2023 Western Conference Finals | (1) Denver Nuggets VS (7) Los Angeles Lakers (DEN leads 3-0)

[scrabbarista]

The worst part of this run is that we're going to see people change the narrative about Jokic. Like...he played JUST as well in the playoffs last year. He might have had a better season last year. But suddenly because he has NBA players starting with him and not G league allstars, people are going to think he's done something different.

He's a MUCH better passer this year and he's played better defense too. Sure the teammates make up most of the difference, but he's still significantly better this season.

I couldn't more strongly disagree! He's changed nothing this year. He has better players around him to shoot and move off ball.

The one thing he's changed is that he seems more in control of his emotions. The "changes" in his game are like 98% just having better teammates.

[JulesWinnfield]

Every Center in history needed a great guard to win a championship, except for Hakeem. It’s just the way the the game of basketball is designed and played. A Center is extremely incapable of doing it by themselves. Today more than ever it’s needed.

The 94 rockets at the time set the nba all time record for threes made. It has since been obliterated multiple times over but when they existed there had been no team more prolific from deep to date by makes or attempts. Hakeem was obviously the driving force but one guy never wins it alone and he didn’t either, he was surrounded by a bunch of guys who could shoot it and they hit clutch shots throughout that run in the playoffs, shooting it better in the playoffs then they did in the regular season. He didn’t have a second star per se that season, but 94 was a down year in general, not many teams had multiple high end stars. Hakeem faced off in that finals against a Knicks team whose second best player was John Starks

[Exp0sed]

regardless of what will happen in the Finals and personally I think it will be a competitive finals series vs. either of the Eastern teams

just remember that Mike Brown got COTY, Embiid got MVP and Monte Mcnair won executive of the years over Booth

[Wolfgang630]

Mike Brown deserved COTY. I don’t even think that was close.

[rapstarter]

Sixers were 11-5 in the regular season and 2-0 in the playoffs without Embiid. Nuggets were 5-8 without Jokic. I don't think the Nuggets even make the playoffs without Jokic. Same thing last year.

Why are we even talking about this? Embiid's clearly had the more talented supporting cast around him. Yeah, Murray's been good this playoffs, but the notion that Jokic needs to be able to better Embiid and Harden/Butler with a Bones Hyland is ridiculous. That said, he did pretty much equal them

[tamaraw08]

DLo just lost a ton of money because of his WCF performance.
What worries me is that Lebron now might push Rob again to find a way to get Kyrie.
James will also have that I’ll get so much better once I get that foot surgery narrative.
End if 2024 Season, AD AND Lebron would be gone unless Jeannie wants to extend to sell tickets.

[Mickey8]

Every Center in history needed a great guard to win a championship, except for Hakeem. It’s just the way the the game of basketball is designed and played. A Center is extremely incapable of doing it by themselves. Today more than ever it’s needed.

Drexler is the all time great guard. You can claim that he had passed his prime when he was traded to Houston but he was still very ,very good. The guy was averaging over 20 +ppg in those championship runs, in the slow ass league. Also Houston had bunch of guards who were ballers, hitting the big shots, stepping up in the play off's, all of them Maxwell ,Cassell,Ellie, Smith even that small white guy. They had quantity of good guard play. Much deeper than on this Denver team.

[G35]

His regular season and playoff production is exactly the same as last year.

- Warriors won 53 games last year and 44 games this year; SRS = 5.52 last year, SRS this year = 1.66

- Phoenix won 64 games last year and 45 games this year; SRS = 6.94 last year, SRS this year = 2.08

- Memphis won 56 games last years and 51 games this year; SRS = 5.37 last year, SRS this year = 3.60

- Dallas won 52 games last year and 38 games this year; SRS = 3.12 last year, SRS this year = -0.14

- Denver won 48 games last year and 53 games this year; SRS = 2.16 last year, SRS this year = 3.04

- Lakers won 33 games last year and 43 games this year; SRS = -3.08 last year, SRS this year = 0.43


I know this is hard for you to understand but the Nuggets improved slightly and the rest of the West got worse and the Lakers shouldn't have even made the playoffs.....

I agree, it seems it's very hard for you to understand, if you really think the Nuggets improved "slightly"

And what did the competition do.....

[Raps in 4]

He's a MUCH better passer this year and he's played better defense too. Sure the teammates make up most of the difference, but he's still significantly better this season.

His regular season and playoff production is exactly the same as last year.

- Warriors won 53 games last year and 44 games this year; SRS = 5.52 last year, SRS this year = 1.66

- Phoenix won 64 games last year and 45 games this year; SRS = 6.94 last year, SRS this year = 2.08

- Memphis won 56 games last years and 51 games this year; SRS = 5.37 last year, SRS this year = 3.60

- Dallas won 52 games last year and 38 games this year; SRS = 3.12 last year, SRS this year = -0.14

- Denver won 48 games last year and 53 games this year; SRS = 2.16 last year, SRS this year = 3.04

- Lakers won 33 games last year and 43 games this year; SRS = -3.08 last year, SRS this year = 0.43


I know this is hard for you to understand but the Nuggets improved slightly and the rest of the West got worse and the Lakers shouldn't have even made the playoffs.....

What does SRS, a team stat, have to do with Jokic's individual production?

[Mickey8]

The Lakers have the two all time great players on their roster, they should have made the play off's this season even without that big trade . When you have such talents on your team, its a massive failure if your team misses post season.

[raptor jesus]

It seemed like a great thing for the Lakers when guys like Reeves, Rui, D'Lo, Walker stepped up in big moments during these playoffs. But to me, it was a very bad sign how much Lebron was deferring to these guys. As the competition gets tougher, at some point the Lakers are gonna need vintage Lebron - and it doesn't look like he has that gear anymore.

[Exp0sed]

i just watched AD's post presser, my god that's some lame stuff

dude is incapable of saying anything genuine, just reciting cliche's to not offend anyone and keep selling jersies

for real, he said something like - we've climbed from behind this whole season, starterd 2-10, here we are haha and this is just a "steeper climb" and we gotta "take it one game at a time"

lol, just say what's on ur mind he sounds high and unbothered

[Bergmaniac]

Every Center in history needed a great guard to win a championship, except for Hakeem. It’s just the way the the game of basketball is designed and played. A Center is extremely incapable of doing it by themselves. Today more than ever it’s needed.

Drexler is the all time great guard. You can claim that he had passed his prime when he was traded to Houston but he was still very ,very good. The guy was averaging over 20 +ppg in those championship runs, in the slow ass league. Also Houston had bunch of guards who were ballers, hitting the big shots, stepping up in the play off's, all of them Maxwell ,Cassell,Ellie, Smith even that small white guy. They had quantity of good guard play. Much deeper than on this Denver team.

Drexler wasn't playing for the Rockets in 1993/1994.

[Scottie Pimpin]

MVP Jokic 4-14

14 4th quarter points.

Keep clowning tho, I thoroughly enjoy watching you be so wrong about Jokic all the time

His posts are always bad.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

- Warriors won 53 games last year and 44 games this year; SRS = 5.52 last year, SRS this year = 1.66

- Phoenix won 64 games last year and 45 games this year; SRS = 6.94 last year, SRS this year = 2.08

- Memphis won 56 games last years and 51 games this year; SRS = 5.37 last year, SRS this year = 3.60

- Dallas won 52 games last year and 38 games this year; SRS = 3.12 last year, SRS this year = -0.14

- Denver won 48 games last year and 53 games this year; SRS = 2.16 last year, SRS this year = 3.04

- Lakers won 33 games last year and 43 games this year; SRS = -3.08 last year, SRS this year = 0.43


I know this is hard for you to understand but the Nuggets improved slightly and the rest of the West got worse and the Lakers shouldn't have even made the playoffs.....

I agree, it seems it's very hard for you to understand, if you really think the Nuggets improved "slightly"

And what did the competition do.....

some teams got better (Lakers, Kings), others got worse (Warriors, Mavs, Grizzlies) other were more or less at the same level.
Just RS SRS is a useless to measure this, unless you really think replacing Campazzo, Rivers, Morris and Barton with Murray, MPJ, KCP and Brown is a "minor improvement" from a playoffs perspective

[AleksandarN]

The Lakers have the two all time great players on their roster, they should have made the play off's this season even without that big trade . When you have such talents on your team, its a massive failure if your team misses post season.

Besides Reaves who is the second all time great player on the Lakers?

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Sixers were 11-5 in the regular season and 2-0 in the playoffs without Embiid. Nuggets were 5-8 without Jokic. I don't think the Nuggets even make the playoffs without Jokic. Same thing last year.

Why are we even talking about this? Embiid's clearly had the more talented supporting cast around him. Yeah, Murray's been good this playoffs, but the notion that Jokic needs to be able to better Embiid and Harden/Butler with a Bones Hyland is ridiculous. That said, he did pretty much equal them

in the RS for sure, not so much during the PO.
The other Nuggets have been playing great as well

[AleksandarN]

MVP Jokic 4-14

14 4th quarter points.

Keep clowning tho, I thoroughly enjoy watching you be so wrong about Jokic all the time

His posts are always bad.

That is a weak ass trolling effort it is really sad. He still hasn’t visited his troll thread he made earlier. Weak

[Bobbymcgee]

Problem for the Lakers this series is only five guys are playable: LeBron, AD, Hachimura, Reaves, and Schroeder.

Russell is killing them. Vanderbilt has been pretty bad too. Walker hasn't been much better. They don't play Beasley anymore.

Starting Russell and Vanderbilt continues to put the Lakers in a hole that they keep having to dig themselves out of when they are on the court.

Not sure the Lakers can figure this one out short of playing the five guys who are playable 48 minutes.

[Spice Melange]

Hopefully Loma wins tonight so i can feel a little better after today lol. Im expecting a hug-a-thon from Haney though

I think Haney got this. Should be tough though

In hindsight, Loma should have won. I got Loma 7 rounds to Haney 5...

yeah i am furious at that decision, but its boxing and I figured Haney won before the fight, gotta protect that 0 from the young fighters. Its a joke it was unanimous and even more of a joke one of the judges had it 116-112. Haney was getting wobbled in the second half of that fight. I scored it same as you.