Basketball can be a fickle friend, for franchise stars who are ultimately consigned to the journeyman’s path and for systems, coaches and executives who fall out of favor for any number of reasons. Consider the case of Phil Jackson who disappeared like morning dew after his very public flameout as president of the New York […]
Los Angeles Lakers
The Summer of the Lakers’ Mad Genius
The front office of the Los Angeles Lakers did exactly one thing this summer that played to conventional wisdom—they signed LeBron James. After that, the wheels of the free-agency bus seemed to go bumpity-bump, all through the league. But what if all this turns out to be the kind of mad genius that is so […]
Los Angeles Lakers, Running down the Stretch
But for a dismal nine-game losing streak that dragged from the end of last year to the beginning of this one, the Los Angeles Lakers would be planted squarely in the playoff hunt right now. Such are the vagaries of professional sports. Regardless, the team with the fastest pace in the league keeps on running—and […]
2017 NBA Data Roundup
We’ll that’s been fun. We’re almost halfway through the NBA season at the turn of the new year. Samples are no longer small, standings make more sense, and pretender teams have faded away. Our ever growing and updating daily Forum Blue & Gold NBA data spreadsheet can tell us much about this NBA season. Here […]
Kobe Bryant Isolation: The Crazy Data Behind the NBA Legend
In an age of teams relentlessly focusing on efficiency and team basketball, the Kobe Bryant isolation brand of ball is frowned upon more and more. Shots with an insane degree of difficulty, many from mid range, and especially in isolation will just drive coaches and analytic heads like me insane. But Kobe was different. No, […]
Positionless Basketball An Option For The Lakers
A favorite refrain from Jalen Rose is how positions were added to the analysis of basketball to help the more casual fan understand where certain players belong on the court. It’s an interesting premise that might hold water if plays weren’t designed around players fitting roles based on their skill sets and size (you know, […]
The Markieff Morris Conundrum
Part of any building process is the acquisition of assets. While in this stage, whoever is responsible for raising a roster from the ashes has to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves as competitors deal with their own issues. In this case, the Lakers could benefit from the Phoenix Suns and an extremely unhappy […]
What to do with Nick Young?
Nick Young couldn’t possibly have felt great about his Lakers signing Lou Williams this summer. The redundancy between the two is fairly obvious if simplified down to layman levels. Young and Williams are both chuckers best used off the bench to bring an immediate scoring punch to whichever lineup they’re joining on the court. So, […]
Summer League A Preview For Regular Season
“I don’t see why we don’t contend for a playoff spot,” he said. “But our young players have to grow beyond their years and we have to stay healthy.” From: GM Mitch Kupchak sees playoff potential in Lakers after offseason pickups Before I focused solely on writing about the NBA, I worked in public relations. […]
Lakers Summer League Recap: Game 3
The Lakers finished their weekend as many who travel to Las Vegas typically do: quietly. They lost to the new York Knicks and aside from a few bursts, were never particularly close. Winning or losing in the summer league isn’t a huge issue, the more important outcome is progress, and it’s kinda hard to find […]