The Lebron '20 Thread (Pt. 7)

[PistolPeteJR]

Surprised to see anyone complain about refs, I thought the Lakers got the better whistle last night. Straight up mauling the Nuggets during that run down the stretch. LeBron had a blatant shot on Harris late in the 4th going for a rebound.

I thought Denver got a favorable whistle in the first half but in the 4th that LeBron body check and 1 of the Rondo strips by my count were fouls (and even after that latter one Murray got away with a hold on Rondo). I didn’t see anything else though that was even questionable. Jokic clearly fouled Kuzma and Rondo on their layups. Rondo’s other steals looked pretty clean watching it back. And the Porter goaltend was clearly a push shot attempt and not a pass. Also Jokic probably traveled on that double team by Rondo and Caruso that was called a foul on one of them despite really not much contact going on. Regardless this reffing wasn’t egregious in one direction and didn’t lose the Lakers the game. Their poor handling of Denver’s paint packing and awful scheme against the Murray-Joker PnR is.

some baffling lineups from Vogel

Caruso/Rondo just kills the offense

LeBron 4/Morris 5 is also terrible. Morris isn't a 5 against anyone other than the Rockets. If you want to play him, start him with AD and bench Javale.

Hard to win a game when the refs treat Grant like Harden and LeBron like... well, Grant.

Honestly, Caruso/Rondo + zone is what miraculously allowed the Lakers back in the game in the 4th.

Yeah but Caruso/Rondo is what got them in the hole in the first place. I don’t think that 4th quarter is at all replicable going forward. Denver isn’t going to be so shellshocked by the zone and they’re just going to have Jokic pick it apart.

I agree to a certain extent, but only because aside from AD and LeBron, Vogel has generally gone to "whoever's got it" on any given night.

[yoyoboy]

Cranjis seems to be very low on the Lakers’ likelihood to make an adjustment to Denver’s paint packing.

He’s always been good with making the necessary defensive adjustments, but I don’t like how Vogel’s answer on offense always seems to just be “gotta play harder” or “gotta stop settling.” Sometimes playing smarter is the answer and you have to actually change things from an Xs and Os perspective.

[Cavsfansince84]

Cranjis seems to be very low on the Lakers’ likelihood to make an adjustment to Denver’s paint packing.

He’s always been good with making the necessary defensive adjustments, but I don’t like how Vogel’s answer on offense always seems to just be “gotta play harder” or “gotta stop settling.” Sometimes playing smarter is the answer and you have to actually change things from an Xs and Os perspective.

I agree that in some ways I think Vogel is the Lakers' achilles heel.

[Heej]

Honestly loss is on Vogel but at least he figured it out by the end.

Watching Jokic struggle to score while being guarded by Caruso and Rondo in the zone was funny. Please go back to switching that PnR it/ zone.

You really think the zone is a repeatable thing? Jokic is gonna pick it apart. I think it only worked because it was sprung as a surprise.

I think they can throw it in and mess up with tempo. Especially throwing it in late.

I like switching the pick and roll and then immediately going zone as Jokic tries to get to the elbow. Get them into late clock and make mistakes.

Taxes Lebron a lot as the reader and primary rim protector. But he was brilliant in the 4th on D.

I like zone a lot especially if they are walking the ball up the court/ waiting for Jokic as he plods up the court. Zone is easily picked apart if you got 24 seconds. But if you got the defenders the Lakers got who can rotate hard once get that first pass in you can get a lot of shot clock violations/ turnovers.

I'm so with you on this you have no idea. Cranjis actually talked about it in his podcast about how that's the next defensive revolution he's seen in some of the teams he consults for. Switching to zone after an offensive rebound or record scratch late in the shot clock absolutely flummoxes the opposing team.

[RCM88x]

I think the answer is simple, run more 2 big lineups and spam Lebron + Big PnR. Which they really haven't seen to do much of, other than just to get switches.

[Mos_Heat]

I think the answer is simple, run more 2 big lineups and spam Lebron + Big PnR. Which they really haven't seen to do much of, other than just to get switches.

I don't see what's the point of PnR with 2 bigs on the floor. PnR with Lebron would only work if he is attacking Jokic in space

[Heej]

I think the answer is simple, run more 2 big lineups and spam Lebron + Big PnR. Which they really haven't seen to do much of, other than just to get switches.

I don't see what's the point of PnR with 2 bigs on the floor. PnR with Lebron would only work if he is attacking Jokic in space

Nah, Dwight can just box out the help and it's even better than a spread one lol.

[Dr Positivity]

What's the point of Kuzma? He's not a real 3pt shooter, he's one of their worst defenders, and he thinks he's better than his partner in Spidermans pointing at each other in crime MPJ.

Lakers offensive supporting cast is clearly flawed with having to play non 3pt shooting guards and non shooting centers at the same time. I say put the most dominant defensive lineup you possibly can and then hope LBJ and Davis is enough to win 100-95.

[trickshot]

I think the answer is simple, run more 2 big lineups and spam Lebron + Big PnR. Which they really haven't seen to do much of, other than just to get switches.

I don't see what's the point of PnR with 2 bigs on the floor. PnR with Lebron would only work if he is attacking Jokic in space

Depends who the 2nd big is. When Dwight plays it never really feels like he's clogging the paint but other than that yeah the PnR is limited with that much help close by. In the offseason they can construct the roster better to get the most out of the PnR. Right now there are too many people to cheat off of and some of the lineup choices compound that

[nzahir]

What's the point of Kuzma? He's not a real 3pt shooter, he's one of their worst defenders, and he thinks he's better than his partner in Spidermans pointing at each other in crime MPJ.

Lakers offensive supporting cast is clearly flawed with having to play non 3pt shooting guards and non shooting centers at the same time. I say put the most dominant defensive lineup you possibly can and then hope LBJ and Davis is enough to win 100-95.

He is not a bad defender anymore, especially in man

But his offensive doesn’t work well for us, not a good fit with Lebron and AD. He is at his best in transition and cutting off ball.

He isn’t a good shooter rn and his handle is poor.

Bjelica would have been great

I really hope Rondo retires so we can get a pg who can shoot. Collison this summer?

[Dupp]

Have Lakers run much ad/bron/morons front count this series?

[nzahir]

Have Lakers run much ad/bron/morons front count this series?

Do you mean Morris or Morons (Dwight and Mcgee)?

[Dr Positivity]

He is not a bad defender anymore, especially in man

He is improved and wouldn't be playing without it but compared to the rest of the team I would still say he's on the lower end

[Heej]

Have Lakers run much ad/bron/morons front count this series?

Do you mean Morris or Morons (Dwight and Mcgee)?

Im 100% sure he meant Morris

[Mos_Heat]

I think the answer is simple, run more 2 big lineups and spam Lebron + Big PnR. Which they really haven't seen to do much of, other than just to get switches.

I don't see what's the point of PnR with 2 bigs on the floor. PnR with Lebron would only work if he is attacking Jokic in space

Depends who the 2nd big is. When Dwight plays it never really feels like he's clogging the paint but other than that yeah the PnR is limited with that much help close by. In the offseason they can construct the roster better to get the most out of the PnR. Right now there are too many people to cheat off of and some of the lineup choices compound that

I just think with the way Jokic and Murray playing, they can't screw around anymore. They got outplayed for the most of game 3 and in the 2nd half of game 2. It's time to maximize Lebron/AD minutes

[Mos_Heat]

Have Lakers run much ad/bron/morons front count this series?

this should be their starting frontcourt moving forward

[Ursusamericanus]

Anyone else feel like people on the GB overreact to single games far too much? Despite LeBron's TOs, the sluggish effort, and the godawful rebounding and shooting, they were within striking distance of a win. Lakers will take this in 5 or 6.

[trickshot]

I don't see what's the point of PnR with 2 bigs on the floor. PnR with Lebron would only work if he is attacking Jokic in space

Depends who the 2nd big is. When Dwight plays it never really feels like he's clogging the paint but other than that yeah the PnR is limited with that much help close by. In the offseason they can construct the roster better to get the most out of the PnR. Right now there are too many people to cheat off of and some of the lineup choices compound that

I just think with the way Jokic and Murray playing, they can't screw around anymore. They got outplayed for the most of game 3 and in the 2nd half of game 2. It's time to maximize Lebron/AD minutes

True, IMO They also need to go back to moving the ball better. They've been riding AD hard since halftime of game 2 and it's no coincidence every player has gone cold or lost rhythm ever since. Seeing him gassed in the 4th should be a wake up call to share the burden of the offense more evenly

[limbo]

Anyone else feel like people on the GB overreact to single games far too much? Despite LeBron's TOs, the sluggish effort, and the godawful rebounding and shooting, they were within striking distance of a win. Lakers will take this in 5 or 6.

Short answer, yes.

Not only GB, but here as well. It's like LeBron is not allowed to lose a single game, or have a bad game in general. Every single time he loses there's a couple of people here that are making absolute conclusions based on a small sample size that usually encompasses all the things that went wrong for him (and his team) and thinking the other team has unveiled this fool-proof blueprint to expose him...

It was like this after Game 1 vs. Portland and Houston. LeBron and the Lakers were 'exposed' and are in trouble if they don't do xyz, and they can't stop Lillard, or can't matchup against the Rockets... What happened then is the Lakers turned around and slap both of those teams with ease.

In the WCF so far... The Lakers have dominated Game 1. Were up 16 points in the 3rd quarter of Game 2. They won both games. Game 3 you could see the difference in urgency from both of these teams and yet the Lakers were still hanging on there... All of a sudden people think the Nuggets have figured them out or something... I mean, it's not that hard to figure out the Lakers. They're a pretty straight-forward team. The question is can you stop AD/LeBron and consistently beat their defense for 4 games...

[yoyoboy]

Anyone else feel like people on the GB overreact to single games far too much? Despite LeBron's TOs, the sluggish effort, and the godawful rebounding and shooting, they were within striking distance of a win. Lakers will take this in 5 or 6.

I'd be worried if it were Game 1, but the Lakers still have a 2-1 lead to sit back on. Thinking this goes 6 games. I don't see Vogel making any major adjustments so I expect the lack of spacing and inability to cover the Murray-Joker PnR to continue to really hurt the team, but AD and LBJ have some monster games left in them, and I think that''ll be enough to squeeze out 2 of the next 5 games.