are we contenders

[urinesane]

Lakers-Knicks finals*.

*For most entitled fan-base in the league?

[stan francisco]

Lakers-Knicks finals*.

*For most entitled fan-base in the league?

Entitled? Meaning from the 17 titles? Sure. We are entitled around here. How about you?

Oh, snap?

I’m serious. We could be the team to win the west. Too early to say. It’s all 0-0 when the post season starts.

The Celtics won’t get through the Knicks in seven games. Just hoping that the Knicks get out of the East. We’ll have problems with the other top three teams. Unfortunately I think the Sixers are coming out off the ECF this season.

[Pythagoras]

Dark horse contenders? Yes. A lot depends on the health of Lebron-D’Lo-Reaves-AD. Those are the team’s four best players and as a quartet, they are as good as anyone in the league and they make the supporting cast look better as well.

The problem? The health of that group is virtually always a question mark. I’d like to see those guys play together in these last four games to get some chemistry and get on a roll.

[urinesane]

Lakers-Knicks finals*.

*For most entitled fan-base in the league?

Entitled? Meaning from the 17 titles? Sure. We are entitled around here. How about you?

Oh, snap?

I’m serious. We could be the team to win the west. Too early to say. It’s all 0-0 when the post season starts.

The Celtics won’t get through the Knicks in seven games. Just hoping that the Knicks get out of the East. We’ll have problems with the other top three teams. Unfortunately I think the Sixers are coming out off the ECF this season.

Lol, as a 20+ year Wolves fan I am definitely not entitled (a glutton for punishment? perhaps). The issue with Lakers/Knicks fans is they seem to expect the front office to just wave a magic wand and create a contender, but there is more parity in the league than there used to be and the decision makers in LA just aren't as savvy as their predecessors.

Rather than enjoy and appreciate how special of a situation that winning 12 Championships in a city since 1960 is (sorry, the first 5 were Minneapolis Laker Championships). Laker fans have a short memory and are the perfect example of "What have you done for us lately?" fanbase.

The entitlement comment comes from the assumption that just because it's the Lakers that they should be successful and contending for championships every year (obviously the market and amount of money they generate allows them to recover from big swings that miss easier than every small market franchise) along with the advantage of LA drawing top free agents.

Don't bother bringing up the few years where they struggled, because nobody cares. Laker fans are entitled... there's no other way to describe it.

[urinesane]

Dark horse contenders? Yes. A lot depends on the health of Lebron-D’Lo-Reaves-AD. Those are the team’s four best players and as a quartet, they are as good as anyone in the league and they make the supporting cast look better as well.

The problem? The health of that group is virtually always a question mark. I’d like to see those guys play together in these last four games to get some chemistry and get on a roll.

Your team has no depth and DLo will be exploited on defense in the playoffs. Unless Lebron/AD carry them (which is becoming tougher and tougher with Lebron's age/injuries) they are most likely a first round exit at best.

Sorry to break it to you, but that's the reality of the roster they've built.

[wco81]

If the Lakers get a favorable whistle, like Reeves has been getting and AD in the Bubble, anything is possible.

Lakers have good rotation players who are capable of beating any team, under the right circumstances.

If they get 15 to 20 more FTAs than opponents in the playoffs, that would certainly be one of those circumstances.

I know Lakers fans don't want to hear it but nobody can deny that we've seen it more than once.

[urinesane]

If the Lakers get a favorable whistle, like Reeves has been getting and AD in the Bubble, anything is possible.

Lakers have good rotation players who are capable of beating any team, under the right circumstances.

If they get 15 to 20 more FTAs than opponents in the playoffs, that would certainly be one of those circumstances.

I know Lakers fans don't want to hear it but nobody can deny that we've seen it more than once.

So they have a chance if it's rigged?

[wco81]

I'm not saying that would be the only way.

AD got on the line a lot but his jumper was on, mid range, 3-point line. My recollection was well above his career averages.

Maybe defenders had to give him room because he was drawing fouls so easily.

Russell, Beasley, Schoeder and Reaves would have to shoot really well, to open things up for AD and Lebron.

Even if they didn't, defenses would have to honor the threat of them hitting 4-5 or more 3-pointers in a playoffs game so they should have good spacing.

If the role players are hitting shots AND they're also getting a big FT advantage, they'd be hard to stop.

[Pythagoras]

Dark horse contenders? Yes. A lot depends on the health of Lebron-D’Lo-Reaves-AD. Those are the team’s four best players and as a quartet, they are as good as anyone in the league and they make the supporting cast look better as well.

The problem? The health of that group is virtually always a question mark. I’d like to see those guys play together in these last four games to get some chemistry and get on a roll.

Your team has no depth and DLo will be exploited on defense in the playoffs. Unless Lebron/AD carry them (which is becoming tougher and tougher with Lebron's age/injuries) they are most likely a first round exit at best.

Sorry to break it to you, but that's the reality of the roster they've built.

Well if a Timberwolves fan is telling me the team has no chance then clearly that must be true. Thanks for coming to our humble little board to bless us with your vast basketball wisdom.

[urinesane]

Dark horse contenders? Yes. A lot depends on the health of Lebron-D’Lo-Reaves-AD. Those are the team’s four best players and as a quartet, they are as good as anyone in the league and they make the supporting cast look better as well.

The problem? The health of that group is virtually always a question mark. I’d like to see those guys play together in these last four games to get some chemistry and get on a roll.

Your team has no depth and DLo will be exploited on defense in the playoffs. Unless Lebron/AD carry them (which is becoming tougher and tougher with Lebron's age/injuries) they are most likely a first round exit at best.

Sorry to break it to you, but that's the reality of the roster they've built.

Well if a Timberwolves fan is telling me the team has no chance then clearly that must be true. Thanks for coming to our humble little board to bless us with your vast basketball wisdom.

I don't need to tell you, you'll see. Plus, I've seen a lot of teams that had no chance, so I beat you on experience there .

I really liked Vando/Beasley, but DLo, Beasley, Vando got exposed big time last year in the playoffs.

Yes, having the GOAT helps, but he's dealing with injury and AD, while dominant is always an injury risk as well. Not saying they couldn't surprise people, but I just don't think it's there for them with the roster they have this season.

I love Vando and his energy, but his limitations on offense make it really tough to have proper spacing and in the playoffs where it becomes much more about the half court, it's really tough. The Wolves got murdered on the defensive glass against Memphis last year and DLo was basically unplayable at the end of that series (D'Angelo Russell averaged 12.0 points, 6.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 6 games in the 2022 playoffs).

If DLo isn't hitting his shots at a high clip his defensive liabilities become magnified (and his lazy turnovers).

[Pythagoras]

Your team has no depth and DLo will be exploited on defense in the playoffs. Unless Lebron/AD carry them (which is becoming tougher and tougher with Lebron's age/injuries) they are most likely a first round exit at best.

Sorry to break it to you, but that's the reality of the roster they've built.

Well if a Timberwolves fan is telling me the team has no chance then clearly that must be true. Thanks for coming to our humble little board to bless us with your vast basketball wisdom.

I don't need to tell you, you'll see. Plus, I've seen a lot of teams that had no chance, so I beat you on experience there .

I really liked Vando/Beasley, but DLo, Beasley, Vando got exposed big time last year in the playoffs.

Yes, having the GOAT helps, but he's dealing with injury and AD, while dominant is always an injury risk as well. Not saying they couldn't surprise people, but I just don't think it's there for them with the roster they have this season.

I love Vando and his energy, but his limitations on offense make it really tough to have proper spacing and in the playoffs where it becomes much more about the half court, it's really tough. The Wolves got murdered on the defensive glass against Memphis last year and DLo was basically unplayable at the end of that series (D'Angelo Russell averaged 12.0 points, 6.7 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 6 games in the 2022 playoffs).

If DLo isn't hitting his shots at a high clip his defensive liabilities become magnified (and his lazy turnovers).

Well, I already acknowledged health is a big concern with this team. Its the reason I only called them a dark horse. Obviously, if AD or Lebron go down this team isn’t winning anything.

As for D’Lo and Vando, I think they’ll be fine as long as Bron and AD are healthy. No offense to Edwards and Towns, but playing off those two is not exactly the same as playing off AD and Bron

[Kilroy]

If the Lakers get a favorable whistle, like Reeves has been getting and AD in the Bubble, anything is possible.

Lakers have good rotation players who are capable of beating any team, under the right circumstances.

If they get 15 to 20 more FTAs than opponents in the playoffs, that would certainly be one of those circumstances.

I know Lakers fans don't want to hear it but nobody can deny that we've seen it more than once.

And this has never happened in favor of the Wariors?

[wco81]

If the Lakers get a favorable whistle, like Reeves has been getting and AD in the Bubble, anything is possible.

Lakers have good rotation players who are capable of beating any team, under the right circumstances.

If they get 15 to 20 more FTAs than opponents in the playoffs, that would certainly be one of those circumstances.

I know Lakers fans don't want to hear it but nobody can deny that we've seen it more than once.

And this has never happened in favor of the Wariors?

Probably has happened a few times but they rarely have some big FTA disparity over their opponents.

They never got 30 FTAs in the 4th quarter of a game 6 or game 7 of the WCF for instance.

[LAKESHOW]

The Jacked up part is, how the heck Minnesota give up Wiggins? Practically gifting a Chip to the Warriors. Instantly making them contenders. The Key for the Warriors right now? The Health of Wiggins. As far as we are concerned, We can't even field a consistent 5 from game to game. How are we expected to get past the play-in, I dunno

[Kilroy]

If the Lakers get a favorable whistle, like Reeves has been getting and AD in the Bubble, anything is possible.

Lakers have good rotation players who are capable of beating any team, under the right circumstances.

If they get 15 to 20 more FTAs than opponents in the playoffs, that would certainly be one of those circumstances.

I know Lakers fans don't want to hear it but nobody can deny that we've seen it more than once.

And this has never happened in favor of the Wariors?

Probably has happened a few times but they rarely have some big FTA disparity over their opponents.

They never got 30 FTAs in the 4th quarter of a game 6 or game 7 of the WCF for instance.

Yeah, but then again, it's hard to get FTAs shooting a **** of 3s...

[wco81]

Curry is knocked to the ground on 3s and layups all the time.

He has a low FT rate for his career.

[MAMBAEMD]

I like Curry a lot so this is not a knock on him but he gets the benefit of the doubt on more calls than not.
Just watch LBJ once in a while and you’ll see what it’s like not to get calls .

[Fedor]

Dark horse

[urinesane]

If the Lakers get a favorable whistle, like Reeves has been getting and AD in the Bubble, anything is possible.

Lakers have good rotation players who are capable of beating any team, under the right circumstances.

If they get 15 to 20 more FTAs than opponents in the playoffs, that would certainly be one of those circumstances.

I know Lakers fans don't want to hear it but nobody can deny that we've seen it more than once.

And this has never happened in favor of the Wariors?

I like Curry a lot so this is not a knock on him but he gets the benefit of the doubt on more calls than not.
Just watch LBJ once in a while and you’ll see what it’s like not to get calls .

Free Throw Disparity


The Lakers are 19th in drivers per game too, so it's not like they are just driving more than everyone.

Now this one is interesting...

Pre-Terrible Celtics Call:




Post-Terrible Celtics Call:






Wolves got jobbed by the refs like it was Wrestlemania last night, so it's hard to feel too bad for the big market team getting the biggest FT advantage in the league...

[MAMBAEMD]

If the Lakers get a favorable whistle, like Reeves has been getting and AD in the Bubble, anything is possible.

Lakers have good rotation players who are capable of beating any team, under the right circumstances.

If they get 15 to 20 more FTAs than opponents in the playoffs, that would certainly be one of those circumstances.

I know Lakers fans don't want to hear it but nobody can deny that we've seen it more than once.

And this has never happened in favor of the Wariors?

I like Curry a lot so this is not a knock on him but he gets the benefit of the doubt on more calls than not.
Just watch LBJ once in a while and you’ll see what it’s like not to get calls .

Free Throw Disparity


The Lakers are 19th in drivers per game too, so it's not like they are just driving more than everyone.

Now this one is interesting...

Pre-Terrible Celtics Call:




Post-Terrible Celtics Call:






Wolves got jobbed by the refs like it was Wrestlemania last night, so it's hard to feel too bad for the big market team getting the biggest FT advantage in the league...

All your graphics are pretty but the data you show is very misleading.
The Lakers do lead league in FTA per game but the difference between the first and 9th team is minimal (less than 2 FTA per game).

Nice try !