So Whose Fault Is It That the Lakers Lost to the Trailblazers?

[Full Court]

You can't blame Westbrook for this one, so who does the blame fall on?

Vogel, who benched Westbrook?

Reaves, who shot 50% from the field?

THT, who shot 63% from the field?

Ellington, who shot 50% on three-pointers?

Ariza, who shot 50% from three?

AD, who went 8-11 and had five blocks?

Avery Bradly, who shot 40% from three?

Monk, because he didn't go off like he usually does?

Westbrook, for not cheering loud enough?

Or was it someone who had six turnovers?

Just curious what you guys think.

[TheGoatest]

LMAO, this alt really emphasized the one good thing everyone else did as a positive but then singled out the one bad thing one player did as the reason they lost the game. Makes perfect sense. Grasping for straws all season long. :oldlol:

[3ba11]

There's a misallocation of the scoring focus on this Laker team.

I made a thread about it here (http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?501799-Lakers-are-losing-because-Lebron-is-scoring-too-much-He-ain-t-Jordan)

[ImKobe]

Turnovers cost them the game. Lebron, Monk & THT combined for 15 of the 21 TOs.

[John_Connor]

monk, Horton, lebron all had way too many turnovers.. blazers got way more shots cause of it.

[expansionera]

AD didn’t take a shot in the 4th quarter, Lebron can’t win with a guy like that as his second option. Lebron was meant to hand the reigns over to AD and Russ at this stage of his career but now he’s made to do too much

[ImKobe]

AD didn’t take a shot in the 4th quarter, Lebron can’t win with a guy like that as his second option. Lebron was meant to hand the reigns over to AD and Russ at this stage of his career but now he’s made to do too much

Who's the guy responsible for getting the ball for AD? AD did create 3 or 4 of their made shots in the 4th though.

[RogueBorg]

monk, Horton, lebron all had way too many turnovers.. blazers got way more shots cause of it.

Don't expect TheGoatest to understand this.

[nineiron]

LMAO, this alt really emphasized the one good thing everyone else did as a positive but then singled out the one bad thing one player did as the reason they lost the game. Makes perfect sense. Grasping for straws all season long. :oldlol:

so what's the reason they lost to the lowly Trailblazers?

[n00bie]

monk, Horton, lebron all had way too many turnovers.. blazers got way more shots cause of it.

That just means Blazers had good defense.

[expansionera]

Who's the guy responsible for getting the ball for AD? AD did create 3 or 4 of their made shots in the 4th though.
AD needs to be more aggressive and create more for himself and his teammates, there’s a reason he has no FMVP. 39 year old Bron can not do it all anymore

[nineiron]

it's the fault of the worst defender on the team. LeRoid.

[ImKobe]

AD needs to be more aggressive and create more for himself and his teammates, there’s a reason he has no FMVP. 39 year old Bron can not do it all anymore

He assisted on 3 baskets in the 4th and had 6 assists overall. Maybe Bran should not turn the ball over and get the ball to AD in his spots like he did in 2020.. Bran wants to be the leading scorer and pad his numbers over playing winning basketball.. He's the one who got WB on the Lakers and he's the one not running the offense the way he used to.

[1987_Lakers]

AD needs to be more aggressive and create more for himself and his teammates, there’s a reason he has no FMVP. 39 year old Bron can not do it all anymore

This!

[expansionera]

He assisted on 3 baskets in the 4th and had 6 assists overall. Maybe Bran should not turn the ball over and get the ball to AD in his spots like he did in 2020.. Bran wants to be the leading scorer and pad his numbers over playing winning basketball.. He's the one who got WB on the Lakers and he's the one not running the offense the way he used to.

It sounds like AD is trying to do too much outside of his role, he needs to just get buckets and play defense and let Lebron handle the rock. If AD takes more than 8 shots in 40mins it takes pressure off Lebron defensively and leads to less turnovers

Lebron is the only one playing at an all star level on the roster and it shows, his teammates need to grow up and take responsibility. Lebron should be able to rest with two former all nba pros on his roster but instead he has to teach them how to win all the time

[1987_Lakers]

It sounds like AD is trying to do too much outside of his role, he needs to just get buckets and play defense and let Lebron handle the rock. If AD takes more than 8 shots in 40mins it takes pressure off Lebron defensively and leads to less turnovers

Lebron is the only one playing at an all star level on the roster and it shows, his teammates need to grow up and take responsibility. Lebron should be able to rest with two former all nba pros on his roster but instead he has to teach them how to win all the time

This!

[Manny98]

AD needs to be more aggressive and create more for himself and his teammates, there’s a reason he has no FMVP. 39 year old Bron can not do it all anymore
Except their offense wasn't the reason they lost, Lakers shot 55% from the field and made their 3 point shots

[expansionera]

Except their offense wasn't the reason they lost, Lakers shot 55% from the field and made their 3 point shots

Lebron has to play ALL the offense and all the defense at 39 years of age!? This is ridiculous the man needs some ****ing help I’m sick of this shit

[1987_Lakers]

Except their offense wasn't the reason they lost, Lakers shot 55% from the field and made their 3 point shots

Blazers scored 31 points in the 4th, if AD had any balls and was aggressive in the 4th he would have won.

[Elosha]

Lebron has to play ALL the offense and all the defense at 39 years of age!? This is ridiculous the man needs some ****ing help I’m sick of this shit

You keep saying he's 39 when he's only 37. Do you not know your own idol's age?

[expansionera]

You keep saying he's 39 when he's only 37. Do you not know your own idol's age?

How many players have averaged 30ppg in their age 38 season? Now he has to play All World defense at center as well. You guys are splitting hairs because you don’t want to discuss the obvious

I’m done here, this forum is too ****ing biased

[Druckenmiller]

AD is responsible for getting the ball. Maybe if he wasn’t half asleep he could get an offensive rebound or move around a little.

[shrempf_on_rice]

The most overrated garbage in NBA history. He's going to run and hide after the All-Star break. I guarantee it. Congrats Lakers fans, your team is mediocre for the next 10 years after trading away all the future to make this chump look descent for 1 mickey mouse season.

[Spurs m8]

You keep saying he's 39 when he's only 37. Do you not know your own idol's age?

He does

Hes just a deceptive, lying piece of dog shit

[bladefd]

The most overrated garbage in NBA history. He's going to run and hide after the All-Star break. I guarantee it. Congrats Lakers fans, your team is mediocre for the next 10 years after trading away all the future to make this chump look descent for 1 mickey mouse season.

Mickey mouse ring.. Every team was in the same position as the Lakers, but nobody else won. Why is that if it was so easy?

[ImKobe]

Mickey mouse ring.. Every team was in the same position as the Lakers, but nobody else won. Why is that if it was so easy?

It was a perfect storm for the Lakers. A ring is a ring but the strength of the opponents we faced in the POs was not exactly all-time level, especially with all the injuries. Again, it's not our fault that Kawhi choked but it doesn't rank anywhere near the most memorable championships in Lakers' history if we're being honest.

[Elosha]

How many players have averaged 30ppg in their age 38 season? Now he has to play All World defense at center as well. You guys are splitting hairs because you don’t want to discuss the obvious

I’m done here, this forum is too ****ing biased


:facepalm. He just turned 37 on December 30, you doofus.

[Bronbron23]

You can't blame Westbrook for this one, so who does the blame fall on?

Vogel, who benched Westbrook?

Reaves, who shot 50% from the field?

THT, who shot 63% from the field?

Ellington, who shot 50% on three-pointers?

Ariza, who shot 50% from three?

AD, who went 8-11 and had five blocks?

Avery Bradly, who shot 40% from three?

Monk, because he didn't go off like he usually does?

Westbrook, for not cheering loud enough?

Or was it someone who had six turnovers?

Just curious what you guys think.

Mainly lebron. Over a dozen times he gave up in disgust and didn't get back on defense.

[bladefd]

It was a perfect storm for the Lakers. A ring is a ring but the strength of the opponents we faced in the POs was not exactly all-time level, especially with all the injuries. Again, it's not our fault that Kawhi choked but it doesn't rank anywhere near the most memorable championships in Lakers' history if we're being honest.

Portland was on a tear in the bubble. Houston was looking good rolling into playoffs. Denver still had jokic/Murray duo. Miami was at full strength. Let's not act like it was an easy road to the finals and easy finals against a depleted team. That was the path the bucks had last year.

[ImKobe]

Portland was on a tear in the bubble. Houston was looking good rolling into playoffs. Denver still had jokic/Murray duo. Miami was at full strength. Let's not act like it was an easy road to the finals and easy finals against a depleted team. That was the path the bucks had last year.

Portland was on a tear because Dame carried them and he got injured in that series. Houston looked good pre-bubble until WB caught COVID & had a quad injury, he missed most of the 1st round series and was nowhere near 100% in the Lakers' series and Rockets had no chance without rim protection. Denver was good. Miami was NOT at full strength lmao. Dragic & Bam both got injured early in the series..

Bucks had a tougher road last year. Nets had injuries but they were still as good as any team the Lakers faced. Suns were better than any opponent than the Lakers faced and you could make the same argument for the Hawks as well.

[BigKobeFan]

Westbrook. Because

[Hey Yo]

It was a perfect storm for the Lakers. A ring is a ring but the strength of the opponents we faced in the POs was not exactly all-time level, especially with all the injuries. Again, it's not our fault that Kawhi choked but it doesn't rank anywhere near the most memorable championships in Lakers' history if we're being honest.
LOL @ we

You were rooting for LA to lose but instead got ruined by LeBron.

[Full Court]

LMAO, this alt really emphasized the one good thing everyone else did as a positive but then singled out the one bad thing one player did as the reason they lost the game. Makes perfect sense. Grasping for straws all season long. :oldlol:

Now here's a shocker.

GoatTits, AKA TheConstipation, is too tiny brained to see that Brony's SIX turnovers were a MAJOR contributor to the Lakers losing.

[bladefd]

Portland was on a tear because Dame carried them and he got injured in that series. Houston looked good pre-bubble until WB caught COVID & had a quad injury, he missed most of the 1st round series and was nowhere near 100% in the Lakers' series and Rockets had no chance without rim protection. Denver was good. Miami was NOT at full strength lmao. Dragic & Bam both got injured early in the series..

Bucks had a tougher road last year. Nets had injuries but they were still as good as any team the Lakers faced. Suns were better than any opponent than the Lakers faced and you could make the same argument for the Hawks as well.

Dame got hurt in game 4. Lakers were up 2-1 by then in back-to-back blowouts. LeBron was on a tear along with AD. Portland had no response after game 1. Are we really going to overlook that?
Houston was tearing it up from 3pt line. Yeah, Westbrook was horrendous after returning so we could say that was a crap series.
Denver was good.
You are right they were not 100%, I forgot about Dragic missing half the Heat series. I will give you that one. Bam missed 2 games too. The way LeBron/AD were both playing, I don't think it would have made a difference however. That's probably a separate argument though. They were good team but certainly not as good as Suns last year.

That Bucks stuff is asinine. Everyone the Bucks faced was severely injured until the Suns. The only teams standing were the healthy teams like Bucks, Suns, and Hawks. Against Hawks, Trae missed 2 out of 6 games. If we are making a huge deal of Bam/Dragic missing games, are we really going to disregard Trae missing games? Hawks go as Trae goes.

The Suns in 2021 are the one exception because they were healthy & better than anything Lakers faced in 2020. Outside of that one exception, I think Lakers overall played healthier teams in 2020 than Bucks in 2021.

[Chuckbe]

https://i.ibb.co/bvj0QRn/NBA-Highlights-Los-Angeles-Lakers-vs-Portland-Trail-Blazers-Full-Game-Highlights-2021-22-NBA-Season.png

[beasted]

:facepalm. He just turned 37 on December 30, you doofus.
:yaohappy:

[ImKobe]

Dame got hurt in game 4. Lakers were up 2-1 by then in back-to-back blowouts. LeBron was on a tear along with AD. Portland had no response after game 1. Are we really going to overlook that?
Houston was tearing it up from 3pt line. Yeah, Westbrook was horrendous after returning so we could say that was a crap series.
Denver was good.
You are right they were not 100%, I forgot about Dragic missing half the Heat series. I will give you that one. Bam missed 2 games too. The way LeBron/AD were both playing, I don't think it would have made a difference however. That's probably a separate argument though. They were good team but certainly not as good as Suns last year.

That Bucks stuff is asinine. Everyone the Bucks faced was severely injured until the Suns. The only teams standing were the healthy teams like Bucks, Suns, and Hawks. Against Hawks, Trae missed 2 out of 6 games. If we are making a huge deal of Bam/Dragic missing games, are we really going to disregard Trae missing games? Hawks go as Trae goes.

The Suns in 2021 are the one exception because they were healthy & better than anything Lakers faced in 2020. Outside of that one exception, I think Lakers overall played healthier teams in 2020 than Bucks in 2021.

Dame's injury ended that series. Didn't he get injured twice? I think it was a hand injury at first and then he injured his knee in Game 4.

Rockets could shoot 3s but just had no chance without WB playing at his mid-season level, he wasn't healthy.

Butler went off in the Finals but them not having Bam or a healthy Bam later in the series really hurt their chances of winning. It was still a relatively close series as they won some close games but imagine if they had a healthy Bam to protect the rim & a healthy Dragic, who led them in scoring through the first 3 rounds, that's a different story.

Like I said, the Bucks' opponents dealt with injuries as well but they had to win a Game 7 on the road and in OT with KD playing the best offensive basketball of his life, they don't get by without the Irving & Harden injuries but even with just KD, 3 games of Kyrie, hobbled Harden and Harris, the Nets were a tougher opponent than maybe 3 of the 4 opponents that the Lakers faced in 2020.

Trae got injured too yeah but I could make the same argument you did with Portland & say that they were down 1 - 2 with B2B blowout losses. And Giannis got injured in that series too and missed the last 2 games so I think the injuries even themselves out.

So overall I would say the Bucks had a tougher road. Their opponents had injuries too but were still better & Giannis had to overcome the knee injury to come back for the Finals and play at the highest level for his team to win.

[bladefd]

Dame's injury ended that series. Didn't he get injured twice? I think it was a hand injury at first and then he injured his knee in Game 4.

Rockets could shoot 3s but just had no chance without WB playing at his mid-season level, he wasn't healthy.

Butler went off in the Finals but them not having Bam or a healthy Bam later in the series really hurt their chances of winning. It was still a relatively close series as they won some close games but imagine if they had a healthy Bam to protect the rim & a healthy Dragic, who led them in scoring through the first 3 rounds, that's a different story.

Like I said, the Bucks' opponents dealt with injuries as well but they had to win a Game 7 on the road and in OT with KD playing the best offensive basketball of his life, they don't get by without the Irving & Harden injuries but even with just KD, 3 games of Kyrie, hobbled Harden and Harris, the Nets were a tougher opponent than maybe 3 of the 4 opponents that the Lakers faced in 2020.

Trae got injured too yeah but I could make the same argument you did with Portland & say that they were down 1 - 2 with B2B blowout losses. And Giannis got injured in that series too and missed the last 2 games so I think the injuries even themselves out.

So overall I would say the Bucks had a tougher road. Their opponents had injuries too but were still better & Giannis had to overcome the knee injury to come back for the Finals and play at the highest level for his team to win.

It's not a different story against Portland or Houston or Miami. AD and LeBron were playing great basketball. None of the teams had an answer for the 2. AD was tearing it up in the paint, LeBron was doing great playmaking & scoring at will. Both were big time in crunch minutes. We had solid role-players doing their thing. Miami was the only team that stood a chance if they had been fully healthy. I still would not expect Miami to pull through.

KD ran out of gas at the end of regulation trying to carry his squad. Bucks were healthy and barely could beat a broken nets team. Add either kyrie or Harden playing more, bucks don't make it out. I don't think the hawks were a very good team with Trae - hawks without trae is worse than Portland without Dame but with McCollum/nurkic.

The depleted nets were approximately a notch below where Denver was.

Miami heat last year was probably a bit better than the heat that Lakers faced.

Suns were the big exception.

[Full Court]

https://i.ibb.co/bvj0QRn/NBA-Highlights-Los-Angeles-Lakers-vs-Portland-Trail-Blazers-Full-Game-Highlights-2021-22-NBA-Season.png

Bingo.

[lakerstekkenn]

There's a reason why certain players just don't play or aren't that good although they play on terrible teams, certain players just can't play the game at a level to win or play defense they don't have the ability to play superior defense on a championship team they can shoot lights out but are a problem on the defensive end the Lakers have shooters, but their role players just can't play a high championship level of defense, their championship team three years ago had players that understood defense and could play at a higher defensive level it's just the way it is certain players just can't play on a higher level they keep making mistakes.

The Lakers have role players who just can't play superior playoff high level defense they can't play basic level defense they don't have the athletic abilities at times they play okay but every time they get beat easily off the dribble screens and slashes there's nothing anybody can do about it.

[Full Court]

There's a reason why certain players just don't play or aren't that good although they play on terrible teams, certain players just can't play the game at a level to win or play defense they don't have the ability to play superior defense on a championship team they can shoot lights out but are a problem on the defensive end the Lakers have shooters, but their role players just can't play a high championship level of defense, their championship team three years ago had players that understood defense and could play at a higher defensive level it's just the way it is certain players just can't play on a higher level they keep making mistakes.

The Lakers have role players who just can't play superior playoff high level defense they can't play basic level defense they don't have the athletic abilities at times they play okay but every time they get beat easily off the dribble screens and slashes there's nothing anybody can do about it.

Insightful post :cheers:

I think you've hit the main problem.