Game Thread: Los Angeles Lakers (8-10) @ New Orleans Hornets (5-11)

[Topdawg26]

rivers, aminu, mason, smith, roberts,thomas, henry, miller.. so much mediocrity on a single team.

How is rivers mediocre? He and Mason are below average right now!

[jawznola]

Darius Miller must suck in practice because Monty almost hates to put him into games. I hope this changes.

[AD23forMVP]

Never thought I would say this, but Xavier Henry is more useful than Austin Rivers right now.

[RaisingTheBar]

so you are telling me that another sub par season next year with all the cap room we will have to work with will be ok with u??..anderson signing=nice move....drafting rivers(regardless if u really think he has potential) is not looking very smart right now considering it was more than likely done on the strength of mr doc rivers himself.....matching eg offer sheet on a max contract=HORRIBLE MOVE.....trading warrick for nobody= horrible move......not putting together a decent bench and having 4 guys who do not belong in the nba on this roster= horrible move.....drafting davis= common sense(he gets no credit for that 1 sorry anybody with a half of a brain would have)...basically all i am saying is that if these guys do not have us with a competing 8th seed atleast after next year they are failing at their jobs bro....am i wrong in that sense?

Rivers was picked bc of what he can be in the future not the present. Most lottery player date picked off of potential not current NBA ability.

We traded warrick for nobody and saved 500k in the process how is that horrible?

The bench is decent every team has off night and besides ryno and Lopez tonight was an off night.

You forgot to mention all the 20 other brilliant moves demps has made for some reason you only remember the past couple months.

[RaisingTheBar]

Never thought I would say this, but Xavier Henry is more useful than Austin Rivers right now.

That will never EVER be true. Rivers can at least make free throws. X shouldn't be playing any type of basketball unless he is in china or something. Bonzi Wells did good there.

[JJackisangry]

(apparition voice) rebuilding season.... Rebuilding season!!!!!

[Eman5805]

so you are telling me that another sub par season next year with all the cap room we will have to work with will be ok with u??..anderson signing=nice move....drafting rivers(regardless if u really think he has potential) is not looking very smart right now considering it was more than likely done on the strength of mr doc rivers himself.....matching eg offer sheet on a max contract=HORRIBLE MOVE.....trading warrick for nobody= horrible move......not putting together a decent bench and having 4 guys who do not belong in the nba on this roster= horrible move.....drafting davis= common sense(he gets no credit for that 1 sorry anybody with a half of a brain would have)...basically all i am saying is that if these guys do not have us with a competing 8th seed atleast after next year they are failing at their jobs bro....am i wrong in that sense?

Holy ****. This is hard to read.

Okay. By using what you're seeing now, a team that is not at full strength struggle against our coach AND our GM it's more than a little unfair.

If you're going to sling around hyperbole, Anderson wasn't a nice move, it was a BRILLIANT one.

Rivers is what it is.

Giving EG a max wasn't a horrible move it was the only move. So, what, we should've let him walk for nothing but maybe more mediocre players and maybe another pick that we couldn't use this season anyway?

Trading Warrick as a horrible move? Dude can dunk. That's about it.

I have no problems with expecting us to be an 8th seed next year. My problem is you're laying what you're seeing right now as if its the first strike. As if our bench should be San Antonio Spurs level overnight.

You're being real quick to lay the hammer down. When nobody told you this process would be quick and easy.

[kclaboy504]

Rivers was picked bc of what he can be in the future not the present. Most lottery player date picked off of potential not current NBA ability.

We traded warrick for nobody and saved 500k in the process how is that horrible?

The bench is decent every team has off night and besides ryno and Lopez tonight was an off night.

You forgot to mention all the 20 other brilliant moves demps has made for some reason you only remember the past couple months.

remind me of the other 20 brilliant moves demps made because they have slipped my mind. If our gm has made that many brilliant moves why are we a bottom feeder in the nba? I really do not wanna hear about how our best players are injured because 1 of those guys is a complete flake and cannot be counted on to be a constant contribution to this team. Our gm put him here on a max contract and that was a bad move on his part. If it wasnt for david stern then our gm would of had us stuck in mediocrity for 5 years. That trade he was about to make for cp3 was absolutely horrendous. We could of and should of been able to bring in a monster haul for the best pg in the nba. I dont believe what stern got us was fair but luckily we won the lotto and got davis.

[RaisingTheBar]

remind me of the other 20 brilliant moves demps made because they have slipped my mind. If our gm has made that many brilliant moves why are we a bottom feeder in the nba? I really do not wanna hear about how our best players are injured because 1 of those guys is a complete flake and cannot be counted on to be a constant contribution to this team. Our gm put him here on a max contract and that was a bad move on his part. If it wasnt for david stern then our gm would of had us stuck in mediocrity for 5 years. That trade he was about to make for cp3 was absolutely horrendous. We could of and should of been able to bring in a monster haul for the best pg in the nba. I dont believe what stern got us was fair but luckily we won the lotto and got davis.

Here you go. I already made a thread about his so I'm glad you asked me.

2010-2011:

-Brackins and Songaila for Green and J.Smith
-Thornton + cash for Carl Landry
-CP3 for Gordon, Kaman, Aminu and 1st (turned out to be #10 overall, which we then selected Rivers with)
-2nd for X.Henry (3 team deal)
-I think J.Smith extension was in here somewhere
-Qpon for Vasquez
-Collison and Posey for Ariza
-future 1st for Bayless
-Peja and Bayless for Jack, Andersen and Banks
-J.Wright for Belinelli


2012-2013:

-Okafor and Ariza for R.Lewis + 2nd
-Buyout R.Lewis (saved team i think around 7mil)
-Ayon for Anderson
-Gordon extension
-Jack for rights to Edin Bavcic (cap space)
-Conditional 2nd for (2) 2nds and B.Miller (800k buyout)
-Signed Davis and Rivers to their rookie contracts
-Dyson, B.Miller and (2) 2nd rounders for Lopez and Warrick

And I didn't say every move he made was brilliant. But he has done a lot of good for this team. And this list may need some updating.

[FlyGirl]

[kclaboy504]

Holy ****. This is hard to read.

Okay. By using what you're seeing now, a team that is not at full strength struggle against our coach AND our GM it's more than a little unfair.

If you're going to sling around hyperbole, Anderson wasn't a nice move, it was a BRILLIANT one.

Rivers is what it is.

Giving EG a max wasn't a horrible move it was the only move. So, what, we should've let him walk for nothing but maybe more mediocre players and maybe another pick that we couldn't use this season anyway?

Trading Warrick as a horrible move? Dude can dunk. That's about it.

I have no problems with expecting us to be an 8th seed next year. My problem is you're laying what you're seeing right now as if its the first strike. As if our bench should be San Antonio Spurs level overnight.

You're being real quick to lay the hammer down. When nobody told you this process would be quick and easy.

I am just frustrated and tired of watching guys wear a hornets jersey that do not belong in the nba. bottom line is that demps will have tons of cap space to work with in the offseason and we should have davis healthy. Not even gonna factor eg into this because he is not apart of this until he can play 50 games at least. I do not expect us to be a contender right now. I just get upset because I am a die hard fan and it is painful to watch this team sometimes. I believe next year is a make or break year for demps and monty. Is that fair?

[WhoDatPelican]

I know you're ticked off from that performance man but just calm down. We are not contending for the finals this year and probably not next year... Improvement is all i am watching for this season. (like hopefully Rivers starts making layups and rotating on defense by the end of the season)

[glepurple]

Checking in after attenfing the game...ryno is still the steady force i have come to expect. X played his best game of the year and hopefully he can build from it. After watching rivers closely the last couple of games...two things are clear;he lacks confidence in his jumper at the moment and he has to get stronger. He usually beats his defender off the dribble, but he cant finish in traffic. I think and hope that he will improve on this over time.

[kclaboy504]

Here you go. I already made a thread about his so I'm glad you asked me.

2010-2011:

-Brackins and Songaila for Green and J.Smith
-Thornton + cash for Carl Landry
-CP3 for Gordon, Kaman, Aminu and 1st (turned out to be #10 overall, which we then selected Rivers with)
-2nd for X.Henry (3 team deal)
-I think J.Smith extension was in here somewhere
-Qpon for Vasquez
-Collison and Posey for Ariza
-future 1st for Bayless
-Peja and Bayless for Jack, Andersen and Banks
-J.Wright for Belinelli


2012-2013:

-Okafor and Ariza for R.Lewis + 2nd
-Buyout R.Lewis (saved team i think around 7mil)
-Ayon for Anderson
-Gordon extension
-Jack for rights to Edin Bavcic (cap space)
-Conditional 2nd for (2) 2nds and B.Miller (800k buyout)
-Signed Davis and Rivers to their rookie contracts
-Dyson, B.Miller and (2) 2nd rounders for Lopez and Warrick

I understand all of that and that is good work. Where are we at now tho?? That is what matters my man. You can list move after move that u think is brilliant but if we arent contending then the moves are not so brilliant. Like I said tho I do not expect us to contend this year. Even tho I was expecting it before the year started but we all know what has transpired. Not demps fault at all. Next year tho is a tell all for that man tho. He will have a ton of cap room this offseason to work with. If we are not at least an 8 seed next year,then he is failing at his job. which is to put a winning team on the floor. fair or not fair?

[AD23forMVP]

That will never EVER be true. Rivers can at least make free throws. X shouldn't be playing any type of basketball unless he is in china or something. Bonzi Wells did good there.

I'm sorry, but it's absoultely true. Neither are good players, but atleast defensively Xavier is mediocre defensively, Austin is just horrific defensively.

Offensively, Austin isn't a factor either. I don't care if he can get to the rim, he won't finish it. And 75% of the time he's 26 feet from the basket looking at the opposite basket off the catch, he's out of the play already. Atleast you know Xavier is going to work, he's an above average offensive and defensive rebounder, his assist rate isn't too bad. Worst part, I just proved nothing with that argument, but that's more than Rivers brings to the court. But neither are deserving of a spot on a NBA roster right now.

[RaisingTheBar]

X is no where near mediocre defensively he is horrible at everything he does and we are talking about a player who has years of experience vs 16 games?

[Eman5805]

remind me of the other 20 brilliant moves demps made because they have slipped my mind.

Allow me.

Vasquez for Pondexter

Trading Ariza and Okafor AND saving money at the same time.

Trading Julian Wright for Marco.

Getting Jarrett Jack instead of sticking with Darren Collison.

Getting Anderson.

Getting Jason Smith for Songaila and Craig Brackens.

Signing Gustavo Ayon.

Getting an actual scouting staff.

The general overhaul of the infrastructure of the front office....

What else? Hm..

Oh. Raising the Bar already got the rest.

I understand all of that and that is good work. Where are we at now tho?? That is what matters my man. You can list move after move that u think is brilliant but if we arent contending then the moves are not so brilliant. Like I said tho I do not expect us to contend this year. Even tho I was expecting it before the year started but we all know what has transpired. Not demps fault at all. Next year tho is a tell all for that man tho. He will have a ton of cap room this offseason to work with. If we are not at least an 8 seed next year,then he is failing at his job. which is to put a winning team on the floor. fair or not fair?

We're waiting for our two best players to hit the court together. That's where we are. And it's why your frustration needs to be better contained. Or at least better aimed. I'm annoyed at putting weakness on the court, but we all have to be patient.

[carpo_07]

That will never EVER be true. Rivers can at least make free throws. X shouldn't be playing any type of basketball unless he is in china or something. Bonzi Wells did good there.

67% isnt exactly automatic from the line. Right now I agree that Darius and X should be eating into Rivers' and Masons minutes. Every decent game Xavier has ever had has been off the back of more consistent minutes in consecutive games (dallas last yr jumps to mind). If we keep giving him close to 20 minutes a game I think he may (big may) be able to play himself into the NBA. At the moment Rivers is stinking up the joint and Darius can knock down his open J's so I'd like to see him play. He does turn down some shots which I think is probably thinking his coaching staff don't have confidence in him, because when he does shoot it looks very good and confident. Give him some minutes, show some confidence and let him develop. Give Austin the crappy garbage minutes.

[RaisingTheBar]

I understand all of that and that is good work. Where are we at now tho?? That is what matters my man. You can list move after move that u think is brilliant but if we arent contending then the moves are not so brilliant. Like I said tho I do not expect us to contend this year. Even tho I was expecting it before the year started but we all know what has transpired. Not demps fault at all. Next year tho is a tell all for that man tho. He will have a ton of cap room this offseason to work with. If we are not at least an 8 seed next year,then he is failing at his job. which is to put a winning team on the floor. fair or not fair?

Every trade is not going to be a block buster deal and season changer. So stop expecting that. Demps has had almost a paper clip 2 dimes and some lint to work with and pulled off some good trades. So with more talent and time his short but solid track record is why people are confident in him. Monty said from the beginning g of the season fans need to be patient this is a long process. Some of you forgot that nd had too high of expectations this year.

[kclaboy504]

I know you're ticked off from that performance man but just calm down. We are not contending for the finals this year and probably not next year... Improvement is all i am watching for this season. (like hopefully Rivers starts making layups and rotating on defense by the end of the season)

I hear ya man. It is just mainly frustration after watching the game. I am truly getting tired of just wanting to see improvement for the year. I had a lot of hope for this year,but we all know what has happened tho. I get it,but we need to have better role players than what we currently have. That falls on the gm(demps)bottom line. As a supporter of this team win,lose or draw. I expect demps to get the job done and see drastic change come next year.

[carpo_07]

And whilst Jason Smith is in this shooting funk and suffering alot of minor injuries I'd like to see Lance play. Seems like he can be a stopper and he makes his free throws for the most part.

[RaisingTheBar]

67% isnt exactly automatic from the line.

No it isn't but it's better than X

[AD23forMVP]

And what else? Henry is better at literally EVERYTHING else. FG%, eFG%, ORB%, DRB%, TRB%, TOV%, USG%, Drtg, OWS, DWS, WS, WS/48.

Sad part is, like I said, Henry isn't good at anything either. That just goes to show how bad Austin is.

[Topdawg26]

Holy ****. This is hard to read.

Okay. By using what you're seeing now, a team that is not at full strength struggle against our coach AND our GM it's more than a little unfair.

If you're going to sling around hyperbole, Anderson wasn't a nice move, it was a BRILLIANT one.

Rivers is what it is.

Giving EG a max wasn't a horrible move it was the only move. So, what, we should've let him walk for nothing but maybe more mediocre players and maybe another pick that we couldn't use this season anyway?

Trading Warrick as a horrible move? Dude can dunk. That's about it.

I have no problems with expecting us to be an 8th seed next year. My problem is you're laying what you're seeing right now as if its the first strike. As if our bench should be San Antonio Spurs level overnight.

You're being real quick to lay the hammer down. When nobody told you this process would be quick and easy.

I would chime in with a long response, but this pretty much sums it up!

[kclaboy504]

Allow me.

Vasquez for Pondexter

Trading Ariza and Okafor AND saving money at the same time.

Trading Julian Wright for Marco.

Getting Jarrett Jack instead of sticking with Darren Collison.

Getting Anderson.

Getting Jason Smith for Songaila and Craig Brackens.

Signing Gustavo Ayon.

Getting an actual scouting staff.

The general overhaul of the infrastructure of the front office....

What else? Hm..

I never said he has done a bad job. I simply stated that with all the cap room he will have to work with in the offseason,if he does not have us a solid team he has failed. Every time that man speaks. He talks about all the cap space we will have this offseason. So, I just stated that if he does not put a solid playoff team together. He will have failed in my eyes. Not saying that if that happens, then he never will. I will just have lost my faith in him doing his job as i had hoped for. Thats all.