It's time to be honest - the Lakers look great and are bonafide contenders

[oversteerdawg]

The Lakers are my team, but they were overdue for a stinker

[tamaraw08]

The Lakers are my team, but they were overdue for a stinker

They could have faced the Jazz and still would have lost by 15 and give Danny Ainge a heart attack.

[durden_tyler]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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[Raps in 4]

lmao

[RIPskaterdude]

The Lakers are my team, but they were overdue for a stinker

Update?

[SlimShady83]

OMG time to bump thread after OKC loss

Time to tank lol

[ball_takes23]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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And not just the loss it’s the way they lost. They still look about 5-6 players away from competing for a title

[Mavrelous]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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And not just the loss it’s the way they lost. They still look about 5-6 players away from competing for a title

They are 2 players away, 3&D guard and 3&D wing, they just don't have anyone that can defend consistently.

[SlimShady83]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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And not just the loss it’s the way they lost. They still look about 5-6 players away from competing for a title

They are 2 players away, 3&D guard and 3&D wing, they just don't have anyone that can defend consistently.

Herb Jones/Thybulle, that said both will cost FRP most likely.

Maybe, just maybe Theiro turns into a great defender.

[Andri]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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And not just the loss it’s the way they lost. They still look about 5-6 players away from competing for a title

They are 2 players away, 3&D guard and 3&D wing, they just don't have anyone that can defend consistently.

I am not sold yet on Ayton as starter if you really want to compete against OKC, Denver, Rockets, and even Spurs. And even if he is the starter, Lakers would need a better replacement than Hayes. That, or having more size at the 4.

I guess this is not yet their season, they will have to wait to get the pieces.

[hardenASG13]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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And not just the loss it’s the way they lost. They still look about 5-6 players away from competing for a title

They are 2 players away, 3&D guard and 3&D wing, they just don't have anyone that can defend consistently.

Lebron is a 3&D wing at this point. Not sure he helps on the defense. But they are adding him shortly.

[liquidswords]

1 game sample size but like I said there's OKC and everyone else not visible in the rear view. The Lakers are like 3 rungs below OKC.

[Kingdibs19]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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And not just the loss it’s the way they lost. They still look about 5-6 players away from competing for a title

Lebron is worth at least 7 so championship is otw

[Liam_Gallagher]

That was ugly, but OKC is in a league of their own. It's going to take a big injury to Shai and others for them to not make the Finals.

The Lakers are what they are...a 3-5 seeded team who heavily relies on Luka to score 40 and Reaves to be on a heater. If those two don't happen, they're mediocre.

[Liam_Gallagher]

The Lakers are my team, but they were overdue for a stinker

I think what looks like lack of effort is a team that doesn’t know how to adapt to the adversity of another team effectively shutting down their attack. We had no counter to their defense, which is aggressive at the point of attack while shading towards the paint to always help close up the paint. It’s a pseudo zone defense imo but they can get away with it because their guard defenders are so elite.

You kind of have to beat them with that GS Warriors style offense that moves the ball quickly and hits the open 3 / cutting rim cuts. They basically force you to be elite 3p to ever open up their defense. We were successful doing exactly that to them late last season with LeBron and DFS who was great and concise from 3 while also playing excellent help defense. That positionless but FAST offense is how you counter them imo.

But we aren’t built that way. We are towing Ayton to be more or less who he was tonight vs an elite team: slow thinker, poor ball handler, bad decision maker who gets his own physicality and efficiency smothered out of the game. It’s what teams do to Minnesota (or any team Gobert plays for) in the playoffs like clockwork. That will be DeAndre Ayton GUARANTEED at some point in a playoff run. While useful in some ways he is not the answer to support the players we theoretically want to keep.

JJ needs to focus on better ball movement schemes and less Luka / Austin going 1 on 1.

[LockoutSeason]

OKC’s defense turned the Lakers into ground chuck. 20 turnovers on 14 steals by OKC. Size and length of OKC just demolished them.

Lakers need another big man and more length in the starting lineup. And no, LeBron isn’t the answer. Their bench would also be better by putting Vanderbilt in the starting lineup and bringing Hachimura off the bench.

[tamaraw08]

1-2 so far after becoming bonafide contenders. LOL


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And not just the loss it’s the way they lost. They still look about 5-6 players away from competing for a title

They are 2 players away, 3&D guard and 3&D wing, they just don't have anyone that can defend consistently.

Marcus Smart and VAndo could have been their legit defenders but it's just D and no "3".
They hyped up JJ as some kind of genius who will magically figure out a way to hide them on offense but it turns out JJ would just play Vando under 20 mins because of his bad shooting.
During Lakers press conference, Rob Pelinka kept calling Marcus as a legit 3&D and I thought he knew something we didn't know, that he can actually shoot.
Interesting current stats.
Both Luca and Reaves shooting under 31% from 3, Vando at 25% and Smart at 26%.

[lethalizer]

The key to breaking down OKC's defense has been accurate three point shooting for a while now.

OKC just doesn't allow easy paint points on a consistent basis.

So making them bleed is dependent on two things:

1) Being shorthanded to the tilt so that they can't keep up their usual defensive intensity for 48 minutes.

or

2) Have a hot night from three(OKC is actually 8th in most points allowed from three pointers at 43.4 points per game).

Lakers as currently constructed has no chance to crack a defense like OKC if they don't shoot threes at a high volume with even average accuracy.

Lakers are only generating 28% of their scoring from three pointers this season thus far, good for 28th in the NBA. So this would always be an uphill battle for them.

The theory should be at this point that LeBron joining back would lead to more open shots from the perimeter which could add an additional challenge for OKC's D.

Otherwise, yeah, they have no chance in a potential playoff series unless multiple players all of a sudden have the shooting games of their lives for multiple games in a row.

[GregOden]

They look like an elite regular season team that's going to get out-physical'd in the playoffs just like last year.

[TheAlchemist]

In my truest most objective and kindest way of communicating, I say, confidently and with firmness:

The Lakers are pretenders.

Will they beat OKC? No
Will they beat Spurs? No.
Will they beat Denver? No.

They can go toe to toe with Houston and the second tier. But the playoffs are a different beast.