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Shameless. Absolutely shameless. Why can't LeBron come off the bench? Team Klutch aren't handling this loss of LA leverage well.
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Shameless. Absolutely shameless. Why can't LeBron come off the bench? Team Klutch aren't handling this loss of LA leverage well.
Maybe it feels shameless for him to say it publicly from his position as Lebron's agent, but I think he's absolutely right and Ive said it since this trio was assembled.
Luka is an especially dominant first quarter player. Having Reaves out there with him for the opening six minutes is just redundant and doesnt maximize the lineup. Youre just better off with a strong defender out there while Luka cooks to open the game. And theyve still got Lebron as a secondary scorer in the starting lineup. Luka and Lebron is enough scoring and playmaking. Reaves presence with the starters is a diminishing returns situation.
He needs to be the Ginobili right now to maximize this team. Thats my opinion. I understand why people this sounds shady coming from Rich Paul but I really think hes correct. In fact I think it's a pretty obvious conclusion.
[QUOTE=Im Still Ballin;15046634][url]https://streamable.com/9h9nh7[/url]
Shameless. Absolutely shameless. [B]Why can't LeBron come off the bench?[/B] Team Klutch aren't handling this loss of LA leverage well.[/QUOTE]
Cmon man.
Lebron syncs with Luka because he can finish plays off the ball.
Plus at this stage of their careers Reaves is arguably more fit to be that instant offense sixth man than Lebron is.
Reaves is the natural choice among the three to be sixth man. It's a reasonable supposition.
I think more great players should come off the bench. Players see it as a sign of disrespect but in reality your team is at a huge advantage if you have a star caliber player who can come off the bench and lead the 2nd unit.
Ginobili is a prime example.
It could make sense given Luka's defense. It's something JJ might be forced to do in order to get the most out of this group so I'm not necessarily against it. Benching Lebron doesn't really make as much sense as benching Austin would because Lebron gives them more rebounding/size so realistically their best 5 defensively would have Lebron on the court and not Austin.
[QUOTE=Baller234;15046638][b]I think more great players should come off the bench.[/b] Players see it as a sign of disrespect but in reality your team is at a huge advantage if you have a star caliber player who can come off the bench and lead the 2nd unit.
Ginobili is a prime example.[/QUOTE]
Agreed. In fact the next evolution of "positionless basketball" may well be "lineup-less basketball."
The idea that all your best players on one unit makes for the best team is not as clear cut as conventional wisdom would have you think.
I remember suggesting last year Boston try Tatum off the bench because it might make sense in terms of chemistry, and there was a sycophant NPC fan of Boston here who acted like it was the most outlandish thing imaginable. In reality that poster just is not a person who can see outside the box. He's weak and unintelligent, the Fredo Corleone of ISH.
But thats how life is, there are people with more vision and less vision.
Naw thats bullshit Rich. Austin should not come off the bench. Luka should. He could thrive in a Ginobili esque Spurs dynasty role. Tell me which bench unit could keep up with him? He would revolutionize what it is to be a 6-man. He would take all the shame out of it. and when he doesnt have his head in the game, you can bench him and give lebron more minutes
starters
LeBron
reaves
(trade deadline 3nD acquisition)
rui
ayton
bench mob
Gabe Vincent
Smart
Luka
Laravia
Hayes
[IMG]https://media.tenor.com/HZtCcsbdnTAAAAAM/dr-dre.gif[/IMG]
LeBron and Austin should come off the bench.
Luka can carry a unit by himself if you give him a center that can cut and some shooters.
Lakers second unit with Reeves and LeBron would be unstoppable.
[QUOTE=Yes or No;15046669]LeBron and Austin should come off the bench.
Luka can carry a unit by himself if you give him a center that can cut and some shooters.
Lakers second unit with Reeves and LeBron would be unstoppable.[/QUOTE]
Lets not get crazy now.
When we say "nothing wrong with stars off the bench" there's some nuance to that. It really means "stars besides Lebron" shouldnt be too big to come off the bench.
It shouldn't happen because they are doing well as is. But, yeah AR could be that Manu type of player for this squad. It makes sense. For the people saying Lebron should come off the bench , all this pissin amd moaning about plus minus is showing you he's old and cant carry just any old lineup and be a plus anymore. All his career he could run with the 2nd unit and still push leads, he's not that guy anymore. Great but not that great, he's 40.
[QUOTE=sdot_thadon;15046700]It shouldn't happen because they are doing well as is. But, yeah AR could be that Manu type of player for this squad. It makes sense. For the people saying Lebron should come off the bench , all this pissin amd moaning about plus minus is showing you he's old and cant carry just any old lineup and be a plus anymore. All his career he could run with the 2nd unit and still push leads, he's not that guy anymore. Great but not that great, he's 40.[/QUOTE]
The Lebron +/- thing is really bizarre. The last couple years it's been inexplicably low even tho the eye test says hes been great. And thats not just Lebron shtick, hes been playing at a really high level. His midrange, his three point shooting, his passing, his cutting to the basket, it's all been textbook. And last year he played really good defense.
When you watch him play Lebron looks like an incredibly sharp and willing 2nd/3rd option doing everything hes supposed to do. I dont understand why the plus minus hasnt been reflecting over his last 50-60 games or whatever it is. Hes genuinely been playing great basketball.
[QUOTE=FultzNationRISE;15046705]The Lebron +/- thing is really bizarre. The last couple years it's been inexplicably low even tho the eye test says hes been great. And thats not just Lebron shtick, hes been playing at a really high level. His midrange, his three point shooting, his passing, his cutting to the basket, it's all been textbook. And last year he played really good defense.
When you watch him play Lebron looks like an incredibly sharp and willing 2nd/3rd option doing everything hes supposed to do. I dont understand why the plus minus hasnt been reflecting over his last 50-60 games or whatever it is. Hes genuinely been playing great basketball.[/QUOTE]
Lebron is a bad off-ball player that doesn't move off screens, while he also doesn't play for the team, such as hustling, diving for loose balls, taking charges, being in good defensive position - and simply acting like he gives a shit about the team and isn't just into himself.. He's just a horrible leader that no longer has his athleticism/dominance to prop him up.. He actually needs smarts now and doesn't have it - his game is predictable, simple, unnuanced, and doesn't allow high levels of team offense or chemistry.. This has been the case for 23 years
I would bench bran.
Rich Paul knows that his cash cow is washed.....
and the bitch is [B][SIZE=5]SHOOK[/SIZE][/B].
:roll:
[QUOTE=FultzNationRISE;15046705]The Lebron +/- thing is really bizarre. The last couple years it's been inexplicably low even tho the eye test says hes been great. And thats not just Lebron shtick, hes been playing at a really high level. His midrange, his three point shooting, his passing, his cutting to the basket, it's all been textbook. And last year he played really good defense.
When you watch him play Lebron looks like an incredibly sharp and willing 2nd/3rd option doing everything hes supposed to do. I dont understand why the plus minus hasnt been reflecting over his last 50-60 games or whatever it is. Hes genuinely been playing great basketball.[/QUOTE]
Well for one most of the people crowing about plus minus don't even have the slightest clue how it works, they just saw other people use it and think it makes them look smart lol. But that aside, my opinion on the change in his plus minus is it's the decline everyone is looking for, but still overlooking. He can no longer run with the 2nd unit and hold down the fort everytime. Its been masked by his efficiency and obviously his raw numbers still looking like whatever we've been used to seeing. His coaches have always had the upmost confidence that he could lift any lineup to being respectable. I mean there was a stretch in his career, maybe the majority if we go check the record, where there was no such thing as a negative lineup with his name in it. I think he, JJ, and Ham before him were in denial about his ability to still lift the weak groups and its all tied to stamina i think. He can't give the high motor effort he did in his prime all over the floor. A few years back fans at least picked up on his picking spots to play hard defense and this year he's been able to sit in the corner on offense quite a bit. Nobody his age has ever carried the same load they did in their prime years. You'd be hard pressed to find guys doing so in their 15th season, let alone their 23rd.
[QUOTE=FultzNationRISE;15046705]The Lebron +/- thing is really bizarre. The last couple years it's been inexplicably low even tho the eye test says hes been great. And thats not just Lebron shtick, hes been playing at a really high level. His midrange, his three point shooting, his passing, his cutting to the basket, it's all been textbook. And last year he played really good defense.
When you watch him play Lebron looks like an incredibly sharp and willing 2nd/3rd option doing everything hes supposed to do. I dont understand why the plus minus hasnt been reflecting over his last 50-60 games or whatever it is. Hes genuinely been playing great basketball.[/QUOTE]
It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone at all. He's the laziest player in the league on defense. The other team is basically playing 5 on 4 basketball.
LeNetNegative.
Austin and Luka play really well together. LeBron's the odd man out and should come off the bench.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/dshyqf7t/y-Os-AMFF.png[/img]
[QUOTE=Im Still Ballin;15046634][url]https://streamable.com/9h9nh7[/url]
Shameless. Absolutely shameless. Why can't LeBron come off the bench? Team Klutch aren't handling this loss of LA leverage well.[/QUOTE]
Ginnobli might have come off the bench but [B]he had starter-type minutes roughly- about 30 minutes a game [/B](until he got older).
His minutes overlapped with the other starters but also including leading the 2nd unit.
[B]Doncic and Reaves cannot beat the best teams in the league. [/B] They don't have the defense, they don't have the toughness, they can both be slowed down with physical defense.
We saw in the recent game what LeBron is capable of, even at this age, when he has the ball. Play Reaves like Ginnobili, not just leading the second unit, but enough overlap minutes that he's playing 30m a game.
You have Rui shooting 3's at mid 40%s- so you have the role players to contribute.
[QUOTE=Im Still Ballin;15046798]Austin and Luka play really well together. LeBron's the odd man out and should come off the bench.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/dshyqf7t/y-Os-AMFF.png[/img][/QUOTE]
These are numbers from last season? He's only played 7 games thus far so there's no way the minutes add up here. Thus far his net Rating is neutral (+0.1). Their offense is amazing with him on the court but the defense is also the worst lol, but it's only 7 games. Thus far the pbpstats numbers say that they have a great Net Rating when one of the 3 is on the bench and they've been getting their asses kicked when all 3 are on the court (115 ORTG 122 DRTG).
[QUOTE=Im Still Ballin;15046798]Austin and Luka play really well together. LeBron's the odd man out and should come off the bench.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/dshyqf7t/y-Os-AMFF.png[/img][/QUOTE]
Exactly.
Reaves is a sniper shooter so he helps spread the floor for Luka and give him clean 1v1s. Lebron is the best passer here so he would maximize the team by coming off the bench and getting everybody else good looks.
[QUOTE=tpols;15046826]Exactly.
Reaves is a sniper shooter so he helps spread the floor for Luka and give him clean 1v1s. Lebron is the best passer here so he would maximize the team by coming off the bench and getting everybody else good looks.[/QUOTE]
LeBron will retire before coming off the bench. He should come off the bench but it'll never happen.
Carmelo "who me?" Anthony didn't want to come off the bench and I guarantee his ego pales in comparison.
The most likely scenario is that LA once again flames out in the playoffs without making it to OKC and LeBron goes elsewhere next season.
[QUOTE=Yes or No;15046827]LeBron will retire before coming off the bench. He should come off the bench but it'll never happen.
Carmelo "who me?" Anthony didn't want to come off the bench and I guarantee his ego pales in comparison.
The most likely scenario is that LA once again flames out in the playoffs without making it to OKC and LeBron goes elsewhere next season.[/QUOTE]
Jazz were thankful for starter only. Was the series basically! :cheers:
[QUOTE=ImKobe;15046821]These are numbers from last season? He's only played 7 games thus far so there's no way the minutes add up here. Thus far his net Rating is neutral (+0.1). Their offense is amazing with him on the court but the defense is also the worst lol, but it's only 7 games. Thus far the pbpstats numbers say that [B]they have a great Net Rating when one of the 3 is on the bench and they've been getting their asses kicked when all 3 are on the court[/B] (115 ORTG 122 DRTG).[/QUOTE]
This was a phenomenon I noted about the Celtics last year and made a thread about.
When Brown Tatum and KP were on the court together, the team had a worse net rating than when any two of them were on the court and one was off.
[QUOTE=FultzNationRISE;15046837]This was a phenomenon I noted about the Celtics last year and made a thread about.
When Brown Tatum and KP were on the court together, the team had a worse net rating than when any two of them were on the court and one was off.[/QUOTE]
Teams are greater or less than the sum of their parts. Team dynamics are a tricky thing. The best result does not always come from the best players. It often comes from how players best fit together. Most front offices aren't smart enough to ever consider such a thing, let alone the people on this forum.
They want him to be a sixth-man?
[QUOTE=Mask the Embiid;15046652]Naw thats bullshit[/quote]
[Url=https://i.ibb.co/LJtPyW7/IMG-20221213-081813.jpg][img]http://www.insidehoops.com/forum/image.php?u=827668&dateline=1624237688&type=thumb[/img][/url]
Reaves and Luka need to have a serious conversation after the game about which one of them is going to go to the bench for the betterment of the team. Gotta put pride and ego aside. I know you were an mvp candidate, but if you truly want to win are you truly willing to sacrifice for a ring? Do you truly want to win?