The Lebron '20 Thread (Pt. 5)

SideshowBob · Post #1501 » by **SideshowBob** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:53 pm

KTM_2813 wrote:People here were pretty hard on LeBron last night, myself included, so I wanted to try and put things in perspective:

His GameScore of 30.2 was higher than all of his GameScores from the 2013 playoffs except two and higher than all of his GameScores from the 2016 playoffs except three. In other words, his statistical output from yesterday (even factoring in turnovers) would have stood out even during his most memorable postseason runs.

I'm not saying that he was perfect, and I'm not saying that GameScore is the end-all be-all. But, Jesus Christ, we're all a bit hard on him sometimes. It's not like every one of his playoff games pre-2020 was Game 6 of the 2016 Finals.

Most recent memories of his playoff runs are 2017 and 2018, so the bar is insanely high.

homecourtloss · Post #1502 » by **homecourtloss** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 6:49 pm

Kuzma’s defensive awakening in the bubble so far has been a boon for the Lakers.

—Blazers are shooting 6/21 on shots contested by Kuzma, 15.1% below season averages.

Lakers DRtg with Kuzma ON: 79.9
Lakers DRtg with Kuzma OFF: 116.2

Kuzma+Caruso ON: 74 DRtg

—LeBron+Kuzma+Caruso: 30 minutes, +31.6 NET Rtg
—LeBron+AD+Kuzma+Caruso: 22 minutes, +27.9 NET Rtg

That foursome plus someone else needs to play more minutes together as the Lakers’ starting lineups are spotting leads to the opposition. McGee worked well in the regulsr seaosn (some of the Lakers highest ORtgs, good first quarters) but he’s not helping in the playoffs.

MyUniBroDavis · Post #1503 » by **MyUniBroDavis** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 7:53 pm

homecourtloss wrote:Kuzma’s defensive awakening in the bubble so far has been a boon for the Lakers.

—Blazers are shooting 6/21 on shots contested by Kuzma, 15.1% below season averages.

Lakers DRtg with Kuzma ON: 79.9
Lakers DRtg with Kuzma OFF: 116.2

Kuzma+Caruso ON: 74 DRtg

—LeBron+Kuzma+Caruso: 30 minutes, +31.6 NET Rtg
—LeBron+AD+Kuzma+Caruso: 22 minutes, +27.9 NET Rtg

That foursome plus someone else needs to play more minutes together as the Lakers’ starting lineups are spotting leads to the opposition. McGee worked well in the regulsr seaosn (some of the Lakers highest ORtgs, good first quarters) but he’s not helping in the playoffs.

I think its moreso Davis at center has just been really good for a variety of reasons

They seemed gassed trying it tho but if they can do it a whole game they should destriy the rockets

SideshowBob · Post #1504 » by **SideshowBob** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 11:02 pm

Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

MisterHibachi · Post #1505 » by **MisterHibachi** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 11:06 pm

SideshowBob wrote:Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

100% yes. That was his "Game 5 in Detroit" moment. I had goosebumps.

thebigbird · Post #1506 » by **thebigbird** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 11:14 pm

Luka is the goat if he can knock out the Flippers

Joey Wheeler · Post #1507 » by **Joey Wheeler** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 11:23 pm

Dallas would actually be a slightly more challenging opponent in the conference finals than the Clippers for the Lakers. Clippers offense is too stagnant and iso reliant and they have no rim protection against Lebron and AD, 5 games max. I could see Dallas competing for a big before Lebron starts to show up Luka a bit with his superior experience.

Mos_Heat · Post #1508 » by **Mos_Heat** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 11:35 pm

SideshowBob wrote:Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

This is how you play when your favorite player is Lebron James

Dupp · Post #1509 » by **Dupp** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 12:21 am

SideshowBob wrote:Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

White Jesus

picko · Post #1510 » by **picko** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:14 am

KTM_2813 wrote:People here were pretty hard on LeBron last night, myself included, so I wanted to try and put things in perspective:

His GameScore of 30.2 was higher than all of his GameScores from the 2013 playoffs except two and higher than all of his GameScores from the 2016 playoffs except three. In other words, his statistical output from yesterday (even factoring in turnovers) would have stood out even during his most memorable postseason runs.

I'm not saying that he was perfect, and I'm not saying that GameScore is the end-all be-all. But, Jesus Christ, we're all a bit hard on him sometimes. It's not like every one of his playoff games pre-2020 was Game 6 of the 2016 Finals.

GS in general is elevated due to the league's faster pace and emphasis on spacing. LeBron can do things today that weren't possible at his peak because of this. Shame we never got to see peak-LeBron in the pace-and-space era.

However, this board can be super critical of his performance. He ranks second in assist and fifth in rebounds. He is 15th on scoring and doing so at an efficiently level way above the series average. And he's playing great defence against a team well-known for its offensive capabilities.

And the best thing is that he isn't being forced to play extreme minutes. That's an excellent outcome if you are looking to make a deep run at 35.

yoyoboy · Post #1511 » by **yoyoboy** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:16 am

Joey Wheeler wrote:Dallas would actually be a slightly more challenging opponent in the conference finals than the Clippers for the Lakers. Clippers offense is too stagnant and iso reliant and they have no rim protection against Lebron and AD, 5 games max. I could see Dallas competing for a big before Lebron starts to show up Luka a bit with his superior experience.

Luka is the truth but Dallas doesn't scare me that much. This team has played the Mavs very well in 3 of the 4 games this year and they can defend the Doncic PnR better than the Clippers. In terms of how tough potential opponents in the WC would be I'd go:

1. Rockets
2. Clippers
3. Mavericks
4. Nuggets
5. Jazz
6. Thunder

Heej · Post #1512 » by **Heej** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:50 am

SideshowBob wrote:Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

I project him ending his career having the undisputed GOAT IQ when it's all said and done. Def gonna be living in the Luka thread once LeBron retires lol. Dunno if he has the athleticism to really come for the GOAT title. Imo the one who's truly "next up" is this kid Emoni Bates entering his junior year of high school. Him and Bronny are projected to be in the same draft class if they make HS graduates eligible in 2023

Post #1513 » by **Prez** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:54 am

Houston is the team to be worried about imo. If Russ is still Russ coming back from this quad injury they might be my pick to come out of the West.

SideshowBob · Post #1514 » by **SideshowBob** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:25 am

Heej wrote:
SideshowBob wrote:Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

I project him ending his career having the undisputed GOAT IQ when it's all said and done. Def gonna be living in the Luka thread once LeBron retires lol. Dunno if he has the athleticism to really come for the GOAT title. Imo the one who's truly "next up" is this kid Emoni Bates entering his junior year of high school. Him and Bronny are projected to be in the same draft class if they make HS graduates eligible in 2023

Yeah athleticism is the biggest thing. He's not going to get close to 09-13/16/19/20 Lebron tier on defense but his offense could be close to 14/17/18 James by his mid 20s - basically Magic track. Aside from health, which is always hard to forecast this young, I guess the next biggest thing is how long he can keep laser focus past his late 20s, cause we've seen what MJ/Lebron were capable of in their 30s after the experience/skill accumulation stacks up.

toodles23 · Post #1515 » by **toodles23** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:05 am

MisterHibachi wrote:
SideshowBob wrote:Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

100% yes. That was his "Game 5 in Detroit" moment. I had goosebumps.

Yeah this. He's in the discussion for best player on earth already, for me the top 3 right now are Luka, Bron and Giannis in some order, though I do wonder how much room for improvement he still has - like what is there for him to get better at? He's already got ridiculous IQ, court vision, craftiness and ability to manipulate defenses. I guess if he improves his shooting to like 38% on threes and mid 80s from the line and reduces his turnovers a bit that could get him to even another level, but there's no guarantee that happens.

Heej · Post #1516 » by **Heej** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:38 am

SideshowBob wrote:
Heej wrote:
SideshowBob wrote:Luka's the one right?

We all on the same page with this kid?

I project him ending his career having the undisputed GOAT IQ when it's all said and done. Def gonna be living in the Luka thread once LeBron retires lol. Dunno if he has the athleticism to really come for the GOAT title. Imo the one who's truly "next up" is this kid Emoni Bates entering his junior year of high school. Him and Bronny are projected to be in the same draft class if they make HS graduates eligible in 2023

Yeah athleticism is the biggest thing. He's not going to get close to 09-13/16/19/20 Lebron tier on defense but his offense could be close to 14/17/18 James by his mid 20s - basically Magic track. Aside from health, which is always hard to forecast this young, I guess the next biggest thing is how long he can keep laser focus past his late 20s, cause we've seen what MJ/Lebron were capable of in their 30s after the experience/skill accumulation stacks up.

I think the one thing in his favor is that he's likely gonna have Rick Carlisle as his coach for the Lion's share of his career. If he can nudge Luka into unlocking more of his off-ball ability the sky's the limit. MJ and Bron didn't start their careers with a coach or even an organization of that caliber.

Post #1517 » by **bondom34** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:40 am

Three teams passed on him.

I know Trae is really good, and Ayton looks solid as well. But maaaaaaan...

JordansBulls · Post #1518 » by **JordansBulls** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:48 am

bondom34 wrote:Three teams passed on him.

I know Trae is really good, and Ayton looks solid as well. But maaaaaaan...

I lot passed on Giannis as well.

Post #1519 » by **bondom34** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:52 am

JordansBulls wrote:
bondom34 wrote:Three teams passed on him.

I know Trae is really good, and Ayton looks solid as well. But maaaaaaan...

I lot passed on Giannis as well.

Giannis wasn't nearly Luka's level of prospect at that time. He wasn't as good nor was there footage of great quality on him like Luka.

yoyoboy · Post #1520 » by **yoyoboy** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 3:54 am

Luka's athleticism is so underrated. It's not just handles and the shooting threat that allows him to eat up space and get wherever he wants on the floor. His first step might not be anything special but he accelerates faster than you would expect on his second and third steps. And then of course there's his elite stop on a dime/deceleration ability. Also he has great lower body flexibility that allows him to cover a lot of space on his stepbacks. Then there's his great balance and core strength which allows him to take contact and finish with ease.