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

IG2 · Post #421 » by **IG2** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:00 am

NRSV wrote:LeBron looked explosive when guarded by Jarret Allen. These things are relative.

He looked explosive no matter who guarded him. I may have jumped the gun in calling him old the previous game he played. He looked good in preseason after all and has looked great the last 1.5 games he has played. Honestly, I saw some quick change-of-direction moves tonight that I frankly haven't seen since 2018. The long offseason clearly gave him the time to get his body right. And historically speaking, LeBron generally gets better athletically (and offensively) the longer he stays with a team. 14>13>12>11, 18>17>16>15, 21>20>19. Let's see how 2022 goes.

NRSV · Post #422 » by **NRSV** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:02 am

IG2 wrote:
NRSV wrote:LeBron looked explosive when guarded by Jarret Allen. These things are relative.

He looked explosive no matter who guarded him.

I may have jumped the gun in calling him old the previous game he played. He looked good in preseason after the first game and has looked great the last 1.5 games he has played. The long offseason clearly paying dividends. Got the time to get his body right.

his explosion seems to vary from possession to possession which makes it a matter of conditioning, right? He chooses when to turn on the jets and when not to for energy purposes.

He covered a decent amount of ground quickly on that chasedown block

Big Aristotle · Post #423 » by **Big Aristotle** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:12 am

I understand it's based off a 100 minute sample, but Austin Reaves is unequivocally a rotation-level player in the NBA. He should continue to get minutes when the roster health ameliorates.

MisterHibachi · Post #424 » by **MisterHibachi** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:14 am

Big Aristotle wrote:I understand it's based off a 100 minute sample, but Austin Reaves is unequivocally a rotation-level player in the NBA. He should continue to get minutes when the roster health ameliorates.

He should start over DJ.

trickshot · Post #425 » by **trickshot** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:27 am

MisterHibachi wrote:
Big Aristotle wrote:I understand it's based off a 100 minute sample, but Austin Reaves is unequivocally a rotation-level player in the NBA. He should continue to get minutes when the roster health ameliorates.

He should start over DJ.

We should all start over DJ.

homecourtloss · Post #426 » by **homecourtloss** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 7:38 am

IG2 wrote:
NRSV wrote:LeBron looked explosive when guarded by Jarret Allen. These things are relative.

He looked explosive no matter who guarded him. I may have jumped the gun in calling him old the previous game he played. He looked good in preseason after all and has looked great the last 1.5 games he has played. Honestly, I saw some quick change-of-direction moves tonight that I frankly haven't seen since 2018. The long offseason clearly gave him the time to get his body right. And historically speaking, LeBron generally gets better athletically (and offensively) the longer he stays with a team. 14>13>12>11, 18>17>16>15, 21>20>19. Let's see how 2022 goes.

Easily LeBron’s best game. He missed some open threes but that three point % was never sustainable. In this game, he got to the rim especially when DAJ/Howard weren’t out there. He does this but also makes a few threes and Lakers are always in business.

BTW, after tonight’s games, Lakers are 3rd in the league in eFG% and TS%. Limit the turnovers and it can be a top 5 offense. Defense on the other hand…

Larry David · Post #427 » by **Larry David** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 8:26 am

reading the thread after a win is always funny

Mos_Heat · Post #428 » by **Mos_Heat** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 9:34 am

This game should be a template for Westbrook moving forward. 13 shots, only 1 three point attempt, 4 TOs is a bit much, but tolerable.

AD still plays like a bum, tho

frica · Post #429 » by **frica** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 12:23 pm

Carmelo doing surprisingly well, offensively.

Insanity91 · Post #430 » by **Insanity91** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:12 pm

What would you guys rather have on this Lakers team?

Prime LeBron

Or

Prime Dwight AND Prime Melo

thebigbird · Post #431 » by **thebigbird** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:22 pm

Insanity91 wrote:What would you guys rather have on this Lakers team?

Prime LeBron

Or

Prime Dwight AND Prime Melo

Prime Dwight and Melo. You could package AD for a high caliber guard in that situation, have LeBron, prime Melo, and prime Howard with two shooters.

It’s close, though. Prime LeBron’s motor would allow him to carry this team. Prime AD and prime LeBron would be a killer combo. But not enough to make up for turning two role players back into hall of famers.

MisterHibachi · Post #432 » by **MisterHibachi** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 3:41 pm

For all of Melo's faults on defense, gotta remember that he's on a minimum contract and averaging 16 points on 49/50/90 splits. Without a doubt, a successful signing for minimum money so far.

frica · Post #433 » by **frica** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:30 pm

Insanity91 wrote:What would you guys rather have on this Lakers team?

Prime LeBron

Or

Prime Dwight AND Prime Melo

Dwight and Melo will still be on minimum? Easy choice in that case.

homecourtloss · Post #434 » by **homecourtloss** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 4:54 pm

MisterHibachi wrote:For all of Melo's faults on defense, gotta remember that he's on a minimum contract and averaging 16 points on 49/50/90 splits. Without a doubt, a successful signing for minimum money so far.

frica wrote:Carmelo doing surprisingly well, offensively.

That open shooting in rhythm has basically won the Lakers two games. That jumper has always looked pure but it has become a deadly shot the past two years. But to be unlocked, he needs James on the court as James adjusts the defense and knows Melo’s spots kind of like when they played in the Olympics together. More games together and basically more James sans Westbrook lineups will help unlock more corner threes the way the Cavs got JR corner threes but those Cavs ran much better actions that hunted threes.

‘Melo with LeBron on court: 73 minutes, 77.3% eFG, 77.9% TS

‘Melo with LeBron off court: 90 minutes, 48.6% eFG, 52.6% TS

AD has been hyper efficient playing as the 5 in the LeBron/Melo lineups and the Lakers have been wildly good (limited sample size of 16 minutes):

AD/James/‘Melo on court, Westbrook off court: 153.3 ORtg 96.7 DRtg, +56.6; AD 77.8 TS%

This is with guys like Bazemore, Reaves, Bradley, Monk, Rondo on court. Could you imagine with better 3 and D guys?

Reaves has been a great find though—tough defensively, very good vision and passer, good looking stroke.

MisterHibachi · Post #435 » by **MisterHibachi** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:14 pm

Read on Twitter

homecourtloss · Post #436 » by **homecourtloss** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 5:19 pm

The Lakers currently have the #7 offense, which goes against most correlative data. In the pace and space league, three-point attempt rate and free-throw rate have been the two rates that correlate the strongest with high ORtgs.

Lakers are 23rd in free-throw rate, and 20th in 3-point attempt rate. Additonally, the Lakers are 26th in turnover rate and only 17th in OReb%, so opponents are taking way more shots than they are. And, to add to this, Lakers are currently taking the 2nd most long twos (i.e., 16 to 3pt distance), have a 30% usage player with a 48% TS, -16 TS added, 23% TOV rare and STILL the offense has even good because…

The Lakers are 3rd in efg% and 3rd in TS% DESPITE taking non-optimal shots. They’re making open shots. They’re 6th in wide-open three % and 14th in open three %, something that they haven’t seen in LeBron’s time there.

Better, more optimal shots can keep the offense there even as the open shooting cools down a bit.

MisterHibachi wrote:

Read on Twitter

Some things to add here:

Lakers are 10th in transition frequency as a % of their total,possessions, and 15th in points per possession per nba.com. But if you take out Westbrook’s possessions (Russ is one of the worst transition efficiency players that we data for), Lakers would be in the top 3 in transition efficiency, but hard to do that as Westbrook initiatives some of these possessions but that’s primarily because he’s rebound hunting.

Also, Lakers are 10th in wide-open three point attempts per game per NBA.com., and would be lower if adjusting for pace. I hope that number can increase and all,the midwife trash shots that James, Westbrook, AD, and Melo have been checking get curtailed.

MisterHibachi · Post #437 » by **MisterHibachi** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:09 pm

Read on Twitter

This is pretty surprising to me. And perhaps speaks to our expectations of AD. He hasn't been playing great and seemingly is only aggressive like once every 20 plays, but still at the top of the league in points in the paint. Impressive.

nzahir · Post #438 » by **nzahir** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:16 pm

MisterHibachi wrote:For all of Melo's faults on defense, gotta remember that he's on a minimum contract and averaging 16 points on 49/50/90 splits. Without a doubt, a successful signing for minimum money so far.

This is why I think I prefer him over Kieff

He is very on and off though and his defense is a big flaw, but you can sprinkle him in with certain guys

Melo should only play with Bron though imo

2 of Avery/Reaves/Bazemore, Melo, Bron, AD is probably a good group right now

Can sprinkle in THT and Nunn too

Post #439 » by **zimpy27** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:17 pm

Melo has been far better than I imagined so far..he works really well off of LeBron.

Homer38 · Post #440 » by **Homer38** » Sat Oct 30, 2021 10:20 pm

MisterHibachi wrote:

Read on Twitter

This is pretty surprising to me. And perhaps speaks to our expectations of AD. He hasn't been playing great and seemingly is only aggressive like once every 20 plays, but still at the top of the league in points in the paint. Impressive.

He has also 23 offensive rebounds after 6 games(almost 4 per game)...I am sure this is one of the reason why his paint points are high right now