(2) Nuggets vs. (7) Lakers First Round Playoff Series Thread

[Axe]

It's actually insane how clutch the Nuggets have been in their last 6 playoff games against the Lakers. It's not always a Lakers collapse, the Nuggets heat the hell up in the 4th quarter.

Pretty sure they made their last 7 shots in the game last night which is wild. Murray especially is super clutch against the Lakers.

When was the last time they won a game against the nuggets? Surely if anything, it isn't a fluke.

[tontoz]

I don't need a Ham breakdown. I've seen enough to believe he is a bad coach. I don't need to see any evidence to confirm what I already believe.

I don't even watch the Lakers much but just the podcasts I listen to have given me all the info I need on Ham.

[RRR3]

I don't need a Ham breakdown. I've seen enough to believe he is a bad coach. I don't need to see any evidence to confirm what I already believe.

I don't even watch the Lakers much but just the podcasts I listen to have given me all the info I need on Ham.

What podcasts and what did they say?

[tontoz]

What podcasts and what did they say?

The main one is Hoops Tonight. Jason Timpf generally doesn't criticize coaches much but he follows the Lakers closely and just couldn't resist going in on Ham. It was going on for awhile.

I don't recall him criticizing other coaches much.

He will break down individual marquee games every week. His exasperation at Ham really came through load and clear. At times he seemed I compete disbelief at Ham which is out off character for him.

He recently started doing film breakdowns on X. Might be some on YouTube as well.

[bladefd]

LA ran 8 plays in a row to start Q3 and got 13 points from that organized offense. 1.63 points per possession. 1.57 expected PPP.

8 of the next 10 plays they freelanced. 7 of those 8 plays were turnovers or heavily contested shots. They scored once total. 0.20 PPP. 0.54 ePPP.

https://twitter.com/Tim_NBA/status/1782737612882444725

If only we had a competent coach with a system, and the ability to make adjustments. Malone, who is a decent coach but not an all-time HOF coach, is running circles around Ham.

He is gooone gone the day after the Lakers exit playoffs.

[Nb1]

People (including me, can't front) always complain about coaches of the teams or players they're rooting for, but Ham is without a doubt the most widely ridiculed coach of LeBron I've witnessed. By that I mean, while LeBron's coaches have all been criticized heavily at various times, it's usually reserved for mainly the fans of the team or LeBron fans. I see Ham get shit on by fans of every team online (a top voted comment in the Heat subreddit post was calling him an idiot yesterday), and his moves get questioned by announcers and media pundits even, which is pretty rare as coaches are generally fairly protected by them. And then there's how the players feel about him. LeBron has had problems with other coaches, but he is far from the only Laker player who doesn't like Ham, it seems to be pretty unanimous and other players have complained more than LBJ about him tbh.

Just breaking down what Ham did wrong last night is pretty easy and could span multiple paragraphs. I can do it if you want but you probably had similar observations. The most egregious being not using his challenge on the questionable foul call on LeBron when Murray drove (sure maybe you dont win that challenge but ****ing try its a close game with 58 seconds left)

I think even a braindead blind person can notice that Ham has no clue what he's doing. The fact that you blow up a 20pt lead and make 0 adjustments till the end it's like... AD had 0pts in the 4th quarter, it's not only on AD, it's also on the coach to adjust depending on the situation. Not saying the Lakers are better than Denver, but the series could be alot closer with a decent coach.

[elementally morale]

I think even a braindead blind person can notice that Ham has no clue what he's doing. The fact that you blow up a 20pt lead and make 0 adjustments till the end it's like... AD had 0pts in the 4th quarter, it's not only on AD, it's also on the coach to adjust depending on the situation. Not saying the Lakers are better than Denver, but the series could be alot closer with a decent coach.

Ham is not a good coach. That being established, the games are close. 2-0 and last years sweep don't seem to be close, but the games are/were a lot closer than the end result indicates.

[Charlie Sheen]

They don't need to be primary facilitators. Having 3 guys who are legit scoring threats off the dribble lessens the need for a primary playmaker.

Lessens not eliminate. This is the difference between Kyrie and Luka driving into the defense for the Mavs. Kyrie can kick the ball out when the defense rotates but Luka can make the passes Kyrie never could to set up great scoring opportunites. The Clippers have a roster of finishers who can take advantage of a defense scrambling through rotations... after the big names you have Powell and Mann for examples. The Suns are dead in the water because they do not have either of these. They have to work too hard for everything unless they are shooting the lights out.

I think Ham just sucks. So many dumb moves. His irrational love of Prince really handicapped them for a long time. Vogel is easily a better coach.

I don't need a Ham breakdown. I've seen enough to believe he is a bad coach. I don't need to see any evidence to confirm what I already believe.

I don't even watch the Lakers much but just the podcasts I listen to have given me all the info I need on Ham.

The bold.. there is something you miss not watching the Lakers games. I killed the Suns for not having any leadership in the lockerroom and the same thing is true for AD. If dude is going to act like Lebron having no patience for Reddish and Christie learning on the job then he damn sure needs to fill the shoes of Lebron during games when everyone in the arena knows the Lakers need a score. This is not a shot at Lebron. It aint on him to pass the torch. AD needs to demand it and show it is his time now. Long story short... Watching the games it felt like Prince played a lot because of chemistry he was not being chewed. AD's shitty attitude is the only thing holding him back from entering into the MVP discussion.

It is fair to criticize Ham for not relying enough or at all on analytics or his in game management that RRR3 pointed out.

I guess my objection to Ham being a bad coach is there is a lot more to it. The job sucks. By most accounts ownership is too hands on. He is being pulled in multiple directions and doing the best he can under those circumstances.

[tontoz]

Lessens not eliminate. This is the difference between Kyrie and Luka driving into the defense for the Mavs. Kyrie can kick the ball out when the defense rotates but Luka can make the passes Kyrie never could to set up great scoring opportunites. The Clippers have a roster of finishers who can take advantage of a defense scrambling through rotations... after the big names you have Powell and Mann for examples. The Suns are dead in the water because they do not have either of these. They have to work too hard for everything unless they are shooting the lights out.

Since the All-Star break the Suns were 12th in the league in creating open catch and shoot 3s. They had an assist rate of 61%. They were making strides in the right direction but Minny's physicality on defense has just punk'd them.

[RRR3]

Lessens not eliminate. This is the difference between Kyrie and Luka driving into the defense for the Mavs. Kyrie can kick the ball out when the defense rotates but Luka can make the passes Kyrie never could to set up great scoring opportunites. The Clippers have a roster of finishers who can take advantage of a defense scrambling through rotations... after the big names you have Powell and Mann for examples. The Suns are dead in the water because they do not have either of these. They have to work too hard for everything unless they are shooting the lights out.






The bold.. there is something you miss not watching the Lakers games. I killed the Suns for not having any leadership in the lockerroom and the same thing is true for AD. If dude is going to act like Lebron having no patience for Reddish and Christie learning on the job then he damn sure needs to fill the shoes of Lebron during games when everyone in the arena knows the Lakers need a score. This is not a shot at Lebron. It aint on him to pass the torch. AD needs to demand it and show it is his time now. Long story short... Watching the games it felt like Prince played a lot because of chemistry he was not being chewed. AD's shitty attitude is the only thing holding him back from entering into the MVP discussion.

It is fair to criticize Ham for not relying enough or at all on analytics or his in game management that RRR3 pointed out.

I guess my objection to Ham being a bad coach is there is a lot more to it. The job sucks. By most accounts ownership is too hands on. He is being pulled in multiple directions and doing the best he can under those circumstances.

If you don't rely on analytics in 2024, you're a bad coach period mate. That said, I don't think Ham totally disregards analytics, but he does totally disregard lineup data which is crazy.

[SATAN]

Anthony Davis expressed after the game that there are times when players do not know what they are doing on both ends of the floor, which seemed to be an indictment on the coaching staff for not having them prepared.

After practice on Wednesday, Ham was asked about those comments by Davis and did not agree.

“I just think sometimes the plays don’t turn out the way you think they should,” Ham said. “The frustration sets in a little bit. But I don’t think it’s, for us, not being organized. I think I have incredibly talented coaches all along my staff and we pride ourselves on, whether it’s a practice or shootaround, games, whatever, we pride ourselves on being highly efficient and organized. So I would just chalk that up to being frustrated, you know it’s an emotional game the way it ended and all of that. But I’ll agree to disagree on that one.”

You can't make this shit up.

[CurryOverLebron]

https://twitter.com/HarrisonWind/sta...99041371210170

Jamal Murray has been beating the Lakers with the same move for years.

[FultzNationRISE]

I don't need a Ham breakdown. I've seen enough to believe he is a bad coach. I don't need to see any evidence to confirm what I already believe.

I don't even watch the Lakers much but just the podcasts I listen to have given me all the info I need on Ham.

So you've seen enough, but you didnt actually see it. And you "know" something you've never seen because you heard it on a podcast?

Man.

Socrates rollin over in his grave rn.

[tontoz]

So you've seen enough, but you didnt actually see it. And you "know" something you've never seen because you heard it on a podcast?

Man.

Socrates rollin over in his grave rn.

I have seen some Lakers games but don't actively follow them. Anyone who follows the NBA closely knows that they have issues with Ham. It isn't exact a secret.

Starting Prince over Rui for so long was ridiculous.

AD was just quoted as saying they don't know what they are doing out there lol. It isn't the first time stuff like that has come out

[tontoz]

Just got done watching the game. LeBron did have a pretty good 4th. He hit back to back 3s after the lead was first cut to 2. That last 3 was really close to going in.