Originally Posted by BWillie:
In a tie game with one or two possessions, a three is an overrated shot. Simple game theory. At that point you want to take the highest percentage shot not the highest points per attempt.
Especially given Denver's inability to get a stop when LA drove to the hole. Goading them into a deep jumper was a blessing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
Especially given Denver's inability to get a stop when LA drove to the hole. Goading them into a deep jumper was a blessing.
Denver was literally stopping them the entire 2nd half. Did we watch the same game?
LA only scored 40 points in the 2nd half. :-) [Reply]
The only time the Lakers effectively scored the entire 4th quarter in the half court was when they left LeBron open for threes on screens and someone thinks doing exactly that was a strategy of theirs at the end?
They were no doubt going to force him into a trap/pass as they'd been doing all game but KCP just flopped on the play and got lucky he missed. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pitt Gorilla:
4 minute mark until the end of the game (you know, when everybody's tired):
James 15' Fadeaway Jumper (22 PTS)
Reaves 16' Fadeaway Jumper (9 PTS)
MISS Hachimura 26' 3PT Jump Shot
MISS Reaves 24' 3PT Pullup Jump Shot
James 1' Running Dunk (24 PTS)
Russell 2' Driving Layup (23 PTS)
James 1' Driving Layup (26 PTS)
MISS James 25' 3PT Pullup Jump Shot
Which do you think they shot better with the game in the balance, legs completely gone?
At this point, one HAS to assume you completely missed the end of the game.
Considering you thought a KCP failed flop to gift an open three to one of the best shooters in the NBA was some kind of defensive strategy on the part of the Nuggets, it's hard to take just about anything you have to say about this game seriously.
Denver was very much forcing LeBron into traps on screens to pass to his teammates all game (which is generally exactly how teams have played LeBron for his entire career and how Malone has played LeBron in the last six playoff games). That very much would have been the plan if he had driven the ball there on the Lakers' final possession as well. No reason to do that though when you can get a wide open three from a 41% 3PT shooter thanks to a botched defensive play. [Reply]
If LeBron drives there, he'll be driving into help where he'll either have to take a tough contested two over Jokic or kick to an open shooter for three that is worse than him. Now a LeBron drive into help is certainly never a bad option given his playmaking ability, but it's not a better option than LeBron taking a wide open three.
Hard to believe this is even a topic of conversation. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
KCP flopped to draw an offensive foul on LeBron. Had nothing to do with forcing him into any kind of shot.
And you can't ask for a much better shot in that spot than an open 3 from a 40% 3PT shooter. He just missed it, it happens. He's certainly made his fair shore of those in his career.
It happens? Show me MJ missing an uncontested 3 pointer to win a playoff game. Lebron shrinks in the moments that MJ used to welcome with confidence. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Exactly. And that early February game is when I threw my hands up.
Lakers had a lead at about the 5 minute mark. They're at home and despite that, in the next 5 minutes they gave up 14 points. hell, the game was tied at about 2 minutes and they lost by EIGHT.
The Nuggets are a cat playing with a mouse here. LA isn't going to beat them. They simply don't play good enough defense and their outside shooting is not consistent enough. If they played better defense OR if they could run and hide then I might give them a shot.
But if they have a 12 point lead at the 8 minute mark, they're probably still going to lose that lead because they're going to get cold and they're damn sure not going to get the stops to keep that lead.
We've seen this exact game probably 5 times in this 10 game stretch. No reason to have expected otherwise.
And like I said earlier - this is not bad luck as much as it is a reckoning. Ham fucked off with his rotations all season so a team that should've probably been a 3 seed, 4 at worst, is sitting 8. This is a direct reflection of poor coaching.
For the 'regular season doesn't matter' crowd - it damn sure has for the Lakers. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
From before the series started.
We've seen this exact game probably 5 times in this 10 game stretch. No reason to have expected otherwise.
And like I said earlier - this is not bad luck as much as it is a reckoning. Ham fucked off with his rotations all season so a team that should've probably been a 3 seed, 4 at worst, is sitting 8. This is a direct reflection of poor coaching.
For the 'regular season doesn't matter' crowd - it damn sure has for the Lakers.
Welp better go find a new head coach I guess.
What is that? Like 7 guys in 2 years or some shit.
Just keep somebody. Anybody. For crying out loud. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RealSNR:
Welp better go find a new head coach I guess.
What is that? Like 7 guys in 2 years or some shit.
Just keep somebody. Anybody. For crying out loud.
In fairness, most of the Lakers coaches since Jackson have been shite.
Mike Brown? Mike D'Antoni, Byron Scott and Luke Walton - all garbage coaches. Walton seemed to have some promise but then he went to the Kings and didn't seem to know what the hell he was doing there either. Scott was hired to fail, IMO - they were tanking.
But I don't understand why they fired Vogel. That was another GM LeBron move that was just stupid. James didn't like him - he got canned and got replaced by a dude who really drove this season into a mountain.
I don't think many coaches actually move the needle much in the NBA. But there are more that make teams worse than there are that make teams better. A guy like Vogel probably made a team as good as their talent says they should be - that's a 3 seed out of the West for this Lakers squad, IMO.
Ham took them to the play-in tournament and a 1 and done against the worst matchup in the NBA for them. This is a direct indictment of bad coaching for 60 games from Darvin Ham. But LeBron doesn't dislike him so there won't be any accountability for it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by LoneWolf:
It happens? Show me MJ missing an uncontested 3 pointer to win a playoff game. Lebron shrinks in the moments that MJ used to welcome with confidence.
The "year 21" shit doesn't slide either.
He's been choking in the 4th of the Finals since Dirk showed him his big white mamba.
It's why he's 4-6 in the Finals and will never be the goat, no matter how many extra pointless stat-pad seasons he racks up due to genetics. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hammock Parties:
The "year 21" shit doesn't slide either.
He's been choking in the 4th of the Finals since Dirk showed him his big white mamba.
It's why he's 4-6 in the Finals and will never be the goat, no matter how many extra pointless stat-pad seasons he racks up due to genetics.
An under-appreciated element of Kobe's resume is that he swallowed his pride in 2005 and welcomed Jackson back.
He's the reason Jackson left and deserves some heat for that (though I'm not sure how many more runs that team had left in it; the 2004 Finals showed a team on fumes). But after trying it 'his' way, he reached out to Jackson and they mended fences.
Those 2 titles he won after Jackson came back are a testament to his willingness to grow as a person and player.
James, OTOH, "in year 21" is still out there pulling levers and sabotaging his chances behind the scenes. He was still out there pushing for Westbrook and leveraging Vogel out the door.
He's cost himself rings by simply trying to impose his will on organizations. [Reply]
Originally Posted by LoneWolf:
It happens? Show me MJ missing an uncontested 3 pointer to win a playoff game. Lebron shrinks in the moments that MJ used to welcome with confidence.
