The LeBron James All-NBA (2nd) and Luka Doncic - 24-25 Thread

[Mos_Heat]

Great game by the whole team

I wonder would they rather get another wing to improve Rui spot instead of a big

[TroubleS0me]

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[homecourtloss]

Did the Lakers just wire a wire beat up the Nuggets…in Denver with Jokić not doing anything? Was that real life?

It’s also absolutely wild with the Lakers’ defense has done or the past six weeks.

Glad to see them kick the Nuggets' ass for once

I had a six leg parlay and one of the legs was Denver +7.5 M – all the other legs hit. SMH

[IG2]

LeBron has played with a 1st option only for 1 season in his career - 2011 Wade. That's until Lakers acquired Luka. He was mostly a play-finisher tonight and got to conserve a lot of his energy for the defensive end. It was beautiful to watch and all due to playing with a genuine #1 in Luka. Thank You, Nico.

No way Lakers win this game with AD. Denver was mounting their usual comeback from 2nd qtr onward and kept throwing haymakers. In the past Lakers' offense would just crumble under Denver's relentless pressure and totally stagnate for the rest of the game. Didn't happen tonight because LA put so much pressure of their own with Luka and Reaves. They couldn't do that in past due to LeBron's age preventing high-volume playmaking and AD simply not being that guy. Now they have 2 dynamic off-the-dribble creators in Luka and Reaves. And LeBron can be that too in smaller doses.

Excited as hell to see how this team shapes up the rest of the season as they gain more chemistry.

[xb3at band1tx]

Luka's ability to conjure up offense out of thin air in the 4th is incredible. That was the Doncic that's a perennial top 3 guy.

I still can't believe he only played 30 minutes lol

[xb3at band1tx]

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[nzahir]

Imagine if we still had Max….

If we had Max or another good C, I would have us as the favorite to win it all

Now I think it’s a toss up

League should be on notice this summer, MLE and trades

Hope Bron takes a big pay cut

[trickshot]

Thanks to Rob Jokic will get what he wants tonight on an even worse scale but here's hoping tonight against Denver Luka and DFS will throw something different from AD, Rui and Dlo being bodied by Gordon, MPJ and co. It's really the physicality battle LA couldn't match. It's hard enough when Jokic can get whatever he wants, can't also get bullied by roleplayers. 22-24 Lakers were too slow, too lethargic and it's also why the team might soon need a lineup change to fix that.

Media loves to throw a pity party for Darvin Ham but where's the x and o on why he is better than JJ? JJ is objectively more creative and does more with less. Before the game I was sure Jokic would dominate the personnel on the floor. His adjustment was to have the roleplayers bump and grind Jokic on every catch, every seal, every pick, make him expend energy just existing, no rest on the weak side or anywhere, on offense had his crossmatch serve him up to Reaves and Luka to cook him in the pnr relentlessly. Rui and co may not have the quickest footspeed but they have a lot of bulk. The others went off but they didn't care as long as Jokic couldn't control the game. Never knew the roster could execute that kind of gameplan because in 2 years with a better version of the same team I just never saw Ham have them do anything beyond basic schemes.

edit oh man, just catching the rerun, vdb was a menace playing the dwight role. Comes on, 2 steals, gets jokic mad, draws 2 fouls just off of provocation. Every stolen possession led to points, Lead swells into double digits and Nuggets lose rhythm. Stat sheet said he only had 6 minutes and 5 fouls but the game impact is something totally different. Brother was out there snatching chains and stealing lunches

[trickshot]

It's funny to me how quickly everyone has seemingly moved on from AD lol. Is it time to address the elephant in the room yet? Lakers straight up look better without him—offensively and defensively. They were 9-2 without his replacement, and it doesn’t even feel like a fluke. They were supposed to collapse on D without him but that hasn’t happened. Their DRtg without him is actually better over this stretch and it feels sustainable. Having Vando back helps for sure, but their scrambling scheme just suits them better. Plus, transition defense improves when you’re not waiting on your rim protector to pick himself up off the floor every other play.

It’s just easier to play faster, modern basketball when you don’t have to worry about force-feeding your big man "offensive centerpiece" in the post and design your entire scheme and roster around him just for him to clog the lane so he can take a bunch of ****, contested middys from 10 feet and trip over his own feet every time he does a dribble move. "Small sample size!" Yeah but this really is just the story of AD's career. A 25/12 switchable rim protector looks good on paper but his impact doesn’t match.

The more I watch the more I'm glad they moved on from him. 2021 and 2022 were disaster seasons from him even before the injuries and I will never stop being bitter about it. Those seasons got completely tanked by his lethargic play, but somehow people were still pushing the whole "passing the torch" thing with LeBron at the next opportunity when LeBron got hurt after the trade deadline in 2023. Please.

Yeah this is never backfiring

They'd be undefeated since AD's injury if Luka didn't have literally statistically the worst 3 game stretch of his career

Lol it's just bad form to **** on an ex out loud, everyone knows most of it is true. A lot of the problems weren't on him but AD also doesn't have the playmaking to be demanding the usage he does, especially because his shot diet has too many tough floaters, fallaways and contested jumpers. One game comes to mind against the hornets where he scored something like 17 straight 1st quarter points then the team had 3 shot clock violations and a Lebron airball. They were up 20 but it was like they were just starting the game. Once Lebron aged and lost impact the team's offensive floor fell off a cliff.

[ShaqAttac]

lets chip up

[AEnigma]

should have shipped lebron out.. him staying i knew it wasnt gonna work.. good luck asking bron to sacrifice and take a backseat to luka lol

ill give it a week before the leaks from espn start the "luka bashing" taking unverified sources as gospel, while luka becomes the new scapegoat.. in less than a month just watch the espn plants try and make luka to be the bad guy, calling luka "moody" and "not a team player"

[Homer38]

should have shipped lebron out.. him staying i knew it wasnt gonna work.. good luck asking bron to sacrifice and take a backseat to luka lol

ill give it a week before the leaks from espn start the "luka bashing" taking unverified sources as gospel, while luka becomes the new scapegoat.. in less than a month just watch the espn plants try and make luka to be the bad guy, calling luka "moody" and "not a team player"

Luka and LeBron can adjust,who is not the case for your favorite player....

[PistolPeteJR]

Thanks to Rob Jokic will get what he wants tonight on an even worse scale but here's hoping tonight against Denver Luka and DFS will throw something different from AD, Rui and Dlo being bodied by Gordon, MPJ and co. It's really the physicality battle LA couldn't match. It's hard enough when Jokic can get whatever he wants, can't also get bullied by roleplayers. 22-24 Lakers were too slow, too lethargic and it's also why the team might soon need a lineup change to fix that.

Well then. Lol

[trickshot]

Thanks to Rob Jokic will get what he wants tonight on an even worse scale but here's hoping tonight against Denver Luka and DFS will throw something different from AD, Rui and Dlo being bodied by Gordon, MPJ and co. It's really the physicality battle LA couldn't match. It's hard enough when Jokic can get whatever he wants, can't also get bullied by roleplayers. 22-24 Lakers were too slow, too lethargic and it's also why the team might soon need a lineup change to fix that.

Well then. Lol

This dude hates reading. This isn't your IG/reddit feed. Stop the brainrot/1up posting. I made a whole ass writeup addressing it and how JJ beat those pitfalls. Contribute or move along. Talking points before the game are not supposed to be absolute predictions. You want the coach to beat them not prove you right. We are all team Luka/Lebron.

[trickshot]

Shiteposting aside 4 of Luka's 7 assists went to Lebron and it could have been even more if he had his 3pt shot going. The 'ball dominant can't play together' thing is like a videogame skillcheck of who hasn't seen Lebron play in the last 2 years

[thebigbird]

Thanks to Rob Jokic will get what he wants tonight on an even worse scale but here's hoping tonight against Denver Luka and DFS will throw something different from AD, Rui and Dlo being bodied by Gordon, MPJ and co. It's really the physicality battle LA couldn't match. It's hard enough when Jokic can get whatever he wants, can't also get bullied by roleplayers. 22-24 Lakers were too slow, too lethargic and it's also why the team might soon need a lineup change to fix that.

Media loves to throw a pity party for Darvin Ham but where's the x and o on why he is better than JJ? JJ is objectively more creative and does more with less. Before the game I was sure Jokic would dominate the personnel on the floor. His adjustment was to have the roleplayers bump and grind Jokic on every catch, every seal, every pick, make him expend energy just existing, no rest on the weak side or anywhere, on offense had his crossmatch serve him up to Reaves and Luka to cook him in the pnr relentlessly. Rui and co may not have the quickest footspeed but they have a lot of bulk. The others went off but they didn't care as long as Jokic couldn't control the game. Never knew the roster could execute that kind of gameplan because in 2 years with a better version of the same team I just never saw Ham have them do anything beyond basic schemes.

edit oh man, just catching the rerun, vdb was a menace playing the dwight role. Comes on, 2 steals, gets jokic mad, draws 2 fouls just off of provocation. Every stolen possession led to points, Lead swells into double digits and Nuggets lose rhythm. Stat sheet said he only had 6 minutes and 5 fouls but the game impact is something totally different. Brother was out there snatching chains and stealing lunches

You mean Darvin “go hard on them dudes” Ham wasn’t a master tactician??!

[PistolPeteJR]

Thanks to Rob Jokic will get what he wants tonight on an even worse scale but here's hoping tonight against Denver Luka and DFS will throw something different from AD, Rui and Dlo being bodied by Gordon, MPJ and co. It's really the physicality battle LA couldn't match. It's hard enough when Jokic can get whatever he wants, can't also get bullied by roleplayers. 22-24 Lakers were too slow, too lethargic and it's also why the team might soon need a lineup change to fix that.

Well then. Lol

This dude hates reading. This isn't your IG/reddit feed. Stop the brainrot/1up posting. I made a whole ass writeup addressing it and how JJ beat those pitfalls. Contribute or move along. Talking points before the game are not supposed to be absolute predictions. You want the coach to beat them not prove you right. We are all team Luka/Lebron.

Alright, let’s start by addressing the unexpected and aggressive defensiveness. Not sure why you’re going off, take it easy, it’s a light-hearted, playful means of saying, “teehee”.

Secondly, a post doesn’t strictly have to “contribute” in such a way that brings about qualitative or quantitative analysis. It’s perfectly fine to, in a friendly spirit, make other non-attacking posts, such as the one I made, especially in a thread where we are largely rooting for LeBron and Luka, like you posited.

Take it easy, geez.

[trickshot]

Well then. Lol

This dude hates reading. This isn't your IG/reddit feed. Stop the brainrot/1up posting. I made a whole ass writeup addressing it and how JJ beat those pitfalls. Contribute or move along. Talking points before the game are not supposed to be absolute predictions. You want the coach to beat them not prove you right. We are all team Luka/Lebron.

Alright, let’s start by addressing the unexpected and aggressive defensiveness. Not sure why you’re going off, take it easy, it’s a light-hearted, playful means of saying, “teehee”.

Secondly, a post doesn’t strictly have to “contribute” in such a way that brings about qualitative or quantitative analysis. It’s perfectly fine to, in a friendly spirit, make other non-attacking posts, such as the one I made, especially in a thread where we are largely rooting for LeBron and Luka, like you posited.

Take it easy, geez.

my bad my bad totally misread. We usually on the same wavelength, you hcl, h38,IS. Must have mixed you with some other troll who been bumping my old posts, was so confused. Plus1

[giordunk]

Is LeBron and Luka theoretically the best duo ever?

[thebigbird]

Is LeBron and Luka theoretically the best duo ever?

Because of his age, no. I’d even take 2020 LeBron/AD over them. But Luka may be the best running mate you could put next to this version of LeBron. The amount of energy LeBron expended on the defensive end last night was crazy, and it was because he had Luka (and AR) running the offense for him. Switching between Murray and Jokic, he was on demon time. And then when LeBron sits the offense doesn’t go to **** because you have Luka coming in.