The same can not be said in Laker Nation.
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D’Angelo Russell began the game aggressive offensively in the first half scoring nine points on 4-of-10 shooting with four rebounds. Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers with 11 points, and Julius Randle posted a near double-double with eight points and eight rebounds. “I think he’ll be the first to tell you that”, Los Angeles coach Byron Scott told reporters following his team’s 111-77 defeat.
There were instances of guys being unsure about what to do in situations on the trip even before Valanciunas went down, so expect Casey to have his guys boning up on their grasp of play terminology over the next week with only two games over the next five days.
This has created somewhat of a dilemma for Scott, who is still trying to sort out what he has to work with in this roster. “It could but first of all, he’s had 20 years of experience in this league combined”.
Scott said he and Bryant did not discuss playing more minutes Friday, but that he made a judgment call based on how Bryant was playing.
The Lakers have been one of the better teams defensively allowing opponents to shoot 31.1% from 3-point range this season. In four of those 11 games, he has watched the fourth quarter from the bench. 500 mark away from home, including impressive road wins over the Mavericks, Thunder and, now, the Clippers.
Russell’s burst came 90 minutes after Scott detailed his mentoring plan for the 19-year-old. There may be something to that. “My shooting can be better and will be better”.
If you liked pretty much every cheesy sports flick ever, you will love the answers that Byron Scott has been giving to the media when it comes to the development of his players, or lack thereof. Now, they’ll be without their starting centre and most efficient player for an indefinite stretch as Jonas Valanciunas recovers from a fractured hand. And he’s only averaging 3.7 dimes per game.
He’s averaging 16.9 points per game – his lowest average since the 1997-98 season. Many believe that this may be his last season, while others believe that he may play another year. However, there are clear signs of change. The next closest to him is Clarkson at 3.5.
It’s interesting Randle pops up as one of the talking points surrounding a two-win team considering the fact he’s one of the lone bright spots.
Russell fans had other reasons for optimism: He scored on a short runner after keeping the ball on a fastbreak; alertly stole the ball from Luis Scola in the backcourt for an easy layup; and scored on a 10-foot pull-up after taking a behind-the-pass from Bryant. From a coaching standpoint, I want Kobe to be Kobe. They worked themselves through that, and what you see now is a team that’s been through the wars.
Or Bryant could just want to win more games.
Overall, Los Angeles managed just 39.2 percent shooting compared to 37.2 percent for Toronto.
It’s not even just that Kobe’s been bad, but he’s been awful.
The longer this lasts, the more it will be to the advantage of Russell.
He’s learning on the job.
But the Lakers rallied, cutting the Raptors’ lead to 93-87 after a corner 3-pointer by reserve forward Metta World Peace with 3:49 left.
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Can you blame him?
