The Lebron '20 Thread (Pt. 5)

[dcstanley]

AD really struggles with Tucker’s physicality. If his jumper is on he can really get his elbow jumper over him at ease but I don’t expect him to dominate the paint.

[MyUniBroDavis]

The same way we say the Lakers will feel liberated getting away from Portland's paint defense, the Rockets are gonna feel liberated getting away from OKCs perimeter defense. We don't have the horses to guard Westbrook and Harden the way OKC did unless Kuzma really did level up somehow. Westbrook straight babies Caruso when they play lol

How is Okcs perimeter defense better?

Cp3/Sga/Schroder/Dort/Gallo

Lebron/Danny/Kcp/Caruso/Ad

Adams was targeted alot and they had to play Gallo at the 5 to sneak out 2 wins and hes still a liability on defense. Ad at the 5 is gonna kill Houston. Okc has the best Harden defender in the league in Dort but Lakers perimeter defense is better and more versatile specially when u start including Ad in the pick and roll and iso coverages

Lu dort tbf clamped harden up for a few games

I will say, one of the equalizers here imo is rebounding

As much as prople say 3>2, you coild argue 2 possessins > 1 possession. Okc is the worst offensive rebounding team in the nba, the lakers are a top 5 offensive rebounding team in the nba, the rockets are the worst defensive rebounding team in the nba (when we lost against them the first time we were outrebounded or they were equal, which wont happen again)

36/60
33/58

Our percentages inside the arc against them in the past 2 games, loss 1 required an absurd rebounding outlier loss 2 required a horrible shooting night from 3 (11%) and neither was a horrible blowout (remember davis only played 28 minutes and bron didnt even play)

[xb3at band1tx]

Read on Twitter

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[kayess]

Only watched Bron and Davis highlights. Super encouraging to see crisp passing from Davis, though I don't know how much of that is Portland's terrible defense (not that they were terrible during those specific possessions). At the very least, he's looking to pass - to cutters, to open guys behind the arc. Elite defensive teams are gonna be giving him different looks and will be rotating harder, but it's a massive boost to have him be passing like that.

That said, idk if Vogel is running that many plays for AD where he's on the move and is a finisher. He did make a lot of open shots off of curls on the end of Bron assists though

[thebigbird]

Just nuts to see LeBron playing at such a high level in his 17th season. Basketball won't be the same when he's gone.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Only watched Bron and Davis highlights. Super encouraging to see crisp passing from Davis, though I don't know how much of that is Portland's terrible defense (not that they were terrible during those specific possessions). At the very least, he's looking to pass - to cutters, to open guys behind the arc. Elite defensive teams are gonna be giving him different looks and will be rotating harder, but it's a massive boost to have him be passing like that.

That said, idk if Vogel is running that many plays for AD where he's on the move and is a finisher. He did make a lot of open shots off of curls on the end of Bron assists though

Alot of his passes led to blown layups or open missed, at least 2 off the top of my head for good passes and open layups (kuz and kcp)

Theres this idea that the rockets are a crazy three point shooting team that gets absurdly hot and cold and that isnt really how it is lol. Theyre 3 point percentage is lower than ours, and they have less "on fire" three point shooting games as us (16 games above 40% vs 21)

Obv theyre a better shootinng team cuz volume but the idea theyre more likely to get hot than other teams just isnt true, you just feel it more when they do get hot

[Heej]

The same way we say the Lakers will feel liberated getting away from Portland's paint defense, the Rockets are gonna feel liberated getting away from OKCs perimeter defense. We don't have the horses to guard Westbrook and Harden the way OKC did unless Kuzma really did level up somehow. Westbrook straight babies Caruso when they play lol

How is Okcs perimeter defense better?

Cp3/Sga/Schroder/Dort/Gallo

Lebron/Danny/Kcp/Caruso/Ad

Adams was targeted alot and they had to play Gallo at the 5 to sneak out 2 wins and hes still a liability on defense. Ad at the 5 is gonna kill Houston. Okc has the best Harden defender in the league in Dort but Lakers perimeter defense is better and more versatile specially when u start including Ad in the pick and roll and iso coverages

CP3 and Dort are both better perimeter defenders than anyone on the Lakers imo, and inarguably a better perimeter defense duo than any combo of guards/wings the Lakers have tbh. I don't think you're gonna get away with blitzing Harden on PNR in this series with Westbrook back and the shooting they'll put out there, and ADs perimeter D has been suspect of late so I'm not very confident in his switching anymore vs Harden or Westbrook.

Hey I might be wrong about the defense tho, I just think no one on the Lakers is anywhere near the caliber of perimeter defender that Dort is.

[D.Brasco]

[MyUniBroDavis]

The same way we say the Lakers will feel liberated getting away from Portland's paint defense, the Rockets are gonna feel liberated getting away from OKCs perimeter defense. We don't have the horses to guard Westbrook and Harden the way OKC did unless Kuzma really did level up somehow. Westbrook straight babies Caruso when they play lol

How is Okcs perimeter defense better?

Cp3/Sga/Schroder/Dort/Gallo

Lebron/Danny/Kcp/Caruso/Ad

Adams was targeted alot and they had to play Gallo at the 5 to sneak out 2 wins and hes still a liability on defense. Ad at the 5 is gonna kill Houston. Okc has the best Harden defender in the league in Dort but Lakers perimeter defense is better and more versatile specially when u start including Ad in the pick and roll and iso coverages

CP3 and Dort are both better perimeter defenders than anyone on the Lakers imo, and inarguably a better perimeter defense duo than any combo of guards/wings the Lakers have tbh. I don't think you're gonna get away with blitzing Harden on PNR in this series with Westbrook back and the shooting they'll put out there, and ADs perimeter D has been suspect of late so I'm not very confident in his switching anymore vs Harden or Westbrook.

Hey I might be wrong about the defense tho, I just think no one on the Lakers is anywhere near the caliber of perimeter defender that Dort is.

I agree on the dort stuff

But Davis's D in the perimeters been insane this series, at least games 2-4, he was able to lockdown lillard and cj a few times

[xb3at band1tx]

that is insane, that's pretty much the most famous triple double IMO

[Heej]

How is Okcs perimeter defense better?

Cp3/Sga/Schroder/Dort/Gallo

Lebron/Danny/Kcp/Caruso/Ad

Adams was targeted alot and they had to play Gallo at the 5 to sneak out 2 wins and hes still a liability on defense. Ad at the 5 is gonna kill Houston. Okc has the best Harden defender in the league in Dort but Lakers perimeter defense is better and more versatile specially when u start including Ad in the pick and roll and iso coverages

CP3 and Dort are both better perimeter defenders than anyone on the Lakers imo, and inarguably a better perimeter defense duo than any combo of guards/wings the Lakers have tbh. I don't think you're gonna get away with blitzing Harden on PNR in this series with Westbrook back and the shooting they'll put out there, and ADs perimeter D has been suspect of late so I'm not very confident in his switching anymore vs Harden or Westbrook.

Hey I might be wrong about the defense tho, I just think no one on the Lakers is anywhere near the caliber of perimeter defender that Dort is.

I agree on the dort stuff

But Davis's D in the perimeters been insane this series, at least games 2-4, he was able to lockdown lillard and cj a few times

I'm definitely being a little harsh there, I just think there were a few too many times he let guys like Melo and Gary Trent Jr score when he was supposed to be on them lol. I just don't feel like his defense was special this series the way it was earlier in the season where it felt like he'd make a game sealing or saving defensive play every other night. That same sort of consistent clutch defensive gamewinner ability that I've really only ever seen in D Wade just hasn't felt like it's been there in the bubble.

[MyUniBroDavis]

CP3 and Dort are both better perimeter defenders than anyone on the Lakers imo, and inarguably a better perimeter defense duo than any combo of guards/wings the Lakers have tbh. I don't think you're gonna get away with blitzing Harden on PNR in this series with Westbrook back and the shooting they'll put out there, and ADs perimeter D has been suspect of late so I'm not very confident in his switching anymore vs Harden or Westbrook.

Hey I might be wrong about the defense tho, I just think no one on the Lakers is anywhere near the caliber of perimeter defender that Dort is.

I agree on the dort stuff

But Davis's D in the perimeters been insane this series, at least games 2-4, he was able to lockdown lillard and cj a few times

I'm definitely being a little harsh there, I just think there were a few too many times he let guys like Melo and Gary Trent Jr score when he was supposed to be on them lol. I just don't feel like his defense was special this series the way it was earlier in the season where it felt like he'd make a game sealing or saving defensive play every other night. That same sort of consistent clutch defensive gamewinner ability that I've really only ever seen in D Wade just hasn't felt like it's been there in the bubble.

I see what you mean in terms of AD going clutch mode on D early in the year, but personally i felt his D this series was by far the best its been, games 2-4 his D was on another planet imo

[homecourtloss]

Just nuts to see LeBron playing at such a high level in his 17th season. Basketball won't be the same when he's gone.

Longevity usually gets pooh-poohed by the usual suspects for obvious reasons, but how many players have ever adjusted to a drop in an all-time type of athleticism and halved adjusted their game and still managed to dominate the game the way James has this year?

[Dupp]

AD has to be the best/most ideal second best player or 1B possible right?

He’s really good to great at everything. For example would Steph and lebron be better? I have my doubts because AD sets the foundation for an elite defense while also being a very high level offensively.

[GSP]

AD has to be the best/most ideal second best player or 1B possible right?

He’s really good to great at everything. For example would Steph and lebron be better? I have my doubts because AD sets the foundation for an elite defense while also being a very high level offensively.

Hes not a really good to great ballhandler or passer TBH

[nzahir]

AD has to be the best/most ideal second best player or 1B possible right?

He’s really good to great at everything. For example would Steph and lebron be better? I have my doubts because AD sets the foundation for an elite defense while also being a very high level offensively.

Steph and Lebron on this team would be the favorite, and it wouldn't be close..

Curry, Green, Kuzma, Lebron, Mcgee
AC, KCP, Dion/JR, Kieff, Dwight

Curry fixes the 3 point problem and a 2nd ball handler

Defense would fall ofc, but I think that team could be still solid on D. Construction may have been a bit diff, but I just swapped them to keep it easy. Offense should be 1st in the league easily

[Joey Wheeler]

AD - 30/9/4 with 2 blocks and 1 steal, 66% TS. In 33 minutes.
Lebron - 27/10/10, 71% TS. In 33 minutes.

As expected, this series was a massacre with both Lebron and AD putting up insane numbers. Game 1 was a complete freak.

Next series will be much tougher, toughest series for the Lakers these playoffs. I expect Westbrook to absolutely dominate the series, he'll average ~30 and generate open looks from 3 at a very high rate. The Lakers have no one who can stay in front of him and won't be able to pack the paint. I'll pick the Lakers in 6 tough games, but honestly this has upset potential; if either Lebron or AD are not their usual playoff selves, the Rockets will win the series.

[apeezus]

Oh man his shot looks good again. I’m getting 2018 vibes now...

Same thing

2018 with better passing and significantly better defense yeah

But also a completely non-existent midrange lol.

[dreamshake]

I expect Westbrook to absolutely dominate the series, he'll average ~30 and generate open looks from 3 at a very high rate. The Lakers have no one who can stay in front of him and won't be able to pack the paint.

Why not? He shot 25% from 3 this year. Sag way off him and let him fire away. Maybe give him doses of the Tony Allen treatment by guarding him with AD or even Dwight.

[trickshot]

AD really struggles with Tucker’s physicality. If his jumper is on he can really get his elbow jumper over him at ease but I don’t expect him to dominate the paint.

Obviously if he tries to back Tucker down he'll get pushed out of the paint but if he faces up and attacks the basket Tucker won't be tall enough to contest a single layup and let's no talk about AD rim running a lane full of 6'7 guys. Rockets best exploit would be Javale lumbering to close out on shooters