The LeBron James - 21-22 Regular Season Thread - New Thread Soon Part 2

[GSP]

Russ is such a cancer on this team

Sick of constantly blowing clutch layups

THT too young and bad fit

Same story EVERY night

**** this team

Can’t believe Bron and AD wanted this loser

Maybe if Pelinka had done his job properly and gotten Lowry 1st, we wouldn’t have even been in this spot

Russ takes too much flak on here. He plays with energy and has been decent. He has low IQ lapses that are easy to focus on but mostly he does good things over the game.

The main issue is 10m on THT and the reliance of one way role players that if they don't shoot well then they can really hurt you since their defense and intangibles are poor.

Russ was pretty good on the whole tonight but these low IQ plays…like at the end of third when he should have let the clock run down a lattice more if he’s going to take the shot anyway. That gave Memohis a chance at 2 points.

Will like to see what Ariza and Reaves can do. They lost tonight but played well and played with a lead against a good team on a road back to back. Progress. 29-8 FTA edge is difficult to overcome.

Story of Russ career. Overall you feel he had a good or good enough game. But the momentum killers, low Iq plays, bad defense specially at crucial points really prevent a win.

[IG2]

Blowing big leads and inability to win close games is such an antithesis to past LeBron teams. They usually tend to be the best in those situations. What changed? I'd say it's a combination of low motor (old team), low IQ (Westbrook/THT) and LeBron's own inability to exert his will on the game by simply trying harder. He's all finesse now.

Westbrook is borderline unplayable in close games. The higher the stakes, the more out of control he gets. Had a couple of soul-crushing blunders at the end of this one too. So did LeBron, of course, but at least it's a rare occurrence for him.

Fizdale is a straight up clown, btw. To not give Dwight more minutes tonight when the bench was giving nothing and LA was getting killed inside made absolutely no sense.

[dcstanley]

I'm starting to think the Lakers had the right process targeting another ball-handler in the offseason, just terrible execution. Lebron is operating as a play-finisher more than I can remember: he's virtually replaced drives to the rim in the half-court with post-ups, three point shooting, and screening + rolling. Westbrook has made it easier for him to generate his own offense but Westbrook and his contract come with their own set of issues that are detrimental to winning. They should have never traded that 2020 first for Schroeder and instead targeted lower-volume playmakers that could shoot and defend like Brogdon, Van-Vleet, Ball, Lowry, etc. Pelinka spent back-to-back offseasons wasting assets on slashers that can't shoot and need the ball to be effective.

[nzahir]

I'm starting to think the Lakers had the right process targeting another ball-handler in the offseason, just terrible execution. Lebron is operating as a play-finisher more than I can remember: he's virtually replaced drives to the rim in the half-court with post-ups, three point shooting, and screening + rolling. Westbrook has made it easier for him to generate his own offense but Westbrook and his contract come with their own set of issues that are detrimental to winning. They should have never traded that 2020 first for Schroeder and instead targeted lower-volume playmakers that could shoot and defend like Brogdon, Van-Vleet, Ball, Lowry, etc. Pelinka spent back-to-back offseasons wasting assets on slashers that can't shoot and need the ball to be effective.

The Schroeder deal was fine at the time

HIs 3 point shot regressed, his defense regressed and never connected well with AD

Wasn't easy to foresee all of that

I don't think the first 3 were available

Where they **** up was not trading for Lowry

Would you guys move Russ for Love and Rubio/Sexton (both wont play)? We add a couple 2nds if needed

I think I would. Lets us start Nunn, lets THT handle the ball more off the bench, and we axe this experiment

Nunn, Reaves, Ariza, Bron, AD
THT, Monk, trade for a backup wing (like Kenrich), Love, Dwight
Avery, Melo

Collison? Johnson?

[nzahir]

Blowing big leads and inability to win close games is such an antithesis to past LeBron teams. They usually tend to be the best in those situations. What changed? I'd say it's a combination of low motor (old team) and low IQ (Westbrook/THT). They simply can't sustain high effort for long periods. And Westbrook is borderline unplayable in close games. The higher the stakes, the more out of control he gets. Had a couple of soul-crushing blunders at the end of this one too. So did LeBron, of course, but at least it's a rare occurrence for him.

Fizdale is a straight up clown, btw. To not give Dwight more minutes tonight when the bench was giving nothing and LA was getting killed inside made absolutely no sense.

We were unbelievable in 2020 and 2018 in closing, such a shame

[dcstanley]

I'm starting to think the Lakers had the right process targeting another ball-handler in the offseason, just terrible execution. Lebron is operating as a play-finisher more than I can remember: he's virtually replaced drives to the rim in the half-court with post-ups, three point shooting, and screening + rolling. Westbrook has made it easier for him to generate his own offense but Westbrook and his contract come with their own set of issues that are detrimental to winning. They should have never traded that 2020 first for Schroeder and instead targeted lower-volume playmakers that could shoot and defend like Brogdon, Van-Vleet, Ball, Lowry, etc. Pelinka spent back-to-back offseasons wasting assets on slashers that can't shoot and need the ball to be effective.

The Schroeder deal was fine at the time

HIs 3 point shot regressed, his defense regressed and never connected well with AD

Wasn't easy to foresee all of that

I don't think the first 3 were available

Where they **** up was not trading for Lowry

Would you guys move Russ for Love and Rubio/Sexton (both wont play)? We add a couple 2nds if needed

I think I would. Lets us start Nunn, lets THT handle the ball more off the bench, and we axe this experiment

Nunn, Reaves, Ariza, Bron, AD
THT, Monk, trade for a backup wing (like Kenrich), Love, Dwight
Avery, Melo

Collison? Johnson?

Schroeder had an outlier shooting year. He doesn't fit the profile of a PG that would be successful playing with Bron/AD. The trade was fine but there were better options if they were going to be as ambitious as they were.

[feyki]

So, is this wrong what I shared?

Wrong, I don't know, I didn't fact-check it, irrelevant - yeah.

AD in games without LeBron (12 games): 24.3 - 10.2 - 3.2, 56.6 TS%, -49 (Lakers were -38, so +11 without AD)
LeBron in games without AD (8 games): 34.3 - 8.9 - 6.7, 67.0 TS%, +21 (Lakers were -8, so -29 without LeBron)

The one is 37yo old guy in 19th season, the other one is 29yo superstar in his prime.

Lakers could have stumbled into decent contributors in Collison and Johnson. Johnson is playing like his life depends on it which was sorely lacking on this team. Collison just plays the game smartly and has the highest bball IQ out there other than James, something that’s evident when comparing him to THT, Westbrook among others.

Ariza, Reaves, Collison can provide three players who understand rotations, and can hit the occasional shot. LeBron small ball with Reaves and Ariza could be decent.

So, is this wrong what I shared?

Yes.

As always masters know. On/off numbers does not include the games players didn't play.

[Mos_Heat]

Russ is such a cancer on this team

Sick of constantly blowing clutch layups

THT too young and bad fit

Same story EVERY night

**** this team

Can’t believe Bron and AD wanted this loser

Maybe if Pelinka had done his job properly and gotten Lowry 1st, we wouldn’t have even been in this spot

Russ takes too much flak on here. He plays with energy and has been decent. He has low IQ lapses that are easy to focus on but mostly he does good things over the game.

The main issue is 10m on THT and the reliance of one way role players that if they don't shoot well then they can really hurt you since their defense and intangibles are poor.

Don't mean to be rude, but why do people keep on saying this when it's not relevant? Its from the same school as "X is a nice guy". Energy is only useful insofar as it leads to effectiveness and impact, and he's not been all that impactful.

Also just not true on defence.

People expect so little out of Westbrook it's hilarious. Like any game where he isn't 5-15 with 10 TOs considered a fine Westbrook game. Dude has 0 impact on the game, lol

[McBubbles]

Yet another one of my negative predictions that turned out to be true was Fizdale being a **** coach. I remember when NBA fans, players and even NBA media were constantly singing his praises and calling his firings BS even after constant failures and locker room mismanagements in Memphis and New York. Man even got a timeslot on the Jump to plead his case.

He's a textbook example of likeability>>>ability in regards to job acquisition.

[thebigbird]

Rob Pelinka should be arrested for the crimes he committed during the off-season.

He should only be charged as an accessory though.

Nah. Pelinka’s the guy pulling the trigger. He’s put together bad rosters year after year.

[LukaTheGOAT]

LeBron is currently third in the league in Estimated Plus-Minus. Amazed because I didn't think he could get past Giannis at any point this year https://dunksandthrees.com/epm

[feyki]

LeBron is currently third in the league in Estimated Plus-Minus. Amazed because I didn't think he could get past Giannis at any point this year https://dunksandthrees.com/epm

Some don't believe me, but this metric also have individual offence as %65 and individual defence as %35 .

[AmIWrongDude]

I’m fine with the overturned LeBron 3 but why is it constantly called where players like Crowder jump 5 feet forward on a 3 and land on a defenders foot and it’s not only 3 free throws but called a flagrant also???

That wasn’t an unnatural sway and the shooters of the league get that call every time for “not giving landing space”

[LukaTheGOAT]

LeBron is currently third in the league in Estimated Plus-Minus. Amazed because I didn't think he could get past Giannis at any point this year https://dunksandthrees.com/epm

[LukaTheGOAT]

I find it funny how everyone is mentioning Lebron's old man game, and him playing as a roller. In this podcast, Ben Taylor when attempting to project Lebron's longevity and how his game could look moving forward, he brings up Karl Malone as his closest analogue. They are the closest in terms of body types and he felt like Lebron could play a long time as a big

Read on Twitter

I think you are seeing a lot of this play out now, where Lebron does have the necessary size, to be a roller like Malone, while also the versatility to be a creator from the perimeter. Malone was a great player until his retirement, and have GOAT longevity, so maybe this could be a sign of things to come for James (let's hope)?

[homecourtloss]

I'm starting to think the Lakers had the right process targeting another ball-handler in the offseason, just terrible execution. Lebron is operating as a play-finisher more than I can remember: he's virtually replaced drives to the rim in the half-court with post-ups, three point shooting, and screening + rolling. Westbrook has made it easier for him to generate his own offense but Westbrook and his contract come with their own set of issues that are detrimental to winning. They should have never traded that 2020 first for Schroeder and instead targeted lower-volume playmakers that could shoot and defend like Brogdon, Van-Vleet, Ball, Lowry, etc. Pelinka spent back-to-back offseasons wasting assets on slashers that can't shoot and need the ball to be effective.

LeBron’s Drives per game and FG% on drives (note that drives per game as a whole have increased around the league due to increased pace as well as space created to drive; I’m too lazy to convert to drives per 100 possessions). Also, before last year and half, 60% FG on drives was basically only done by LeBron.

2022: 9.0 (not in top 50), 51.8%
2021: 9.5 (no in top 50), 60.8%
2020: 14.1, 54.9%
2019: 12.4, 53.1%
2018: 11.7, 60.0%
2017: 11.3, 58.3%
2016: 11.1, 50.0%
2015: 13.2, 50.6%
2014: 9.4, 61.2%

To change so fundamentally in how he attacks shows the versatility of his game and the different ways he can play.

As the roll man: .8 possessions per game, 1.67 points per possession (PPP), 99.4th percentile. .5, .2. .6 possessions per game in 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. .7, .7, and .9 per game in 2018, 2017, and 2016 respectively (95.6th percentile in 2016).
Post up: 3.0 possessions per game, 1.11 PPP, 90th percentile
Cut: 1.0 possessions per game (in which he cuts and gets the ball), 1.7 PPP, 97th percentile

[Heej]

I saw that pistons asking for THT Nunn and a FRP for Jerami Grant? Am i crazy for thinking I'd take that deal in a heartbeat?

[eminence]

I'd want a detailed injury update on Grant, but if it comes back positive, then yeah, it seems like a pretty fair price for Grant and I'd do it for LA. Grant fits decently well.

[nzahir]

Frank Vogel confirmed on Backstage Lakers that David Fizdale is the team's offensive coordinator. This is notable because over the last two seasons he was loathe to publicly admit who did what

Disgusting, half the posters on here could do what he does

[Mos_Heat]

Their main goal should be trading Westbrook, so trading a FRP is a bad move. If they wanna get rid of THT they should target someone like Nance or Covingron