Why Fans Should Give LA Lakers Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a Break

emplay · Site Staff Joined: 15 Apr 2001 Posts: 25552

Hey All,

Latest @hollywood_hoops Ep 159 - Why Fans Should Give LA Lakers Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope a Break w/@JoshMartinNBA
@lineups https://www.spreaker.com/user/11494655/hollywood-hoops-give-kcp-a-break

Cheers,

EP
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Salary Cap Strategist and Columnist at Bleacher Report and on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/EricPincus

joeblow · Star Player Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 3092

I've felt the same for most of his career in PnG. With all the players that have come and gone over the past few years, KCP has consistently been disrespected as if he is barely a Laker.

He has a good attitude and possesses legit NBA skills on both ends of the court. No one will ever mistake him for a star in the league, but I am happy he is in our rotation (especially since his price has gone down instead of up each year).

emplay · Site Staff Joined: 15 Apr 2001 Posts: 25552

wow a sensible take, lol - appreciate it joeblow
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epak · Retired Number Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 34147

cirehawk · Star Player Joined: 08 Jun 2005 Posts: 5567

Personally, I don't judge KCP on the basis of his salary. I'm a firm believer in getting whatever a team is willing to pay you. I've never judged his character either. He could be a great guy. And I definitely wasn't expecting him to be a star. What I expected was for him to be what he was touted as being... a solid 3 and D guy. But to my eye, he hasn't been a good 3-ball shooter since he has been here. Heck, he hasn't been a good shooter period. I can only think of 2 or 3 games over these couple years where I thought wow, he's really making an impact. Trust me, I have been pulling for him to be more impactful. As for his defense? To my eye he has been sub par on that end as well.

joeblow · Star Player Joined: 24 Nov 2008 Posts: 3092

^^^ Eh, I personally don't care how other fans and commentators define a player. I simply look at what we have and make my own personal determination of whether he has a net positive or net negative contribution over the course of a season. To me, KCP has been a solid net positive over the years.

But the main point in your response that I want to address is what you said about the unimportance of judging a player's character. I actually didn't say anything about character at all in my post. I commended KCP for his attitude, which is a completely different trait.

Whether or not a lot of Dennis Rodman's tabloid antics were manufactured, I believe overall he had a bad character. I was not a fan of Rodman the person at all. But Rodman the player? His attitude on the court is one of the all-time best.

Who here wouldn't want each and every Laker, regardless of what they do on their own time, to bring to the arena what he did in "self-motivation to succeed AND exceed" almost every single game? That's the fuel that runs the player's internal motor, and it is invaluable in order for him to maximize his skills.

Now, I'm not saying KCP has the high level attitude that Rodman had (or the defensive skill set and game IQ as well - he doesn't). But the attitude he does possess is admirable when you compare him to other guys in the league that just go through the motions half the time.

In the end, can you do a lot better than KCP? Of course, but for the salary we're paying him now (which has to be a factor to be practical), you could do a lot worse as well.

activeverb · Retired Number Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 37470

I don't begrudge kcp for taking as much money as he could get. That said, it's hard to deny that we overpaid him and he represents a poor use of our resources.

defense · Retired Number Joined: 12 Jan 2010 Posts: 39663

jonnybravo · Retired Number Joined: 21 Sep 2007 Posts: 30763

Be honest Eric, how much did Klutch pay yah? J/k...maybe lol.
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Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 875

I don't blame KCP; it's the coach's job to yank players who aren't playing well. I do think Norvell or Cacok can give us more but I'm not complaining if we're winning.

lakerfanaticPT · Star Player Joined: 23 Jun 2005 Posts: 1572

Norvell over KCP and its not even close. Sorry, KCP is a net negative most games. Occasional positive but rare over the last 2 seasons. Plays well when we are way up or way down and plays poorly in tight games. Norvell should get a chance in my opinion.

LakerFlyer · Rookie Joined: 16 Mar 2009 Posts: 3

Sorry, KCP just doesn't seem to come through when we need him to. Not that clutch. He gives good effort, and plays average D for one of our current Laker Guards, but his shot just doesn't seem to fall when we need him to make them. Lukewarm on KCP. Seem to be disappointed in him more often than happy he's on the floor. If he's cheap as others have said, so much the better. Just my 2¢. Peace. Out.

activeverb · Retired Number Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 37470

yinoma2001 · Retired Number Joined: 19 Jun 2010 Posts: 119487

He was a -10 in 4 minutes tonight. Good lord.
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Don Draper · Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 10:34 pm Post subject:

danzag · Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 4:57 am Post subject:

KCP should give ME a break. Good lord, he's been atrocious.

ContagiousInspiration · Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 7:36 am Post subject:

venturalakersfan · Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 8:35 am Post subject:

unleasHell · Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2019 10:21 pm Post subject:

Give him a break, give him a kit-kat bar....!
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l4kerz · Star Player Joined: 10 Jan 2010 Posts: 1572

lakurluv · Star Player Joined: 17 May 2010 Posts: 2529

He just needs to perform consistently and he'll serve his purpose on the team.