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

[trickshot]

Well deserved. All season long, get a bruiser. Nah, we good with Jaxson Hayes. Didn't even try to convert one of the bigs on 2 way contracts. Rob built this team like he thought they were going to be miles better than every opponent. No plan b tactics for the frontcourt, no break glass in case of emergency bigs. The starting 5 doesn't have anyone that can guard Ant, Randle or Reid on the glass. Let that sink in. Once you decide Reaves is your guy you have to load up on athleticism or BBIQ. Players like Rui can barely jump over a phonebook and give guys like Reid gets any rebound they want. JJ also has to go deeper in the bench because the excessive trust he and Rob had in the non-stars is about to come back full circle and end the season.

[DorianRo]

I see why Nico took the gamble and unloaded Luka. That dude is NOT in shape. And it makes no sense why either. Its like he refuses to get in shape. Sure he will light up your scoreboard but that alone will never win you chips

[Fadeaway_J]

Well deserved. All season long, get a bruiser. Nah, we good with Jaxson Hayes. Didn't even try to convert one of the bigs on 2 way contracts. Rob built this team like he thought they were going to be miles better than every opponent. No plan b tactics for the frontcourt, no break glass in case of emergency bigs. The starting 5 doesn't have anyone that can guard Ant, Randle or Reid on the glass. Let that sink in. Once you decide Reaves is your guy you have to load up on athleticism or BBIQ. Players like Rui can barely jump over a phonebook and give guys like Reid gets any rebound they want. JJ also has to go deeper in the bench because the excessive trust he and Rob had in the non-stars is about to come back full circle and end the season.

Going into a postseason with Jaxson Hayes as your only big is pure insanity. Hell, having him as AD's only backup was insanity. He played over his head for a few weeks, but he's not remotely starting calibre.

Oh well, fortunately Luka falling into his lap means Pelinka is now dug in for the foreseeable future.

[bigboi]

Lebron and Tatum would be up 3-1. Luka is overrated

[bigboi]

I see why Nico took the gamble and unloaded Luka. That dude is NOT in shape. And it makes no sense why either. Its like he refuses to get in shape. Sure he will light up your scoreboard but that alone will never win you chips

Bad defense, takes really tough shots, his game won’t age as gracefully as some think

[Dupp]

Too young and athletic for the lakers

[Johnny Firpo]

Lebron and Tatum would be up 3-1. Luka is overrated

The Celtics can't even go up 3-0 against the Magic with Tatum, maybe if he sat out the third game too, they'd be 3-0.

[trickshot]

Even with the matchup problems dropping games to avoidables like turnovers, food poisoning, technicals and low iq fouls (Hayes), low energy in game 1, might have reduced the sting of a potential upset. Just aren't seasoned or mature enough for a deep run.

[bigboi]

3-1

It was very obvious after Game 2 Lakers weren't winning this series.

No size, no athleticism and no depth while the other team has those in spades. Pelinka has some moves to make in the offseason. But even with those moves, this is not a championship winning core with 41 year old LeBron as the 2nd option.

One a side note, Ant's special. He'll be a Top 3 player for a very long time.

Ant isn’t top 3 at all lol.

[bigboi]

Lebron and Tatum would be up 3-1. Luka is overrated

The Celtics can't even go up 3-0 against the Magic with Tatum, maybe if he sat out the third game too, they'd be 3-0.

Right. The same Tatum that put up 36 is the reason why Celtics lost. Yea, that makes sense. Tatum would smack Minnesota whether on Celtics or Lakers, stay delusional tho. Minny wouldn’t be able to hunt Tatum and Tatum’s conditioning is 10x better. Wouldn’t be close

[tone wone]

Thankfully, Game 5 is on Wednesday. But I just don't know if Lebron can hold up playing like this. He pretty much sacrificed his offense for defense in the 2nd half and it still didn't work. They can't stay in front of anyone.

Also, ZERO reason for playing those guys the entire 2nd half. Could've and should've gotten Lebron rest late in the 3rd and for Luka to start the 4th.

[IG2]

Ant isn’t top 3 at all lol.

I know, but he'll be there soon enough as Jokic/Giannis age out and he'll stay there for a long time

[Johnny Firpo]

Lebron and Tatum would be up 3-1. Luka is overrated

The Celtics can't even go up 3-0 against the Magic with Tatum, maybe if he sat out the third game too, they'd be 3-0.

Right. The same Tatum that put up 36 is the reason why Celtics lost. Yea, that makes sense. Tatum would smack Minnesota whether on Celtics or Lakers, stay delusional tho. Minny wouldn’t be able to hunt Tatum and Tatum’s conditioning is 10x better. Wouldn’t be close

Yeah, his conditioning is better, he's just not as good at basketball.

[Ian Scuffling]

Well, having a negative entity at center proves harmful, once again. The bench being non existent doesn't help as well. Too bad. Another great all around game, by Lebron. But, again asking the 40 to do so much early leaves him with no juice at the end.

[Johnny Firpo]

Ant isn’t top 3 at all lol.

I know, but he'll be there soon enough as Jokic/Giannis age out and he'll stay there for a long time

He yet to have an even top 5 regular season (in that particular year). He was arguably worse in the regular season this year than last year. I enjoy his play, but he is closer to Devin Booker than the best players of the NBA (at least for now). Obviously if he keeps this up and they force a tough series out of OKC in the west final, that would make this discussion a little bit more interesting.

[bigboi]

The Celtics can't even go up 3-0 against the Magic with Tatum, maybe if he sat out the third game too, they'd be 3-0.

Right. The same Tatum that put up 36 is the reason why Celtics lost. Yea, that makes sense. Tatum would smack Minnesota whether on Celtics or Lakers, stay delusional tho. Minny wouldn’t be able to hunt Tatum and Tatum’s conditioning is 10x better. Wouldn’t be close

Yeah, his conditioning is better, he's just not as good at basketball.

He’s flat out better. You can’t even make a sound argument. Lmao. Part of the reason that Lakers are losing is because Luka 1. Is an all time bad defender and 2. Has terrible conditioning and is gassed. Tatum would put up both offense and defense hence lakers would be better with Tatum. Luka is flat out not better than Tatum. You don’t get points for playing one side of the ball

[DorianRo]

It was a bad trade for both teams. Dallas and LA. How many teams played Small ball and won chips in the last 30 years? For Lakers to win a title, they're gonna have to bring in a quality BIG to go with Luka and Lakers are just gonna have to tell Luka" Either get in shape this offseason or you're gone"

[Johnny Firpo]

Right. The same Tatum that put up 36 is the reason why Celtics lost. Yea, that makes sense. Tatum would smack Minnesota whether on Celtics or Lakers, stay delusional tho. Minny wouldn’t be able to hunt Tatum and Tatum’s conditioning is 10x better. Wouldn’t be close

Yeah, his conditioning is better, he's just not as good at basketball.

He’s flat out better. You can’t even make a sound argument. Lmao. Part of the reason that Lakers are losing is because Luka 1. Is an all time bad defender and 2. Has terrible conditioning and is gassed. Tatum would put up both offense and defense hence lakers would be better with Tatum. Luka is flat out not better than Tatum. You don’t get points for playing one side of the ball

Just dumb, rehashed arguments. This season, Tatum had a better regular season, otherwise Luka is clearly better. Box score stats show this, advanced stats show this, eye test show this. Next season, if healthy, he'll once again be better by anyone other than Celtics fans/Luka haters. Doncic is not an all-time bad defender, that's an idiotic statement. He is an average defender overall, never ever been among the 100 worst NBA players on defense by any stats. You have an agenda, dude.

[bigboi]

It was a bad trade for both teams. Dallas and LA. How many teams played Small ball and won chips in the last 30 years? For Lakers to win a title, they're gonna have to bring in a quality BIG to go with Luka and Lakers are just gonna have to tell Luka" Either get in shape this offseason or you're gone"

I honestly don’t agree with that. I legit think the Luka trade helped with ratings so helped the league as whole and I think if AD and Kyrie don’t get injured, Dallas would be a top 4 seed. The team fits very well together

[trickshot]

BS, Luka/ Lebron have done more than enough to beat the Wolves. No slander tolerated. The problem is they are having to be the best scorers in every offensive zone while Lebron has to be the best player on defense and hustle. They other guys aren't bringing enough of positive impact help to offset their load or keep them fresh for the 4th quarter. Just a higher IQ jaxson hayes or a Rui Hachimura with 10% more defensive reads or finishing at the basket would have the Lakers even. Lebron and Luka have been carrying the roleplayers in nearly every first half of the series. The role guys are not hitting shots, defending or hustling to start the games.