OFFICIAL AROUND THE NBA THREAD - August 2021

I'm not saying they'll start fast or win 70 games, its just funny to me how hate around here, just blinds the common sense.

 

Everything hangs on whether Davis can be bothered to get in shape this year, cuz last year he sure as shit couldn't.

 

This whole post confuses me. You're saying they won't have a good season?

 

So, why don't you put your common sense where your mouth (err, typing) is--do you think the 2021-22 Lakers team will be better or worse than then 2019-20 Lakers that won a title? I mean, they added SUPERSTAR Russell Westbrook and HALL OF FAMER Carmelo Anthony, so "common sense" says they should be much, much better, right?

 

LeBron James has dragged worse teams to the finals, but he was a lot younger. The Lakers are getting overhyped by casual fans who say "hey, a teamfull of names I recognize!" and underhyped by ageists. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Westbrook isn't as bad as his reputation tends to be now, but the Lakers are not built for the three point age right now. And they fucking better get great at load management for all those old creaky joints.

 

Impossible to predict right now. SO much turnover. Chemistry will take awhile to come together for sure. It just cracks me up that people think they will be worse having Westbrook as their PG instead of Schruder.

 

Oh ya, and I forgot how OLD LeBron is getting and how much his numbers will go down this season right?

 

We HATE Melo so much......there is NO way he can play 25 minutes and give them some valuable scoring and get to the FT line down the stretch of a close game as a 4th option. Because we hate the Lakers SO much, there's NO way he gets the calls from the refs huh?

 

And if they make the WCF or Finals and lose people will be like "SEE, I told you they are terrible and suck!".

Meanwhile we will be bounced in the first round.

 

Lebron and Westbrook aren’t as effective if they aren’t dominating the ball. Davis is injured yearly. Lebron will eventually start slowing down. Their supporting cast has gotten worse. They’ll be a top 3 team. But I don’t think they’ll dominate the league.

Westbrook is a great talent. But his stats aren’t as indicative of his outcome on games as they should.

 

Great post. Agree with pretty much all of it, including this........"They'll be a top 3 team."

 

He forgot a zero after the 3.

 

Yeah, we were bounced in the first round this year, weren't we? Remind me what happened to pre-season faves the Lakers this year.

 

Remind me what happened two years ago with the same 2 best players on their team. Then remind me the last time the Blazers won one.

 

@Rastapopoulos the cat is making some good points. Look at things logically and not with your pinwheel glasses on. Even if it hurts.

 

I'm just burned from last season when I printed my "LAKERS 2021 CHAMPIONS - BACK TO BACK, BABY!!!!" T-shirts at the start of the season.

 

So you're saying that a team with those two players can either win a championship or get bounced in the first round? Okay. Let's see what happens this year.

 

Not only do I think they won't be top 3, but I don't think they'll even try to be top 3. "Load Management" will be the mantra for the aging team. I'd be surprised if James plays more than 65 or so games this season.

 

You mean, Westbrook instead of Caruso. Yes, Westbrook is a much greater individual talent, but the Lakers were great year before last because of their defense. They basically got rid of a lot of their defensive chops, didn't add any shooting and added a player in Westbrook who's really not useful off the ball and giving him the ball is much better for the defense than giving it to LeBron or AD. You focus far too much on Westbrook's numbers and not enough on how he's going to impact the Lakers' offense and defense in a five-on-five game, IMO.

My opinion: The Lakers' defense is going to drop off a lot, regular season and playoffs. Their offense will be fine in the regular season, but is also going to be worse in the playoffs than their championship year.

And since you get confused if I don't explicitly say it: I think they'll be among the top teams in the West. I just think they're worse than they were in their championship season, even if James and Davis play as much as they did in 2019-20 and as well.

 

Fuck the Lakers. That's all I have to say about that.