2024 NBA Season

[batang_bitcoin]

I don't trust him in the Center position, not because he can't play that position but because he is so fragile. One injury will make him sit half the regular season lol.

In today's league status, a Center position is not really taken as a big deal now where everything is making shots on the rainbow area. While Anthony Davis is more of a Power Forward, he can switch gears to a Center position while maintaining plays for his usual Power Forward position. About the supposed injury he might get, regardless of what position he will play, an injury can happen any time.

Anyways, Anthony Davis already make it clear that he will play as a Center and try to adjust: Lakers’ Anthony Davis is ready and willing to play more at center

We will see if this is going to be an effective change and adjustment to them. I'm not fond of watching AD at that position but they know what's best for them.
Let's see if they can make this up and if it's going to be an effective positioning to the team. As he said, if he's willing and ready then at least we've heard it from him that he has prepared for this.

[harizen]

In today's league status, a Center position is not really taken as a big deal now where everything is making shots on the rainbow area. While Anthony Davis is more of a Power Forward, he can switch gears to a Center position while maintaining plays for his usual Power Forward position. About the supposed injury he might get, regardless of what position he will play, an injury can happen any time.

Anyways, Anthony Davis already make it clear that he will play as a Center and try to adjust: Lakers’ Anthony Davis is ready and willing to play more at center

We will see if this is going to be an effective change and adjustment to them. I'm not fond of watching AD at that position but they know what's best for them.
Let's see if they can make this up and if it's going to be an effective positioning to the team. As he said, if he's willing and ready then at least we've heard it from him that he has prepared for this.

You can refer to their bubble journey in 2020. Anthony Davis is on mostly Center position but his plays were for Power Forward. Not always on the paint but doing some perimeter. Switching gears to Center during defense and being a Power Forward during the offense.

We can expect it will become effective next season because it's not new anymore that AD is acting as a center. Looking at the Lakers' current roster, Howard and DJ are their established center but I'm seeing this two won't have a good playing time knowing how Vogel rotates the roster, leaving AD with no choice but to hug the Center position.

[OgNasty]

I don't trust him in the Center position, not because he can't play that position but because he is so fragile. One injury will make him sit half the regular season lol.

In today's league status, a Center position is not really taken as a big deal now where everything is making shots on the rainbow area. While Anthony Davis is more of a Power Forward, he can switch gears to a Center position while maintaining plays for his usual Power Forward position. About the supposed injury he might get, regardless of what position he will play, an injury can happen any time.

Anyways, Anthony Davis already make it clear that he will play as a Center and try to adjust: Lakers’ Anthony Davis is ready and willing to play more at center

We will see if this is going to be an effective change and adjustment to them. I'm not fond of watching AD at that position but they know what's best for them.
Let's see if they can make this up and if it's going to be an effective positioning to the team. As he said, if he's willing and ready then at least we've heard it from him that he has prepared for this.

He said that last year… I guess he’s continued to get bigger and stronger, so maybe that’s possible. Personally I think him and Dwight Howard on the court at the same time makes a defensive monster down low. I’m really anxious to see how they fit Carmelo into the game plan. I’m also curious how LeBron is going to handle Carmelo when he misses a few bad shots in a row.

[agustina2]

I’m really anxious to see how they fit Carmelo into the game plan. I’m also curious how LeBron is going to handle Carmelo when he misses a few bad shots in a row.

In my lineup projection, I don't see what role will Carmelo fit. Maybe the best thing to do is for him and Lebron not to play at the same time. He will be the replacement for Lebron for substitution. Melo can also be like Kuzma or KCP but that's not his style.

The Lakers need some more games to test adjustments. They should play at their whole roster on their pre-season games.

[Jating]

I don't trust him in the Center position, not because he can't play that position but because he is so fragile. One injury will make him sit half the regular season lol.

In today's league status, a Center position is not really taken as a big deal now where everything is making shots on the rainbow area. While Anthony Davis is more of a Power Forward, he can switch gears to a Center position while maintaining plays for his usual Power Forward position. About the supposed injury he might get, regardless of what position he will play, an injury can happen any time.

Anyways, Anthony Davis already make it clear that he will play as a Center and try to adjust: Lakers’ Anthony Davis is ready and willing to play more at center

We will see if this is going to be an effective change and adjustment to them. I'm not fond of watching AD at that position but they know what's best for them.
Let's see if they can make this up and if it's going to be an effective positioning to the team. As he said, if he's willing and ready then at least we've heard it from him that he has prepared for this.

He said that last year… I guess he’s continued to get bigger and stronger, so maybe that’s possible. Personally I think him and Dwight Howard on the court at the same time makes a defensive monster down low. I’m really anxious to see how they fit Carmelo into the game plan. I’m also curious how LeBron is going to handle Carmelo when he misses a few bad shots in a row.

Yeah, him and Dwight in the middle at the same time will be a big wall in the middle. We have seen it during their championship run and it's very effective. And Davis is still hitting his prime, although he has been injured many times, he can still bang and play the center position for the Lakers if needed.

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

[chaser15]

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution? The rotation is based on originally provided minutes. Even the player is performing well, there are really times that a coach will still choose to bench those guys especially if not part of the solid starting lineup. Lots of bench players that doing good but still ended up mostly on the bench warming the sits.

[TravelMug]

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution? The rotation is based on originally provided minutes. Even the player is performing well, there are really times that a coach will still choose to bench those guys especially if not part of the solid starting lineup. Lots of bench players that doing good but still ended up mostly on the bench warming the sits.

Not sure if Carmelo is good in assists or rebounds though, in Portland he was a spot shooter. And there are a lot of good players in the LA roster than can play and could contribute more if Carmelo is not doing good offensively.

I guess it's up to the coach though and not Lebron. And we don't know if Carmelo will be given the green light to just shoot.

[cafucafucafu]

He said that last year… I guess he’s continued to get bigger and stronger, so maybe that’s possible. Personally I think him and Dwight Howard on the court at the same time makes a defensive monster down low. I’m really anxious to see how they fit Carmelo into the game plan. I’m also curious how LeBron is going to handle Carmelo when he misses a few bad shots in a row.

I think that Dwight's defensive ability is getting overrated.

He's very old and getting less mobile, and even though he'll be a plus on half court defense, he definitely cannot guard the pick and roll as efficiently as the other smalls.

Carmelo can be a plug and play type of guy. He will get you buckets, guaranteed, but he'll probably be replaced if he's cold.

[Reid]

Why not right? If you notice how Kyle Lowry did last year, when the trade didn't materialize, he stays and plays and hopes for the best offer coming this season and he finally does.

That's a good example. Nice. Maybe they differ in agents. Kyle's agent is more of a Hollywood than Ben's agent. 
When all is said and done, it's all about the money. The contract. That's your first priority when you are trying to get into the most prestigious league of basketball.
He already have it and it's a huge sum of money but just being wasted. A lot of players will kill for that, or if not they will sweat with blood to achieve it.

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution?

Yes. And it's not just that. When you bench a player after some miss shots you are taking away a part of his confidence while on his head he is still heating up.
Some shooters are not accurate on their first few shots, one reason is cold hands. IIRC, Curry also experienced 0/10 FG but ended up 12/25 or something at the end of the game. Kerr just believed in him and confidence level has a lot of effect on players.

[Pamadar]

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution? The rotation is based on originally provided minutes. Even the player is performing well, there are really times that a coach will still choose to bench those guys especially if not part of the solid starting lineup. Lots of bench players that doing good but still ended up mostly on the bench warming the sits.

Not sure if Carmelo is good in assists or rebounds though, in Portland he was a spot shooter. And there are a lot of good players in the LA roster than can play and could contribute more if Carmelo is not doing good offensively.

I guess it's up to the coach though and not Lebron. And we don't know if Carmelo will be given the green light to just shoot.

LeBron still have smething to say behind, if Melo is not performing well mayeb he won't get that time but I guess he will try his best. Melo and LeBron have a good bond being friends and that's enough to trust Melo taking those shots.

He can deliver for sure, we've seen him playing with the Blazers and he still hitting those shots. With a much higher confidence that there are someone who can take that offensive rebounds, he may take more shots with high confidence.

It's just less than a week and we will see them play.

[Botnake]

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution? The rotation is based on originally provided minutes. Even the player is performing well, there are really times that a coach will still choose to bench those guys especially if not part of the solid starting lineup. Lots of bench players that doing good but still ended up mostly on the bench warming the sits.

Not sure if Carmelo is good in assists or rebounds though, in Portland he was a spot shooter. And there are a lot of good players in the LA roster than can play and could contribute more if Carmelo is not doing good offensively.

I guess it's up to the coach though and not Lebron. And we don't know if Carmelo will be given the green light to just shoot.

LeBron still have smething to say behind, if Melo is not performing well mayeb he won't get that time but I guess he will try his best. Melo and LeBron have a good bond being friends and that's enough to trust Melo taking those shots.

He can deliver for sure, we've seen him playing with the Blazers and he still hitting those shots. With a much higher confidence that there are someone who can take that offensive rebounds, he may take more shots with high confidence.

It's just less than a week and we will see them play.

Excited to see the first time the new lakers will wear their uniform. Westbrook and Melo should have a good season as they are playing with the best in the NBA, Lebron is still the King and will continue to break history, so he will surely lead the team and not only Melo will get the confidence, Lebron as well because they played with Melo and Westbrook who were stars in their respective teams in the past.

[Natalim]

Carmelo can be a plug and play type of guy. He will get you buckets, guaranteed, but he'll probably be replaced if he's cold.

That's the thing, he is not as consistent as he was before, we can understand because he is not the star player now like he used to be when he was still playing with the New York Knicks. Time changes, but at least Melo was given a chance to get signed, first with Blazers and now with the Lakers. Who knows, if he wins a championship here he will decide to retire, at least he was a champion when he retired.

[carlisle1]

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution? The rotation is based on originally provided minutes. Even the player is performing well, there are really times that a coach will still choose to bench those guys especially if not part of the solid starting lineup. Lots of bench players that doing good but still ended up mostly on the bench warming the sits.

Case to case and yet it will be depend from how the coach design the system / play.

During practices, those players known their position and the potential time frame inside the court, they are well aware and ready
if coach sends them in or brings them out.

If they are no longer performing and if they need to talk to give some heads up regarding to the design plays that aren't been executed.
Coach is the one who is in charge of rotating players, though stars may influence especially with Lakers case, LeBron mostly direct
their offense.

[gagux123]

^ I personally feel that Davis is a better PF than he is a Center.  Both he and Dwight have the same height which is 2.08meter, but I think he excels at the PF position than the Center and maybe Dwight takes rebounds better than Davis. So if Davis is played as the PF, maybe Lebron can be played as the SG? Or as Davis is injury prone, he can share his minutes with Carmelo Anthony which could also be a good idea. So WB in PG, Lebron in SG, Davis as PF, and Dwight as the Center, and the other position could also be rotated.

Nah, Carmelo isn't a good starter for this Laker first five. I'd rather like to see Dwight starting at the Center than Davis. I mean Davis is injury prone and he'll beat himself battling under the basket with the rebounds against the opponent's backboard. The Lakers should take good care of AD maybe put him at the PF position.
Another, notable line up for the Lakers is the 2nd unit. They have a very good depth If everyone is healthy.
Nunn, Melo, DeAndre, Rondo, THT, and Ellington.
This will be a challenge for Frank Vogel on how he's going to handle with a team of superstars.

Well, I don't know, there are some games that Melo plays reasonably well, others he's terrible.
In the last few seasons he hasn't played with excellent allstars players teammates on the team, but now in the Lakers, there are some chances for him to improve his game. I don't know, only the future will tell us if he can play well compared to past seasons.

Yes I agree with what you said, I believe AD is better playing PF. Howard and DeAndre Jordan have a better profile for playing in C.
Ahh, I almost forgot, AD has a shoot, is faster and has a much better ball handling than Howard and DeAndre.

Probably Vogel will add AD to get a feel to how the team will get used to it.

Exactly, I believe that depending on which team the Lakers are playing, Vogel can make several team modifications to get a feel for what position each player will play in during a game.
For example, Melo can play (SF or PF), LeBron (SG, SF and PF) and AD (PF or C).
And with that, Vogel will be able to gradually alternate until he get to assemble an ideal team for that game.

[Finestream]

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution? The rotation is based on originally provided minutes. Even the player is performing well, there are really times that a coach will still choose to bench those guys especially if not part of the solid starting lineup. Lots of bench players that doing good but still ended up mostly on the bench warming the sits.

Case to case and yet it will be depend from how the coach design the system / play.

During practices, those players known their position and the potential time frame inside the court, they are well aware and ready
if coach sends them in or brings them out.

If they are no longer performing and if they need to talk to give some heads up regarding to the design plays that aren't been executed.
Coach is the one who is in charge of rotating players, though stars may influence especially with Lakers case, LeBron mostly direct
their offense.

That's the reality with the Lakers now, if Lebron makes a bad play, the Lakers will suffer. Many times I saw in their game that when Lebron is holding the ball for the last shot, mostly it will fail because it's either he will shoot with a low percentage or will just pass the ball when he is pressured, but the original play is him taking the last shot. I hope this would change as Westbrook is already with the team.

[yazher]

Carmelo can be a plug and play type of guy. He will get you buckets, guaranteed, but he'll probably be replaced if he's cold.

That's the thing, he is not as consistent as he was before, we can understand because he is not the star player now like he used to be when he was still playing with the New York Knicks. Time changes, but at least Melo was given a chance to get signed, first with Blazers and now with the Lakers. Who knows, if he wins a championship here he will decide to retire, at least he was a champion when he retired.

I think this is his last chance to get that ring because he is teamed with the players who have a higher chance to get it. There can be no opportunity such as good like this in the future for him if he doesn't get it this year. He needs to put it all in this team or give everything to help the Lakers get back the championship they really want. most of the time we think that skillful players like them has their high chance to get a ring but it depends on what team they are belong.

[Yaunfitda]

I'm a fan of Jalen also because he represents our country, so I will support him although I did not follow his NCAA journey. This is his time to shine as the rockets does not have enough superstar talents, now, so I'm rooting for him to have the best season of his career, and counting to win the ROY as well.

Jalen did not go to the NCAA btw, he joined the G League (Ignite), if he did join the NCAA though he would be solid there, he could've redeemed that 1st pick, but speaking of experience and training, the G League is a good choice for him entering already as a pro and earning more than the players in NCAA.

Yes, you are right, Jalen didn't go to NCAA, but the kid has a lot of talent and he could have been a big superstar in the NCAA. Nevertheless going to G league was a good choice for him, there are more talent scouts out there looking for someone to join the NBA and it's a good training ground. And that's why he become the 2nd pick in this years draft night, still a good achievement for someone so young like him who didn't go to NCAA.

[rhomelmabini]

Carmelo can be a plug and play type of guy. He will get you buckets, guaranteed, but he'll probably be replaced if he's cold.

That's the thing, he is not as consistent as he was before, we can understand because he is not the star player now like he used to be when he was still playing with the New York Knicks. Time changes, but at least Melo was given a chance to get signed, first with Blazers and now with the Lakers. Who knows, if he wins a championship here he will decide to retire, at least he was a champion when he retired.

If he can be productive within his minutes which I doubt at this stage since I'm thinking he'd be getting fewer minutes this time compared to what he has at Portland. He's got 10+ points/min in the recent stats he got but seems it's declining, in regards to retirement I think it's a best thing if he gets a ring first but looks like age hits him already and it's just a matter of time before he announced it.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Carmelo can be a plug and play type of guy. He will get you buckets, guaranteed, but he'll probably be replaced if he's cold.

That's the thing, he is not as consistent as he was before, we can understand because he is not the star player now like he used to be when he was still playing with the New York Knicks. Time changes, but at least Melo was given a chance to get signed, first with Blazers and now with the Lakers. Who knows, if he wins a championship here he will decide to retire, at least he was a champion when he retired.

If he can be productive within his minutes which I doubt at this stage since I'm thinking he'd be getting fewer minutes this time compared to what he has at Portland. He's got 10+ points/min in the recent stats he got but seems it's declining, in regards to retirement I think it's a best thing if he gets a ring first but looks like age hits him already and it's just a matter of time before he announced it.

10+ points/min will already be huge for him and for the Lakers. He needs to be consistent though. And if he turns out to be cold, then he will simply be replace. I think he knows his place with the Lakers. He will be there to score and contribute in his way and hopefully the Lakers can win another ring with their current lineup with tons of veterans and experience players including Carmelo himself.

[Jating]

It's simple, if Carmelo misses a few bad shots, then automatically, he needs to be replaced by someone. Just a couple of minutes to relax again in the bench.

It's not simple. What if while Carmelo is missing shots, but he is contributing well to other aspects of the game like assist, rebounds, and backcourt plays, is he still be subject to a quick substitution? The rotation is based on originally provided minutes. Even the player is performing well, there are really times that a coach will still choose to bench those guys especially if not part of the solid starting lineup. Lots of bench players that doing good but still ended up mostly on the bench warming the sits.

Vogel needs to space his other players as well, even other coaches might bench someone if he is missing shots specially a player of Carmelo's caliber (no longer in his prime). There are times in Portland last year that he was bench because he is shooting awfully. What more in the Lakers line up wherein there is a lot that can replace him like THT, Malik Monk or Nunn, more younger, more legs and could contribute even more in both are (defense and offense). That's why I said Vogel will not make things complicate that will cause him problems later if he keep Anthony on the court with a bad shooting percentage.