Denver in 5 or sweep

[3ba11]

.
1) Denver demolished Booker/KD (122 to 112 team ortg), while the Lakers had trouble with Curry (113 to 110)


* notice how Denver held the Suns to 112 ortg but that wasn't due to great individual defenders - the long-standing, organic Nuggets simply wear out opponents with superior brand of ball, thus yielding lower defensive requirements.

2) Warriors had some success when they brought AD away from the rim and Denver has far greater capacity to do that - that's their whole game - they don't have non-scorers like Draymond or Looney and have perfected a new brand of ball that wears teams out

3) Jokic & Murray are 25-30 ppg guys, while Lebron and AD only averaged 20-25 ppg against a 1-man team (Warriors), so they will perform worse and be more worn down against the Nuggets' superior onslaught

4) Jokic is best player in series and will dictate brand of ball

5) Reaves and D-Lo will be easy work for Murray compared to Booker and Anthony Edwards (who Murray played great against)

[BarberSchool]

100% not a sweep.

Lakers will win AT LEAST game 3 or 4, with hella FTA. Cmon man lol

[3ba11]

100% not a sweep.

Lakers will win AT LEAST game 3 or 4, with hella FTA. Cmon man lol


That's true the refs will give the Lakers 1 game.. But this series will look like the 09' ECF or 14' Finals where everyone was surprised at the inferiority of Lebron's heavy favorite or super-team.

The issue is that 20-25 ppg won't be enough for AD and Lebron, so they will need to rely too much on Reaves/D-Lo and others - meanwhile, Jokic and Murray will be at 25-30 ppg - they're just a better duo - the best itl

[AlternativeAcc.]

:roll:

In on another "Oubre > Klay" caliber thread

Picking the nuggets is so disastrous

[AlternativeAcc.]

That's true the refs will give the Lakers 1 game.. But this series will look like the 09' ECF or 14' Finals where everyone was surprised at the inferiority of Lebron's heavy favorite or super-team.

The issue is that 20-25 ppg won't be enough for AD and Lebron, so they will need to rely too much on Reaves/D-Lo and others - meanwhile, Jokic and Murray will be at 25-30 ppg - they're just a better duo - the best itl

Good logic

Durant/Booker being a higher scoring duo won them the series.

[Keno]

lebron in 5

[kawhileonard2]

Devin Booker himself broke Lebron.

Devin Booker put up 47 his playoff career high on Lebron .....
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?496095-Devin-Booker-put-up-47-his-playoff-career-high-on-Lebron

Lebron stacking the deck in 2022 because he is afraid of Devin Booker
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?496549-Lebron-stacking-the-deck-in-2022-because-he-is-afraid-of-Devin-Booker

[SouBeachTalents]

Good logic

Durant/Booker being a higher scoring duo won them the series.
:oldlol:

You just ethered the shit out of him, completely dismantled his argument. Now time for some serious goal post moving.

[8Ball]

That's true the refs will give the Lakers 1 game.. But this series will look like the 09' ECF or 14' Finals where everyone was surprised at the inferiority of Lebron's heavy favorite or super-team.

The issue is that 20-25 ppg won't be enough for AD and Lebron, so they will need to rely too much on Reaves/D-Lo and others - meanwhile, Jokic and Murray will be at 25-30 ppg - they're just a better duo - the best itl

Good logic

Durant/Booker being a higher scoring duo won them the series.

[1987_Lakers]

3ball has a very simplistic way of looking at things. When judging match-ups, he just goes by the best 2-3 players on both teams and that will determine who will win the series. Completely ignores other starters and some key bench players and not to mention he completely disregards defense all the time.

[3ba11]

Good logic

Durant/Booker being a higher scoring duo won them the series.


Jokic was easily the best player in the series, while Murray was still very good at 25 ppg, which makes them the best duo

It's impressive that Murray can still get 25 ppg while facing the onslaught of Booker, so he will have a field day against reaves and d-lo

[AlternativeAcc.]

:oldlol:

You just ethered the shit out of him, completely dismantled his argument. Now time for some serious goal post moving.

It's a weird angle he's taking here. From a trolling perspective I think it'd be better to claim the Lakers are juggernauts and heavy favorites. Even if they lose he can claim LeBron underachieved due to inferior brand


He's claiming the Nugs not only have a better brand but also have more talent at the top... Jokic/Murray is the best duo in the league he says... there is no backtracking now.


Needless to say, this won't end well for him. :lol

[AlternativeAcc.]

Jokic was easily the best player in the series, while Murray was still very good at 25 ppg, which makes them the best duo

It's impressive that Murray can still get 25 ppg while facing the onslaught of Booker, so he will have a field day against reaves and d-lo

The game isn't played 1 on 1 and Lakers switch everything

He will not be literally guarded by dlo and Reaves all game.

So what's the excuse when the Nuggets lose? You're gonna claim AD is Kareem again?

[NBAGOAT]

How will denver take away ad from rim more than nuggets. Warriors do play some non shooters but take more 3s and have the goat shooting backcourt. Nuggets have shooters around jokic but he mostly plays in the paint still

[3ba11]

3ball has a very simplistic way of looking at things. When judging match-ups, he just goes by the best 2-3 players on both teams and that will determine who will win the series. Completely ignores other starters and some key bench players and not to mention he completely disregards defense all the time.


Actually, I thought the MOST about the "others" but simply cut out the weeds and presented the factors that matter - I realized that the role players cancel out for this particular series.. Essentially, the over-stacked-ness of the Lakers causes a situation where the 5th through 7th best players (Rui, Walker, Vanderbilt) don't get enough minutes (barely 100 minutes each) to impact the series the way lesser talents like Pope or Bowen do (150-200 minutes).. This is part of the Nuggets' chemistry advantage from having a long-standing organic system and chemistry that allows these guys to be superstars in their roles, while the Lakers bite their fingernails on the bench and wonder if they'll get back in the game

[Full Court]

Devin Booker himself broke Lebron.

Devin Booker put up 47 his playoff career high on Lebron .....
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?496095-Devin-Booker-put-up-47-his-playoff-career-high-on-Lebron

Lebron stacking the deck in 2022 because he is afraid of Devin Booker
http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/showthread.php?496549-Lebron-stacking-the-deck-in-2022-because-he-is-afraid-of-Devin-Booker

Lakers are so stacked though, they don't need Lebron at all to win. They have enough firepower to win even when LeShrivel is in chuck up bricks/dead weight mode.

It's the Lakers series to lose. The Nuggets have been playing well as a team though, so hopefully it will be a competitive series.

[3ba11]

How will denver take away ad from rim more than nuggets. Warriors do play some non shooters but take more 3s and have the goat shooting backcourt. Nuggets have shooters around jokic but he mostly plays in the paint still


AD will be consumed by Jokic and won't be able to wander wherever he wants on defense like he did against Dray or Looney (non-threats)

And Jokic often starts out higher with hand-offs and such

Btw, Murray is a dominant player compared to Klay, who wasn't a viable option.. The Warriors were literally a 1-man team with Wiggins declining to a 15 ppg player and Klay can't hit the broadside of a barn anymore.. Of course there's no Poole party - he never finished his development - something stunted it.. Again, it was a 1-man team led by a 35-year old - that's what the Lakers barely outscored

[3ba11]

The game isn't played 1 on 1 and Lakers switch everything

He will not be literally guarded by dlo and Reaves all game.

So what's the excuse when the Nuggets lose? You're gonna claim AD is Kareem again?


Each of the top 20 PER's of all-time won titles - Jokic is the only guy that hasn't - he's due and this is the year.

You guys are underrating a guy that was about to win 3 straight MVP's and his PER is currently equal to 1991 MJ.. This isn't 2020 Jokic - this is 1991 MJ

[SouBeachTalents]

Each of the top 20 PER's of all-time won titles - Jokic is the only guy that hasn't - he's due and this is the year.

You guys are underrating a guy that was about to win 3 straight MVP's and his PER is currently equal to 1991 MJ.. This isn't 2020 Jokic - this is 1991 MJ
If the Lakers win this series, let's see how he tries to spin 38 year old LeBron beating 1991 Jordan lol.

[AlternativeAcc.]

Each of the top 20 PER's of all-time won titles - Jokic is the only guy that hasn't - he's due and this is the year.

You guys are underrating a guy that was about to win 3 straight MVP's and his PER is currently equal to 1991 MJ.. This isn't 2020 Jokic - this is 1991 MJ

Respect

You're actually making a prediction predicated on someone else's greatness and not just shitting on LeBron.

It's obviously wrong and you will look foolish, but I do respect this approach much more

[AlternativeAcc.]

If the Lakers win this series, let's see how he tries to spin 38 year old LeBron beating 1991 Jordan lol.
"Davis > Kareem.. I've seen enough!"

:lol

[3ba11]

If the Lakers win this series, let's see how he tries to spin 38 year old LeBron beating 1991 Jordan lol.


You should already know that the only way Lebron has EVER won is by having more help than MJ ever had and having teammates to nearly match or lead the scoring

But the issue is that Lebron and AD barely mustered 20-25 ppg against weaker opposition (Warriors).. If they were just playing possum and can average 25-30 to match Murray/Jokic, then the Lakers have a chance.. But even if they do that, the Lakers must overcome their 5th through 7th best players splitting minutes and impact compared to the Nuggets' mainstays.. It's an inherent disadvantage the Lakers have at the 5th through 7th spots due to over-stacked-ness over over-manufacturing the resume

[TheMan]

No way, the NBA wants LA to advance so they'll get a bunch of friendly calls, it's gonna be a tight series.

[BarberSchool]

No way, the NBA wants LA to advance so they'll get a bunch of friendly calls, it's gonna be a tight series.
Lakers FTA in game 3-4 will be numerous, and they will likely win both games at home and the media will sell a line of sh!t to the programmable suckers placing bets from the SoCal region, to get them all hype for games 5 and 6, when “do the lakers now have the momentum?” Line, then let their Vegas friends laugh all the way to the bank in game 5 & 6.

Denver in 6.

[TheMan]

Lakers FTA in game 3-4 will be numerous, and they will likely win both games at home and the media will sell a line of sh!t to the programmable suckers placing bets from the SoCal region, to get them all hype for games 5 and 6, when “do the lakers now have the momentum?” Line, then let their Vegas friends laugh all the way to the bank in game 5 & 6.

Denver in 6.

I think it goes 7, each team winning at home. If Jokic owns AD, it might end in 6 but Denver winning in LA with the refs doing their best to keep LA in it will be tough to overcome...and it's not a conspiracy nut theory either, it has happened before (LA vs SAC).

[BarberSchool]

^Also with LA & Portland just seasons prior to SAC getting totally screwed by the league.


Each of the top 20 PER's of all-time won titles - Jokic is the only guy that hasn't - he's due and this is the year.

You guys are underrating a guy that was about to win 3 straight MVP's and his PER is currently equal to 1991 MJ.. This isn't 2020 Jokic - this is 1991 MJvery underrated point.

I would be curious to know what the percentage of “top 20 all time” in other statistical categories have also won titles that same season …. Particularly how many from amongst the big traditional metrics: top 20 scoring seasons ever, top 20 assist seasons ever, etc

[ImKobe]

Lakers have 2 of the 3 best players in the series, the better defense and they have better depth off the bench. The only way Denver wins in 4-5 is if AD gets injured early in the series.


Each of the top 20 PER's of all-time won titles - Jokic is the only guy that hasn't - he's due and this is the year.

You guys are underrating a guy that was about to win 3 straight MVP's and his PER is currently equal to 1991 MJ.. This isn't 2020 Jokic - this is 1991 MJ

You could have made the same argument for Lebron in 2011 and he ended up losing. It doesn't work that way. Jokic is probably the best player in the series but he's going up against a really good team that has some advantages over his.

[Phoenix]

You could have made the same argument for Lebron in 2011 and he ended up losing. It doesn't work that way. Jokic is probably the best player in the series but he's going up against a really good team that has some advantages over his.

Didn't you say in another thread that AD is arguably the best player in the league? If thats your position how is Joker the best player in the seres ( he is, but that contradicts your sentiments on AD)?

[NBAGOAT]

AD will be consumed by Jokic and won't be able to wander wherever he wants on defense like he did against Dray or Looney (non-threats)

And Jokic often starts out higher with hand-offs and such

Btw, Murray is a dominant player compared to Klay, who wasn't a viable option.. The Warriors were literally a 1-man team with Wiggins declining to a 15 ppg player and Klay can't hit the broadside of a barn anymore.. Of course there's no Poole party - he never finished his development - something stunted it.. Again, it was a 1-man team led by a 35-year old - that's what the Lakers barely outscored

These playoffs jokic has been playing in low post way more. Also you didn’t watch the lakers series, they put ad on Wiggins quite often so gs couldn’t spam curry dray pnrs and ad often had to guard on the perimeter because of curry

[ImKobe]

Didn't you say in another thread that AD is arguably the best player in the league? If thats your position how is Joker the best player in the seres ( he is, but that contradicts your sentiments on AD)?

Well duh, Jokic is obviously on that level. It's not like I said that AD is the best player in the league and it's not close. You could argue for Jokic or Giannis or Embiid or Curry as well, depending on your bias and what you value most.

Match-up wise I think Jokic should have the better numbers since so much of Denver's offense revolves around him, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers dominated with AD leading the way in scoring like we saw in the bubble, where he averaged 31.2 ppg on 67%TS in the WCF.
Jokic has the ball a lot more on offense so he's going to have the better averages on paper, but when you watch the games you're going to see how much impact Davis has on the defensive side.

[Phoenix]

Well duh, Jokic is obviously on that level. It's not like I said that AD is the best player in the league and it's not close. You could argue for Jokic or Giannis or Embiid or Curry as well, depending on your bias and what you value most.



Well duh, but you said AD is arguably the best in the league. If he was 1) reliable health-wise and 2) consistent enough game to game, maybe he's in the conversation. But he's neither of those things so no, it isn't arguable. Is Joker 'arguably' the best in the series, or definitively? Because if you feel its the latter, than your sentiments on AD are negated.

[ImKobe]

Well duh, but you said AD is arguably the best in the league. If he was 1) reliable health-wise and 2) consistent enough game to game, it would be arguable. But he's neither of those things so no, it isn't arguable.

AD has missed 3 games since returning from injury (jan 25th).

He is arguably the best player in the league when healthy, which he is right now.

[Phoenix]

AD has missed 3 games since returning from injury (jan 25th).

He is arguably the best player in the league when healthy, which he is right now.


No he isn't, even when healthy. Is Joker 'definitely' or 'arguably' better than AD at the moment?

[SouBeachTalents]

Jokic is better than AD. It is what it is.

[ImKobe]

[/B]

No he isn't, even when healthy.

That's your opinion. Haters say he's not consistent enough yet he's a monster on defense damn near any game and it far outweighs the 5 or 10 more points he could have scored if the team actually needed him to be the focal point on offense all the time. It's like saying Tim Duncan wasn't consistent enough because he didn't try to score 30 every game. AD can be mediocre to bad on offense and still have a great game, which is something you can't say about Jokic or Curry.

[Phoenix]

Jokic is better than AD. It is what it is.

As is Embiid and Giannis. Now could AD on any given day match or outplay those guys in a game? Sure, he has that level of ability. But 'best in the league' typically takes how one performs game to game, week to week, month to month into account and he doesn't have an argument over those guys on that front. Hell, if someone walked off an alien ship and was exposed to basketball for the first time 2 weeks ago, he/she/they might have caught Booker playing out of his mind and coming to the conclusion 'WOW, that guy must be the best player?!' But that's not how it works.

[Phoenix]

That's your opinion. Haters say he's not consistent enough yet he's a monster on defense damn near any game and it far outweighs the 5 or 10 more points he could have scored if the team actually needed him to be the focal point on offense all the time. It's like saying Tim Duncan wasn't consistent enough because he didn't try to score 30 every game. AD can be mediocre to bad on offense and still have a great game, which is something you can't say about Jokic or Curry.

Thanks, I wouldn't have know that otherwise. Well now that we've established that we're throwing our opinions out there, my opinion is you hype him for the same reason I've you hype Kyrie, and it has nothing to do with AD or Kyrie.

In my opinion, he's not better than Giannis, Joker, and Emibiid. He can't carry a team over the course of a season like the first two especially, regardless of what specific skill by skill edges he may have over one or the other. Now could he go batshit over a series and be a two way monster? Absolutely. Doesn't make him 'arguably' the best player. Unless you're making the case that you'd take him for a season over those guys. Because if you wouldn't, then.....

[ImKobe]

Thanks, I wouldn't have know that otherwise. Well now that we've established that we're throwing our opinions out there, my opinion is you hype him for the same reason I've you hype Kyrie, and it has nothing to do with AD or Kyrie.

In my opinion, he's not better than Giannis, Joker, and Emibiid. He can't carry a team over the course of a season like the first two especially, regardless of what specific skill by skill edges he may have over one or the other. Now could he go batshit over a series and be a two way monster? Absolutely. Doesn't make him 'arguably' the best player, though.

Tim Duncan was never even arguably the best player in the game because he wasn't consistent enough at scoring points by your logic.

[SouBeachTalents]

As is Embiid and Giannis. Now could AD on any given day match or outplay those guys in a game? Sure, he has that level of ability. But 'best in the league' typically takes how one performs game to game, week to week, month to month into account and he doesn't have an argument over those guys on that front. Hell, if someone walked off an alien ship and was exposed to basketball for the first time 2 weeks ago, he/she/they might have caught Booker playing out of his mind and coming to the conclusion 'WOW, that guy must be the best player?!' But that's not how it works.
Bottomline is those 3 bigs you mentioned don’t have the luxury of scoring less than 20 points on numerous occasions and still have their team win multiple playoff series. He tried to equate it to Duncan which feels disingenuous, Duncan despite sacrificing his attempts for the sake of the team was still the Spurs leading scorer for 4 titles, and 22 ppg in 2005-2007 does not equal 22 ppg today.

[Phoenix]

Tim Duncan was never even arguably the best player in the game because he wasn't consistent enough at scoring points by your logic.

I haven't made a single point about scoring so no, that's not my logic.

[Phoenix]

Bottomline is those 3 bigs you mentioned don’t have the luxury of scoring less than 20 points on numerous occasions and still have their team win multiple playoff series. He tried to equate it to Duncan which feels disingenuous, Duncan despite sacrificing his attempts for the sake of the team was still the Spurs leading scorer for 4 titles, and 22 ppg in 2005-2007 does not equal 22 ppg today.

In 2020 AD averaged 26ppg on a team that averaged 113ppg. In 2002, what's recognized as a very tough defensive enviroment with repressed scoring, Duncan dropped 25.5(26 rounded) on a team averaging 97( granted he was playing higher minutes, and we all know AD would fold like an accordian if asked to play 40mpg). Now, when he's firing on all cylinders I do think AD is a more explosive scorer, but as you said....

[ImKobe]

Bottomline is those 3 bigs you mentioned don’t have the luxury of scoring less than 20 points on numerous occasions and still have their team win multiple playoff series. He tried to equate it to Duncan which feels disingenuous, Duncan despite sacrificing his attempts for the sake of the team was still the Spurs leading scorer for 4 titles, and 22 ppg in 2005-2007 does not equal 22 ppg today.

It's just stupid to use his recent scoring numbers as the reason why he can't be arguably the best player in the league when he's been an efficient high-volume scorer almost his entire career. Even this season he averaged 26 ppg on on ~63%TS with the injuries and all the games he left early in, but post-ASB he's been healthy and pretty damn consistent on defense with great scoring stretches when they've needed it.

[Phoenix]

It's just stupid to use his recent scoring numbers as the reason why he can't be arguably the best player in the league when he's been an efficient high-volume scorer almost his entire career. Even this season he averaged 26 ppg on on ~63%TS with the injuries and all the games he left early in, but post-ASB he's been healthy and pretty damn consistent on defense with great scoring stretches when they've needed it.

Let's cut to the chase of what I said earlier: Over the course of a season, RIGHT NOW, are you taking AD over Giannis/Joker/Embiid? If you believe AD is 'arguably' the best player and you're likely to get the best team result with him if all things are equal, then your answer can only be 'yes'. We can beat around the bush on all the other back and forth, but that's a fairly easy question to answer.

[ImKobe]

In 2020 AD averaged 26ppg on a team that averaged 113ppg. In 2002, what's recognized as a very tough defensive enviroment with repressed scoring, Duncan dropped 25.5(26 rounded) on a team averaging 97( granted he was playing higher minutes, and we all know AD would fold like an accordian if asked to play 40mpg). Now, when he's firing on all cylinders I do think AD is a more explosive scorer, but as you said....

Ok, so you ignore the difference in pace when mentioning Duncan's mpg.

They started cutting Duncan's minutes already at 26 years old (went from 39-40 to 36). He averaged just 34.8 mpg at 29, which is how old AD is right now, and AD played 34 mpg in the RS and 36 mpg in the POs and he has to move a lot more defensively than TD ever did.

[SouBeachTalents]

Let's cut to the chase of what I said earlier: Over the course of a season, RIGHT NOW, are you taking AD over Giannis/Joker/Embiid? If you believe AD is 'arguably' the best player and you're likely to get the best team result with him if all things are equal, then your answer can only be 'yes'. We can beat around the bush on all the other back and forth, but that's a fairly easy question to answer.
You just have to have a huge bias to say yes to this :lol AD’s great but he just does not have the track record those 3 do, period. His only notable success came with a still BITW caliber LeBron in the bubble he and others like to shit on lol.

[Phoenix]

Ok, so you ignore the difference in pace when mentioning Duncan's mpg.

They started cutting Duncan's minutes already at 26 years old (went from 39-40 to 36). He averaged just 34.8 mpg at 29, which is how old AD is right now, and AD played 34 mpg in the RS and 36 mpg in the POs and he has to move a lot more defensively than TD ever did.

Ignored? I highlighted that Duncan was playing more minutes but do you honestly think scoring 26ppg in 2020 under todays rules is greater than 26ppg in 2002? Bear in mind, this is also Kobe's era we're talking about in reference to Duncan's numbers, so be mindful with your reply.

AD may have to move about more defensively but the level of physicality in Duncan's era balances it out if your argument is about which era would wear you down more.

[Phoenix]

You just have to have a huge bias to say yes to this :lol AD’s great but he just does not have the track record those 3 do, period. His only notable success came with a still BITW caliber LeBron in the bubble he and others like to shit on lol.

I'm waiting on his reply. He'd have to say yes to justify his stance. Should be easy enough to answer if he's true to his position.

[ImKobe]

Let's cut to the chase of what I said earlier: Over the course of a season, RIGHT NOW, are you taking AD over Giannis/Joker/Embiid? If you believe AD is 'arguably' the best player and you're likely to get the best team result with him if all things are equal, then your answer can only be 'yes'. We can beat around the bush on all the other back and forth, but that's a fairly easy question to answer.

That's not my initial point and that's not what arguably even means.

I do believe he's played as well as anyone in these POs.

[Axe]

1-9

[ImKobe]

Ignored? I highlighted that Duncan was playing more minutes but do you honestly think scoring 26ppg in 2020 under todays rules is greater than 26ppg in 2002? Bear in mind, this is also Kobe's era we're talking about in reference to Duncan's numbers, so be mindful with your reply.

AD may have to move about more defensively but the level of physicality in Duncan's era balances it out if your argument is about which era would wear you down more.

Again, you do not factor in the pace of the game, nor how much ground AD has to cover defensively, and TD was playing 33-34 mpg before he even hit his 30s.

TD was a low 20s scorer with Kobe's efficiency (actually worse than KB in efficiency in a lot of those years). AD has had a bunch of seasons scoring 28 ppg on high efficiency, and won a title scoring ~28 ppg on 66.5%TS.

[Phoenix]

That's not my initial point and that's not what arguably even means.

I do believe he's played as well as anyone in these POs.

Booker was playing as well as anyone else for a period.

Sooooo.... are you taking AD over Giannis/Embiid/Joker for a season? The question isn't irrelevant to the conversation spawned from your 'initial point'. If he's arguably the best in the league then you should feel comfortable in saying you'd take him over anyone else in the conversation, no conditions, no 'when he's healthy'....no 'well during the playoffs'.

[ImKobe]

Booker was playing as well as anyone else for a period.

Sooooo.... are you taking AD over Giannis/Embiid/Joker for a season? The question isn't irrelevant to the conversation spawned from your 'initial point'. If he's arguably the best in the league then you should feel comfortable in saying you'd take him over anyone else in the conversation, no conditions, no 'when he's healthy'....no 'well during the playoffs'.

Why do you keep moving the goalposts. When healthy I'll take AD over those 3 guys in a Playoff series, but that doesn't mean he's a level above any of these guys. Embiid hasn't even made it out of the 2nd round and gets injured every Playoffs and missed most of the first 3 seasons of his career due to injuries, yet he doesn't get half the criticism that AD does regarding availability. The mother****er is injured every damn Playoffs in every year of his career.

[SouBeachTalents]

Why do you keep moving the goalposts. When healthy I'll take AD over those 3 guys in a Playoff series, but that doesn't mean he's a level above any of these guys. Embiid hasn't even made it out of the 2nd round and gets injured every Playoffs and missed most of the first 3 seasons of his career due to injuries, yet he doesn't get half the criticism that AD does regarding availability. The mother****er is injured every damn Playoffs in every year of his career.
Embiid I get, but Jokic & Giannis? Nah :lol Even in the bubble AD was not playing at the level Giannis was in 2021 or Jokic is currently.

[Phoenix]

Again, you do not factor in the pace of the game, nor how much ground AD has to cover defensively, and TD was playing 33-34 mpg before he even hit his 30s.

TD was a low 20s scorer with Kobe's efficiency (actually worse than KB in efficiency in a lot of those years). AD has had a bunch of seasons scoring 28 ppg on high efficiency, and won a title scoring ~28 ppg on 66.5%TS.

Booker just had scoring series this playoffs greater than prime MJ and Kobe in terms of volume/efficiency. Shall I ignore the context of their relative scoring environments?

Beyond that, you're the one who is talking about scoring volume, which I never was. I was talking about consistency, meaning with prime Duncan you knew what you were getting night in, night out. We've seen AD have 30/20 followed by 15/8 several times, inexplicably. It's a widely held talking point of 'which AD is going to show up' that you're pretending has no track record to be a fair point of discussion.

[Phoenix]

Why do you keep moving the goalposts. When healthy I'll take AD over those 3 guys in a Playoff series, but that doesn't mean he's a level above any of these guys. Embiid hasn't even made it out of the 2nd round and gets injured every Playoffs and missed most of the first 3 seasons of his career due to injuries, yet he doesn't get half the criticism that AD does regarding availability. The mother****er is injured every damn Playoffs in every year of his career.

There's no moving the goalposts, and it's a question you should be able to answer even if it was. If I make a statement that someone is the best player in the league, that would mean I'm taking that player as my anchor over anyone else over the season WHICH INCLUDES THE PLAYOFFS.

You're creating specific conditions to make a case for AD while avoiding the larger question. 'I would take him in the playoffs'.....ok........ do you also believe he gives you a better chance to MAKE the playoffs over those guys, especially Giannis and Joker if you want to toss out Embiid for his own health woes in prior years? Because part of the consideration for which player you would take should take into account which player is likely to best carry you through a season to ( ideally) a high seeding to maximize your chances in the playoffs. Do you believe that player to be AD in 2023? Or is that another 'you're moving the goalposts' question that is out of bounds for the discussion?

[StrongLurk]

Well, Denver SHOULD win this series.

They are the 1 seed with the best player in the league and a lot of good pieces.

I'm surprised 3-ball hasn't praised Lebron winning 2 series in a row as a clear underdog...oh wait I'm not surprised.

[NBAGOAT]

Embiid I get, but Jokic & Giannis? Nah :lol Even in the bubble AD was not playing at the level Giannis was in 2021 or Jokic is currently.

yea kind of telling only guy he went over is embiid. Giannis and jokic have been consistently dominant regular season and playoffs and no I'm not even taking healthy AD over them in a playoff series. AD is capable of outplaying those guys over a series but doesnt mean it's likely to happen. By that there are many guys capable steph, kd, dame, butler, luka, kawhi to name them. Booker was matching jokic the first 4 games.

[tpols]

100% not a sweep.

Lakers will win AT LEAST game 3 or 4, with hella FTA. Cmon man lol

Yea... if LA is down 0-2, Game 3 will probably be the easiest bet to ever place.

[ImKobe]

Booker just had scoring series this playoffs greater than prime MJ and Kobe in terms of volume/efficiency. Shall I ignore the context of their relative scoring environments?

Beyond that, you're the one who is talking about scoring volume, which I never was. I was talking about consistency, meaning with prime Duncan you knew what you were getting night in, night out. We've seen AD have 30/20 followed by 15/8 several times, inexplicably. It's a widely held talking point of 'which AD is going to show up' that you're pretending has no track record to be a fair point of discussion.

AD's had more games of 22+ points than the lower-scoring ones (17 or below) in these POs, and he's had 10+ reb in 9 out of 12 games, and he's had 2+ blocks in 10 out of 12 games and more games with 5+ blocks than games with less than 2, and he's had 2 games where he shot worse than 45%. That's pretty damn consistent.

This shit with his consistency in these POs is so overblown. He had 16 points against Memphis in Game 6, so you'd consider that a below-average game by AD's standards just from the boxscore at face value, but that was the most dominant AD game of this entire Playoff run because he completely shut down the Grizzlies by his damn self and he didn't need to take more than 9 shots or score any points at all because they won by 40 points, but I'm pretty sure they used his 16 points in the graphic as a sign of "inconsistency" during one of these GS games, even though he had 16/14 5 blocks in just 28 minutes in a damn blowout.

[tontoz]

There is a series thread already for predictions. OP is so self important. :facepalm

[Phoenix]

AD's had more games of 22+ points than the lower-scoring ones (17 or below) in these POs, and he's had 10+ reb in 9 out of 12 games, and he's had 2+ blocks in 10 out of 12 games and more games with 5+ blocks than games with less than 2, and he's had 2 games where he shot worse than 45%. That's pretty damn consistent.

This shit with his consistency in these POs is so overblown. He had 16 points against Memphis in Game 6, so you'd consider that a below-average game by AD's standards just from the boxscore at face value, but that was the most dominant AD game of this entire Playoff run because he completely shut down the Grizzlies by his damn self and he didn't need to take more than 9 shots or score any points at all because they won by 40 points, but I'm pretty sure they used his 16 points in the graphic as a sign of "inconsistency" during one of these GS games, even though he had 16/14 5 blocks in just 28 minutes in a damn blowout.

Incredible answer. So with that said, over a season including playoffs you taking AD over Giannis/Embiid/Joker at this stage? If you believe AD is 'arguably' the best player, the answer is yes without qualifiers, because if the question was posed to you back in the mid 2000s you'd probably feel comfortable saying Kobe.

[ArbitraryWater]

Good logic

Durant/Booker being a higher scoring duo won them the series.

:oldlol:

[tpols]

How will denver take away ad from rim more than nuggets. Warriors do play some non shooters but take more 3s and have the goat shooting backcourt. Nuggets have shooters around jokic but he mostly plays in the paint still

Like he said having non shooters like looney and dray who have literally 0 shooting threat allowed LA to hyper focus on Curry and Klay. And allowed AD to stay near the paint.

The only game the warriors won decisively was Game 2 when Jamychael Green started in Looneys place and was banging 3s. It brought a totally different dynamic to the game.

The only weak spot here is Aaron Gordon. They need that guy to hit jumpers because LA is going to have Lebron defending him, conserving energy and daring him to shoot. They need AG to step up in that respect. He's the key to the series and the Nuggets winning. If AG shoots well, there's no way the Nuggets lose.

[tpols]

AD's had more games of 22+ points than the lower-scoring ones (17 or below) in these POs, and he's had 10+ reb in 9 out of 12 games, and he's had 2+ blocks in 10 out of 12 games and more games with 5+ blocks than games with less than 2, and he's had 2 games where he shot worse than 45%. That's pretty damn consistent.

This shit with his consistency in these POs is so overblown. He had 16 points against Memphis in Game 6, so you'd consider that a below-average game by AD's standards just from the boxscore at face value, but that was the most dominant AD game of this entire Playoff run because he completely shut down the Grizzlies by his damn self and he didn't need to take more than 9 shots or score any points at all because they won by 40 points, but I'm pretty sure they used his 16 points in the graphic as a sign of "inconsistency" during one of these GS games, even though he had 16/14 5 blocks in just 28 minutes in a damn blowout.

ImKobe going off.

[ImKobe]

Incredible answer. So with that said, over a season including playoffs you taking AD over Giannis/Embiid/Joker at this stage?

With the way he's playing right now? Yeah. Not sure what that has to do with my initial point about Lakers' chances in the WCF.


Jokic has been demolishing some low-caliber teams. Now he's playing an actual title contender.

[Phoenix]

With the way he's playing right now? Yeah. Not sure what that has to do with my initial point about Lakers' chances in the WCF.


Jokic has been demolishing some low-caliber teams. Now he's playing an actual title contender.

Jesus you could have said that 4 posts ago. How hard was it, really? You'd take AD for a season over Giannis/Joker/Embiid. That actually falls in line with saying AD is 'arguably' the best player. Which means that Joker is not the best player in this series,as you also contended.

Yeah, Joker's been feasting on low-caliber teams. As opposed to the beastly Grizzlies.

[tpols]

With the way he's playing right now? Yeah. Not sure what that has to do with my initial point about Lakers' chances in the WCF.


Jokic has been demolishing some low-caliber teams. Now he's playing an actual title contender.

The sun's definitely weren't low caliber. They were a title favorite before jokic put an all time smackdown on them.

[ImKobe]

Jesus you could have said that 4 posts ago. How hard was it, really? You'd take AD for a season over Giannis/Joker/Embiid.

Yeah, Joker's been feasting on low-caliber teams. As opposed to the beastly Grizzlies.

Twolves & Suns were much worse than the Grizzlies & Warriors man cmon. Twolves are basically a lower IQ version of the Grizzlies and the depleted Suns weren't anywhere close to a healthy GS team that the Lakers played in the 2nd round.


The sun's definitely weren't low caliber. They were a title favorite before jokic put an all time smackdown on them.

With CP0 out and with Ayton out in Game 6 too? No chance. I don't see how you contend for a title with a team with 0 depth that's missing 2 of it's starters by the end of the series.

[Phoenix]

Twolves & Suns were much worse than the Grizzlies & Warriors man cmon. Twolves are basically a lower IQ version of the Grizzlies and the depleted Suns weren't anywhere close to a healthy GS team that the Lakers played in the 2nd round.



This is the first series the Lakers won't have an inherit interior edge to leverage, and the Nuggets aren't the same as the Grizzlies and a depleted Suns team. The idea that 'Joker is now facing real competition' as you said above goes the other way as well, for both the Lakers and for AD.

[ArbitraryWater]

Twolves & Suns were much worse than the Grizzlies & Warriors man cmon. Twolves are basically a lower IQ version of the Grizzlies and the depleted Suns weren't anywhere close to a healthy GS team that the Lakers played in the 2nd round.



With CP0 out and with Ayton out in Game 6 too? No chance. I don't see how you contend for a title with a team with 0 depth that's missing 2 of it's starters by the end of the series.

Ayton was out 1 game, thats not the Suns team Jokic played. Make it make sense.

[ImKobe]

Ayton was out 1 game, thats not the Suns team Jokic played. Make it make sense.

Like I said, he played a team with no depth that was down 2 starters by Game 6. No way that team was anywhere close to as good as the Warriors.

[ImKobe]

This is the first series the Lakers won't have an inherit interior edge to leverage, and the Nuggets aren't the same as the Grizzlies and a depleted Suns team. The idea that 'Joker is now facing real competition' as you said above goes the other way as well, for both the Lakers and for AD.

Lakers will have an advantage with their 3 guard lineups.

[Goldrush25]

I don't know why people do this to themselves.

[tpols]

Twolves & Suns were much worse than the Grizzlies & Warriors man cmon. Twolves are basically a lower IQ version of the Grizzlies and the depleted Suns weren't anywhere close to a healthy GS team that the Lakers played in the 2nd round.



With CP0 out and with Ayton out in Game 6 too? No chance. I don't see how you contend for a title with a team with 0 depth that's missing 2 of it's starters by the end of the series.

Chris Paul always quits in the playoffs. Nothing new. Ayton also quit after jokic punished him relentlessly. "Rib contusion". Aka he got beat up and sat over a bruising. Soft. Jokic is just a bad dude.

[ArbitraryWater]

Like I said, he played a team with no depth that was down 2 starters by Game 6. No way that team was anywhere close to as good as the Warriors.

so basically he played a team that was without 1 starter? and the other he pummeled to submission?

k thx

[Phoenix]

Lakers will have an advantage with their 3 guard lineups.

They should have an advantage with AD, arguably being the best player in the series.

[PP34Deuce]

Denver has Murray jokic and sometimes Michael Porter.

Streaky shooters in kcp and brown. A vet in jeff green rhat will have one throwback game in the series.

Aaron Gordon is not a world beater so this matchuo I'd closer than people think.

D'Angelo and reaves as ball handlers should alternate picking their spots. Kcp and brown match up well with them defensively

[imdaman99]

Please, I've been picking every team to beat the Lakers. It's time we accept they got healthy at the right moment and have the perfect blend of championship studs with young talent that is too naive to be nervous for a title run.

Lakers in 6 like the other 2 series. Could work the exact same way with the Lakers stealing hc in game 1 and holding on to close it at home in 6

[90sgoat]

My guess is that Nuggets will try to switch both Jokic and Murray on Lebron and beat him on dribbles and in the post, leaving him fatigued.

Could get ugly.

[3ba11]

They should have an advantage with AD, arguably being the best player in the series.


You're finally gonna learn how unimportant individual defense is when comparing players

It's easier to build a good defensive team around goat offensive talents like MJ, Curry or Jokic, since they can carry the scoring load and allow GM's to surround them with cheap defenders.

Otoh, it's harder for GM's to build a good defensive team around great defenders like Pippen or Draymond because they require expensive offensive help.

In addition to carrying the scoring load and allowing GM's to seek cheap defenders, the generational offensive talents like Curry, MJ or Jokic yield a goat-level of strategic capacity/coaching and a brand of ball that wears down opponents, thereby yielding lower defensive requirements - so they can have great defensive teams without being great defenders themselves

[Phoenix]

You're finally gonna learn how unimportant individual defense is when comparing players

It's easier to build a good defensive team around goat offensive talents like MJ, Curry or Jokic, since they can carry the scoring load and allow GM's to surround them with cheap defenders.

Otoh, it's harder for GM's to build a good defensive team around great defenders like Pippen or Draymond because they require expensive offensive help.

In addition to carrying the scoring load and allowing GM's to seek cheap defenders, the generational offensive talents like Curry, MJ or Jokic yield a goat-level of strategic capacity/coaching and a brand of ball that wears down opponents, thereby yielding lower defensive requirements - so they can have great defensive teams without being great defenders themselves

What does that have to do with my comment? And are you aware of the context I made that statement( the discussion with ImKobe), or did you just happen to latch onto that particular comment and take it as face value? Because if you did, refer to the prior 3 pages for my comments on Jokic.

Also, you do realize that your comment infers that the Bulls were a great defensive team, but MJ himself wasn't a great defender.

[ImKobe]

They should have an advantage with AD, arguably being the best player in the series.

They did last time. This time I think the Lakers' depth plays more of a role. This is a series where they should have a lot of success with putting 3 guards out there where they can target Jokic in P&Rs all game no matter who he's guarding, and I have more faith in the non-AD minutes if Ham rests him at the right time (when Jokic sits).

[3ba11]

What does that have to do with my comment? And are you aware of the context I made that statement( the discussion with ImKobe), or did you just happen to latch onto that particular comment and take it as face value? Because if you did, refer to the prior 3 pages for my comments on Jokic.

Also, you do realize that your comment infers that the Bulls were a great defensive team, but MJ himself wasn't a great defender.


I never said MJ wasn't a great defender but the same logic that applies to Jokic or Curry applies to Jordan - you can surround them with cheap defenders because they can carry the scoring load.

And we'll see about Jokic - I think he's much better than his 2020 version and I think AD/Lebron are worse - Lebron has been bad since he lost a 2-1 lead in 2021 Playoffs - the only difference this time is that the NBA stacked his roster so he can't lose - the Lakers have 6 guys that recently averaged 19+ in a season or clearly demonstrate 20 ppg capability (AD, Lebron, D-Lo, Reaves, Schroeder, Rui).. No one is close to having six guys that can get 20 points routinely, while AD or Lebron are the best "2nd option" in the league..

Prime Jordan would never lose with the casts that Lebron had previously or this year, while Lebron yields underdogs regardless of cast (with Wade/Bosh or Love/Kyrie or AD/D-Lo/Reaves/Schroeder/Rui/Walker).

[Phoenix]

I never said MJ wasn't a great defender but the same logic that applies to Jokic or Curry applies to Jordan - you can surround them with cheap defenders because they can carry the scoring load..

This is what you said:




In addition to carrying the scoring load and allowing GM's to seek cheap defenders, the generational offensive talents like Curry, MJ or Jokic yield a goat-level of strategic capacity/coaching and a brand of ball that wears down opponents, thereby yielding lower defensive requirements - so they can have great defensive teams without being great defenders themselves


Your comment above lumps MJ in with Jokic and Curry, so if your intent was to classify the latter two as not great defenders then your statement as written clearly included MJ in that assessment. I assume that's not what you intended but it's very much what you wrote.

[3ba11]

Aged well

[jmcwilliams]

This is the second time in Lebron's career that a giant white dude kicked his ass.

[3ba11]

This is the second time in Lebron's career that a giant white dude kicked his ass.


Lol

imagine what Bird would've done, especially in today's beginner format - great players like Bird and Jokic can take advantage of the spacing, defensive 3 seconds (open paint) and hands-off/no-impede defense more than lesser players

[kawhileonard2]

This is the second time in Lebron's career that a giant white dude kicked his ass.

Lebron has lost to most elite bigs. Dwight, KG, Duncan, Dirk to name a few even with HCA.

[kenmax1983]

Denver in 4:lol

[Full Court]

3ball once again proving that he's one of the highest IQ posters on here when it comes to basketball.


Bronie fluffers are in a shambles. :roll:

[90sgoat]

3ball literally the only poster who called it.

The only poster!!!

How will the ISH forum recover?

[Full Court]

3ball literally the only poster who called it.

The only poster!!!

How will the ISH forum recover?

I think the mods should give themselves 24-hour bans out of respect. :roll:

[plowking]

3ball literally the only poster who called it.

The only poster!!!

How will the ISH forum recover?

This was 3balls hopes and dreams thread. Him putting his wishes out there into the world. This wasn't some excellent basketball breakdown.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[ShawkFactory]

3ball literally the only poster who called it.

The only poster!!!

How will the ISH forum recover?

Are you impressed?

[BarberSchool]

100% not a sweep.

Lakers will win AT LEAST game 3 or 4, with hella FTA. Cmon man lol




That's true the refs will give the Lakers 1 game.. But this series will look like the 09' ECF or 14' Finals where everyone was surprised at the inferiority of Lebron's heavy favorite or super-team.

The issue is that 20-25 ppg won't be enough for AD and Lebron, so they will need to rely too much on Reaves/D-Lo and others - meanwhile, Jokic and Murray will be at 25-30 ppg - they're just a better duo - the best itl

Never felt so good to be so wrong!
Thank the NBA for not attempting some obvious fixing for a major market historic franchise.

[Celtics 1825]

Time to put some respeck on 3ball's name.

[ShawkFactory]

Time to put some respeck on 3ball's name.

He’ll turn on Jokic pretty quickly if they win. Don’t you worry.

[Bawkish]

This was 3balls hopes and dreams thread. Him putting his wishes out there into the world. This wasn't some excellent basketball breakdown.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Even though i disagree a lot with OP with his obssessions, it's fair to say that he did a good breakdown of how will the series end up. Murray & Joker were too much for Bron & AD. It's a sound argument. Hopes and dreams came from Bronies instead

[Phoenix]

He’ll turn on Jokic pretty quickly if they win. Don’t you worry.

He's working on his 'Jokic is the most overrated player ever' dissertation as we speak. Then two months later he'll roll around and say Jokic is top 5( the 1,546th time he's shifted his ranking), something about Joker proving him wrong, he called it all along, expert jumpshooters, bullshit bullshit yadda yadda yawn.

We know how this shit works at this point.

[dunksby]

Goddamn! 3ball went full prophetic on this one!

[Phoenix]

This is the first series the Lakers won't have an inherit interior edge to leverage, and the Nuggets aren't the same as the Grizzlies and a depleted Suns team. The idea that 'Joker is now facing real competition' as you said above goes the other way as well, for both the Lakers and for AD.

:cheers:

[StrongLurk]

Ya'll are dumb as hell. 3ball makes these kind of predictions for both sides of the fence all the time. He made multiple threads "predicting" the Lakers would win the chip this year, and he also made this thread...he makes threads that cover all possible results and then says "wow Im smart" when one of those possibilities inevitably happen.

[HoopologyPhD]

3Ball is labeled as a nutty conspiracy theorist by conventional who are jealous of his superior basketball knowledge

[90sgoat]

Are you impressed?

I'm not impressed with the other idiots on this forum, that's for sure.

[ShawkFactory]

Ya'll are dumb as hell. 3ball makes these kind of predictions for both sides of the fence all the time. He made multiple threads "predicting" the Lakers would win the chip this year, and he also made this thread...he makes threads that cover all possible results and then says "wow Im smart" when one of those possibilities inevitably happen.

Correct.

Most of the anti-Bron trolls do exactly this tbh.

[Manny98]

Always said 3ball is one of the highest IQ posters, it's just his fixation on the same two topics is what brings him down to being insufferable

[Kblaze8855]

Wasn’t there a “The league makes Lebrons teams too good to lose” topic or do I have who made that mixed up?

[tpols]

Actually, I thought the MOST about the "others" but simply cut out the weeds and presented the factors that matter - I realized that the role players cancel out for this particular series.. Essentially, the over-stacked-ness of the Lakers causes a situation where the 5th through 7th best players (Rui, Walker, Vanderbilt) don't get enough minutes (barely 100 minutes each) to impact the series the way lesser talents like Pope or Bowen do (150-200 minutes).. This is part of the Nuggets' chemistry advantage from having a long-standing organic system and chemistry that allows these guys to be superstars in their roles, while the Lakers bite their fingernails on the bench and wonder if they'll get back in the game


OP really called that shit. Lakers were shook in every 4th quarter while the Nuggets were cool and confident.

[3ba11]

Wasn’t there a “The league makes Lebrons teams too good to lose” topic or do I have who made that mixed up?


Yes but this assumes a dominant Lebron and passable clutch numbers, not the horrific play that we saw.

The only reason the Lakers started playing great is because Reaves, Rui, D-Lo and company went bonkers late in the season with Lebron off-the-ball.

Unfortunately, Lebron isn't capable of being dominant as an off-ball player, so he could only add 23 ppg on top of the existing roster and yield a whimpering underdog instead of adding 30-35 like MJ or Curry to produce dominant favorites

In previous years, it was Lebron's ball-dominance that produced underdogs and this year it was Lebron's inability to dominate off-ball - either way his weak off-ball play hurt his team's chemistry, strategy and team ceiling for his entire career - 2 decades of underdogs and needy teams due to the weak chemistry & strategy that his skillset yields

[3ba11]

I was going to make a new thread for this year but this one will suffice

[BarberSchool]

This bump will be priceless if Denver can deliver back to back sweeps to LeFraud Shames and the FakeShow.

Hopefully the league’s corrupt figureheads can resist fixing it the way I assumed they would last year lol


100% not a sweep.

Lakers will win AT LEAST game 3 or 4, with hella FTA. Cmon man lol


Lakers FTA in game 3-4 will be numerous, and they will likely win both games at home and the media will sell a line of sh!t to the programmable suckers placing bets from the SoCal region, to get them all hype for games 5 and 6, when “do the lakers now have the momentum?” Line, then let their Vegas friends laugh all the way to the bank in game 5 & 6.

Denver in 6.

Never felt so good to be so wrong!
Thank the NBA for not attempting some obvious fixing for a major market historic franchise.

[j3lademaster]

Jokic had 5 points on 28.6% shooting when defended by AD and his other 27 points were scored on Lebron, Rui, and Reaves on 81% shooting. His percentage on Lebron was 86%. AD also lead the Lakers in points, rebounds and blocks. He’s become a forgotten superstar imo.

https://www.nba.com/game/lal-vs-den-0042300151/box-score?type=matchups

[BarberSchool]

Lakers played their best first half in years.
LeBron had a seriously great game defensively, in transition, timely and clutch half court scoring, one of the best passes of the entire season with that quick recognition 65ft fling to AD down court….

AD had his best first half in many years.
Attempted 1 shot in the 4th. 0pts.

DLo shot the lights out in the first 30min.

And they’re still down 2-0.

All the pressure is now on them to win game 3 at home.
If the game is close in the 4th quarter, watch carefully who shrinks.

[ImKobe]

Jokic had 5 points on 28.6% shooting when defended by AD and his other 27 points were scored on Lebron, Rui, and Reaves on 81% shooting. His percentage on Lebron was 86%. AD also lead the Lakers in points, rebounds and blocks. He’s become a forgotten superstar imo.

https://www.nba.com/game/lal-vs-den-0042300151/box-score?type=matchups

AD will always take the blame and get none of the credit for the wins. That's how it is being a teammate of Lebron's. AD will have a monster game in a win and the first Laker-related thing you see on r/NBA is some clip of Bron or his stat line while AD's is mentioned somewhere deep in the post-game results page.

Look at how they mocked his injuries these previous years and criticized him online and on national TV when he didn't put up huge scoring numbers in the POs despite his dominant play on the defensive side. No real mention of his durability or his improved play this year, they just kinda point that out in passing but they'll give him all the shit if he does underpeform. A rookie on a 22-win team is a DPOY finalist over him. It's a joke.

[SATAN]

AD disappeared in the second half. I blame the coaching though. It's the same shit over and over again. Just call time and get the guys right. Adjust and get some plays going when "it" happens. Do anything other than what has been done so often this season.

Just the same bad habits and lack of direction slowly unfolding again. I called it in the second quarter.

[elementally morale]

AD disappeared in the second half. I blame the coaching though. It's the same shit over and over again. Just call time and get the guys right. Adjust and get some plays going when "it" happens. Do anything other than what has been done so often this season.

Just the same bad habits and lack of direction slowly unfolding again. I called it in the second quarter.

But what happened in the 4th? Davis got a long rest and was hitting all his shots. He was 14 of 15 from the field at a point. Then he missed 3 in a row (probably shouldn't have taken that 3 from the corner that started it) and got his long rest. Came back in the 4th and did nothing. Why is that? I have to rewatch if he was passive or they stopped feeding him the ball because the game was intense and I don't remember. Do you?

[SATAN]

It seems like you're trying to bait me into saying something but I can't pin it on one particular thing apart from the coaching not getting him involved again. I recall a couple times LeBron looked like he was trying to do too much (think that was the third Q). Maybe AD becomes more passive or confused when such things happen. maybe he was tired. Who knows but it's happened quite often since joining LA. Also, PFs were obviously a factor.

[ImKobe]

AD disappeared in the second half. I blame the coaching though. It's the same shit over and over again. Just call time and get the guys right. Adjust and get some plays going when "it" happens. Do anything other than what has been done so often this season.

Just the same bad habits and lack of direction slowly unfolding again. I called it in the second quarter.

It's been a thing since he joined LA. He gets iced out of so many games, regardless of his play. They want to play faster at times which I get, but your best option is being iced out of 2nd halves on a consistent basis. No wonder the offense struggles as much as it does. They were 11th in pace their championship year and were 11th in ORTG. 16th in pace the year after though it was ruined by injuries. Haven't been as good since they started playing more up-tempo in '22.

[SATAN]

AD said none of them had a clue what they were doing. Ham is gone. :rockon:

Just a shame he had to waste a couple last seasons of the GOAT's career though. :facepalm

[Jasper]

thought this was a poll ...lol sweep

[tontoz]

thought this was a poll ...lol sweep


You do realize this thread is from last year, right?

[RogueBorg]

Which Laker choked the wide open 3 with the score tied 99-99 before Murray's game winner?

[BarberSchool]

AD said none of them had a clue what they were doing. Ham is gone. :rockon:
That either means AD himself didn’t know what was going on due to being gassed AF and light headed…. (Not likely)

…. OR (much more likely) ….

…. That he is very very dissatisfied with the in game preparation during timeouts and such from the coaching staff, enough to say something like that in post game.

To say something like that, gives Denver some focus now in today’s tape session to plan against Davis, based on any moment they see where Davis looked confused and which sets those were, and what he did wrong …. Or where the clarification was fuzzy scheme wise from staff….

… and it also harms team / staff chemistry, coming home for the most pivotal game 3.

[TheMan]

AD said none of them had a clue what they were doing. Ham is gone. :rockon:

Just a shame he had to waste a couple last seasons of the GOAT's career though. :facepalm

:roll:

[BarberSchool]

You do realize this thread is from last year, right?
Was it for back to back sweeps in consecutive years all along ?:lol

[White Hammer]

thought this was a poll ...lol sweep

Jstern thinks jasper is playing a character, but this is more proof he really is an 80 yr old boomer. Not only does he not know what year it is, but boomers just fkn LOVE polls!

[BarberSchool]

Jstern thinks jasper is playing a character, but this is more proof he really is an 80 yr old boomer. Not only does he not know what year it is, but boomers just fkn LOVE polls!If poster behind Jasper was sharp enough to be playing a character, there would be much more wit and tact and obvious humor breaking the 4th wall type sh!t.

No such indication.