Comments on: Clippers vs Magic Game Preview: A Defensive Slugfest in LA

By: khyber jones

khyber jones — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 17:35:32 +0000

Went to that LAL-ORL game with a friend. LAL looked to be in control but the unwillingness to throw bodies at Wagner and Suggs kept ORL in it. Missed FTs and some missed layups put the Lakers at risk of losing. They probably win that game 9 out of 10 times, but I think for them the issue is defense. To get through 3 rounds of playoffs guys like Redish and (eventually) Vanderbilt are going to have to be on the floor getting a lot of reps against the top scorers.

By: zhiv

zhiv — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 16:35:37 +0000

I expected the Orlando defense to cause real problems for LAL, but the Lakers didn’t seem overly bothered. Still, ORL stayed close, never giving LAL extra opportunities, and nothing was especially easy. ORL was unhappy about losing to the Clippers and they got dialed in with their offense, hitting 3s, and LAL didn’t have anybody to slow down Franz. Brother Mo is doing a good amount of damage these days too.

Nice to see the Lakers take their 5th loss. They get Denver on the second night of a B2B, as mentioned above. Clips have already lost their share of tossup/last possession games, including the early Phoenix defeats. Kind of hard to believe they have another B2B right away, PHI-BOS on the road. Good thing PG is out and PHI is in disarray, but take them one at a time–and trying to contain SAC and beat them without Norm is a tough enough task. Don’t want to give up the good momentum.

By: John Maclean

John Maclean — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 07:25:54 +0000

Yes but Orlando beat them tonight LOL. They’re going to get Denver on the 2nd night of a B2B Sunday as well.

As far back as I can remember the league has always gifted the Lakers an easy opening schedule so they could rack up a W/L advantage and then navigate their season accordingly. People will argue that it all balances out in the end but that’s false. Once a team has a few extra wins in their pocket they can plan for health and target must win games.

There were several WCF and Finals matchups where their home court was the difference period. One series in particular stands out and that was the 1988 WCF against Dallas where the Lakers lost every game in Dallas pretty convincingly. Most people felt like home court saved them. There were also 2010 finals against Boston that the Lakers should have lost anyway and would have if not for home court.

Too many others to list. Maddening.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 07:16:49 +0000

Ideally we’d have a more motion-based, sharing kinda offense when neither of Harden and Norm are in the game, since nobody else we have is really a good iso player, but…well, we don’t have that. So yea, in our present configuration, we need *somebody* to take some tough shots, and I guess KPJ (or Miller possibly) is our best bet. When he isn’t hitting those shots though it’s *rough.*

By: chogokin

chogokin — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 07:13:35 +0000

Did we soften up the Magic, or did our win actually piss them off/give them extra motivation? Either way, a Lakers loss is always something worth celebrating in my book.

By: khyber jones

khyber jones — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 06:51:31 +0000

Orlando beat the Lakers tonight on a late Franz Wagner 3 after AD, Reaves and Lebron missed a bunch of FTs late. Our win looks even better in hindsight.

Lakers are extremely talented offensively and Redick’s system really works. They just didn’t play any D against Suggs and Wagner and both went off which kept them in the game to where they were in position to steal it with some Laker miscues, which happened at the FT line.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 05:43:40 +0000

I think most of us knew our defense was gonna be good after we signed Dunn and DJJ. I think the consensus around here was that we were worried this roster wouldn’t be able to score enough.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 05:41:52 +0000

My anger towards Elton was mostly gone after 1) we saw how diminished he was in Philly after the Achilles injury, and 2) we found out the details on just how much of a racist PoS Sterling was. This place was definitely not a great place to work literally for decades.

By: chogokin

chogokin — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 05:38:54 +0000

Honestly Moose isn’t doing anything different than what we already knew he could do – hustle his ass off and get a bunch of rebounds. His offensive game doesn’t look like it’s gotten any better, but he’s getting consistent minutes and being allowed to make mistakes in a low pressure environment. I’m convinced he could’ve done the same here, but the timing/situation just wasn’t right I guess.

By: Oodypkt

Oodypkt — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 04:37:51 +0000

https://archive.ph/sOn8Q
“The G League is a grind, it’s a lot,” Coffey said. “So, just getting over that hump and getting to this point I’m in now, it means a lot.
…just working on your game every day, trying to get better every summer and to end up in a position. This is a blessing.”
“I feel like a lot of that has to do with mentality, not getting too down on yourself, going through the G League, coming back up. So yeah, it is just work. Just continue to work, stay confident and when your name is called, just produce and hopefully that chance will come up and when it does, you got to take advantage of it.”
…
Coffey is an absolute pro. We are lucky to have him on our team.