The Lebron '20 Thread (Pt. 5)

[MisterHibachi]

For the longest time every playoffs I’ve wanted lebron to have as much rest as possible. Hoping for quick series so he can rest up for the warriors. Right now I feel the complete opposite and think it’s been too much rest and want him to play again ASAP to keep getting into peak form.

if houston wins tonight, i think game 1 will be wednesday.

Not sure whether to root for Houston in game 6 so the Lakers can get back on the court as soon as possible or for OKC so they have a chance to upset Houston in game 7.

[PistolPeteJR]

AD's elbow jumpers have been money as of late. Like his jumper overall has been scary good, he needs to take advantage of that HOU front court.

Nah, I don't wanna see him settle for many jumpers against Houston.

[PistolPeteJR]

Lakers are gonna destroy Houston LOL. Not sure why so many think its a rough matchup

The perimeter defense will clamp out. Just the thought of Pj Tucker and Jeff Green guarding Ad is hilarious

Bron and Ad are peaking at the right time too. Who is even gonna check Lebron? Roco? lmao

Tucker has done a pretty decent job on Bron in the past. Assuming they'll go with him on Bron and Green on AD for a big chunk of the minutes. I do kinda agree that Lakers should be more favoured than some here are suggesting, but it just depends so much on who the 3-ball is falling for. If Houston gets hot from deep they can beat anybody.

When has Tucker had success on LeBron? :S I don't ever remember that being a thing, ever (eg. Tucker on the Raptors in '17).

[PistolPeteJR]

Watch on YouTube

Some good stuff here.

[PistolPeteJR]

Watching the Clippers - Mavericks game. The fact that LeBron hasn't been able to develop a reliable mid-range jumper like Kawhi is infuriating.

He's still a better scorer despite it.

Eh, disagree. Kawhi is the best scorer in the league, pretty clearly imo. Can literally get whatever he wants, whenever he wants. There's no good half court defense against him other than 1. hoping he misses and 2. doubling him, and leaving other players wide open.

That's not the case with LeBron. He can be slowed down as a half court scorer, unless he's hot with his jumper.

Bolded is untrue. If you put a stout defender with size on him (eg. LeBron, Anunoby, etc.), it really, really bothers him.

[homecourtloss]

ISO scoring so far in the playoffs (min. 4 games GP, 3+ possessions per game)

1. LBJ, 1.52 PPP, eFG 84.4%
2. Giannis, 1.50 PPP, eFG 80%
8. Harden, 1.22 (on a massive 12 possessions per game, basically GOAT ISO metrics the last three years)
11. Kawhi, .93 PPP
16. Luka, .87 PPP
22. Lillard, .56 PPP

https://stats.nba.com/players/isolation/?sort=PPP&dir=1&CF=GP*GE*4:POSS*GE*3&SeasonType=Playoffs

Surprised seeing Brogdon so high. Also where is Jamal Murray. The dude has looked absolutely unstoppable scoring the ball against the Jazz. I guess they're running more screens for him than i thought.

Not surprising seeing LeBron and Giannis getting what they want against 8th seeded teams. Need to check how Harden is doing against Dort in iso.

Murray before last night didn’t have enough ISO possessions but after last night is getting 2 per game and has an incredible 1.62 PPP

https://stats.nba.com/players/isolation/?CF=GP*GE*4:POSS*GE*2&SeasonType=Playoffs&sort=PPP&dir=1

[Heej]

For the longest time every playoffs I’ve wanted lebron to have as much rest as possible. Hoping for quick series so he can rest up for the warriors. Right now I feel the complete opposite and think it’s been too much rest and want him to play again ASAP to keep getting into peak form.

He's had enough time off and there's no travel. I want Game 6s and maybe even 7s to happen because these guys need to be forged in the fire. Caruso and Kuzma especially would benefit hugely from it going to 6 next series. Even KCP low key got that gear of mental toughness when he's with LeBron.

And Danny Green is just predictably inconsistent. I used to watch random shooting videos on YouTube to perfect my shot more and one of the coaches was talking about how you have to fully extend your elbow to keep your shot consistent and that there's guys like DG who don't do that. And ever since then it's been my theory that his shot is just prone to inconsistency because his follow thru never fully extends.

[MyUniBroDavis]

For the longest time every playoffs I’ve wanted lebron to have as much rest as possible. Hoping for quick series so he can rest up for the warriors. Right now I feel the complete opposite and think it’s been too much rest and want him to play again ASAP to keep getting into peak form.

He's had enough time off and there's no travel. I want Game 6s and maybe even 7s to happen because these guys need to be forged in the fire. Caruso and Kuzma especially would benefit hugely from it going to 6 next series. Even KCP low key got that gear of mental toughness when he's with LeBron.

And Danny Green is just predictably inconsistent. I used to watch random shooting videos on YouTube to perfect my shot more and one of the coaches was talking about how you have to fully extend your elbow to keep your shot consistent and that there's guys like DG who don't do that. And ever since then it's been my theory that his shot is just prone to inconsistency because his follow thru never fully extends.

Tbf the best shooters sometimes have janky jumpers, durant has a 50% lonzo shot and curryr fully has his hand on the side of the ball the entire time

[MyUniBroDavis]

Lakers are gonna destroy Houston LOL. Not sure why so many think its a rough matchup

The perimeter defense will clamp out. Just the thought of Pj Tucker and Jeff Green guarding Ad is hilarious

Bron and Ad are peaking at the right time too. Who is even gonna check Lebron? Roco? lmao

Tucker has done a pretty decent job on Bron in the past. Assuming they'll go with him on Bron and Green on AD for a big chunk of the minutes. I do kinda agree that Lakers should be more favoured than some here are suggesting, but it just depends so much on who the 3-ball is falling for. If Houston gets hot from deep they can beat anybody.

When has Tucker had success on LeBron? :S I don't ever remember that being a thing, ever (eg. Tucker on the Raptors in '17).

Yeah lebron has schmacked tucker when they play lmao

[MisterHibachi]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

Interesting.

[GSP]

Watch on YouTube

Ppl are gonne be shocked by how badly La dominates Houston

wont be surprised if its a bigger beating than the Portland series

If your chances of winning rely on high variance and spamming 3s working, youre not beating a defense like La with Lebron/Ad

[MyUniBroDavis]

Watch on YouTube

Ppl are gonne be shocked by how badly La dominates Houston

wont be surprised if its a bigger beating than the Portland series

If your chances of winning rely on high variance and spamming 3s working, youre not beating a defense like La with Lebron/Ad

I mean I think we'll win but I would say that the point of houstans offense is to eliminate those super smart defenders

otoh, I think the way this matchup works is, they have a plan A, we can counter with a bunch of different ways. if we pick the right one we would absolutely destroy them but coaches tend not to, although vogels smart on D so idk, whereas offensively we should schmack them if we do the right things

[LA Bird]

Lakers are gonna destroy Houston LOL. Not sure why so many think its a rough matchup

The perimeter defense will clamp out. Just the thought of Pj Tucker and Jeff Green guarding Ad is hilarious

Bron and Ad are peaking at the right time too. Who is even gonna check Lebron? Roco? lmao

Tucker has done a pretty decent job on Bron in the past. Assuming they'll go with him on Bron and Green on AD for a big chunk of the minutes. I do kinda agree that Lakers should be more favoured than some here are suggesting, but it just depends so much on who the 3-ball is falling for. If Houston gets hot from deep they can beat anybody.

When has Tucker had success on LeBron? :S I don't ever remember that being a thing, ever (eg. Tucker on the Raptors in '17).

That series gave us one of the more memorable NBA memes:



(LeBron averaged 36/8/5 on 73% TS in the sweep)

[RCM88x]

I think there's little change Tucker is the primary LeBron defender. That will be RoCo I think, they'll put Tucker on AD I believe.

[Homer38]

Tucker has done a pretty decent job on Bron in the past. Assuming they'll go with him on Bron and Green on AD for a big chunk of the minutes. I do kinda agree that Lakers should be more favoured than some here are suggesting, but it just depends so much on who the 3-ball is falling for. If Houston gets hot from deep they can beat anybody.

When has Tucker had success on LeBron? :S I don't ever remember that being a thing, ever (eg. Tucker on the Raptors in '17).

That series gave us one of the more memorable NBA memes:



(LeBron averaged 36/8/5 on 73% TS in the sweep)

LeBron was also 13-27 in 3 points in 4 games in that series!

[yoyoboy]

Straight up I honestly think LeBron can guard Kawhi and Giannis better than each of them can guard him right now. LeBron’s biggest flaw on the defensive end of the floor at this stage of his career is his lack of lateral quickness. His strength, discipline, and defensive IQ when it comes to their tendencies will allow him to match up with them a lot better than people think.

[eminence]

Yeah, House/Covington/Green all seem more likely than Tucker to be on LeBron. Houston has to finish OKC first though.

[MisterHibachi]

I think there's little change Tucker is the primary LeBron defender. That will be RoCo I think, they'll put Tucker on AD I believe.

RoCo is not an elite man defender, he's elite as a help defender though.

[MisterHibachi]

Straight up I honestly think LeBron can guard Kawhi and Giannis better than each of them can guard him right now. LeBron’s biggest flaw on the defensive end of the floor at this stage of his career is his lack of lateral quickness. His strength, discipline, and defensive IQ when it comes to their tendencies will allow him to match up with them a lot better than people think.

I really haven't been worried about the Bucks all year, Giannis cannot be trusted against elite defenses. I would much rather the Lakers play the Bucks than the Celtics.

[freethedevil]

Straight up I honestly think LeBron can guard Kawhi and Giannis better than each of them can guard him right now. LeBron’s biggest flaw on the defensive end of the floor at this stage of his career is his lack of lateral quickness. His strength, discipline, and defensive IQ when it comes to their tendencies will allow him to match up with them a lot better than people think.

I really haven't been worried about the Bucks all year, Giannis cannot be trusted against elite defenses. I would much rather the Lakers play the Bucks than the Celtics.

Giannis scored effeciently and had 9 assists in addition to creating 3 buckets from screens. If giannis scores one more bucket and gets one more assist we aren't having this conversation.

The real question here is

A. Why does this bucks team's perimiter d collapse without bledsoe

and
B. why is bud playiing the bench so much.