The Lebron Thread | 2021 (Pt. 3)

[MisterHibachi]

Lakers are going on a tough 6 game road trip, but are not in that bad a position right now. They're still a top 4 seed, 0.5 games out of 3rd.

LeBron injured his ankle 2 weeks ago today, and his timeline had been reported as 4-6 weeks. Lakers next home game is April 15, that's just under 4 weeks since injury. I doubt he's back for that, but maybe if his rehab is going well. I don't know what AD's timeline is but he's got to be getting close.

They have 3 winnable games in this road trip, Toronto, Charlotte and Knicks. If they go 3-3, they would be in a great position to close the season out with AD and LeBron back.

[MisterHibachi]

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Klutch client. Not bad as a end of the bench guy. Better than McKinnie.

[C0bR]

the Gasol/Drummond stuff already blowing up in their faces with Marc getting grumpy

to the Lakers/Nets stuff, I think it's far easier for a bad offense to become a good offense against bad defense, than for bad defense to become good defense against bad offense

[Texas Chuck]

Lakers are going on a tough 6 game road trip, but are not in that bad a position right now. They're still a top 4 seed, 0.5 games out of 3rd.

LeBron injured his ankle 2 weeks ago today, and his timeline had been reported as 4-6 weeks. Lakers next home game is April 15, that's just under 4 weeks since injury. I doubt he's back for that, but maybe if his rehab is going well. I don't know what AD's timeline is but he's got to be getting close.

They have 3 winnable games in this road trip, Toronto, Charlotte and Knicks. If they go 3-3, they would be in a great position to close the season out with AD and LeBron back.

The Lakers represent the little Mavs best chance of escaping the play-in. The good news for Dallas: easiest remaining schedule by record, no remaining road games against a single team with a winning record. The bad news: lots of b2b's where KP usually sits one and lately Luka as well.

While I selfishly want Dallas firmly in, and I really would love a rematch with the Clippers, its really going to suck if the Lakers end up in the play-in and the Suns or Jazz have to deal with them in round 1. Seems really unfortunate for them with the seasons they have had.

[Homer38]

Forget the Nets for a moment, if the lakers finish in the fourth seed or lower, the likely first round opponents of the Lakers will be the nuggets, clippers, suns or jazz

Who would be the hardest and easiest opponent for the lakers in the list?

[yoyoboy]

Forget the Nets for a moment, if the lakers finish in the fourth seed or lower, the likely first round opponents of the Lakers will be the nuggets, clippers, suns or jazz

Who would be the hardest and easiest opponent for the lakers in the list?

1. Suns
2. Nuggets
3. Jazz
4. Clippers

From easiest to hardest imo.

[nzahir]

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Klutch client. Not bad as a end of the bench guy. Better than McKinnie.

If Wayne or OPJ aren't getting bought out, sure

Do we have 1 roster spot left with Alfonzo?

Shot 40% last season when he played with Harden on 2.5 3s made a night, those are the type of looks he would get now

Not the looks he is currently getting on a horrible Hou team

[homecourtloss]

Until the end of the 2nd quarter, Lakers really played well defensively yet again. When it was 40-30, Lakers were 0-8 from three and the Clippers 5-12, so other than that horrid shooting, not too bad.

Regular season Rondo pretty **** as per usual

[Ballerhogger]

Until the end of the 2nd quarter, Lakers really played well defensively yet again. When it was 40-30, Lakers were 0-8 from three and the Clippers 5-12, so other than that horrid shooting, not too bad.

Regular season Rondo pretty **** as per usual

Pretty much and TO after TO

[Ballerhogger]

Forget the Nets for a moment, if the lakers finish in the fourth seed or lower, the likely first round opponents of the Lakers will be the nuggets, clippers, suns or jazz

Who would be the hardest and easiest opponent for the lakers in the list?

1. Suns
2. Nuggets
3. Jazz
4. Clippers

From easiest to hardest imo.

Can we just face the blazers instead

[Ballerhogger]

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Klutch client. Not bad as a end of the bench guy. Better than McKinnie.

Rob better be calling I don’t see Porter being bought out would of happened by now

[donnieme]

Gasol has really taken it another level in terms of raw production but he found his competitive motivation a bit too late. Actually played well a couple weeks before the Drummond signing. However Lebron teams cant have much patience because the expectations every night are high and double that for being a Laker. The way he started the season I don't think he quite realised he had anything to prove

[Greyhound]

Gasol has really taken it another level in terms of raw production but he found his competitive motivation a bit too late. Actually played well a couple weeks before the Drummond signing. However Lebron teams cant have much patience because the expectations every night are high and double that for being a Laker. The way he started the season I don't think he quite realised he had anything to prove

I don’t see any problem with how Gasol has played all season. He sold out for team, devoting his efforts to making others (and the team) look good.

The problem is that there are a plethora of clueless media people and fans that don’t understand basketball. If it’s not clearly visible on a stat sheet, they cannot see it. They assume that because Gasol is slow, he is a liability on defense. That is a false assumption and the furthest thing from the truth. The Lakers are dominant defensively with Gasol on the court.

Playing Gasol as a reserve (10-14 minutes) is fine. Cutting him out of the lineup entirely will be a major mistake.

[donnieme]

Gasol has really taken it another level in terms of raw production but he found his competitive motivation a bit too late. Actually played well a couple weeks before the Drummond signing. However Lebron teams cant have much patience because the expectations every night are high and double that for being a Laker. The way he started the season I don't think he quite realised he had anything to prove

I don’t see any problem with how Gasol has played all season. He sold out for team, devoting his efforts to making others (and the team) look good.

The problem is that there are a plethora of clueless media people and fans that don’t understand basketball. If it’s not clearly invisible on a stat sheet, they cannot see it. They assume that because Gasol is slow, he is a liability on defense. That is a false assumption and the furthest thing from the truth. The Lakers are dominant defensively with Gasol on the court.

Playing Gasol as a reserve (10-14 minutes) is fine. Cutting him out of the lineup entirely will be a major mistake.

Just like with AD his play in the first couple months weren't great. Don't think he was fit. His recovery on rotations were slow and he was still very passive. He was good in patches and bad in patches, That's the version that still sticks in people's minds.

At the very least you might have noticed he looks better than he did to start and is even more aggressive hunting his shot where he might have previously looked for a handoff at the top of the arc. Unfortunately now that he's in shape people are still going off of what they saw to start the season. However this definitely isn't the same player (physically and mentally) from december/january, he's visibly better. Even his hands/reflexes are back. I think his impact numbers are even trending back up in recent weeks. Lakers previous league worst interior defense must have taken a massive leap. The layup line concerns from early in the season has silently disappeared

[Greyhound]

Gasol has really taken it another level in terms of raw production but he found his competitive motivation a bit too late. Actually played well a couple weeks before the Drummond signing. However Lebron teams cant have much patience because the expectations every night are high and double that for being a Laker. The way he started the season I don't think he quite realised he had anything to prove

I don’t see any problem with how Gasol has played all season. He sold out for team, devoting his efforts to making others (and the team) look good.

The problem is that there are a plethora of clueless media people and fans that don’t understand basketball. If it’s not clearly invisible on a stat sheet, they cannot see it. They assume that because Gasol is slow, he is a liability on defense. That is a false assumption and the furthest thing from the truth. The Lakers are dominant defensively with Gasol on the court.

Playing Gasol as a reserve (10-14 minutes) is fine. Cutting him out of the lineup entirely will be a major mistake.

Just like with AD his play in the first couple months weren't great. Don't think he was fit. His recovery on rotations were slow and he was still very passive. He was good in patches and bad in patches, That's the version that still sticks in people's minds.

At the very least you might have noticed he looks better than he did to start and is even more aggressive hunting his shot where he might have previously looked for a handoff at the top of the arc. Unfortunately now that he's in shape people are still going off of what they saw to start the season. However this definitely isn't the same player (physically and mentally) from december/january, he's visibly better. Even his hands/reflexes are back. I think his impact numbers are even trending back up in recent weeks. Lakers previous league worst interior defense must have taken a massive leap. The layup line concerns from early in the season has silently disappeared

Even early on, his impact was there. He is clearly playing better now (in better shape as well), but he has never been a hindrance.

The scoring in the paint early on was more indicative of the scheme, not Marc’s inability.

The Lakers were attacking pick and roll ball handler’s with traps and hard closing out to shooters.
They were forcing teams to drive, while making it a point to contest without fouling (conceding layups over fouling or giving up the and-1). Then controlling the defensive glass.

They were essentially forcing teams to beat them scoring majority twos, instead of majority threes, while also limiting them to one shot per possession.

The strategy worked to the tune of easily the best defense in the league (early on).

...

The early season Lakers defense was better with Marc anchoring it (and surrendering paint points) then last seasons defense (with all its rim protection). Perception does not match reality in this instance.

[MisterHibachi]

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[donnieme]

I don’t see any problem with how Gasol has played all season. He sold out for team, devoting his efforts to making others (and the team) look good.

The problem is that there are a plethora of clueless media people and fans that don’t understand basketball. If it’s not clearly invisible on a stat sheet, they cannot see it. They assume that because Gasol is slow, he is a liability on defense. That is a false assumption and the furthest thing from the truth. The Lakers are dominant defensively with Gasol on the court.

Playing Gasol as a reserve (10-14 minutes) is fine. Cutting him out of the lineup entirely will be a major mistake.

Just like with AD his play in the first couple months weren't great. Don't think he was fit. His recovery on rotations were slow and he was still very passive. He was good in patches and bad in patches, That's the version that still sticks in people's minds.

At the very least you might have noticed he looks better than he did to start and is even more aggressive hunting his shot where he might have previously looked for a handoff at the top of the arc. Unfortunately now that he's in shape people are still going off of what they saw to start the season. However this definitely isn't the same player (physically and mentally) from december/january, he's visibly better. Even his hands/reflexes are back. I think his impact numbers are even trending back up in recent weeks. Lakers previous league worst interior defense must have taken a massive leap. The layup line concerns from early in the season has silently disappeared

Even early on, his impact was there. He is clearly playing better now (in better shape as well), but he has never been a hindrance.

The scoring in the paint early on was more indicative of the scheme, not Marc’s inability.

The Lakers were attacking pick and roll ball handler’s with traps and hard closing out to shooters.
They were forcing teams to drive, while making it a point to contest without fouling (conceding layups over fouling or giving up the and-1). Then controlling the defensive glass.

They were essentially forcing teams to beat them scoring majority twos, instead of majority threes, while also limiting them to one shot per possession.

The strategy worked to the tune of easily the best defense in the league (early on).

...

The early season Lakers defense was better with Marc anchoring it (and surrendering paint points) then last seasons defense (with all its rim protection). Perception does not match reality in this instance.

Yeah he was never a hindrance, that's not what it means to say he has improved his play in recent weeks.

About perception and reality, the reality actually matches the notion that he has improved from somewhat below average level in certain areas. There's also no scheme that tries to concede the 2nd worst field goal percentage at the rim in the league. You simply do not shut down 3s to give up layups at a high percentage, that would be mad. In the period Gasol uped his play the Lakers rim defense went from 2nd last to around 6th last so there's instance of reality matching perception when the stats actually support the notion.

Lakers actually had also posted a higher defensive rating in the minutes Gasol had been off the floor but the gap in his On/off has also began shrinking in recent weeks. Reality absolutely does match common perception. I get that he's underrated but you really can't say Laker fans, front office, the stats the media and everyone by eye and stat test conspired to fabricate the notion that he had patches of poor play earlier in the season simply because they don't understand basketball as much as you might. Truth is some of the criticism was actually very credible. He's a good player in much improved form but we don't need to revise his play through the entire season especially as we can both presently agree that his play currently is excellent.

[Greyhound]

Just like with AD his play in the first couple months weren't great. Don't think he was fit. His recovery on rotations were slow and he was still very passive. He was good in patches and bad in patches, That's the version that still sticks in people's minds.

At the very least you might have noticed he looks better than he did to start and is even more aggressive hunting his shot where he might have previously looked for a handoff at the top of the arc. Unfortunately now that he's in shape people are still going off of what they saw to start the season. However this definitely isn't the same player (physically and mentally) from december/january, he's visibly better. Even his hands/reflexes are back. I think his impact numbers are even trending back up in recent weeks. Lakers previous league worst interior defense must have taken a massive leap. The layup line concerns from early in the season has silently disappeared

Even early on, his impact was there. He is clearly playing better now (in better shape as well), but he has never been a hindrance.

The scoring in the paint early on was more indicative of the scheme, not Marc’s inability.

The Lakers were attacking pick and roll ball handler’s with traps and hard closing out to shooters.
They were forcing teams to drive, while making it a point to contest without fouling (conceding layups over fouling or giving up the and-1). Then controlling the defensive glass.

They were essentially forcing teams to beat them scoring majority twos, instead of majority threes, while also limiting them to one shot per possession.

The strategy worked to the tune of easily the best defense in the league (early on).

...

The early season Lakers defense was better with Marc anchoring it (and surrendering paint points) then last seasons defense (with all its rim protection). Perception does not match reality in this instance.

Yeah he was never a hindrance, that's not what it means to say he has improved his play in recent weeks.

About perception and reality, the reality actually matches the notion that he has improved from somewhat below average level in certain areas. There's also no scheme that tries to concede the 2nd worst field goal percentage at the rim in the league. You simply do not shut down 3s to give up layups at a high percentage, that would be mad. In the period Gasol uped his play the Lakers rim defense went from 2nd last to around 6th last so there's instance of reality matching perception when the stats actually support the notion.

Lakers actually had also posted a higher defensive rating in the minutes Gasol had been off the floor but the gap in his On/off has also began shrinking in recent weeks. Reality absolutely does match common perception. I get that he's underrated but you really can't say Laker fans, the stats the media and everyone by eye and stat test conspired to fabricate the notion that he had patches of poor play earlier in the season simply because they don't understand basketball as much as you might. Truth is some of the criticism was actually very credible. He's a good player in much improved form but we don't need to revise his play through the entire season especially as we can both presently agree that his play currently is excellent.

Once again, the perception does not match reality. You keep talking about the second worst field-goal percentage defense at the rim (in the league). What you fail to mention is that it was on by far the best overall defense in the league.

At the time they were the best defense in the league by a whole two points. Number two was closer to number ten then they were to them.

Who cares what the defensive fg% at the rim was. Defense was clearly not their problem. They were killing it on defense.

This is also one of the reasons I am so high on this teams defensive potential. If Davis were playing up to his level, that would probably solve the defense at the rim problem all on its own.

This team has bag over the head defensive potential, and I love that. That is one of the main reasons I was against major changes at the trade deadline.

[donnieme]

Even early on, his impact was there. He is clearly playing better now (in better shape as well), but he has never been a hindrance.

The scoring in the paint early on was more indicative of the scheme, not Marc’s inability.

The Lakers were attacking pick and roll ball handler’s with traps and hard closing out to shooters.
They were forcing teams to drive, while making it a point to contest without fouling (conceding layups over fouling or giving up the and-1). Then controlling the defensive glass.

They were essentially forcing teams to beat them scoring majority twos, instead of majority threes, while also limiting them to one shot per possession.

The strategy worked to the tune of easily the best defense in the league (early on).

...

The early season Lakers defense was better with Marc anchoring it (and surrendering paint points) then last seasons defense (with all its rim protection). Perception does not match reality in this instance.

Yeah he was never a hindrance, that's not what it means to say he has improved his play in recent weeks.

About perception and reality, the reality actually matches the notion that he has improved from somewhat below average level in certain areas. There's also no scheme that tries to concede the 2nd worst field goal percentage at the rim in the league. You simply do not shut down 3s to give up layups at a high percentage, that would be mad. In the period Gasol uped his play the Lakers rim defense went from 2nd last to around 6th last so there's instance of reality matching perception when the stats actually support the notion.

Lakers actually had also posted a higher defensive rating in the minutes Gasol had been off the floor but the gap in his On/off has also began shrinking in recent weeks. Reality absolutely does match common perception. I get that he's underrated but you really can't say Laker fans, the stats the media and everyone by eye and stat test conspired to fabricate the notion that he had patches of poor play earlier in the season simply because they don't understand basketball as much as you might. Truth is some of the criticism was actually very credible. He's a good player in much improved form but we don't need to revise his play through the entire season especially as we can both presently agree that his play currently is excellent.

Once again, the perception does not match reality. You keep talking about the second worst field-goal percentage defense at the rim (in the league). What you fail to mention is that it was on by far the best overall defense in the league.

At the time they were the best defense in the league by a whole two points. Number two was closer to number ten then they were to them.

Who cares what the defensive fg% at the rim was. Defense was clearly not their problem. They were killing it on defense.

This is also one of the reasons I am so high on this teams defensive potential. If Davis were playing up to his level that would probably solve the defense at the rim problem all on its own.

———-

This team has bag over the head defensive potential, and I love that. That is one of the main reasons I was against major changes at the trade deadline.

All good man, we don't have to agree on the details if we agree on the overall point. I'm also a fan of the defensive potential and was also against making major moves at the deadline

[MisterHibachi]

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Not a surprise tbh

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