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Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 5:11 pm
by greepleairport
Greeple stands.

We hit a crossroads in LA. We weren’t getting better as a unit without considering major sacrifices. If we sacrificed some but not all of our core, we risked imbalance. The 2030s Lakers were never far from contending for a title, but after 2 solid runs with no rings to show for it, we went back to the drawing board and began the rebuilding process.

Greeple sits, then stands again. Pirouettes. Points fingers at the press pool, shooting them like guns at everyone, making a ‘bsh, bsh, bsh’ noise. Does pushups. Yells for a blue slurpee. Lights a lighter and waves it in the air, humming softly.

Gone are all of our starters and stars of last year: Delmar, Pearman, Todd, Bjorn, Kelly, and Bias to name a few. These guys put their heart and souls on the court for LA and we’ll never forget their contributions. Leading our new unit this year will be Alex Caruso and Daniel Gamez (our sole returning key contributor) in the backcourt with veteran savvy in the front court from Jules Harms and Mike Burnham (welcome back Mike). We’re happy to have Ben Franklin join us this year and hopefully he’ll lead us by reinventing our team’s electricity!

I kid, but so did whoever named this guy.

Greeple does some armpit farts.

So there’s a playbook for our core starting unit, serving up a healthy balance of offensive threat and defensive prowess. Our second unit is just as exciting - if not now then in the very near future. We love the progress our rookies Dario Beaton and James Andrews made in training camp, though they have some work to do before they play any minutes for us. Matthew Burns, Carl Thorson, Gerry Folse, Peter Harker and Paul Ammerman will make up our secondary unit and think they will do a great job. Expect Les Kim to put in a few minutes, too, so he can get a flavor of PBSL floor time before becoming one of the league greats in the future.

Greeple pulls a baseball bat out from behind his back and winds up with his eye on the microphone, totally whiffs on purpose spinning around and then placing the bat on the floor. Puts his forehead on it and starts running around in circles, counting up by one every full rotation until he counts to 26. Picks up the bat and falls on the floor. Stands up, stumbles, stands.

Will we win 60 games this year? Certainly not, but we’ll hang above .500 and eke our way into a low ranking playoff spot, certainly. Now, how do you solve a problem like Maria?

Greeple stares into the abyss of the press pool, awkwardly waiting for someone to ask him a question.

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Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 5:22 pm
by garbageman
Sham Smith, Bulls.com: While Delmar had been in LA his whole career, the Lakers had plenty of different looks around him. With only one year of William Pearman in a Lakers jersey, what would you have done differently in terms of team building and tax structuring to give a Lopez/Pearman pairing more of a run...if anything?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 5:39 pm
by greepleairport
I have lots of woulda coulda shoulda's about our squad last year, or the last decade for that matter. We found ourselves with limited wiggle room salary-wise and roster-wise toward the end of our run, and something had to give. If we reset our tax this year and kept Lopez and Pearman... I suppose that would have been cool. But it was also the team we felt was our best chance at gold and we weren't getting better and we fell short again. The stress from being the best and losing anyway was too much in the end, so we hit the reset button and started from the bottom. We don't expect to be here long, even without those great players here.

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 6:10 pm
by MexicanMamba
What are the main lessons you'll take from the 'failures' of the Delmar Era that you'll use to not repeat those same mistakes in the Caru-Show?

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Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Sat May 29, 2021 7:02 pm
by greepleairport
I went all in too early instead of hedging my bets on the trade market. All of my most trade-able pieces were deeply entrenched in my rotation, so it became difficult that late in the game to trade a young prospect for a win now player. I’m not planning to do that again and always have a couple moveable guys ready to leave LA.


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Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 12:07 pm
by Xist2Inspire
Random Reporter: Daniel Gamez has come out of nowhere to look like a potential future star. How excited are you to see what he can do this year?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 12:24 pm
by greepleairport
I hope he falls on his face and is terrible before RFA... just kidding! I had a feeling he was going to be good. I'm only concerned the rest of the league might see him looking good too that drives up his price. I like this kid a lot though.

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 12:24 pm
by IamQuailman
Have you considered changing markets from LA Lakers to re-establish another famed franchise that was contracted: the Golden State Warriors?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 12:27 pm
by greepleairport
When I first came into PBSL I thought I would be taking over the Warriors, but someone beat me to the punch and then disappeared. Though I am in a rebuild I'm already pretty invested in my moves and don't see much value switching teams. Though, at the right time and circumstances I definitely would love to resurrect the Warriors.

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 12:39 pm
by K-100
Using any historical PBSL player, who do you think Caruso, Folse, and Gamez will emulate down the road?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 12:47 pm
by greepleairport
Ooo, very interesting question. Best case scenario, I think you have a Jonathan Lewis in Caruso, a Quintin Kidd in Folse, and a slow af Tony Cucone in Gamez. He's not athletic enough to be a Leiker.

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 2:53 pm
by TheSyndicate
What comment do you have that the Omega Conference should really be renamed the 'Beta' Conference?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 3:05 pm
by greepleairport
I think my pals across the Staples Center have more to say about that this season than I do. Last season, though? Alpha was the beta minus the champs.

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 3:10 pm
by 78#
NickMalone usually does a fair number of traping. However you were able to send him Len Bias without too much of a penalty. How were you able to successful negotiate such a trade?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 3:11 pm
by greepleairport
78# wrote: Mon May 31, 2021 3:10 pm NickMalone usually does a fair number of traping. However you were able to send him Len Bias without too much of a penalty. How were you able to successful negotiate such a trade?
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Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon May 31, 2021 5:01 pm
by Eazy P
are you in rebuild or retool mode?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:34 am
by greepleairport
Eazy P wrote:are you in rebuild or retool mode?
Rebuild. I’m very excited with my new young core, but it will be a few years yet before guys like Caruso and Folse reach their potential


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Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:21 am
by ballsohard
greepleairport wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:34 am
Eazy P wrote:are you in rebuild or retool mode?
Rebuild. I’m very excited with my new young core, but it will be a few years yet before guys like Caruso and Folse reach their potential


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Scruff McGruff: Who is this Folse you're talking about ?

Re: Lakers S52 Preseason Presser: A New Hope

Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:39 am
by greepleairport
ballsohard wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 9:21 am
greepleairport wrote: Tue Jun 01, 2021 7:34 am
Eazy P wrote:are you in rebuild or retool mode?
Rebuild. I’m very excited with my new young core, but it will be a few years yet before guys like Caruso and Folse reach their potential


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Scruff McGruff: Who is this Folse you're talking about ?
wrong press conference...?