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

[letskissbro]

LeBron’s still fully capable of being a 1b on offense, imo. But he’s not capable of doing it in this current situation where he’s also tasked with playing all-defensive team level defense for 40+ minutes a night because his two guards are cones defensively and his genius GM put together a roster with zero playable bigs.

Isn’t putting up 26/10/6 on 66% TS while leading the playoffs in stocks literally doing exactly that? People keep pontificating about how LeBron "lacking that extra gear" is why the Lakers are cooked, but even in his prime he wasn’t expected to have 30/10/10 games while anchoring the defense just to take 2nd/3rd tier non-contenders to 6 games. The Lakers' supporting cast is just rotten to the core.

[trickshot]

When you saw Lebron shove-battling Edwards, boxing out Gobert and scoring 20 at the half one knew instantly it was going to be another game gasing out at the end. This is what AD had to go through and why he went on ESPN to call out the front office. The players in Rui and Hayes positions need to be double double threats minimum. If they are small ball like Rui they need to be taking 8-10 threes a night. Rui turns down looks if they aren't wide open and it's doing fk all to bring Gobert out of the paint or punish the Wolves for not giving up a switch. There are no great driving lanes.

JJ needs to scrap the template with the best scorers in the starting 5 and the best defenders on the bench. It's way too unbalanced and the starters aren't shooting enough to offset the margins they are giving up on the other end. Might as well focus on protecting Lebron and Luka's legs. That's how the Mavs got it done with Luka/Kyrie. Kyrie wasn't defending the likes of Ant and Luka wasn't boxing out KAT/Reid/Gobert every time down the floor. Shi actually has one mad that the guys with the most mileage are still forced to be the defacto rebounders/hustlers on a team with so many younger guys. Rob needs to be fired.

[Ian Scuffling]

When you saw Lebron shove-battling Edwards, boxing out Gobert and scoring 20 at the half one knew instantly it was going to be another game gasing out at the end. This is what AD had to go through and why he went on ESPN to call out the front office. The players in Rui and Hayes positions need to be double double threats minimum. If they are small ball like Rui they need to be taking 8-10 threes a night. Rui turns down looks if they aren't wide open and it's doing fk all to bring Gobert out of the paint or punish the Wolves for not giving up a switch. There are no great driving lanes.

JJ needs to scrap the template with the best scorers in the starting 5 and the best defenders on the bench. It's way too unbalanced and the starters aren't shooting enough to offset the margins they are giving up on the other end. Might as well focus on protecting Lebron and Luka's legs. That's how the Mavs got it done with Luka/Kyrie. Kyrie wasn't defending the likes of Ant and Luka wasn't boxing out KAT/Reid/Gobert every time down the floor. Shi actually has one mad that the guys with the most mileage are still forced to be the defacto rebounders/hustlers on a team with so many younger guys. Rob needs to be fired.

Absolutely well said and that last sentence is 100% correct.

[Fadeaway_J]

When you saw Lebron shove-battling Edwards, boxing out Gobert and scoring 20 at the half one knew instantly it was going to be another game gasing out at the end. This is what AD had to go through and why he went on ESPN to call out the front office. The players in Rui and Hayes positions need to be double double threats minimum. If they are small ball like Rui they need to be taking 8-10 threes a night. Rui turns down looks if they aren't wide open and it's doing fk all to bring Gobert out of the paint or punish the Wolves for not giving up a switch. There are no great driving lanes.

JJ needs to scrap the template with the best scorers in the starting 5 and the best defenders on the bench. It's way too unbalanced and the starters aren't shooting enough to offset the margins they are giving up on the other end. Might as well focus on protecting Lebron and Luka's legs. That's how the Mavs got it done with Luka/Kyrie. Kyrie wasn't defending the likes of Ant and Luka wasn't boxing out KAT/Reid/Gobert every time down the floor. Shi actually has one mad that the guys with the most mileage are still forced to be the defacto rebounders/hustlers on a team with so many younger guys. Rob needs to be fired.

Absolutely well said and that last sentence is 100% correct.

Meanwhile...

https://www.nba.com/news/lakers-sign-rob-pelinka-to-contract-extension

[letskissbro]

When you saw Lebron shove-battling Edwards, boxing out Gobert and scoring 20 at the half one knew instantly it was going to be another game gasing out at the end. This is what AD had to go through and why he went on ESPN to call out the front office. The players in Rui and Hayes positions need to be double double threats minimum. If they are small ball like Rui they need to be taking 8-10 threes a night. Rui turns down looks if they aren't wide open and it's doing fk all to bring Gobert out of the paint or punish the Wolves for not giving up a switch. There are no great driving lanes.

JJ needs to scrap the template with the best scorers in the starting 5 and the best defenders on the bench. It's way too unbalanced and the starters aren't shooting enough to offset the margins they are giving up on the other end. Might as well focus on protecting Lebron and Luka's legs. That's how the Mavs got it done with Luka/Kyrie. Kyrie wasn't defending the likes of Ant and Luka wasn't boxing out KAT/Reid/Gobert every time down the floor. Shi actually has one mad that the guys with the most mileage are still forced to be the defacto rebounders/hustlers on a team with so many younger guys. Rob needs to be fired.

Absolutely well said and that last sentence is 100% correct.

Meanwhile...

https://www.nba.com/news/lakers-sign-rob-pelinka-to-contract-extension

He's gonna sign Caris Levert and Clint Capela in the offseason and call it a year.

[Mos_Heat]

Ant outplayed Luka through out the series, JJ got outcoached. Reaves has been worse than expected. That's the main reasons. Roster is not balanced but we already knew that, it is what it is.

Luka-Reaves backcourt doesn't work against physicly dominant teams like Minny. They would have to think hard about moving him in the summer

In past 3 years Lebron had several heroic perfomances in losses that will be totally forgotten. Sucks

They said the same about Luka/Kyrie backcourt but Mavs found a way to play 2 rim protectors for 48 mins. On top of that they had good wings to support them. Unfortunately for Lakers, Rui at the center just doesn't work vs Wolves. Or it would work if Lakers had any extra punch off the bench like Mavs had last year.

This Laker team really looks like it was thrown together at the last minute. They'll need a complete off season or even more, to assemble a competent team that can actually compete for a ring in this new NBA.

Kyrie can create his own shot against any defense pretty much. Reaves clearly can't

[Slava]

The thing to remember is that this was not designed to be a small ball team. By all accounts, they were working to add another starting caliber big or some higher level rotation big than Jaxson Hayes until the Luka trade came along. Even after the trade, more people were debating how far Dallas could go in their shortened window until the lakers played themselves into the conversation of being a relevant team this season. I’m mostly pissed about the opportunity being bungled as we fell in the right side of the bracket to avoid both okc and Denver until the conference finals and yet bungled it in the most spectacular fashion at the very first step after showing so much promise in terms of effort and coaching in the regular season. There’s no way this team, even in the best case scenario was taking more than a game off a healthy OKC or Boston, even if they got that far so maybe it’s best to regroup without the hubris of we were one lucky break away from winning everything.

[KembaWalker]

Can’t believe it’s the 22nd straight year of LeBrons teammates being trash. Unluckiest career of all time

[trickshot]

Can’t believe it’s the 22nd straight year of LeBrons teammates being trash. Unluckiest career of all time

People talking chess, this dude talking narratives. There's talent and there's functionality. Lakers edge the former, Wolves have the latter. So far it's a poor man's version of last year's finals.

[Ian Scuffling]

That dude is plain dumb. Don't mind him. However, since he is very emblematic and representative of the troll set, he brings up the latest troll talking points. Context isn't an important thing to them, as that takes reasoning and actual thinking. Trolls like to feel. The other thing I've seen a lot, lately, and it's along the same lines, is that if he gets ALL the credit, he should get ALL the blame. Such facile thinking. Again, context is lost on these poor souls, plus the whole strawman of getting ALL the credit. Sports are really a simple thing, basketball obviously included. When James' teams, or Jordan's, or Kareem's, or any truly great player's for that matter, are winning it's most likely mostly due to their greatness. Not all their credit (speaking to the trolls, here). When, they are losing, UNLESS that great player is playing poorly, it's most likely the supporting casts' doing. Now, here's the rub for the poor misbegotten trolls. Speaking strictly on Lebron, none of his TEAMS losses in the playoffs/finals have been as a result of him playing poorly. He has been a great playoff performer for his entire career, save the obvious excpetion, being the Dallas Finals. LOL...I guess you can technically count the 2007 San Antonio series, but even though he didn't play well, the rest of his team played worse. Plus, the whole fact of a great defensive team in San Antonio double and triple teamed the 22 year old all series, as they weren't worried about any other member of the Cavs. None of them. More of that context

[trickshot]

I think JJ has to bite the bullet and play Len for 5-8 minutes just to box out and let someone else get easier rebounds. Maybe even Dalton to go give and take-bucket-for-bucket in spurts because the others sure as hell aren't guarding anyone. 7 offensive rebounds for Gobert is just terrible for a team that's gassing at the end of games.

At least if it does end tomorrow the myth of the big 4 can finally end. No starter should be guaranteed minutes after going scoreless for a half or grabbing 4 rebounds in a game the team gives 18 offensive rebounds. It should be Luka, Lebron and anyone else that can guard a pole ready to leave it all on the floor. JJ has actually disappointed a little because he seemed to come into the series with preconceived notion of how the xs and os should play out (Wolves are going to switch and let Luka and Reaves go iso-hunting, Rui and DFS are going to pull Gobert out the paint, compensate Reaves, Luka, Rui not being able to guard anyone by going zonal and overhelping on D). We all did but he keeps trying to force the one rotation on this particular matchup. Gabe, Knecht and co can't do worse if they had the same license to close games after going scoreless, giving up boards and getting blown by for whole halves. The Front office's overconfidence in Jaxson Hayes already backfired bad. Should have converted one of the bigs to a full time contract.

The reason you can't bet against this team is Luka and Lebron. The reason I think they might fall is cos it's not like they both haven't already been playing desperate in the last 2 games. They're just gassing hard from everything happening on both ends.

[Fadeaway_J]

Playing Len isn't just biting the bullet, it's firing the bullet directly into your forehead. Forget Hayes, even mediocre two-way guys like Jemison and Koloko were handily outplaying him.

[Mos_Heat]

I would start Vanderbilt instead of Hayes. At least have some resistance at the POA for several minutes. One non shooter won't destroy your offense completely even if it's a disaster like Vando

[trickshot]

I would start Vanderbilt instead of Hayes. At least have some resistance at the POA for several minutes. One non shooter won't destroy your offense completely even if it's a disaster like Vando

Anything helps. JJ's next lesson is to keep his nerve and not bench the hustle guys the second they go 3 possessions without scoring. They might lose the lead but they will make the other team sweat.

[Fadeaway_J]

I would start Vanderbilt instead of Hayes. At least have some resistance at the POA for several minutes. One non shooter won't destroy your offense completely even if it's a disaster like Vando

Would also allow them to get more minutes with Vando on Ant, which has barely happened all series.

[trickshot]

Playing Len isn't just biting the bullet, it's firing the bullet directly into your forehead. Forget Hayes, even mediocre two-way guys like Jemison and Koloko were handily outplaying him.

Vando has to play more either way but someone else from the bench has to step up to help with Gobert/Reid's rebounding gravity. Team is getting torn apart from two ends. Ant is one side, the other are the 18 extra possessions given up on offensive rebounds. Get a stop on Ant and someone grabs the board and gives it right back to Ant. Figured t's better to let Ant get his 40 and focus on preserving Bron from wrestling bigs and having to guard back-to-back defensive possessions 18 more times. It's why one gets so frustrated with Rui/Hayes for having such a shy physical presence in the paint when all they have to do is hit open shots and grab rebounds.

[Tracymcgoaty]

When you saw Lebron shove-battling Edwards, boxing out Gobert and scoring 20 at the half one knew instantly it was going to be another game gasing out at the end. This is what AD had to go through and why he went on ESPN to call out the front office. The players in Rui and Hayes positions need to be double double threats minimum. If they are small ball like Rui they need to be taking 8-10 threes a night. Rui turns down looks if they aren't wide open and it's doing fk all to bring Gobert out of the paint or punish the Wolves for not giving up a switch. There are no great driving lanes.

JJ needs to scrap the template with the best scorers in the starting 5 and the best defenders on the bench. It's way too unbalanced and the starters aren't shooting enough to offset the margins they are giving up on the other end. Might as well focus on protecting Lebron and Luka's legs. That's how the Mavs got it done with Luka/Kyrie. Kyrie wasn't defending the likes of Ant and Luka wasn't boxing out KAT/Reid/Gobert every time down the floor. Shi actually has one mad that the guys with the most mileage are still forced to be the defacto rebounders/hustlers on a team with so many younger guys. Rob needs to be fired.

Absolutely well said and that last sentence is 100% correct.

Meanwhile...

https://www.nba.com/news/lakers-sign-rob-pelinka-to-contract-extension

He should give half his contract to Nico. Crazy you had people on lakersground screaming we should give him an extension. He hasn't even shown he can build a competent team yet.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Ant outplayed Luka through out the series, JJ got outcoached. Reaves has been worse than expected. That's the main reasons. Roster is not balanced but we already knew that, it is what it is.

Luka-Reaves backcourt doesn't work against physicly dominant teams like Minny. They would have to think hard about moving him in the summer

In past 3 years Lebron had several heroic perfomances in losses that will be totally forgotten. Sucks

They said the same about Luka/Kyrie backcourt but Mavs found a way to play 2 rim protectors for 48 mins. On top of that they had good wings to support them. Unfortunately for Lakers, Rui at the center just doesn't work vs Wolves. Or it would work if Lakers had any extra punch off the bench like Mavs had last year.

This Laker team really looks like it was thrown together at the last minute. They'll need a complete off season or even more, to assemble a competent team that can actually compete for a ring in this new NBA.

Kyrie can create his own shot against any defense pretty much. Reaves clearly can't

replace Reaves with Kyrie and we win this series easy

Reaves isn't just levels below Kyrie. dud is a whole building below.

And i say this as someone who's hyped Reaves relentlessly.

But this post season was an eye opener.

[homecourtloss]

Read on Twitter

LeBron playing two 99th+ games back to back at 40 years old yet still attacked by the usuals.

[trickshot]

Tonight I think the Lakers might consider sticking to single coverage on Ant or a less aggressive help scheme. It's not that doubling Ant or overhelping is the wrong move, it's moreso that when they try to protect Reaves or Luka it leaves the big guys out of position to box out Rudy/Reid. Lakers win the last game playing the exact same offensive game if they just held the Wolves to single digit OREBs. One poison is ok, two is unacceptable.

Think the lesser evil is letting Ant go for 40, slightly less minutes for any weak POA defender not named Luka (yes, that includes Reaves) and more time for the more physical guys. It's okay to have lineups with 1 guy who can't shoot. The Lakers 5 out kinda sucks against physical teams and I don't believe alternative results will be that much worse than getting gentleman swept, or they wouldn't be here in the first place.