and true Laker fans know that the the Lakers shoot for the heavens. We are not a blue collar fan base, but a stars, movies, beautiful people and cars fan base.
We are all about the fireworks and flash, and D’Angelo fits perfectly.
So please kill the criticism.
Your ridiculously premature proclamations of bust, which are in reality only hate hopes, will only mark you as fly by night, fake fans.
Speaking of the future, I’m glad Kobe spoke up to correct this, for next game.
This team needs to be captained by it’s chosen one.
Young though he is, he’s still by nature the best starting facilitator the Lakers have.
Yes he’s got a lot to learn, but hands on experience is the best teacher.
T. Rogers says
“What was he thinking in the first place.”
—
That’s what I was trying to figure out. What was the logic behind moving him from his natural position in the first place? And it was done prior to his first real NBA game. If you ever wanted to try to destroy a rookie’s confidence, pull a move like that. And based on the interview with Russell after the fact he was clearly ticked off. As he should have been.
If D’Angelo Russell is not going to start AND be the primary ball handler then why waste the #2 pick on him? He doesn’t have the explosiveness or athleticism to be a scoring wing. And he’s too small to play up front. He does two thing very well, pass and handle the ball. If he is not allowed to do those things he’s really of no use on the roster.
J C says
Exactly – what was Byron doing putting our #2 draft pick off the ball when he was selected for his PG skillset?
It’s funny because if I were Byron I wouldn’t even have announced this change, I just would have done it. Then hopefully everyone would just notice after tonight’s game that Russell had resumed primary PG duties and looks great.
Poor Byron. He’s in over his head.
mud says
what was Scott doing putting Russell at the 2? giving him experience with minimized pressure.
Russell went back to the 1 in the second half of the last game.
rr says
In today’s NBA, a lot of teams are going with guards who can play on or off-ball, which is sort of a return to the pre-merger era with combos like Monroe/Frazier and West/Goodrich. I don’t see a huge downside to giving Russell some minutes off-ball as he adjusts to the league, especially since Clarkson is a combo guard who plays some on-ball.
J C says
I agree rr except I still wouldn’t have started him off-ball. His most shining talent is passing and in fact complements Clarkson’s shot-first mentality well.
Btw I loved West – Goodrich and Monroe – Frazier.
I think those guys would still excel in today’s game.
Anonymous says
High correlation with rookie PGs being allowed to make mistakes and having very solid careers. Mudiay being allowed to play significant minutes while turning the ball a lot over is a good thing in the long run. I think he’s the star of the draft.
Nik Kannan says
Hey at least I don’t have to watch Chucky Atkins or Smush Parker at PG.. I think there is reason to be optimistic.
We did win B2B championships & 3 straight finals just four yrs after 2004… Set the same target I think it is realistic.
NK
KevTheBold says
Anonymous: Taking into account Mudiay’s experience, to where he is now, I don’t see his upside anywhere near D’Angelo’s.
BigCitySid says
– Selection of Russell over Okafor by the ownership group isn’t rocket science. Bottom line: they didn’t think an Al Jefferson clone was exciting or sexy enough to sell seats at Staples and be the face of the Lakers.
Anonymous says
where is there evidence that Russell could be the best. because someone said so? If he is going to be the best he needs to be showing it. he is not MJ or Magic and never will be.
Clay Bertrand says
Why is everyone so DOWN on D’Angelo and Byron Scott????? Let us not forget that BYRON SCOTT developed 2 of the best PGs playing today and one of the best in history!!!!!!
1.) Chris Paul – Obviously, Chris Paul would not be the player he is today if Byron would not have developed and tutored him in his early years. Byron taught him to dribble, pass, and to be a great floor general. He also taught him GOOD JUDGMENT to know when to assert himself and when to involve his teammates. Otherwise, CP3 would never have learned these things.
2.) Kyrie Irving – NO ONE thought Kyrie was going to be any good AT ALL. Then the Cavs drafted him and COACH SCOTT got his hands on him. NOW, he is a truly special player who can get to the cup AND involve his teammates. Kyrie will probably win a RING this year solely because of Byron Scott and his expert PG development. Face it, he’d be in the D-League without Byron!!
3.) Magic Johnson – I know that Byron didn’t coach Magic. BUT he MADE Magic’s career really as his back court mate. Byron was able to see things that Magic could never see on the court and he told Magic ALL of his secrets. When Magic finally FINALLYYYYYY started to listen to Byron, he became arguably the best Point Guard EVER!! This pretty much proves that Byron is a genius.
Byron has proven that his Mr. Miyagi-like teaching techniques of TEACHING while the student believes he ISNT LEARNING anything works wonders for young Point Guards.
Now we see a little bit of frustration with D’Angleo Sahn being confused with his role. Can’t wait to see this kid in the ALL VALLEY TOURNAMENT after a few months with Sensei Byron.
WAX ON…WAX OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Lakers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let’s see if Russell appears in tonight’s game dressed as a SHOWER!!!
rr says
ESPN shut down Grantland today.
JeffT says
Saying Byron made Magic’s career is sort of like saying Tony Kukoc made Michael Jordan’s career.
KO says
Geez stop. Russell is not going to be a top 10 PG. Look at thise names ahead if him. At best a decent passer, avarage shooter and will get beat in defense. We had a left hander PG 2 years ago just like that and dumped him. Game was lost by Scott leaving team to struggle 2nd half and not even using time outs in 4th. Plus Kobe hijacked the game while going 0 for 8 With ONE assist. Hope its a one game thing.
Coach like it matters Scott and bench Kobe if he plays ego ball again. Team can be much better then.
aka says
clay–hahaha that was hilarious. i almost started to get all riled up, and then realized it needed a sarcasm font all over that post.
and to those who say that anyone worried russell is going to be a bust is a fly by night fan, that’s not your place to say how fans should be fans. I can be a die hard laker fan that wants the team to do well, and still worry that our choices as a franchise might not pan out—ie byron scott as a coach, russell as a superstar saviour of the franchise. if you want to look at the analytic models, he has just as much chance at being a superstar as a bust. so there’s no definite future in store for him yet, worrying about his downside is equally valid as hyping his upside. All the people who may be worried about the possibility of bust would gladly be proven wrong, because that would mean we are closer to contending again. and make no mistake, we still love the purple and gold as much as you do.
Clay Bertrand says
See JeffT, you get what I’m saying then.
KevTheBold says
KO, sorry to be blunt, but comparing D’Angelo to that other lefty is easy, so easy a kid would do it.
AKA, the fact is, it’s a done deal. The choice has been made. So any negativity at this point is not only premature, but pressurizing to an already overloaded youngster.
So unless that’s your purpose, to assist in his downfall, a true fan would stand behind him. Because as he goes, goes the franchise.