(LOCK THREAD) The LeBron James- 23-24 NBA Thread - 40K POINTS+(Part 1)(NO INSULTING)

[Heej]

Looking like a 1st round matchup with Denver assuming they beat NO again in the play-in. ****

Gonna be funny to see their shooting luck regress this year and the Lakers surprise everyone by playing a stronger series than expected.

[nzahir]

Looking like a 1st round matchup with Denver assuming they beat NO again in the play-in. ****

Gonna be funny to see their shooting luck regress this year and the Lakers surprise everyone by playing a stronger series than expected.

Going to need a key injury or two for Denver for us to have a real good shot where I feel confident to actually win it

I do think we win 1-2 games at least though this time

Legit 3/4 games came down to 1-2 plays last playoffs and we were on the bad side of them all

Really hoping Wood can come back because we are going to need size for Den

Also this, with the season over, here is the update:

Lakers are 26-1 (including the IST championship game) when Taurean Prince plays between 16-24 minutes (rounded to the nearest whole number).

[NbaAllDay]

Feeling better about the Denver matchup given Lebron/AD being actually 'healthy' this year. Still need to get past the Pels though.

Also Denver just look a little less unbeatable too. Heavy favourite but honestly if AD plays at his best and Dlo/Reeves/Rui give solid support there is an outside chance.

[RRR3]

Looking like a 1st round matchup with Denver assuming they beat NO again in the play-in. ****

Gonna be funny to see their shooting luck regress this year and the Lakers surprise everyone by playing a stronger series than expected.

Shooting luck? Ham thought leaving Jamal Murray open was a brilliant strategy. I doubt he’s changed his mind.

[Heej]

Looking like a 1st round matchup with Denver assuming they beat NO again in the play-in. ****

Gonna be funny to see their shooting luck regress this year and the Lakers surprise everyone by playing a stronger series than expected.

Shooting luck? Ham thought leaving Jamal Murray open was a brilliant strategy. I doubt he’s changed his mind.

No he thought leaving Aaron Gordon was.

[RRR3]

Gonna be funny to see their shooting luck regress this year and the Lakers surprise everyone by playing a stronger series than expected.

Shooting luck? Ham thought leaving Jamal Murray open was a brilliant strategy. I doubt he’s changed his mind.

No he thought leaving Aaron Gordon was.

Fascinating that he had his guards going under screens for Murray then. And Ham leaves the 3pt line open in general, which is part of why they foul so little. By all means die on the hill of defending him if you want but the overwhelming consensus now seems to be that he’s at best ONE of the worst coaches in the league. Even a rival scout was mocking him. Getting a healthy LeBron and AD all year and finishing 8th is a pretty shameful coaching performance.

[Heej]

Shooting luck? Ham thought leaving Jamal Murray open was a brilliant strategy. I doubt he’s changed his mind.

No he thought leaving Aaron Gordon was.

Fascinating that he had his guards going under screens for Murray then. And Ham leaves the 3pt line open in general, which is part of why they foul so little. By all means die on the hill of defending him if you want but the overwhelming consensus now seems to be that he’s at best ONE of the worst coaches in the league. Even a rival scout was mocking him. Getting a healthy LeBron and AD all year and finishing 8th is a pretty shameful coaching performance.

Going under isn't the same as leaving Murray open. Chasing was just a death sentence because none of the guards were able to navigate screens and then gave up open rolls when they were forced to late switch. Sometimes you just don't have the personnel to play ideal defense.

I don't think Ham is a great coach, I just think people don't realize how much beyond expectation Denver shot from 3 that series. I've been waiting for a rematch for a long time because regardless of scheme, even the rate they were hitting open 3s were one of the all time shooting performances in a series. That's just not likely to happen again, especially if the Lakers are able to extend the series.

[1993Playoffs]

This is gonna be a quick and thorough dispatching by Denver lol

[Mos_Heat]

Why people talk about Denver? It's gonna be hard to win 2 games in a row on the road against a playoff team

[GSP]

Id love their chances against Okc damn one of the few times where tiebreakers really changed alot for playoff matchups

If they beat No theyll give Nuggets a war. Its going 7 Imo Nuggets have some of the worst depth of all playoff teams. This isnt the same team as last year. They just blew a 23pt lead to 15 seed Sa that cost them the 1 seed 2 days ago



Yeah starters will play more and stagger bench players w/ them but their starting lineup aint playing 45+ mins lol they still have to play bench players. Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Zeke Naji, Justin Holiday Deandre???

Theres no Bruce Brown or Jeff Green in Denver this year that gives them a great reliable 8 man playoff rotation and La has one of the best starting 5s that can compete w them. Itd be a dogfight Imo

[donnieme]

Lebron ball was so underrated as a winning tool. A Lebron team would never have to worry about an opponent outcontrolling a game. He would match Jokic's game control two times over, still switch to Murray in the clutch then comeo back on offense and toast both in the PnR. It's just sad seeing a matchup struggle knowing that would never have flown 8 years ago. Jokic is an underrated paint defender but nah he wasn't bothering younger Lebron's release point on drives. Easy foul trouble.

[homecourtloss]

Year 21, age 39, produced these career numbers:

Highest 3P%, 41.0%
4th highest AST%, 36.1%
5th highest FG%, 54.0%
6th highest 2P%, 59.2%
9th highest FG Added, +131.9
9th highest AST/TO ratio, 2.17
10th highest DREB%, 19.3%
11th highest TS Added, +143.8
11th highest ON/OFF, +9.9
12th highest TREB%, 11.5%

[Myth_Breaker]

I don't see this particular aspect mentioned here (at least in recent posts), but IMHO it's worth mentioning that after the game in Indiana LeBron is 59 dimes away from 11 000 assists during regular season. There are 8 Lakers RS games left. LBJ's averaging 8.1 apg (and even more during the latest stretch of games), so there should be no problem with achieving that feat. Unless he misses some games, which I would personally bet on taking into account his age/mileage/current health. But the race for 6-10 spots in the West is so tight that he will be actively trying to avoid that. So we shall see.

I'd like to remind that only Stockton, Kidd and CP3 are ahead of LeBron in all-time race (respectively 15 806/12 091/11 842/10 941 assists). And most likely LBJ will remain "only" 4th all-time in this category, unless he plays a couple of seasons after CP3 retires. Which personally I would not advise: longevity is great, but too much is too much and it's better not to retire as a shell of his former self. Still, becoming the first player already this season with >40 000 points/11 000 rebounds/11 000 assists would be another tremendous achievement of him.

Update: 24 dimes away from 11 000 assists with 4 games remaining after the win over Cleveland. LeBron's at 8.2 apg for the season now. Looks like another incredible statistical feat is ripe for the taking...

Final RS update: LBJ completed the season with 11 009 career assists collected during 1492 games (not to mention 40 474 points and 11 185 rebounds to boot). Mission accomplished!

Now go Lakers!

[AEnigma]

I think he can move past Kidd on the regular season leaderboard (combined leaderboard should happen next season). Roughly two seasons of maintained play will get him there, or three seasons if we start to see a dropoff.

[Colbinii]

Yeah starters will play more and stagger bench players w/ them but their starting lineup aint playing 45+ mins lol they still have to play bench players. Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Zeke Naji, Justin Holiday Deandre???

Theres no Bruce Brown or Jeff Green in Denver this year that gives them a great reliable 8 man playoff rotation and La has one of the best starting 5s that can compete w them. Itd be a dogfight Imo

I think you are underrating Braun/Watson here.

Watson is a terrific defensive piece who fills in exceptionally well for Gordon as a Dunker's spot threat.
Braun gives Denver a 5-out feel when Gordon's shot isn't falling.

Who exactly does LAL have in the 6-8 range who is league's better than Denver?

Reggie Jackson vs Spencer Dinwiddie -- It is more likely Dinwiddie has a hot quarter and swings momentum than Jackson
Christian Braun vs Taurean Prince -- I just don't trust Prince. He tends to do this hero ball thing from time to time and makes mental mistakes too often. Braun is more athletic, plays with-in his role better and is better off-ball.
Peyton Watson vs Cam Reddish -- Push here. Watson the better defensive piece but it's close, Reddish I prefer as an on-ball defender. Both limited, Reddish more ceiling as his jumper is better [not good, just better].

Gabe Vincent is a big X-Factor here off the bench. Can he give you 10-15 good minutes on Jamal Murray? Can he hit open 3's in order to actually stay on the court? Does he simply make LAL too small?

[PistolPeteJR]

Yeah starters will play more and stagger bench players w/ them but their starting lineup aint playing 45+ mins lol they still have to play bench players. Reggie Jackson, Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Zeke Naji, Justin Holiday Deandre???

Theres no Bruce Brown or Jeff Green in Denver this year that gives them a great reliable 8 man playoff rotation and La has one of the best starting 5s that can compete w them. Itd be a dogfight Imo

I think you are underrating Braun/Watson here.

Watson is a terrific defensive piece who fills in exceptionally well for Gordon as a Dunker's spot threat.
Braun gives Denver a 5-out feel when Gordon's shot isn't falling.

Who exactly does LAL have in the 6-8 range who is league's better than Denver?

Reggie Jackson vs Spencer Dinwiddie -- It is more likely Dinwiddie has a hot quarter and swings momentum than Jackson
Christian Braun vs Taurean Prince -- I just don't trust Prince. He tends to do this hero ball thing from time to time and makes mental mistakes too often. Braun is more athletic, plays with-in his role better and is better off-ball.
Peyton Watson vs Cam Reddish -- Push here. Watson the better defensive piece but it's close, Reddish I prefer as an on-ball defender. Both limited, Reddish more ceiling as his jumper is better [not good, just better].

Gabe Vincent is a big X-Factor here off the bench. Can he give you 10-15 good minutes on Jamal Murray? Can he hit open 3's in order to actually stay on the court? Does he simply make LAL too small?

You know, I hit "reply with quote" to talk about how I think Gabe Vincent playing well gives them a better shot to win vs DLo playing well due to the former's defense and if he finds his legs underneath him to knock down shots, but tbh, I don't think he does much against Murray. So I'd rather DLo play well and the guards trading buckets with Murray, even though it's a long shot. It has to be a combination of that and getting guys like Jokic and Gordon in foul trouble inside.

Realistically, KCP is going to eat DLo alive. That said, I don't think Malone puts KCP on him. I think he puts Murray on DLo instead and puts KCP on Reaves. Either way, KCP's going to hurt the Lakers' guards unless Reaves can get him in foul trouble consistently enough.

[PaulieWal]

Why people talk about Denver? It's gonna be hard to win 2 games in a row on the road against a playoff team

The 2nd play-in game is going be at home, not on the road.

[jalengreen]

plenty of votes yet to come but early on it looks like LeBron may be robbed of All-NBA second team, lame

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KMzwRcilLDej0BWl7eYE_OYC9Tx9olI_Ptn-nHjKfpQ/htmlview#

[AEnigma]

Durant over Lebron is a joke. Disagree with Edwards but hey top three seed and obviously the media is disinclined to reward Gobert more than strictly necessary. Disagree with Davis but there is a conceivable case. But Durant?

[Colbinii]

I'm going to be pissed if Edwards makes 2nd team. It's going to cost the Timberwolves a ton of money.