#DidYouKnow: Kobe’s all-time scoring leader in Christmas Day games (383). Look back at his past 15 #NBAXmas GP! #TBT https://t.co/cpOYxkgMWI
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 25, 2015
I’ve written it before, but I’ve not been the biggest fan of the Lakers playing on Christmas. This is mostly for selfish reasons — I’d much prefer to just relax with family and not have to be the guy who shuns everyone while totally investing in another Lakers’ game. I do that 81 other times a year, one day off — on Christmas no less — isn’t too much to ask for.
This year, though, I don’t have that same feeling. And, again, it’s for selfish reasons. This will be Kobe Bryant’s final game on Christmas and I want to see him perform. If his recent level of play holds up, it should be a good final game too. But even if it doesn’t, I still want to watch him do his thing.
Kobe’s the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on Christmas day with 383 points on his resumé. His filled highlight reels with some amazing moments that are engrained in my memory. You know, ones like these:
An early ?… @KobeBryant’s #NBAXmas #NBAmixtape! https://t.co/XlA9QrH8xq
— NBA (@NBA) December 22, 2015
They haven’t always come in winning efforts, but they’ve been spectacular all the same. A few more moments like the ones above might be too much for Kobe to gift us, but I’d be lying if it wasn’t on my list of things I’d hope Santa to deliver.
Of course, it won’t be easy. The Lakers aren’t a good team — their 35 point shellacking at the hands of the Thunder is our latest reminder — and they face a Clippers’ team who is good (though they hope to be great). The match ups across the board favor the other Los Angeles team and with the world watching you have to imagine they’d love nothing more than to try and embarrass their “big brother” once again.
If the Lakers are to hold them off, a lot of things would need to go their way. I won’t give you an entire list, but these would be pretty important:
- Kobe needs to play well. Like 25-30 points on over 50% shooting along with 5-8 assists, well.
- The young guys all need to bring it. That means efficient shooting nights from Russell and Randle with Clarkson being his typical steady self. Work on the glass from all three is paramount and some playmaking/assists from all of them would also be needed. Something along the lines of a combined 40 points, 20 rebounds, and 12 assists is in the neighborhood of what would be needed.
- At least one of the Lou Williams/Nick Young duo needs to get hot.
- Roy Hibbert needs to stay out of foul trouble and keep DeAndre Jordan off the glass.
- Blake Griffin cannot go off. No 35 point, 15 rebound efforts on this day.
- Keep Chris Paul under wraps. This hasn’t been Paul’s finest year, but he’s been better than given credit for. A 15 point, 7 assist night is probably wishful thinking, but that’s in line with what the Lakers would need to have his output be.
- Jamal Crawford cannot get hot.
I could see some of the things the Lakers need on offense to go their way happening, but defensively they are going to have problems. Griffin and Paul are too good and the Lakers’ defense, both individually and from a team concept, simply do not do enough things well to battle against those players’ strengths. Further, if those two find their stride, DeAndre is likely to shake free for lobs and on the offensive glass way too often.
With that, what I am really hoping for most is a competitive game that is worth watching all the way through. A close finish with some back and forth between Kobe/the kids and Paul/Griffin would be a nice way to cap off a Christmas. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you and I hope you enjoy the game.
Where you can watch: 7:30pm start time on ESPN and TWC Sporstnet. Also listen on ESPN Radio 710AM Los Angeles.
Fern says
Merry Christmas to you Darius and to all to all the family of FB&G!!!! Even KO lol, i hope everybody have a beautiful day with their loved ones…
Craig W. says
One last time — for Warren!
….and hope…
Paula Cavy says
Thank you for the great memories. I love watching Kobe in any game. He is truly the GOAT of his time. I am sure he will give us another performance today.
Merry Christmas to all.
KO says
Thanks Fern. We all are fans of this crazy team.
Happy Christmas as the Laker curse attacked our refrigerator last night with 20 people coming over today for dinner.
Hope they like warm drinks?
And not the Clippers!
TempleOfJamesWorthy says
Don’t worry. Kobe Bryant’s “level of play” will be pretty much what we expect…:-D…
https://vine.co/v/iKLPE2nbvKx
KevTheBold says
To the most intelligent, civilized, and most interesting group of Laker fans I have ever had the great fortune to discover: May each and every one of you, have a wonderful Holiday season and an enlightening New Year !!
Here’s to looking forward to the emergence of a new Laker Dynasty {eventually} !
Sald0gg says
Kobe leading All Star voting by over 200k over Steph.
Vasheed says
Merry Christmas to all you FB&G posters! 🙂
T Rogers says
Merry Christmas to the FB&G family! Wow I didn’t even realize this would be our last time seeing #24 on Christmas. There have been some great Laker games on Christmas in recent years.
The win over the Suns in 07 signified the Lakers had arrived. The win over the C’s in 08 showed our guys were ready to take the final step towards glory. The close loss to Shaq and Wade in 04 showed the Lakers would be fine in Kobe’s hands.
It would be great to sucker punch the Clips today. They are already stumbling. That would be a great Christmas gift.
Fulofunk says
Right now Kobe seems like the ultimate basketball ambassador. His competitiveness is without question, but to watch him play, relishing the matchups with a grin, chatting up the opponents with a smile, playing with the officials even after bad calls , then in post game interviews responding in kind to a question in spanish (or was it Italian?) with warmth and sincerity. I hope the kids realize what a privelage and example they have before them this 20th year. No, he’s not perfect ….no one has ever said that, but those of us who have followed his career from day 1 can truly appreciate what Kobe has brought and continues to bring to the NBA…apparently so do All Star voters. Merry Christmas!
nimble says
Go Bean,More than SC and LB combined!Now this is true Yoda love.
Robert says
Kobe Alert: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all. Today, Kobes will be playing in his 16th Christmas Day game (1st all time). He is the all time leading scorer on 12/25 with 383 points. He is also the all time leader in field goals, and field goal attempts. He is second all time in Free throws and FTAs (Oscar). Other stats are very hard to come by before 1985. So since 85, KB has the most minutes, the most dimes, and the second most rebounds (Shaq).
Against the Nuggets Kobes had his 427th 30 point game and needs 2 more to catch KAJ for 4th all time. He needs 84 points for 33k, 77 minutes to catch Reggie for 8th all time, and 30 dimes to get by the logo for 2nd on the Laker list.
The first ballots are in. Kobe has more than 200k votes more than Curry who is in second, and he has more votes than LBJ and KD combined.
I think that proves it, whether the government is a monarchy (like the Lakers), a dictatorship (like the NBA), or a democracy (like the All star game):
Kobe Rules
the other Stephen says
Merry Christmas, everyone! 🙂
Marques says
Defense…..does not exist
KevTheBold says
Nance gave the clippers a 2 point Christmas present.
I don’t recall a player making a basket for the opposing team in quite some time.
KevTheBold says
Hillbert of to a strong offensive start. Two unusual aspects thus far.
I wonder what else is forth coming this fine Xmas evening?
KevTheBold says
Ahh, there it is, D’Angelo having a shoot out with cp3.
This is fun !
chris hederson says
question for you basketball minds…
when Larry Nance Jr, ON DEFENSE, tipped the long rebound back towards the OPPONENTS RIM and Roy Hibbert was under that (Defensive) rim… and he saw the ball was going in, could he intercept that tip, even if it’s “over the cone”, in other words, can there be offensive interference, even if it’s on the defensive end?
what do you think?
what if Roy had intercepted that ball, and it was over the cone, but it was on the defensive end?
Anonymous says
Announcers talking about losing Clarkson this summer via free agency. That would set the rebuild back.
KO says
Its Goal tending.
Russell looks great.
Randle crap for 5th in a row.
Young needs to be released.
Anonymous says
Being mentioned that if the Lakers strike out in free agency and lose their pick the Lakers will be looking at their fourth straight losing season. Why is it that the national media can see our FO is in a major bind, caused by their own decisions, but Jeanie sits back and let’s the franchise implode?
KO says
Jeannie is clueless like her brother.
Archon says
There’s a part of me that thinks Clarkson isn’t in the FO long term plans and wouldn’t mind using him as a sign and trade guy in the offseason.
Anonymous says
Kobe leading All Star voting by over 200k over Steph.
—
Jim and Jeanie see that and assume everything is just fine. It’s called managing a franchise from inside a bubble — no grasp of reality.
KO says
And announcers are trashing Bryon and his school yard offense.
Too bad there is no longer pride of ownership. Have another Egg Nog Jimbo.
Tra says
There’s no other team that I hate losing to more so than these pretenders.
Jr. is doing something – in this game at least – that Randle just can’t do and that something is hit a mid range jump shot. IMO, until he can get that aspect of his game up to par – along with a right hand – he’ll never be a reliable offensive threat in this league.
KO says
Nick and Lou 1 for 9. Isen’t there anyone in world will take these two?
Another well coached game by BS.
Fern says
entertaining game, “the bust”, Randle and Bass!! put us in a position to not lose by a ton, can someone explain to me why BS let Huertas in the game and didn’t put Clarkson back in? just because he is there when Randle and Russell spearheaded the run doesn’t mean he needs to gooble up all those crunch time minutes, btw “the bust role player” played good defense on Paul, and Wesley Johnson what can i say? Killing the Lakers since 2013.Funny, i looked up some recent articles on him, since i could care less about him since he left and one of the articles title was ” Wesley Johnson embracing starter role, could flourish” now where i read that garbage before?
Marques says
OK
Can a team make the playoffs with you as the #1?
Can a team make the playoffs with you as the #2?
Can you be the 6th man and lead the second unit?
If not, you are a role player, if your not and you are top 5 pick, you are a bust.
He had a decent game, he’s clearly not a superstar, if you squint real hard, he may be that 2nd guy or 6th man.
But……he doesn’t have anything special..speed..nope, athleticism..nope, height for his position..nope, energy..nope…
Good passer, decent shooter, terrible defender.
Mario Chalmers was a star at kansas, top rotation player on a championship team. Still has big games, just not the #2 pick.
KevTheBold says
Marques, If Curry were on the team at age 19, you would be saying the same about him.
Wait until he’s a fully grown man before you judge him.
rr says
Chalmers was a NBA rookie at 22, and wasn’t really better than Russell is at 19. That is a huge difference. As I have mentioned a few times, Russell’s college numbers were actually in some respects better than John Wall’s:
PER/TS%/WS-40
Wall 22.3/.562/.196
Russell 26.6/.573/.229
As with any stats, we have noise and context. Calipari’s system and his recruiting philosophy seem to hold some guys’ numbers down and then they sometimes spike in the pros—we have seen that with Bledsoe, Cousins, and Towns; and of course a few people here said that would happen with Randle and may still think it will. Thad Matta OTOH had the situation set up to maximize Russell’s stats.
Looking at their NBA numbers with Wall as a rookie, Russell is actually shooting a bit better than Wall did. The two biggest differences have been dime rates and FTA.
DIME%/FTA/36 minutes as rookies:
Wall 36.5/5.4
Russell 21.7/1.7
James Harden got to the line 5.0 times/36 minutes as a 20 year-old rookie. So, age 19 or no, and no matter how much people want to blame Byron for everything related to the offense, I think Russell needs to show that he can get to the line more.
FTr is FTA per FGA. Rookie numbers:
Wall .404
Harden .411
Russell .111
Even Mario Chalmers was getting to the line more than Russell was as a rookie (2.6/36 minutes). And for all the talk about Kobe gunning Russell out of reps, Russell’s USG as a rookie is only slightly less than Wall’s was (22.7/23.8). Tonight, Russell played pretty well. But he only had 2 FTA, missing both, in 28 minutes. In contrast, Lou Williams is great at getting to the line; and even having a bad game, he had 7 FTA in 26 minutes.
bleedpurplegold says
Cmon guys…dar bashing again?!? I already admitted i was mad after we picked him….but that was in the past
and you can put up all the numbers in the world, but i trust my eyes….he does things a 19 year old isnt supposed to do. He can make passes i havent seen a 19 year old make in a long time. He has a quick release, a nice form on it, has some smarts and plays with a calm you rarely see from a 19 year old top 5 pick who wants to show what he got…..just watch him grow….
Quick thought on clarkson leaving:
I dont think you can sign and trade him, that hasnt worked for us in recent past. So its either trade him now or max him out at the end of the year. I would really like to keep him, but i belive with the cap rising and many teams having a lot of cap space next couple of summers, someone will offer him the max, and we have to match….i dont think he is worth 20mil a year, but losing him and possibly losing out on other fa next summer would really take us more than only one step back….we are up the creek without a paddle and have to figure out what to do.
I think that decision is the most important our beloved lakers have faced in a loooong time, maybe ever.
Fern says
Height for his position? umm he is a 6’5 point guard, taller than Hall, Curry,, Chalmers ect and he could still grow an inch or two, and he actually defended CO fairly well down the stretch, Chalmer “was a top rotation player on a championship team” that means exactly jack squat in the pros. I never heard of a 19 year old guiding an NBA team to the playoffs, not even rookie Lebron, DAR has a lot to learn and he is is playing in a “system” that is not friendly to his game and he is still putting decent numbers with the typical rookie ups and downs his assists need to go up but it seems to me that is a byproduct of the system, i guess since he is not avg 20 and 10 assists and the Lakers are not the the top record in the NBA he must be a bust.Im glad we picked him, i like him better than Okafor and he is not Miudiay…
Darius Soriano says
I too was going to rebut Marques with facts. Then I realized I’d rather eat a cookie and make better use of my time.
George Best says
Russell was the best pick at number two. He just needs a better system/coach and he will grow into a top point guard. Porzingis Okafor and Mudiay won’t be what Russell will be.
As for Clarkson, if someone offers him a max deal you let him walk. We should be trying to negotiate a long term deal at a reasonable rate now.
Top free agents won’t be moving to teams unless it’s to be complimentary pieces to winning teams. This isn’t the 80s NBA and we need to build through the draft and get superstars. You can’t expect to sign a Shaq and luck into a Kobe at the same time. Otherwise we would have been the mid 90s Lakers for who knows how long.
Expectations because of past success isn’t in line with the reality of the modern day NBA.
LakerFanatic says
They seem to only have flow when the backups get in there….Jon Barry said what I’ve been thinking for the past few YEARS with this team…no ball movement…no ball reversal…everything stays on the strong side of the floor the entire possession before they jack up a shot…only team that has less passes per game and actually doing okay is okc and thats different when you got 2 people who can go coast to coast
http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/team/passing/?sort=PASSES_MADE&dir=-1
tankyou says
@George, I agree with you on the Clarkson, I wouldn’t max him out, IF he showed he could be a true SG and defend the big SG’s then fine, but thus far he hasn’t shown me that. But if he can be had for 10-11mill, I suppose that’s worth it. Disagree with Russel being the best #2, but I hope you are right, he definitely has been looking more like a 1st rounder at least. And a better system should help him and everyone.
The clippers just don’t have “it” despite their talented roster, they really look like they are regressing from a couple years ago. Not impressed with them. And the Spurs lost to the rockets, WTH? That’s pretty pathetic, rockets are defintely worse this year both on offense and defense.
Kobe is leading the All-star voting again by a large margin, so hopefully he can actually “play” in this last all-star game.
matt says
Comparing russell’s college career to wall”s is insane, wall was a phenom
I think Russell has great potential but he is no john wall
matt says
I agree with fern chalmers was on a championship team, I’ve said before russell at times looks like our best player, and i agree he does have great poise for his age, he doesn’t try to force things, that’s his best trait, he takes open shots, lakers are just bad all around, offensively no one looks to fill the lane, no lane is even created through movement, rarely does anyone cut toward the basket, matter of fact no one on our team plays that way, russell in college would pass to guys who did these things, he’s making sacre look good, i said before if they resign hibbert I’m going to cry, I’d rather have jordan hill at 9 mil, at least he moves around on offense, if russell is the future assemble a team he can work with, and fire the awful coach who does not know who he’s coaching, or who he’s playing against, i mean adjust the lineup you can have 3 guards on the floor vs okc
minorthreatt says
I thought there was an interesting what-if suggestion made a couple of days ago — I can’t recall who made it — regarding Clarkson and the removal of pick protection. No idea if the Sixers would give up a worthwhile piece, nor whether it would benefit us in the long run. But it does bring up an interesting question: is there a scenario where we improve enough in the second half that giving up the pick protection is a gamble worth taking?
Anonymous says
Loved the fact that Barry told the nation the truth about the Lakers. The team:
1) lacks talent,
2) has a roster that doesn’t make sense
3) has coach that runs an iso oriented offense
4) has three young talents which the Lakers are still figuring out their ceilings because the coach jerks with their roles
5) one of the young cornerstones is a RFA this summer
6) is likely facing a fourth losing season due to long odds to keep the pick and very thin free agent group this year
7) got its ass kicked for three quarters and only made the score respectable in garbage time.
I hope Jim and Jeanie were listening. The Lakers are an embarrassment.
matt says
Sorry you can’t have 3 guards on the floor vs okc, also what im sayin is russell is fantastic at passing to players who are moving
matt says
The coach is just bad, how you gonna run a Offensive scheme, that does not utilize the talent of your point guard, and then bench him for lou williams, like it’s russell’s fault it’s not working.
matt says
Tra i agree i hate losing to the clippers, and didn’t watch this, recorded it, probly wont watch it,
the clippers are like that guy who brings his not so hot girlfriend over to hang out with his single buddies
Baylor Fan says
The next Clarkson contract is tricky and is not simply a matter of maxing him out. It has been covered elsewhere and here by Darius. No one can offer him a “max” contract beginning next season other than the Lakers. They would be bidding against themselves. However, he could be offered max money by other teams starting after two years similar to Lin’s poison contract. It will boil down to how the Lakers project the free agency market to be in two years versus now and if they want to be able to maximize their cap space then. It would help for them to play Clarkson as much as possible for the rest of the year to help decide what his true value is.
rr says
I looked at the college FTA rates for Wall and Russell, per 40 minutes:
Wall: 7.2
Russell: 5.3
So, while Wall is still clearly ahead, Russell’s very low NBA numbers are probably partly due to the team’s personnel/having an adjustment period. I don’t think it is all Byron—Lou Williams is getting to the line at the same rate he always has. I was one of a few people who said going into the season that there would be people who blamed 100% of issues or perceived issues with the development arcs of the young guys on Scott. That was very predictable. Some of it is on Scott; some of it isn’t.
As to the negative responses (put up all the numbers you want, that’s insane), two points:
1. The whole point of drafting Russell was the idea that he could be a foundational, multi-dimensional offensive player suited to today’s game: a big guard who can play on or off-ball, can move the rock, shoot the 3, run the O. That is why his high-end comps were Harden and Ginobili. If Russell is going to be that level of player, then getting to the line is going to need to be part of his skillset.
2. Wall is a very relevant comp. Like Russell, Wall was a consensus All-American one-and-done PG with good size from a power conference school. They are different types of players: Wall is more athletic whereas Russell has better court vision. But they are of similar cloth in other ways. Wall went #1, and was picked ahead of a Kentucky big man. Russell went #2, and was picked between a Kentucky big man and a Duke big man. And, I think being a Wall-caliber player is what Lakers fans should be hoping Russell can be. Wall is an ASG-level guy, a 20 PER guy, probably a #2 guy on a contender. Hoping for more than that from Russell is wanting a whole lot from him.
LordMo says
Happy Holidays LakerLand!!!
Twas a good day of Family and Festivities!
Like I said just having fun watching the kids develop. They have a long journey and there are no guarantees but I do see flashes here and there.
DAR is finding his way in this league. He has some skills and I can see he is thinking the game. If he can put it all together in a few years…watch out! While DAR is figuring out the league… Randle wants to attack it! I like that about him. Also, like how we are holding him back making him even hungrier. This kid can become a beast!
Regarding Clarkson … Sigh … it’s a shame really because he might be our next Patrick Beverley ( Drafted by the Lakers…why we didn’t keep him don’t know?). But Clarkson might be playing elsewhere and will be a good player for some team. Sorry I know a 1 and a 2 when see them and Clarkson is a 1 period. His game reminds me of Rondo and imagine having Rondo at the 2… yeah err no right? So you either trade this kid or let him go either way it’s a shame because he is a player but we drafted DAR and he will be the 1 of the future no question.
Again nice change for us people. I looking forward to see if the Lakers can come up big and reclaim what’s rightfully ours! Only the Lakers and the Celtics have won multiple championships with different cores. Any other organization has had a good run with a particular great player and captured some titles during their tenure like Chicago and San Antonio. But doing it repeatedly like the Lakers have that’s the difference!
Mark Sigal says
Watching the game last night, we concluded that the key to the game turning around in the 4th was when Byron Scott left the building to get Chalupas at Taco Bell; the team could finally play free, unburdened by the weight of his “coaching.”
Jokes aside, last night was a microcosm of everything wrong with the Lakers, and the promise of a better future – bizarre rotations, zero offensive or defensive identity, the kids playing lost, and Russell forced to play predominately off ball in Iso sets. Then, the shackles came off, Russell could actually run the offense, and the team flowed and looked like a team on both sides.
One can’t help but conclude that the only teach Scott is providing Russell, Randle and Clarkson is how NOT to play.
Marques says
Darius, since you like facts, here is a fact while you enjoy your cookie or whatever.
2008- Rose, Westbrook, Dragic
2009- Rubio, Holiday, Jennings, Teague, Curry
2010- Wall, Bledsoe, Bradley
2011-Irving, Knight, Walker
2012-Lillard, Marshall Wroten
2013-Olidipo, Carter-Williams, Burke, Mcullum
Notice anything, no..let me help. The stars made an impact on day one, even if the team sucked. Even the ones that are just ok, moved into being role players rather quickly.
We can go back 10 years, same thing, as I said before, point guards don’t magically turn into superstars after years. A Kyle lowery here, a Goran Dragic who is the 4th best player on his team, the fact remains.
You are either real good from day one, or you become a role player at the point guard position. Which is fine, Russell may play 15 solid years….but if you are the number 2 pick, and you don’t change the franchise…well…you answer that 3 years from now when you are still trying to figure out why Randle can’t guard anybody, and Russell is averaging 13 and 7.
Wing players with length and athleticism have upside, big men that can’t rebound and are two inches too short always have the same issue. And of course, point guards that don’t dominate in a point guards league will be role players.
It’s ok, next year, when there is no Kobe, and he is playing 40 minutes getting torched every night, you can hit me with your facts.
I enjoy reading them, right or wrong.
Fern says
tankyou, i dont think any team in the NBA would max Clarkson, he is not a max player, a good player in a bad team. i say he is going to make like 7 mill a year
KevTheBold says
@ Mark, agree with you 100%.
DAR, has demonstrated to us several times, that we can only see who he is, when he’s free of Scott’s shackles.
I was reading an article today about what Scott thinks about Russell, compared to what players believe.
Kobe and CP3 praised him, but Scott, it seems is playing a mind game that could either help, or hinder.
Yes, Russell continues to seek Scott’s favor, yet his time on the court proves that he’s best when ignoring Scott, and listening to his instincts and to Kobe.
In my opinion Scott has a difficult time adjusting his methodlology to individual players, and is believing too firmly in the myth that surrounds him of the “point guard developer savant”, as it may be, that the other two pg’s would have developed fine, or even better without him.
I am hoping that at seasons end, we will discover the answer to this question, with the insertion of a young, player oriented coach that motivates versus punishes, and is open to learning as well as teaching.
LordMo says
@Kev
I concur … not sure BScott is truly a teaching coach but he can impart some Lakers Pride into his young charges. So, I’m down with that for now. Watching the Golden State game it struck me there were two solid candidates right in front of us between Mark Jackson and Luke Walton. We also have Mad Dog developing so there will be options when the Lakers are ready for change. My guess is BScott gets one more year with this group and new draft pick. If they don’t show improvement then his time here is done.
matt says
@rr i geeked out awhile back and found similarities between the stats of russell and wall, i found an article about types of point guards, which is determined using the assist ratio, usage ratio, and something the article called ppr (pure point ratio, Assist ratio subtracted by turnover ratio)
According to this there are four types of point guards:
Scorer: low assist, high usage, low ppr
Initiator: adverage assist, low usage, adverage ppr
Ditributor: high assist, low usage, high ppr
Pure facilitator: high assist, high usage, high ppr
Now given russell is a rookie his numbers are premature, but if you add about 5 pts to each category the numbers match john walls numbers, pure facilitator /scorer
The problem with this is if you watch footage of wall and footage of russell, in college, wall is way more skilled, he controls the game is unstoppable. Russell is not at his level.
Upon my watching of footage the star i see similarities with for russell, is walt frazier, now footage is limited, but he’s a rebounding point gaurd, who plays at a controlled pace, and relies on a medium jumper, russell has shown glimpses of a his ability to steal the ball which is something frazier was good at.
Tell me if you agree, also assist, usage, and turnover ratios are very easy to find online
matt says
Fern i agree clarkson around 7-9 mil
matt says
Rookie comparison:
Russell westbrook rookie season
Games played 82 games started 65
Pts avg 15, reb avg 5, assist 5
D’angelo russell rookie season
Games played 30 games started 22
Pts avg 15, reb avg 5, assist 4
Josh says
Marques with the late entry for most idiotic post of 2015. Half the people he named didn’t look good from Day 1 and heck some of them I wouldn’t want even now. That post deserves the “Billy Madison” treatment lmao
matt says
Marques, notice all the elite group of point guards are 08, 09, 10 guys who been pro 5+ years, some like rose, wall, and Irving came in balling hard, but 2 of the 3 are oftentimes hurt if you know what im sayin
Fern says
this dude is just delusional, he thinks that DAR being the second pick and all was supposed to be the second coming of Magic or something, most of those PGs didn’t made the playoffs in their first season Steph freaking Curry was called a bust early on his 1st season, and he was 22 when he entered the league, impact? you know what impact is? Magic propeling the Lakers to a championship as a rookie same as Tim Duncan, if Kobe was a rookie in 2015 i guess he would be called a bust too huh? Im convinced that if DAR was drafted by say, Denver, he would be putting better numbers all across the board DAR per 36 say as much, does he get burned on D? hell yeah but he did a good job on CP last night down the stretch and hit his shots. Westbrook and Curry were torched a lot coming up and CP never been a good defender, what is DAR despite all the benchings inconsistent minutes and rookie ups and downs? he is the 3rd best scorer in the team thats a fact, and his assists numbers and 3 point % are going up, he still haven’t put it all togheter, but when he does, he could be something else, i dont expect him to be a new Magic, i want him to he the best DAR he can be, and making dumb definite statements on a rookie not even 2 moths into his pro career is just, well, stupid…
Baylor Fan says
It would be nice if Russell could defend as well as Frazier did. Stats do not tell everything. The offense Ohio State ran for Russell was designed around his abilities. The Lakers offense is designed as if to take away everything he is good at doing. For example, no spacing, no 3 point shooters, and no pick and roll partner. How one can evaluate how good or bad Russell may be is beyond me.
Mark Sigal says
@Kev, my biggest struggle as a Lakers fan is connecting the dots between what I think is an organization that has done PRETTY GOOD to VERY GOOD on talent evaluation, but has literally screwed the pooch on three successive coaches…so much so that most Lakers fans where not only cautious about the mismatch between coach and team, but alarmed.
No one thought Brown knew anything about offense, MDA’s style neither meshed with the aging talent, nor the down low center nor the commitment to playing both sides of the ball; and everyone thought Scott was a old school retread at best, spoiled meat at worst.
I wonder what Scott’s ten game experiment has told him in terms of data, since neither the data nor the ‘eyes test’ suggests that it was anything other than shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.
KevTheBold says
@Baylor,..Agree that a system geared towards his abilities would show us more, though, for me, the stats within this system, at least prove that his determination and skills are not merely a product of some prop designed around an average player to make him appear better than he is.
With regards to his defence, true, in college he wasn’t burdened with that task, thus it’s new to him.
I do believe however that he is learning. His play against cp3 was notable, so there is hope.
KevTheBold says
@Mark, I hear you.
In a recent interview, Scott’s reasoning for pushing Dar to the 2nd unit, was to give him a unit of his own to run, as,… according to Scott, the starting vets would balk at being run by a kid on a full time basis.
This may or may not be true, though Kobe has requested more than once to allow Dar to run it.
What further blurs the picture, is that Dar’s unit runs better than the starting unit, and he makes even Kelley or Sacre look good, so he is gaining experience there, more than possibly he gains with Kobe being the focus of the offence.
Anonymous says
my biggest struggle as a Lakers fan is connecting the dots between what I think is an organization that has done PRETTY GOOD to VERY GOOD on talent evaluation
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The Lakers have three talented youngsters that project to be starters. There is no other talent on the team. That’s why we are 5 – 25. They have drafted well (fingers crossed) but other than that I don’t see any indication that the FO knows what the hell they are doing.
KO says
I saw more coaching, timeouts’defensive subs’out of bounds plays etc in Clipper/ Utah game tonight the entire season of Bryon Scott and Lakers.
Chris J says
KO — You could watch 48 minutes by 82 games and never see Byron coaching. He was a bad hire who’s been worse than anyone could have expected, even the many naysayers who wanted no part of him.