The Lebron '20 Thread (Pt. 5)

[MyUniBroDavis]

I too enjoy 20 minute sample sizes...

When Waitress will get exposed deep in the PS against a fully engaged defense and Kuzma misses all those threes he's been hitting over people in the last two games, i'll be right here in this thread making everyone know about it.

I agree the sample is too small and kuz might brick again, but i dont see what the concern is about waiters? Assuming hes gonna be passable on D he directly feels a need we had, even if he isnt gonna be super great at it, hes literally leagues better than anyone else on the team at creation and playmaking outside of lebron and davis, and i doubt he'll hog it too much when those two are on the floor

[Mos_Heat]

From the pieces I saw, Lebron didn't use post that much, correct?

[MyUniBroDavis]

From the pieces I saw, Lebron didn't use post that much, correct?

Yeah, he didnt post up that much at all.

[Mos_Heat]

From the pieces I saw, Lebron didn't use post that much, correct?

Yeah, he didnt post up that much at all.

He should play through the post more against the Clips, only Kawhi can guard him decently.

[MyUniBroDavis]

From the pieces I saw, Lebron didn't use post that much, correct?

Yeah, he didnt post up that much at all.

He should play through the post more against the Clips, only Kawhi can guard him decently.

Tbf he was getting to the rim but was missing finishes or not getting calls, but i think he'll do that more in the postseason

Hes been able to get mismatches and break down/collapse the D even when he doesnt score on his drives and i think Lebrons definately gonna facilitate more than usual in a series against them. Lebron lowkey can guard kawhi better than kawhi can guard him which is a pretty funny plot twist

[Homer38]

I believe the jump shot will be better for LeBron when he will have played more games.

It wasn't just yesterday he struggles for his jump shot, in his 2 scrimmage games, his jump shot was not good, but the more games he will play, the better he will be...Huge challenge for him and the lakers against the defense of Toronto tomorrow too.

[Bergmaniac]

Waiters was a pretty solid rotation player for the Thunder in the 2016 playoffs, played under control, didn't take many dumb shots, really hustled on D and did a solid job as a secondary ballhandler. If LeBron and the coaches can keep him in line, he could help the Lakers quite a bit IMO.

[Slava]

The Lakers defense is far more consistent than the Clippers when they want to lockdown with AD, Greeen, LeBron, Caruso and KCP all excelling their roles. If the Clippers were to beat the Lakers, it would have to be owing to an offensive avalanche with everyone from Kawhi, PG, Harrell to Lou firing on all cylinders and LeBron not being able to set the plate for the Lakers.

[Homer38]

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[Greyhound]

Biggest takeaway of the night is the Lakers being good with LeBron on the bench.

Tbf that was against a depleted bench that had to rely on the likes of Amir Coffee and Joakim Noah but I think the bench can hold up fine in the early rounds without Rondo mucking things up.

Dwight Howard is doing all he can to fill in for Rondo on the mucking things up front.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Biggest takeaway of the night is the Lakers being good with LeBron on the bench.

Tbf that was against a depleted bench that had to rely on the likes of Amir Coffee and Joakim Noah but I think the bench can hold up fine in the early rounds without Rondo mucking things up.

Dwight Howard is doing all he can to fill in for Rondo on the mucking things up front.

Howards been pretty good this year lol what u mean

[Greyhound]

Tbf that was against a depleted bench that had to rely on the likes of Amir Coffee and Joakim Noah but I think the bench can hold up fine in the early rounds without Rondo mucking things up.

Dwight Howard is doing all he can to fill in for Rondo on the mucking things up front.

Howards been pretty good this year lol what u mean

Not against the Clippers (this season), and not yet in the bubble.

Against the Clippers I suspect the Lakers will have to go heavy doses of Davis at center and stash Howard where the sun don’t shine.

His signature plays so far in the four bubble games have been mistiming rebounds, continually traveling on inside pivots and moving screens.

He will hold down Monkey wrench duties for Rondo until he returns. Perhaps at that point the real Dwight Howard will return.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Dwight Howard is doing all he can to fill in for Rondo on the mucking things up front.

Howards been pretty good this year lol what u mean

Not against the Clippers, and not yet in the bubble.

Against the Clippers I suspect the Lakers will have to go heavy doses of Davis at center and stash Howard where the sun don’t shine.

His signature plays so far in the four bubble games have been mistiming rebounds, continually traveling on inside pivots and moving screens.

He will hold down Monkey wrench duties for Rondo until he returns. Perhaps at that point the real Dwight Howard will return.

Fam ill never get over how u type lmfao

Tbf i think were gonna need him or a mcgee a bit defensively at least, at least when harrell/kawhi/george are all on the floor + a center

[MisterHibachi]

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[Clyde Frazier]

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you beat me to it probably a combo of not having basketball for 4+ months and not watching the lakers a ton this year, but lebron continues to defy logic with his athleticism at his age. just does not compute!

the summer league style scrimmages were fun but i missed real games so much. fingers crossed the league can make it thru to the end.

[limbo]

I agree the sample is too small and kuz might brick again, but i dont see what the concern is about waiters? Assuming hes gonna be passable on D he directly feels a need we had, even if he isnt gonna be super great at it, hes literally leagues better than anyone else on the team at creation and playmaking outside of lebron and davis, and i doubt he'll hog it too much when those two are on the floor

What has Waitress done in his career to not raise concern over? Dude is a 49%TS, .036 WS/48 career player in 7 seasons... And that's without mentioning his antics off court.

Now, if there's anyone that can keep his game/head in check is LeBron, but i wouldn't be putting my savings on it, especially when it comes to playing against the best teams in the league where you really can not afford to play headless.

I've been here long enough to remember people getting (overly) excited about the prospect of several players kick-starting their careers just by playing alongside LeBron only to be proven completely useless along the road, sometimes, before even reaching the Playoffs... Guys like Beasley, IT, Derrick Rose, Deron and Derrick Williams come to mind... People were excited about Bron and Wade reuniting a couple of years ago, didn't work out that well either. JR Smith turned from reliable to unreliable in one year.

I'm not saying Waitress can't be of assistance, i'm just not putting the horse before the cart, sort to say. He hasn't done anything in his career to make me feel optimistic about him being a reliable contributor on a championship team. That said, this might be his best (and only) chance yet. We'll see.

[SideshowBob]

It took him about 55-60 games to start looking good before the pandemic halted the season. A 4.5 month layoff basically means we are at the beginning of a new season. This is not going to be pretty.

OTOH the focus level will be there once the playoffs ramp up and the level of intensity (and stamina) he showed on the defensive end was pretty encouraging. Doing that in a playoff game when he's playing 38-42 minutes instead of 30-34 adds a lot of value.

I agree overall though, late Feb/March was when he started almost looking like 2018 Lebron again. That's as deep into the season as the finals will be now. We'll see what effects this contained environment and considerable rest have I guess.

[limbo]

On a positive note, AD is a freaking monster. Haven't felt this good about LeBron's 2nd option being consistently able to dominate a game by himself since Wade in 2011. Kyrie could do it occasionally, but you were really banking on him getting hot from the field. Feel like AD can sleepwalk into 25 points anytime he wants and he's always reliable defensively.

[Heej]

If Kuzma and Waiters continue to play defense like this I'm very excited about the future. LeBron has been phenomenal all year, especially on the power wings like Kawhi and Giannis. Brons just one of those guys that's reading your moves before you do, and you just gotta beat him with pure speed over guile. Cuz you'll never be more wily than LeBron.

[MisterHibachi]

On a positive note, AD is a freaking monster. Haven't felt this good about LeBron's 2nd option being consistently able to dominate a game by himself since Wade in 2011. Kyrie could do it occasionally, but you were really banking on him getting hot from the field. Feel like AD can sleepwalk into 25 points anytime he wants and he's always reliable defensively.

His foul drawing is the best part. Really consistent and really settles those non LeBron minutes.