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View Full Version : How the Lakers can be a playoffs contender with moneyball



dreamwarrior
07-28-2014, 03:02 AM
So we didn't get Lebron, Melo, or Love. That's ok because we got Lin and Boozer. NBA moneyball places importance on 10 different player positions based on advanced statistics. Here is how the Lakers roster fit into those 10 positions.

Inside-outside Scorer - Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer, Xavier Henry off the bench
Jeremy Lin loves to either drive to the basket or shoot a 3. He's a very good shooter from all over the floor but he is at his best when making layups or shooting long jumpers or 3's. He fits this position to a T.
Carlos Boozer can score from anywhere on the floor but is at his best from 0-3ft and beyond 16ft. Who knew he was so versatile.
Xavier Henry makes a decent amount from long range and is a decent paint scorer.
Ryan Kelly from 0-3ft made .649% and from 3pt made .338. He drives a decent amount but needs to up it more in order to be effective for the team.
Nick Young doesn't take enough shots inside. He prefers jumpers and 3pts beyond 16ft.
Kobe is more of a mid-long range shooter, but he is most effective from within 10ft of the basket. Unfortunately with his injury we'll likely see him be even more of a jump shooter than before.

Midrange Big Man - Jordan Hill
Jordan Hill hits nearly .450% from mid-range and takes over half of his shots from there. That's exactly what we want him to do this coming year except more of it.
Sacre hits about .400 from mid range.
Carlos Boozer shoots half of his shots from 10ft and beyond, hitting .375% of these jumpers which is not really that great.
Ed Davis hits about the same percentage from mid range as Boozer

2Way All Star - Kobe Bryant and Jordan Hill
Kobe Bryant is both great offensively and defensively. Hopefully his defense doesn't get worse after the injuries. He's still the only Laker who can excel at both ends of the floor.
Jordan Hill is the next closest thing except he's not a prolific scorer. He had games last year where he put up 20pts but it was inconsistent. If he can score more it would truly take the pressure off of Bryant.

Jumper Point Guard - Jordan Clarkson and Steve Nash
Jordan Clarkson had a great pull-up jumper in Summer league. Perhaps he might be the Jumper point guard that the Lakers need.
Steve Nash hits over .400% of his jumpers which is ok.

Defensive Point Guard - Jeremy Lin
Jeremy Lin's defensive Rating is 109 which is not great but the best the Lakers have
Jordan Clarkson's DRtg was just a bad better than Lins.
Steve Nash is about as bad as you can get for a defensive PG.

Scoring Rebounder - Carlos Boozer and Julius Randle
Carlos Boozer fits this mold pretty well as he's a scorer putting up 17.5 and 10.6 boards per 36 minutes. I want him to get more offensive rebounds though as he only gets 2.3 per 36.
Julius Randle is an inside scorer and solid rebounder. Again size will be a concern. He was a good offensive rebounder in college and hopefully it continues in the NBA.

Paint Defense - Jordan Hill, Carlos Boozer, Ed Davis off the bench
Jordan Hill is the best guy they have on defense in the paint. He's played the C position before and with all of the PFs the Lakers have now I expect him to play even more C next year.
Carlos Boozer has a DRtg of 98 from last year, which is incredible given his reputation for being bad on offense. He may not get any blocks but hey, people don't score on this guy so that's something to ponder when picking your starter, though Hill is the better player here just because opponents will be more afraid of going into the paint against him vs Boozer.
Ed Davis is also a decent paint defender
Julius Randle was a great college defender so he's going to be some good help in the paint, though we'll see if size is going to matter with him.

3-point Point Guard - Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson
Jeremy Lin loves shooting the 3 and he makes a decent amount at a .358% clip.
Jordan Clarkson hit .400 of his 3's in Summer league.

3-point Specialist - Nick Young and Wesley Johnson
Nick Young hit .386% beyond 3pt and also took .400 of his shots from there. He is the prototypical 3pt specialist on this team.
Wesley Johnson hit .369% from 3 last year and took over 40% of his shots from there.
Ryan Kelly shoots .400 of hits shots from 3pt for .338%
Jeremy Lin is a .358% 3pt shooter, but he's more of a pull-up 3pt shooter, not a spot-up 3pt specialist.
Xavier Henry like Lin is not the greatest 3pt threat and takes too many shots from there.
Kobe Bryant is not a good enough 3pt shooter to take so many of his shots from beyond the arc. He needs to either hit more 3pt shots or take them less often so that the more effective 3pt shooters can take those shots.

Basic PG - Steve Nash
Steve Nash at this age doesn't do anything well, which means he's the perfect basic PG.

So you see, both Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer are able to basically fill 3 positions in NBA moneyball. Jordan Hill is the only returning Laker who can also play 3 positions. For this coming season, if Jeremy Lin can play slightly better defense the Lakers will have the perfect moneyball NBA team. Even better if they can sign a defensive ball handler.

Playoffs here we come!

Magic731
07-28-2014, 03:05 AM
Championship cruise

Im Still Ballin
07-28-2014, 03:06 AM
Lakers fans.

LMAO

no pun intended
07-28-2014, 03:07 AM
24 million for Kobe isn't exactly moneyball.

Milbuck
07-28-2014, 03:11 AM
Lin/Clarkson/Nash
Kobe/Xavier
Young/Johnson
Boozer/Randle
Hill/Davis

That's okay..with good coaching and good health, they could win 40-45 games, make the playoffs in the East. This year though the West could be even tougher than last year, you gotta push damn near 50 wins to make the playoffs. They've got decent offensive weapons, if Kobe comes back strong...but the defense is just utter shit.

Smoke117
07-28-2014, 03:41 AM
Wait what...Kobe Bryant is a two way player and great defensively? :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

ImKobe
07-28-2014, 04:02 AM
Lin/Clarkson/Nash
Kobe/Xavier
Young/Johnson
Boozer/Randle
Hill/Davis

That's okay..with good coaching and good health, they could win 40-45 games, make the playoffs in the East. This year though the West could be even tougher than last year, you gotta push damn near 50 wins to make the playoffs. They've got decent offensive weapons, if Kobe comes back strong...but the defense is just utter shit.


Defense is not about individual ability, it's how they rotate as a TEAM. It's about chemistry and everyone looking out for one another.

Hill is a good defensive big, Lin is above-average on D, Young showed improvement on the defensive end last season. Kobe is still very good at defending the ballhandler.

IT depends on the pace they play at. If they manage to force a slower pace on teams like OKC,LAC & HOU, they could easily finish top 5 in the West.

For the defense to be at least respectable, turnovers have to be limited. The team will suck at defending in transition, but half court D should be fine.

ralph_i_el
07-28-2014, 08:25 AM
Jordan Hill and Kobe a two way all stars gotcha.

IF that was true they might make the playoffs...but its not

This team is soft on D in so many positions. Teams will exploit matchup problems in every single game. Just think about the top 10 teams out west and every one of those teams has someone the Lakers can't hope to contain.

AirFederer
07-28-2014, 08:45 AM
Book the Lakers Championschip cruise

http://i.imgur.com/gSzP8.jpg

Dr.J4ever
07-28-2014, 08:50 AM
Book the Lakers Championschip cruise

http://i.imgur.com/gSzP8.jpg

:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:

Im Still Ballin
07-28-2014, 08:53 AM
Book the Lakers Championschip cruise

http://i.imgur.com/gSzP8.jpg
LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

BoutPractice
07-28-2014, 08:55 AM
I do think they could surprise next year... Wouldn't completely count them out for an 8th seed, or at least enough wins that they would have easily made the playoffs in the East.

Lots of undervalued players with decent fit.

The official line is that Jeremy Lin sucks, Kobe and Boozer are done and can no longer contribute anything to a basketball game, and Jordan Hill is worth little more than an energy big off the bench. These quite extreme opinions that have somehow become consensual will probably turn out to be false in practice.

GimmeThat
07-28-2014, 08:59 AM
you should do a moneyball analysis on other teams THAN look at what you wrote for the Lakers.

you'll biggum yourself

HurricaneKid
07-28-2014, 10:02 AM
Holy ****.

Is Jeremy Lin the best defender on that team?!??



As Jim Mora said:

"Playoffs?"

"Playoffs?!??"

Jameerthefear
07-28-2014, 10:10 AM
Book the Lakers Championschip cruise

http://i.imgur.com/gSzP8.jpg
:roll: :roll: :roll:

I<3NBA
07-28-2014, 01:16 PM
24 million for Kobe isn't exactly moneyball.
this

RRR3
07-28-2014, 01:21 PM
I do think they could surprise next year... Wouldn't completely count them out for an 8th seed, or at least enough wins that they would have easily made the playoffs in the East.

Lots of undervalued players with decent fit.

The official line is that Jeremy Lin sucks, Kobe and Boozer are done and can no longer contribute anything to a basketball game, and Jordan Hill is worth little more than an energy big off the bench. These quite extreme opinions that have somehow become consensual will probably turn out to be false in practice.
I think Jordan Hill is great. He could average 12/12 on good percentages. That said Lakers aren't going to be good.

dreamwarrior
07-28-2014, 08:50 PM
24 million for Kobe isn't exactly moneyball.

We got him at a $10 million discount bro

dreamwarrior
07-28-2014, 08:52 PM
I do think they could surprise next year... Wouldn't completely count them out for an 8th seed, or at least enough wins that they would have easily made the playoffs in the East.

Lots of undervalued players with decent fit.

The official line is that Jeremy Lin sucks, Kobe and Boozer are done and can no longer contribute anything to a basketball game, and Jordan Hill is worth little more than an energy big off the bench. These quite extreme opinions that have somehow become consensual will probably turn out to be false in practice.
Byron Scott's going to bring out the best in them.

wakencdukest
07-28-2014, 09:23 PM
I love the optimism.

COnDEMnED
07-28-2014, 10:18 PM
You lost me when you listed Jordan Hill as a 2 way All-Star. Good grief this year is going to be brutal.

no pun intended
07-28-2014, 10:24 PM
Book the Lakers Championschip Booze Cruise

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bs02uICCMAATmSQ.jpg
Fixed.

HylianNightmare
07-28-2014, 11:16 PM
So kobe has to average 40+

imnew09
07-28-2014, 11:18 PM
Book the Lakers Championschip cruise

http://i.imgur.com/gSzP8.jpg

That's old news. Brynum is in it.

PJR
07-28-2014, 11:47 PM
Book the Lakers Championschip cruise

http://i.imgur.com/gSzP8.jpg

Lmfao

ralph_i_el
07-28-2014, 11:54 PM
please lakers fans keep telling me how your team will be good. It nourishes me

MavsPoke
07-29-2014, 12:12 AM
I can't wait to link this thread when someone makes a "Classic ISH threads" 3 years from now.

:cheers:

outbreak
07-29-2014, 01:47 AM
I can't wait to link this thread when someone makes a "Classic ISH threads" 3 years from now.

:cheers:
Bump it when the lakers go on a 5 year dynasty with this exact roster and Kobe retires at 40!

An NBA front office will have found the thread and snatched up dreamwarrior to run their scouting department by then too!

EllEffEll
07-29-2014, 03:27 AM
With aging Kobe, flat-out-old Nash, and old Boozer taking about 3 times as much salary as the other seven players they have signed (near as I can figure), I'm not seeing the moneyball angle here. If those three were all 10 years younger, I'd be much more excited about the upcoming season. But they aren't, so it is what it is. Unless the Lakers pull off some sort of miracle to improve their roster, I think they will do well to win 40 games while playing in the WC. :facepalm

Pains me to say this, but winning 35 to 40 games is my seat of the pants guesstimate.

Winning 45 games, would be one hell of an accomplishment IMHO.

buddha
07-29-2014, 03:46 AM
people sleeping on Nick Young and Julius Randle... talking about scrubs like Jeremy Lin, Boozer, and Hill when the real big 3 will be Kobe, Young and Randle.

dreamwarrior
07-29-2014, 04:03 AM
Bump it when the lakers go on a 5 year dynasty with this exact roster and Kobe retires at 40!

An NBA front office will have found the thread and snatched up dreamwarrior to run their scouting department by then too!
People are going to be bumping this thread when the Lakers start the season 5-0

RoundMoundOfReb
07-29-2014, 04:20 AM
Neither Hill nor Kobe are good defensive players

ralph_i_el
07-29-2014, 08:08 AM
people sleeping on Nick Young and Julius Randle... talking about scrubs like Jeremy Lin, Boozer, and Hill when the real big 3 will be Kobe, Young and Randle.
Nick young has never been good. Trust me

Optimus Prime
07-29-2014, 10:55 AM
If by "playoffs contender" you mean "only able to dream of the 8 seed if the stars align perfectly and half of the stars in the West get injured"... :kobe:

And "moneyball"...the Lakers? :wtf:

dreamwarrior
07-29-2014, 09:44 PM
If by "playoffs contender" you mean "only able to dream of the 8 seed if the stars align perfectly and half of the stars in the West get injured"... :kobe:

And "moneyball"...the Lakers? :wtf:
We are under the cap for the first time ever