Lakers Weekly Roundup (10/22-10/27): Opening Week

There are only four words to build you up for excitement at this point of October: "The NBA is back!" There's nothing like it. One thing for sure is that the NBA knows when to schedule marquee matchups to get fans hyped. This season, we officially mark the end of an era: the end of the superteam. The league blew up with so many big moves this past offseason. No more Big 3's or Fantastic Fours. It's now the era of the dynamic duos. Just like in the good old days.. Of course, the Lakers are no exception. Championship aspirations are once again sky high for this team with the acquisition of Anthony Davis. Paired up with LeBron, this duo is projected to be a dominant force. Let's see how they fared in opening week shall we?

10/22: @ LA Clippers 102-112 [L] (0-1)

HIGHLIGHTS

Didn't I say the NBA knows when to schedule marquee matchups? Nobody cared that the Pelicans-Raptors went to OT to see the anticipated battle of LA. LeBron and his new partner-in-crime in Anthony Davis vs. Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers. No question, the Clippers shattered the fabric of the NBA realm when they acquired Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. But, let's not forget the city of LA still rules under purple and gold domain. The Lakers proved their dominance early-on this game, feeding Anthony Davis in the paint. The Clippers had no answer to guard Davis as they fell behind early 13-2. That was all the Lakers had to show for this game. The Clippers countered by sending in their sparkplugs, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. Their instant offense brought the Clippers new life. Kawhi Leonard put up Michael Jordan-esque numbers starting in the 2nd quarter. The guy's midrange was unstoppable that game and he abused KCP. The Lakers continued to run Davis inside until it became predictable for the Clippers defense to figure out. Aside from Danny Green's explosive 3rd quarter, the Clippers had this game on ice and they didn't even have Paul George! Last year, proved they had some depth. Combine that with star power, they're a team to look out for. The 4th quarter was already lost when AD and LeBron combined for only 2 points. The Clippers may have won the battle, but the war has only just begun. We'll see on Christmas when both teams are at full strength

10/25: vs. Utah 86-95 [W] (1-1)

HIGHLIGHTS

After the debacle on opening night, questions arose on LeBron and AD's piss-poor 4th quarter. Moreso on LeBron's end. They say father time is catching up. It was time to push the panic button. I have something to say: it's only one game. Yes, I would've loved that win, but we still got 81 more games to go. The Lakers get another test on opening night against a Jazz team that is expected to make a deep playoff run. It was a slugfest for most of the game. That was expected. Remember the notion that father time is catching up to LeBron?  Well, the King bounced back with a near triple-double of 32 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists. Davis struggled for the most part against Rudy Gobert, but still got the job done with 21 points and 5 blocks on the defensive end. Frank Vogel actually experimented with AD at the 5 and it worked out as the Lakers more activity on the defensive end. Speaking of defensive end, it was a lot better this game. They made Utah turn the ball over 22 times. Troy Daniels lead all scorers off the bench with 15 points. His 3-point shooting gave a lot of momentum for the Lakers to close this out. The Lakers made this interesting in garbage time though when Dwight committed a flagrant foul on Georges Niang. That was the only blemish. But hey! KCP scored a point today! And we have the GOAT, Alex Caruso back! Lakers are 1-0 when those two things happen.

10/27: vs. Charlotte 101-120 [W] (2-1)

HIGHLIGHTS

Early on this game, I could not believe what I was seeing. Why in the world are we playing down  to the Hornets level? That team is not even expected to be good this year by letting Kemba Walker go the easily for an overpaid Terry Rozier! The first half was bit too close for comfort. But then, they started pulling away in the 3rd quarter and eventually the 4th quarter. One thing's for certain, AD had the 3-point game rolling and notched his first double-double with the Lakers with 29 points and 14 rebounds to go with 10 blocks. And never thought I would mention this guy's name again: Dwight Howard lead the bench with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Opening, he was a little too pedestrian. Against Utah, he picked up some activity. This game is where we actually saw shades of the old Dwight. At least compared to 2012-13, Dwight knows his role and clearly, he owes Laker fans like myself a lot if he wants to fully clear his name. He's made the most of it. LeBron James had 6 points in the first half, but he picked it up in the 4th quarter to pretty much put this game on ice. There was not a lot of load for LeBron to shoulder since he was perfectly setting up AD and Dwight for easy shots in the paint. Those big men did a lot of work inside and it wore down Charlotte's interior defense to pull away from this game.

Watson Breaks Silver and Black Hearts in Houston

Final: OAK 24 HOU 27 (3-4)

Always some drama down the stretch whenever these two teams play in Houston. While the Raiders got the better of the Texans in the last two meetings, the Texans were able to get this one.

Before I start this game, as you all know this past Tuesday, we all lost another Raider legend. Hall-of-Fame cornerback Willie Brown passed away. I've told this story a couple times, when I was still a young Raider fan, my dad used to tell me stories about the 70's Raiders. Willie Brown was a prominent figure of those teams, leading the "Soul Patrol" that consisted of other great Raider DBs like Jack Tatum, George Atkinson, and Skip Thomas. It's crazy to think we lost two prominent Raider legends in the same year with Cliff Branch unexpectedly passing away in August. At least Old Man Willie got to see himself inducted into Canton. Nowadays, these writers are petty in the selection process. It's a crime that more Raider legends of the past are not even in the Hall of Fame yet and they may not see that light of day.

Onto the game, the Raiders had a bounce back game written all over this matchup. The first possessions from the Raiders was pretty weird to start. They got off the right footing by running Josh Jacobs behind the O-line at full strength finally before Rodney Hudson went down. But, they kept trying to mix it up with run and pass by feeding the ball early to Darren Waller. Waller still had a decent game, but Justin Reid and the Texans secondary had some pretty good coverage around him the whole game. It was nice to see Tyrell Williams back on the field. He made his presence felt with 3 receptions for 91 yards and 1 TD. They get their down field receiver back, which opens up a lot opportunities. Hunter Renfrow had a nice 65 yard catch and run to open things up.

You can't completely blame the offense this game. Derek Carr played a clean game. It's been a while since he had a 3 passing TD game. The game was pretty much lost on penalties today. 11 penalties for 100 yards won't win you a whole lot of games. Not too mention, Houston dominated time of possession. A scrambling QB like Deshaun Watson is hard to decipher. Watson was able to keep some plays alive with his legs. For the most part, rush defense did its job. But, pass defense got gashed today and it caught up in Watson's go-ahead TD. Funny enough, the Raiders sent Gareon Conley to Texans and he got himself early revenge. There was one crucial point in the game where it looked like Conley had a lot of contact on Williams, but Gruden refused to challenge. He lost one earlier on the Renfrow offensive P.I. Though that play was 50/50, it would've worth a shot to challenge P.I. But, I understood the rationale since they wanted to keep two timeouts plus the two minute warning. The Texans mustered enough first downs at the end.

Well, the long road trip is over and the Raiders can return on home turf. For the most part sans Minnesota and Green Bay, the Raiders were able to compete and snatch some shocking wins. This stretch is a lot more favorable: vs. Detroit, vs. LA Chargers, vs. Cincinnati, @ Jets, @ Chiefs, vs. Titans, vs. Jaguars, @ LA Chargers and @ Denver. Chargers might've gotten some momentum after the win in Chicago today. Chiefs are likely getting Mahomes back. Sacksonville lives again in the Jaguars. The way this is trending, we can see an 8-8 finish possibly. But as always, one game at a time. I'll see you guys next week after the game.

Lakers 2019-20 Preview: AD - "In the Year of the Brow"

Before I dive in to give my quick two cents, I'd like to take this time to promote my brand new 2019-2020 Lakers Hype Video. This is a follow up to the LeBron-AD hype video I made in August. For this one, I added in the Kawhi Leonard fiasco. A possible Big 3 was brewing, then Kawhi spurned the Lakers for the Clippers instead, bringing Paul George along with him. Now the battle for LA heats up. While the Clippers have been better, last time we checked, the score is still 16 championship banners to selfies. Enjoy the vid and get hyped for Lakers-Clippers tomorrow night!

Now the above is the one I wanted to plug for a quick Raiders 2019 preview and then Antonio Brown happened. Nonetheless, we shouldn't have any drama here, so let's cut right to the chase for the Lakers 2019-20 season outlook.

By last season, the Lakers were in play for Anthony Davis before the trade deadline. They were planning to give up the entire roster for one of Klutch Sports' top client. Unfortunately, Dell Demps, the GM before David Griffin backed out and tried to play the Lakers when in fact he played himself as the Pelicans fired him by season's end. Fast forward to this past summer, with David Griffin in charge, the Lakers and the Pelicans were able to come to a deal to send Anthony Davis to play alongside a well-rested LeBron James in exchange for Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart. Once again, the Lakers spurn a long-term future for the short term in hopes of winning it all now.

The next domino to fall was Kawhi Leonard. The Lakers dangerously played the waiting game with Kawhi until he left them in the dust for the Clippers. Luckily, the Lakers had a solid plan B in place by resigning JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Alex Caruso, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Lakers then bolstered their roster by adding vet Jared Dudley and sharpshooter specialist Troy Daniels. I had to throw that out there because I totally forgot they were on the team. Their bigger FA moves came in the form of Danny Green, Avery Bradley, Quinn Cook, DeMarcus Cousins, and the return of the prodigal son, Dwight Howard. For the most part, this is a pretty solid plan B from Rob Pelinka. Well done.

Looking at this roster, it's solid on paper. The only glaring weakness I see on here is the back court. The front court of AD, Dwight, and McGee is stacked as evidenced in the preseason. The way they were dominant in the paint reminded me a lot of the 2008-2012 Lakers when you had Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol roaming the paint. Healthy LeBron on there running the show at point, that's a force to be reckon with. Back to the back court, it's filled with a lot of streaky 3 and D players. Danny Green and Avery Bradley are pests on D. They can score, but they can be wildly inconsistent. KCP, we know a lot about him. When he's hot, he's great. When he's not, he's plain garbage. And then there's Rondo. Also, the health of LeBron and AD are going to be key. Both struggled with the injury bug last season. The only difference we expect LeBron to be refreshed albeit being on the down side of 30 since he had otherwise an injury-free career. AD has a lot more to prove that he has set aside the injury bug that plagued him that has been otherwise a tremendous career to start. And he still has a couple of good prime years left.

The question is whether or not the Lakers can break their playoff drought with this roster? As long as the LeBron-AD duo stays healthy, yes. As long as there's no roster drama, yes. As long as each player understand their role, yes. This team is a playoff contender. And they have a pretty favorable schedule to start. From October-November, they are facing off against four playoff teams in my opinion (Clippers, Utah, San Antonio, and Dallas). In the opener tomorrow against the Clippers, they have an opportunity to get a jump on their little LA brother with Paul George missing in action. However, they're still not to be overlooked at as they retained most of their roster from last year sans Kawhi Leonard and PG13. It's going to be a matter of a team that has a lot of new parts vs. the team that already has components, but added a pair of big time upgrades. It should be an interesting season and definitely all eyes will be on LA all season long. But, the city is still drenched in purple and gold as it has been. GO LAKERS!

Pack Pummel Raiders

Final: OAK 24 GB 42 (3-3)

Alright, I'm gonna make this quick in order to save time to do some finishing touches on the Lakers hype video for Tuesday. So, the Raiders come off the bye and Aaron Rodgers and the Packers pretty much gave them a rude awakening back. The Raiders first drive started off a good. Josh Jacobs managed to rip off a big run to get things going. It was nice to see Gabe Jackson back. When you have Incognito, Hudson, and Jackson in front, Jacobs is going to see a lot of nice holes inside. The O-line sans Trent Brown did a nice job for the most part. Although, as usual, the great first drive ended up stalled and the Raiders had to settle for three. I think that was already a momentum-killing play because against Aaron Rodgers and the Pack, you need touchdowns. The Lions learned that the hard way last Monday Night sans obvious refball. Of course you know the story of the referees when the Packers play in Lambeau Field. The penalties definitely piled up for the Raiders, but I don't think the refs were as egregious to them as they were to the Lions on Monday Night. This is especially when they were firing on all cylinders today. Rodgers was playing at an MVP-level. The Raiders secondary definitely helped that as they were blatantly allowing the Green Bay's patchwork receivers be open all game long.

Offensively, it was a mixed bag. The running game was awesome today. Darren Waller came alive in the 2nd quarter and finished with a monster line of 7 receptions, 126 yards, and 2 TDs coming off of signing a 3-year contract extension with the team. Execution was there, but penalties, turnovers, and stalled drives ruined it. Mistakes from Derek Carr reared its ugly head again. Remember two years ago when Carr tried to dive for the game winning TD against the Cowboys and he lost the ball in the end zone? He happened to do that again today. It's more important to get a yard and try again on another down to score. Also in the fourth quarter, Waller had the double coverage beat in the end zone, but Carr just underthrew the ball and into the hands of a defender for the INT. On a 4th and goal, they ran it with Jacobs. If you remember from last week, Jacobs leaped into the end zone for the game winning TD against the Bears. He tried that same play in this 4th down, but he didn't extend his arms long enough for the ball to break the plane.

Overall, I'm not too mad at this game, but still disappointed. If the Raiders came out of this game and the game plan was flat, that is definitely subject to a rant. But they had a good game plan, just penalties and turnovers prevented a majority of that. And Aaron Rodgers is a walking Hall-of-Famer. Anyway, the Raiders have a potential bounceback game next week against the Texans. Then, it's home sweet home in Oakland again in November against the Lions. I'll see you guys back here next week.

Raiders Gash Mack, Bears Defense

Final: CHI 21 OAK 24 (3-2)

The trade that sent Khalil Mack to the Bears for a first round pick was a case that lingered in the Raider Nation court of public opinion. This game was the equivalent of a court hearing. It was simple, Bears win, it further pushes the narrative that the Raiders made a monumental mistake. If the Raiders win, Jon Gruden walks away a free man and all of his detractors can officially shut up about gift wrapping Mack to the Bears. The verdict? He ain't guilty after this game. And guess what, the 1st round pick from the Bears went off today. This was a win of epic proportions for the Raiders. Not only did they beat a great defense, but they gashed them. As I said last week, this was going to be an interesting matchup between the O-line and the Bears' D-line and how the offense was going to gameplan against Mack. They neutralized Mack the whole game, double teaming him. That's the way to slow him down. He got free in one play during the 2nd half, but Carr was able to get rid of the ball quick. That's quite the advantage Carr has, playing on the opposite side of Mack for three years.

The Raiders came out with a great gameplan to start the first half. As mentioned, this O-line was not afraid to get head-to-toe with the Bears' vaunted front seven. They were more physical, which opened up a lot of holes for Jacobs, Washington, and Richard to run through. The Raiders didn't have Tyrell Williams this game, so they switched it up going with three Tight Ends. We all know Waller is a big time target. But Derek Carrier and Foster Moreau stepped up big to get the passing game going. Josh Jacobs had an awesome game. He's no question the MVP this game with 150 total yards and 2 rushing TDs. The 2nd TD brought the Raiders home. The Bears' first round pick to get Mack wounded up being the Josh Jacobs pick. And Gruden can't ask for better exoneration by having that first round pick gash the Bears like that.

The only negative this game is the second half. Once again, that half reared its ugly head again. Derek Carr and Josh Jacobs had a miscue on the pitch to bring the Bears back. Chicago's offense scored 21 unanswered. Honestly, when the Bears' offense is better with Chase Daniel than they were with Mitch Trubisky under center, that says a lot. But, the Raiders managed to get some momentum back with a third down stop to put Chicago out of field goal range. The fake punt with A.J. Cole running up the middle was gutsy. Gruden didn't want to take any chances to have his defense out there and stop the Bears from all three downs after giving up 21 unanswered. The defense played well today. No Clelin Ferrell, but the Raiders managed to generate 4 sacks on Chase Daniel. This is a defense that's still a WIP, but the run defense is on point. Pass defense could still use a lot of work, but this unit never breaks. As I said, Gruden wasn't taking any chance since the Bears' offense was picking up steam and the defense was making plays.

After this game, we can finally put all this Mack talk in the rear view mirror. Jon Gruden and the Raiders had to put up with this trade for one whole year. After this, we can all settle down now. With the Raiders standing at 3-2, the schedule after the bye gets a lot easier. They still got a couple of road trips to go, but the fact they're standing above .500 five games into the season is one heck of an improvement from last season. Still a lot to clean up, but these Raiders are on the come up and the bye can't come at a better time after a big time win. You're free to go Chucky! We've done our due process here since the trade. "Knock on wood if you're with me."