If I remember correctly his wingspan isn't good but underwhelming. Agreed on what you say. Bullyball and tunnel vision. Well the Fakers had their chance. They could have gotten Cousins but they didn't want to trade Russel and Randle.
Complex Sports @Complex_Sports 27m27 minutes ago Jordan Hill on #Lakers: "All you hear is Kobe's mouth...a lot of people can't handle that" http://trib.al/oLUVhxj
lol...let's see how all those young talented players deal with Kobe this coming season!! Our Dwight was one that had to deal with sir black mamba and left!!
his issures remain. Horrible defence, bullyball black hole and tunnel vision. Can't see how the tunnel vision can be fixed at a prospect his age.
Okay... 6 for 11 in one summer league game where there is usually zero defense being played mostly by guys who can barely make a D-League roster.
Randle reminds me of an Antoine Jamison / Melo mix. He's got some handles, enough to be above average for a PF but not SF. But he plays the game like an score-first SF. Between Randle, Nick Young, Kobe, Clarkson, and Russell, there isn't enough basketball to go around. I don't know what would be considered a success for the Lakers this season. Kobe's only there for a farewell tour, again, and the Lakers are better off losing games and slowly developing chemistry with their younger guys. Actually, the Lakers will end up getting a lottery pick with or without Kobe playing heavy minutes so it should all work out for them in the end.
The Lakers only get lotto if the pick is top 3, other wise I believe it goes to...PHX? Anyway, I like their young core. Russel is an above average shooter in pick situations, and he can always spot up for 3. His stats in SL weren't great but I think its more of a mental adjustment thing. Also, the fact that he is unselfish and gets the ball to guys in great finishing positions is something to be excited about. Clarkson is Westbrook-esque, and the guy is only going to get smarter. I think between him and Russel they can be a serious threat on O. Randle is still a mystery to me. Logic tells me he might struggle in the league with his size and "tunnel vision." But there is always the possibility that he turns into a mini-Shaq and just run defenders over and draw contact at every turn. His mid range will only get better. The guy is only 20, btw.
That pick was traded by the Suns to Philly in the 3 way with Milwaukee. It's hard to say how good Clarkson is going to be because he only played 26 minutes with Kobe and < 500 minutes each with Boozer and J Hill. Also only 137 minutes with the other high volume shooter Nick Young. Basically Clarkson was stat stuffing on a bad team as the #1 option the 2nd half of the season. No doubt he can be a very good scorer, but I'm not sure if he can turn into a decent defender. I have no idea what kind of player Russell will turn into but I doubt he will meet the high expectations playing in LA with Scott as his coach. All this talk about being a great passer with great court vision. I didn't see any of that in Summer League. Today he had 1 ast to 3 tovs. He averaged 3.8 ast to 5.8 tov in 4 games and was 1 of 13 from 3P. I think someone mentioned it earlier. These guys need to be playing in an up tempo MDA style offense not the Princeton offense.
None of their prospects know how to defend or project to be 2 way players. And some of their problems are not at all easilly correctable. Like Randle being a blackhole, Russell being extremely one hand dominant etc. I think their young core is the most unimpressive so far, from all the rest rebuildling teams including Portland's. But they are very young. Their fans have unreal expectations though. They have now a team with Kobe, Young and Lou and one ball won't be enough for all of them and the young kids.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Roy Hibbert changed his diet and told me he dropped 16 pounds from his playing weight last season, down from 283 to currently 267.</p>— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) <a href="https://twitter.com/LakersReporter/status/623927676563124224">July 22, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nick Young admitted summers been tough with his name in all the trade rumors, then laughs "I felt like Pau Gasol for a minute!"</p>— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) <a href="https://twitter.com/SerenaWinters/status/625450042749403136">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nick Young said Kupchak called him after Lou signing, said it was "positive," wanted to make sure Nick knew it wasn't a slap in the face</p>— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) <a href="https://twitter.com/SerenaWinters/status/625451511657566209">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nick Young on preference of starting or 6th man: "I would like to start. It would be good to change the role...but I'm ready for whatever."</p>— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) <a href="https://twitter.com/SerenaWinters/status/625455750144397312">July 27, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Finish of the year at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thedrew?src=hash">#thedrew</a> today. <a href="https://twitter.com/Mfeebs23">@Mfeebs23</a>'s game tying 3 answered by a <a href="https://twitter.com/NickSwagyPYoung">@NickSwagyPYoung</a> buzzer-beater! <a href="https://t.co/vBUFsY2Ici">https://t.co/vBUFsY2Ici</a></p>— Drew League (@DrewLeague) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrewLeague/status/625451326042845184">July 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> I was there in person. It was glorious. Swaggy P is the hero that the Lakers deserve.
<blockquote class="twitter-video" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kobe Bryant (<a href="https://twitter.com/kobebryant">@kobebryant</a>) Be Like… FT: <a href="https://twitter.com/That_Guyy23">@That_Guyy23</a> <a href="http://t.co/f74DsGJJsi">pic.twitter.com/f74DsGJJsi</a></p>— B.A. (@BdotAdot5) <a href="https://twitter.com/BdotAdot5/status/628292321717518336">August 3, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yo Daryl, I heard you like analytics! <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Lakers' analytics department, via the team's 2015-16 media guide: <a href="https://t.co/joCtkWxlTy">https://t.co/joCtkWxlTy</a> <a href="https://t.co/wbMXgvWL6L">pic.twitter.com/wbMXgvWL6L</a></p>— Baxter Holmes (@BaxterHolmes) <a href="https://twitter.com/BaxterHolmes/status/658771175481327616">October 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
