LeBron James 2021-22 Regular Season Thread - Part ?

[trickshot]

Benching Westbrook at the end of games is a no-brainer. From the last game;

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It worked out this time and made all the highlights but if I ever saw a gamewinning play wrapped in game losing habits this has to be it. Another end of quarter clock management special russ fans will say was a good play but countless minutes of play suggest has been far more detrimental to the team over the season. Teams aren't sentimental and realize these things.

Not too shocked the mandate to bench him came after this game. This heroball habit at the end of quarters shouldn't even exist. Sometimes it shows he wasn't a PG coming up but you can't still be doing these things every game as a 10 year vet.

[Slava]

The fact that the coaching staff has to be given permission on who to play (perhaps even start), how much to play them, and when to play them is the most alarming revelation here.

Many of us have suspected this, but to have it confirmed just seems disappointing.

Management builds the team, they should not be dictating on court matters. This is just embarrassing that Vogel (and his staff) would allow such nonsense.

From that article, it sounds more like they are empowering Vogel and the coaches to do as they see fit:

Over the past week and a half, Lakers management has told the coaching staff to coach Westbrook as the coaches see fit, even if that means pulling him from a game, as Vogel did for the final 3 minutes, 52 seconds of the fourth quarter against Indiana, sources told ESPN.

One source close to the situation described the message from management to the staff as, "You got to do what you got to do."

That’s part of my point.

A coaching staff should not have to be empowered on playing time matters.

Gregg Popovich could have benched Tim Duncan if he wanted to. Then after the loss, go home and drink a piña colada with no worries.

Frank Vogel is not Popovich, Pop is also the president of basketball ops for the Spurs. It takes a village to manage egos of this magnitude, so it doesn't actively surprise me that a decision of that magnitude needs communication and agreement between the front office and coaches, especially considering the sink or swim investment they made in him as the highest paid player on the roster.

I don't think Doc Rivers or Steve Nash are deciding the playing time for Embiid or KD or Harden by themselves either. GMs like Morey are especially micromanaging such decisions.

[Greyhound]

From that article, it sounds more like they are empowering Vogel and the coaches to do as they see fit:

That’s part of my point.

A coaching staff should not have to be empowered on playing time matters.

Gregg Popovich could have benched Tim Duncan if he wanted to. Then after the loss, go home and drink a piña colada with no worries.

Frank Vogel is not Popovich, Pop is also the president of basketball ops for the Spurs. It takes a village to manage egos of this magnitude, so it doesn't actively surprise me that a decision of that magnitude needs communication and agreement between the front office and coaches, especially considering the sink or swim investment they made in him as the highest paid player on the roster.

I don't think Doc Rivers or Steve Nash are deciding the playing time for Embiid or KD or Harden by themselves either. GMs like Morey are especially micromanaging such decisions.

I see your point and I concede that you are probably correct, but I still don’t like it.

I think a front office should always back the on court decisions of their coach (publicly always, except when special circumstances dictate that they intervene).

I am not a fan of the helicopter front office. Hire a coach and let him do as he sees fit. Then stay out of the way.

Guys being promised starting spots to sign, then the coach being forced to follow through is a flagrant violation.

———-

Erik Spoelstra was/is not Popovich either, but he had full backing of his front office from day one. That is the way things ought to be.

[dcstanley]

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Can't say I disagree with the process. This season is a lost cause.

[nzahir]

Russell Westbrook nearly left the floor after he was subbed out for Monk, but teammate DeAndre Jordan shepherded him back. Westbrook watched the next few minutes unfold, apparently jawing from the bench with his jersey untucked, although exactly what was said (and at whom) is still unclear.

Lakers with Russell Westbrook ON in fourth quarters: 342 minutes, -34 Lakers with Russell Westbrook OFF in fourth quarters: 198 minutes, +50

**** THIS GUY

This season is over, wasted a great Lebron season, but a lot of it is his fault for wanting Russ

[nzahir]

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Can't say I disagree with the process. This season is a lost cause.

Ya you don't move that 1st unless you are getting back a guy who can help you really win next year and you have a plan for Russ or Russ is in the deal

We blew an opporunity in regards to the Nets as well since Kyrie cant play home games and possibly even LA games soon if LA gets more strict with vaccines for sports

Idk if those policies are here next year/for years or gone

[MisterHibachi]

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?s=21

This framing makes no sense to me. LeBron is going to be LeBron regardless. Going small was partly to help Russ similar to what Houston did and partly because the team couldn’t continue playing DJ anymore and didn’t trust Dwight for some reason.

[trickshot]

Spacing is always to enable the stars no matter who. There's a reason the Warriors don't want Draymond and Siakam beside Curry. Lebron and spacers is a tried and tested cheatcode strategy with each extra spacer adding to the cheat factor.

Having said that it was definitely more so for the benefit of Westbrook. 19 Rockets were already a 3pt spamming team playing Capela. Lakers won playing big, was also Vogel's coaching strength historically. It also never suited AD who has voiced his displeasure of playing the 5.

Btw Not saying Westbrook asked for it but that's now 2 for 2 on contenders doing some stupid gimmick to make this guy a winning player. Come on guys, stop trying already. He might even be better with a big to rebound his misses, set screens and defend although neither can win a title.

On the more technical side I think Westbrook's misses yesterday actually came from trying to change up his style. He tried to use more start-stop probing movement, it just didn't work. I think it's a great development that's 12 years too late because it was awkward as hell and it's too late to develop the handling and reading to make it work. He would constantly lose his dribble and have to pick it up. He should have passed it out but kept taking fadeaways instead. One of the things the last few games has shown is he doesn't know how to be effective if he isn't playing his wild style.

[Slava]

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?s=21

This framing makes no sense to me. LeBron is going to be LeBron regardless. Going small was partly to help Russ similar to what Houston did and partly because the team couldn’t continue playing DJ anymore and didn’t trust Dwight for some reason.

I think it helped keep him a lot more engaged on defense, as he'd much rather direct defensive plays from the backline than be on the wings these days. It also helped alleviate some of the lack of spacing caused by playing Westbrook and another traditional center, who is not a reliable shooter, which boosted LeBron's scoring. So I guess, it was partly to see if Russ. finds a pulse, although that not being the main reason.

[MisterHibachi]

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Anyone got a theory on why he's managed to achieve such a stranglehold on the fan vote in the second half of his career? I haven't looked it up, but I think Dwight was the leader in 09, and I assume most of the others were Kobe and probably Steph in 15 and/or 16.

But Steph is still in the league and as popular as ever. If Steph isn't able to beat LeBron, I don't see anyone else with the kind of stan base like Kobe and LeBron have to pose a challenge in the next few years.

[PistolPeteJR]

In 2017, he was the reigning champ having just come off of winning a crazy chip in ‘16. That earned him mega brownie points.
In 2017, KD joined the Warriors and he and the Warriors were the “villains” that year, further propelling fans to cheer for LeBron.
In 2018, more remnants of the above.
In 2019, LeBron had had an epic 2018 playoffs and was a new Laker, which pushed him further in popularity in some books.
In 2020, same, and him and AD were playing stellar ball, with LeBron leading the league in assists and runner-up in the MVP race while starting to make a push.
In 2021, he was the reigning champ, doing so as a Laker.
In 2022, he’s 37 playing insane basketball at his age and with his miles, plus a lot of the aforementioned.

[zimpy27]

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?s=21

This framing makes no sense to me. LeBron is going to be LeBron regardless. Going small was partly to help Russ similar to what Houston did and partly because the team couldn’t continue playing DJ anymore and didn’t trust Dwight for some reason.

They went small because of Russ.. Bradley was their because they need a POA defender and Russ can't do it, Monk was their because they needed a floor spacer next to Russ, that leaves a hole at big wing defense. No chance do they make LeBron chase around wings during the RS. That's what created small ball.

[zimpy27]

Spacing is always to enable the stars no matter who. There's a reason the Warriors don't want Draymond and Siakam beside Curry. Lebron and spacers is a tried and tested cheatcode strategy with each extra spacer adding to the cheat factor.

Having said that it was definitely more so for the benefit of Westbrook. 19 Rockets were already a 3pt spamming team playing Capela. Lakers won playing big, was also Vogel's coaching strength historically. It also never suited AD who has voiced his displeasure of playing the 5.

Btw Not saying Westbrook asked for it but that's now 2 for 2 on contenders doing some stupid gimmick to make this guy a winning player. Come on guys, stop trying already. He might even be better with a big to rebound his misses, set screens and defend although neither can win a title.

On the more technical side I think Westbrook's misses yesterday actually came from trying to change up his style. He tried to use more start-stop probing movement, it just didn't work. I think it's a great development that's 12 years too late because it was awkward as hell and it's too late to develop the handling and reading to make it work. He would constantly lose his dribble and have to pick it up. He should have passed it out but kept taking fadeaways instead. One of the things the last few games has shown is he doesn't know how to be effective if he isn't playing his wild style.

I'm almost certain Lakers have told Russ to shoot if he gets in trouble rather than pass. I think they said this as his live ball turnovers from passes in the key were killing them.

This would explain the bad shots and terrible %s.

I do think having bigs out there for rebounds will help this new issue of poor shots. That actually makes sense. Problem is that it means monk must be a 6th man or LeBron is the prime wing defender or they bench Westbrook. Last game they tried Westbrook as the wing defender and he got smoked by Caris

[zimpy27]

Lakers best chance is if Davis and Nunn get back healthy. Nunn might be able to take shooting and POA defender role currently split by Monk and Bradley. That means Lakers can start a defensive SF like Johnson. Davis can zone in on Westbrooks misses around the rim.


Nunn, Westbrook, Johnson, LeBron, Davis

[nzahir]

[Stein] The Lakers have offered Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, and their 2027 1st-round pick to the Pistons for Jerami Grant

Meh, kind of a lot for Grant who isn't a perfect fit

I like Harrison Barnes more for us tbh

That 1st also takes us out of using it to move Russ if needed....

I would rather use it to move Russ, unless we have that deal lined up

Say we do this though:

Russ, Monk, Grant, Lebron, AD
Avery, Reaves, Stanley/Ariza, Melo, Dwight

Are we really good enough with Russ?

[LikeABosh]

At the very least, Wall wouldn't be pouty if he was benched. Probably just happy to be out of Houston

[AmIWrongDude]

Bron getting no respect from the refs once again. That’s a flagrant for anyone else in the league except maybe Dwight lol.

[Fadeaway_J]

Bron getting no respect from the refs once again. That’s a flagrant for anyone else in the league except maybe Dwight lol.

Wild that they didn't even review that.

[Greyhound]

Melo sinks all the small ball lineups.
He is as stiff as a big defensively, with none of the benefits.

THT is not smart defensively. The Lakers cannot get rid of him soon enough.

[Greyhound]

How is that a flagrant foul?

Absolutely ridiculous.