The Lebron '20 Thread (Pt. 7)

Joey Wheeler · Post #801 » by **Joey Wheeler** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:05 am

Denver are extremely impressive. I said before the season and then again before the playoffs that Houston was the only team in the league I could see take more than 1 game off the Lakers in a series, but honestly Denver were super close to doing it and while it'll likely end 4-1 that result is definitely a bit misleading.

Murray's breakthrough has made them a formidable force, the dude can't be stopped, keeps hitting absurd shots one after another. They're even defending Lebron reasonably well, they just don't have anybody who can match up with AD. They need to consider building around Jokic like Dallas did around Dirk, play him at the 4, pair him with a strong rim protecting center.

Post #802 » by **PaulieWal** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:06 am

xb3at band1tx wrote:
PaulieWal wrote:
donnieme wrote:AD has basically checked out on the defensive end since the Rockets series. He isn't helping on drives or protecting the paint. Hope he doesnt go the way of Kawhi who stopped all of that when his offensive load increased

I think Jokic is just a tough cover for him, he's still good on switches but he hasn't really looked that good on that end overall. If his defense falls off with an increased offensive load, then can't call him the best.

Yeah Joker is just a lot of work, I think if they close out Saturday, Davis can get back to that defensive level against Miami.

I really wanna see Bam vs. Davis. Bam is becoming one of my favorite players to watch right now and if he's matched up against the Lakers, will be rooting for him to take it to Davis lol. As much as Davis has been an offensive beast, I don't really enjoy watching him. On the other hand, I find Bam must watch TV - especially in the bubble. Not gonna lie, was not that familiar with him pre-bubble.

Dupp · Post #803 » by **Dupp** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:15 am

Lakers got lucky. Lebrons scoring looks bad too.

Also, sad times listening to his post game interview

JordansBulls · Post #804 » by **JordansBulls** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:17 am

LA vs Mia would be epic if not for the bubble and you actually going to those cities. We talking about two epic destinations that people want to be. I used to not like LA as a city and then I went and loved it. Paramount Studios was Awesome, as well as Musso & Frank's and of course going to Jimmy Kimmel's show.
I like Boston as well with the Freedom Trail, Neptune's Oyster, etc. Not much a fan of Denver as a city unless it is Colorado Springs.

freethedevil · Post #805 » by **freethedevil** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:18 am

Dupp wrote:Lakers got lucky. Lebrons scoring looks bad too.

Also, sad times listening to his post game interview

lebron scoring look bad but he's been playing better defense than davis.

xb3at band1tx · Post #806 » by **xb3at band1tx** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:21 am

LeBron basically took over on defense in that 4th. I get it was an ugly win but it was masterful with what he was doing with Murray in the final 6 minutes.

freethedevil · Post #807 » by **freethedevil** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:22 am

PaulieWal wrote:
xb3at band1tx wrote:
PaulieWal wrote:
I think Jokic is just a tough cover for him, he's still good on switches but he hasn't really looked that good on that end overall. If his defense falls off with an increased offensive load, then can't call him the best.

Yeah Joker is just a lot of work, I think if they close out Saturday, Davis can get back to that defensive level against Miami.

I really wanna see Bam vs. Davis. Bam is becoming one of my favorite players to watch right now and if he's matched up against the Lakers, will be rooting for him to take it to Davis lol. As much as Davis has been an offensive beast, I don't really enjoy watching him. On the other hand, I find Bam must watch TV - especially in the bubble. Not gonna lie, was not that familiar with him pre-bubble.

Not sure miami is gonna be easier for davis, given how much work BAm gave giannis offensively. He won't be pulled to the perimiter i guess.

Post #808 » by **PaulieWal** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:22 am

JordansBulls wrote:LA vs Mia would be epic if not for the bubble and you actually going to those cities. We talking about two epic destinations that people want to be. I used to not like LA as a city and then I went and loved it.
I like Boston as well. Not much a fan of Denver as a city unless it is Colorado Springs.

Never been to LA but loved Miami and actually got to watch LeBron there in 2014.

No way would be going to a game regardless, who's gonna pay for those expensive Finals tickets lol

mademan · Post #809 » by **mademan** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:23 am

Playing Miami will be much better for the Lakers. They got a couple more playmaking guards, but nobody with the offensive talent of Jokic or Murray. They can also go back to the HOU series no C rotations

Dupp · Post #810 » by **Dupp** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:27 am

freethedevil wrote:
Dupp wrote:Lakers got lucky. Lebrons scoring looks bad too.

Also, sad times listening to his post game interview

lebron scoring look bad but he's been playing better defense than davis.

Yeah I dunno what’s happening to Davis d this series. Maybe joker is just wearing him down. Things ain’t getting much easier with bam

xb3at band1tx · Post #811 » by **xb3at band1tx** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:29 am

freethedevil wrote:
PaulieWal wrote:
xb3at band1tx wrote:Yeah Joker is just a lot of work, I think if they close out Saturday, Davis can get back to that defensive level against Miami.

I really wanna see Bam vs. Davis. Bam is becoming one of my favorite players to watch right now and if he's matched up against the Lakers, will be rooting for him to take it to Davis lol. As much as Davis has been an offensive beast, I don't really enjoy watching him. On the other hand, I find Bam must watch TV - especially in the bubble. Not gonna lie, was not that familiar with him pre-bubble.

Not sure miami is gonna be easier for davis, given how much work BAm gave giannis offensively. He won't be pulled to the perimiter i guess.

Bam is awesome but Jokic just provides so many options for his team's offense especially being able to space the floor.

H2H a rebounding battle could be tough but Heat really have no other bigs to back Bam up (maybe olnyk?)

Despite all that, it's clear AD wants to play like he's KD anyways lol

yoyoboy · Post #812 » by **yoyoboy** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:34 am

As efficient as he's been I really don't like how much AD has been getting the ball dumped to him with the whole team clearing out. He's a great shot maker so it works a lot of the time but other times it really bogs down the offense for stretches. And he's not a good passer out of the double so when they crowd him he turns it over or kicks it back out for no advantage with a short clock.

Davis is at his best when he gets the ball on the move and can quickly attack without the defense being able to adequately prepare. You gotta give him ISO/post up possessions for sure so LBJ can rest and because he's just a great difficult shot maker. But I'd rather them tone it down a bit and try to run some sets that take advantage of him being maybe the greatest off the ball paint scoring big ever. Get some sets where screens free him up to dart across the middle of the paint. Or ones where he can cut along the baseline and try to get inside position on the other side. Or some PnP for those elbow jumpers rather than him having to take ISO jumpers.

Because LeBron has also had a tendency to run down the whole shot clock in this series and settle for jumpers (credit to Denver's paint packing), the Lakers' offense in general has been EXTREMELY uncomfortable for me to watch in this series most of the time. Good thing the results are a 3-1 lead though.

xb3at band1tx · Post #813 » by **xb3at band1tx** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:37 am

Yeah, the offense in the bubble has been really jank. It's a testament to the talent AD and Bron have but also the team defense that's been implemented and the results being what they are.

Heej · Post #814 » by **Heej** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:50 am

Dupp wrote:
freethedevil wrote:
Dupp wrote:Lakers got lucky. Lebrons scoring looks bad too.

Also, sad times listening to his post game interview

lebron scoring look bad but he's been playing better defense than davis.

Yeah I dunno what’s happening to Davis d this series. Maybe joker is just wearing him down. Things ain’t getting much easier with bam

Bam is nowhere near the matchup nightmare that Jokic is. He's running AD ragged all over the floor making him closeout insane distances and constantly bodying him down low and on the glass. Bam will present problems for him for sure but that matchup will be a walk in the park compared to Jokic to defend

apeezus · Post #815 » by **apeezus** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 5:51 am

2020 Playoff Bron/AD is an all-time level defensive duo. Hard to think of a more complete pair as far as perimeter D, rim protection and feel for team defense.

evilpimp972 · Post #816 » by **evilpimp972** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:14 am

It's kinda crazy that they aren't spamming that LBJ / AD pick and roll in the 4th quarters, it's like they are trying to avoid it lol

Dupp · Post #817 » by **Dupp** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:26 am

Heej wrote:
Dupp wrote:
freethedevil wrote:lebron scoring look bad but he's been playing better defense than davis.

Yeah I dunno what’s happening to Davis d this series. Maybe joker is just wearing him down. Things ain’t getting much easier with bam

Bam is nowhere near the matchup nightmare that Jokic is. He's running AD ragged all over the floor making him closeout insane distances and constantly bodying him down low and on the glass. Bam will present problems for him for sure but that matchup will be a walk in the park compared to Jokic to defend

Bam presents a completely different set of challenges. He’s just as big of a handful on the glass as joker. Besides that though bams really gonna work AD defensively. He’s the best matchup defensively for AD in the league.

That’s a little concerning given Lebrons scoring this series. Things will be tougher for lebron against Miami than Denver

Dupp · Post #818 » by **Dupp** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:27 am

evilpimp972 wrote:It's kinda crazy that they aren't spamming that LBJ / AD pick and roll in the 4th quarters, it's like they are trying to avoid it lol

Better come out in the finals

Dupp · Post #819 » by **Dupp** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:28 am

And wtf is going on with rondo? How is playoff rondo this real

yoyoboy · Post #820 » by **yoyoboy** » Fri Sep 25, 2020 6:33 am

It really frustrates me that Vogel hasn't been able to implement any strategies to take advantage of Denver packing the paint like this. You can't have AD setting a down screen in this situation to free up Green for a three up top? Or have Green and Dwight double screen the weak side defenders to get KCP open for the corner three? Or have KCP sprint baseline to the other side to draw Craig to the corner and free up LeBron for a drive? Or literally have all the players off ball just moving around in general to get the defense at least out of position and not literally just staring at LeBron while knowing where everyone else is on the floor?

Miami will no doubt take notes from Denver and pack the paint if they face the Lakers, and they have even better defensive personnel to execute it.