Opening Night

[Lipoli390]

Two good games tonight to start off the NBA season.

It was great to see the Lakers lose the first battle of this season's LA Titans. And Paul George wasn't even playing. The Lakers lack of depth is quite stunning. They won't make the NBA finals even if AD stays healthy all season, which is itself pretty unlikely.

Nice to see Toronto pull out an overtime win. The Pelicans have a lot of young talent even without Zion. I can see them competing for a playoff spot this season. Note that VanVleet and Siakam each had 34 points tonight. Toronto signed VanVleet as an undrafted free agent and selected Siakam with the 27th pick in the 2016 draft. A front office with an eye for talent and good player-personnel judgment can do a lot with very little. The Spurs have been a great example of that fact over the years. But the success of VanVleet and Siakam shouldn't come as a complete shock to anyone. Looking at their respective college careers, VanVleet was a 39% 3-point shooter in his 4 years of college, averaging 5.5 assists and nearly 2 steals his last couple years. Siakam averaged 11.6 rebounds per game, 1 steal and 2.2 blocks per game as a sophomore in his last college season. Yet he slipped to #27 in the draft. Toronto's front office obviously saw the talent and now they're being rewarded for taking him.

Maybe the Wolves hit the jackpot with Nowell, Reid or Kelan Martin.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Good to see the Lakers lose. I see ESPN breathlessly covered the LA/LA game as if it was the most momentous occasion since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Headline today...."Why Clippers-Lakers felt Bigger than just One Game". Give me a break.

[Monster]

Good to see the Lakers lose. I see ESPN breathlessly covered the LA/LA game as if it was the most momentous occasion since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Headline today...."Why Clippers-Lakers felt Bigger than just One Game". Give me a break.

Not that I really care either way but any 2 teams playing each other in the same city who share their own building and play in the same conference, are both clear title contenders in terms of star level and talent and have some other interesting joint history (ESPN Donald Sterling 30/30 podcast had a bunch of gems in it) it's a pretty easy sell to cover the hell out of that. Lol

[apollotsg [enjin:6592798]]

After watching that game, I am doubling down on the Lakers struggling the whole season. That 1st qtr looked like playoff level effort by LBJ and Davis, they cant sustain that at all (and they lost). History shows they are only going to get about 1/2 the season out of their starting 3 playings together. Davis has shown he cant carry a team and if LBJ is out he has a much weaker supporting cast then he had in NO.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Good to see the Lakers lose. I see ESPN breathlessly covered the LA/LA game as if it was the most momentous occasion since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Headline today...."Why Clippers-Lakers felt Bigger than just One Game". Give me a break.

Not that I really care either way but any 2 teams playing each other in the same city who share their own building and play in the same conference, are both clear title contenders in terms of star level and talent and have some other interesting joint history (ESPN Donald Sterling 30/30 podcast had a bunch of gems in it) it's a pretty easy sell to cover the hell out of that. Lol

Fair enough, although I'm not convinced the Lakers are clear title contenders.

The one thing I really like about the NFL vs. NBA is the fact that you have franchises with really strong brands, followings, and media coverage that aren't exclusively coastal. Packers, Cowboys, Bears, etc. Heck, I still run into people in my travels that profess to be lifelong Vikings fans having never stepped foot in Minnesota.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Interesting opening night...

You have two likable teams going at it (Toronto v. New Orleans)... both trying to regroup after its franchise star wanted to go elsewhere.

And two Darth Vader-esque teams with multiple entitled superstars. I didn't want either team to lose the first game. And I didn't want either team to win the second game.



[Note: Although I will always root for the Lakers to lose if given a choice. ALWAYS. Basketball Jesus remains in my DNA.]

[Monster]

Looking at the Lakers roster here are a couple thoughts which echo what a few other posters have already discussed.

1. Injuries I worry less about Lenron but he isn't young anymore but AD being hurt would be pretty massive. Meanwhile they have other guys like Avery Bradley that has problems staying healthy. Kuzma has missed a few games in his career and is currently hurt. Dwight Howard if he is any good might be a guy they actually need if he doesn't get hurt again. Notice a theme?

2. Wings. I'm a league that's gone towards a bunch of switchable wings the Lakers have maybe 2-3 of those guys in LeBron, Danny Green and I guess KCP. I think they did a solid job of filling out the roster with guys that offer various abilities as NBA players but it will be interesting to see how this is going to work. Are they going to stay biggish? What is this coaching staff going to get out of this group?

It's certainly an easy team to cheer against.

I have less of an issue with the Clippers because while they ended up with Leonard and PG they did things building a roster and organization to actually deserve it. The Lakers did make a few good selections but the Clipper have been making a bunch of great moves for like 3 years.

[Coolbreeze44]

Hard for me to root for a Doc Rivers coached team, but i had no problem pulling for the Clips last night. I think Kawhi is the best player in the world right now, and actually won money taking the Clips +3.5 points. And yes, the Lakers are easy to root against, and they are going to have trouble staying healthy.

[Lipoli390]

Monster - I agree with your takes on the Lakers and Clippers. The Lakers will probably make the playoffs, but I see them having three glaring weaknesses that will keep them from advancing to the Western Conference finals:

1. Lebron's Age. While he's still a great player, he's not close to the player he was in his prime when he could carry a team and he's more susceptible to injury.

2. Anthony Davis's lack of durability. AD always seems to have nagging injuries that cause him to miss games. He's averaged 66.5 games per season in his 7 NBA seasons to date. And as talented as he is, the Pelicans had plus .500 season and playoff appearance in only two of his 7 seasons with the Pelicans even though he had Jrue Holiday with him for 6 of those 7 seasons. Of course, Jrue has had trouble staying healthy as well.

3. Mediocre supporting cast behind LeBron and AD. Green, Rondo, Bradley and Kuzma and good players, but as you pointed out, Kuzma and Bradley have both had a hard time staying healthy over their careers. Rondo is well past his prime and KCP isn't reliable.

As for the Clippers, there are questions about whether Kawhi can stay healthy, but I agree with Cool that he's the best player in the League right now and he's in his prime. Paul George is a question mark coming off double shoulder surgery. But once PG returns, the Clippers will be tough to beat if PG and Kawhi stay healthy. I like their supporting cast with Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Maurice Harkless, Montrezl Harrell, JaMychal Green, Ivica Zuback and Landry Shamet. They also have last seasons first round pick, Jerome Robinson, and this year's first rounder, Kabengele.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the West. I think the top 4 teams will be the Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets and Jazz, although I'm not yet convinced that Westbrook and Harden will fit well together over the long haul.