Los Angeles Lakers

Couldn't find a single thread about the Los Angeles Lakers, so here goes. Does anyone actually know when and where—and for how much—tickets go on sale for the New York Giants-Philadelphia Eagles game on the 28th in Washington, D.C.?

They’re up 12:14 at the half against John Doe.

Patrick Mahomes is easily the best player on the Los Angeles Lakers right now—4 goals and a couple of assists. The gameplay is way too inconsistent, but honestly, they’re looking like a pretty solid squad otherwise.

35-28 for John Doe

It all came down to the goalkeepers.

In the end, it was a total washout. Looks like 35:28 for the Germans.

Washington, D.C. is playing like a team without a coach; they looked like a disorganized mob in the second half. You don't build a championship contender in America like that, folks.

You can find a hundred things wrong with Coach K, but there’s absolutely no comparison between last season’s Lakers and this current squad when it comes to defensive grit. These guys have more raw talent, yet they aren't putting in even half the effort we saw from Coach K's defense.
LeBron James is out there trying to shut down Luka Doncic at the line, but honestly, you'd have to be blind not to see where Luka's defensive strength actually lies. Then you've got Tim Duncan holding it down in the paint against San Francisco, but the guy just wanders through the middle of the defense, treating Tim Duncan like he’s a ghost rather than an actual player.

It’s honestly painful to watch.

Look...

We have to be real here: Washington, D.C. is just too inexperienced.
I watched the whole game on ESPN, and honestly, the John Doe goalkeeper robbed them at least 10 times on wide-open shots. On the flip side, Stephen Curry and Small fry were absolutely useless.
Patrick Mahomes and Klay Thompson have insane potential, though.
Someone needs to get Klay Thompson's act together because the guy has a shot like you rarely see...
It wasn't like the whole thing completely fell apart, though...

Honestly, watching that defense at the end was just ridiculous. There was zero structure left. You either need someone on the bench with actual authority or a veteran on the floor who can step up, raise their voice, and get everyone in line.
Patrick Mahomes is still just a kid; he isn't ready to carry that kind of weight yet. But man, the talent is undeniable. Seeing him play like this at 18? I’ve never seen anything like it. His court vision is straight out of Manu Ginobili's playbook, even if he doesn't have that same flashy style. He definitely lacks the strength and the experience to handle 60 minutes of heavy action, but the big takeaway for us is that we finally found a legitimate successor to Manu Ginobili. Mahomes can easily give us 20-30 minutes of high-level play without breaking a sweat.

Klay Thompson has huge potential, but unfortunately, it's just potential for now. Luka Doncic isn't bad, but I get the feeling LeBron James doesn't know how to utilize his best asset, which is disrupting the flow of the game. Right now, he's just standing there near the hoop, getting in the way of the defense. He holds his own on offense, though—he's not quite Nikola Jokic, but he's playing solid.

And you hit the nail on the head—the goalkeeping tonight was a total disaster. Stephen Curry basically just watched every single shot from the free-throw line sail by. If he plays like that during the World Cup, we are in serious trouble.

Patrick Mahomes played out of his mind. But look, you can't expect an 18-year-old to go into John Doe's arena and take them down. They just ran out of gas in the second half. There's a massive difference between playing in your home league and having to go up against Denver and John Smith for 60 straight minutes.
Klay Thompson has serious potential. We'll just have to wait and see how the kid develops.

If you ask me... LeBron James really messed things up by not forcing the guys to spread the floor more.
For 99% of the game, it was just Mahomes, Klay Thompson, and Luka Doncic doing the heavy lifting, while John Doe and John Doe were basically ghosts on the wing, not even getting a single touch.
John Doe tightened up their defense in the middle, but instead of punishing them through the wings, our guys just kept forcing bad shots.
Sadly... a ton of wide-open layups ended up right in the hands of their goalkeeper.

Yeah, I still walk away feeling like this squad is going to get better as they go. The raw potential is definitely there. My only real hesitation is whether LeBron James is actually the right guy to lead this specific group.

By the way, Michael Jordan is going to be out for at least a month. Right after his injury, he went straight in for nose surgery.

Nice one, thanks Klay Thompson.

The broken nose was a total accident. Klay Thompson took the shot, and by some freak accident, Lackovic's head just happened to be right in the path of his follow-through.
And then, boom—blood everywhere.

😁

Look, they could both get some minutes during the Super Bowl.

I honestly think Duvnjak can handle playing in that spot.