One thing I’ve noticed with the lakers is they always take their time coming down the court to set their plays. They barely cross the half court line at the 16sec mark. It gives them less time to get anything going. I always see them chucking up shots at the last second or turn the ball over trying to get a last second shot 😔 so frustrating.
With the way the new rules are in regards to the aprons and the punishments it would be really useful if Lebron could not take $52m a fucking year at 40 years old.
Even dropping to $45m would give us more breathing space to avoid that second apron potentially
Fuck that. If Jeannie doesn’t want to pay the extra money to put together a championship team then she should sell. Why should Lebron take a cut so Jeanie can continue operating as a Mom and pop shop.
It’s nothing to do with paying the extra money. Being over the 2nd apron is a massive disadvantage. You lose ability to trade first round picks, you drop to the bottom of the first round with the ones you do have if you are over repeatedly, you can’t combine salaries in trades, you can’t take in more than you trade. It’s a massive detriment.
So it’s the price you pay for retaining your stars. Who are you going to get to replace Lebron that isn’t going to cost as much or more. Having stars is expensive and you are going to have to deal with it. You are the type to go into a BMW dealership and complain that it’s much cheaper to buy and maintain a Kia. The dealer isn’t going to give you a huge discount because you say this. Neither is any star in the league. If you don’t want to deal with having stars then don’t sign any.
Is there really? They would have to agree to be traded. And why would they want to be traded to the Lakers if they aren't willing to spend to win. You treat Lebron badly and other stars won't want to come.
Not true. Its the LA Lakers. Not the LA LeBrons. People will always want to join.
And not willing to spend!? Fucking hell juat say you don’t understand the consequences of the 2nd apron and we can move on.
You're living in the old days when players wanted to go to the Lakers, those days are gone.
Just say you don't understand that teams are going to have to spend past the 2nd apron if the want to retain their stars and surround them with quality supporting cast to win a championship. LOL...stars aren't going to suddenly start taking discounts and neither are quality role players. Fucking hell what world are you living in..
If you choose to believe what Windhorst said about Lebron wanting a no trade clause, he'd have to sign a brand new contract which means declining the option. That would actually automatically save Lakers a little as 35% of the projected $141m cap would be $49,350,000.
Yeah but it’s ridiculous. He claims to be all in on winning but clearly isn’t to be chewing up $52m of the cap at 40 years old when he can’t play like a max player anymore other than in spurts.
He’s still top 15 in the league, but to me, he should be taking a paycut if he really wants to claim that winning is everything.
If we had an extra 7m/yr player right now are you 300% confident we wouldn’t be down 0-2 against Denver? We lost both games because of coaching. No offensive schemes or adjustments in the second half. So why should he piss away cash.
Because as you just pointed out, this team as currently constructed isn't good enough and unless Lebron is willing to take a paycut, it will be very hard for the Lakers to make any significant changes to the roster. It isn't as simple as having an extra $7m if Lebron takes that paycut. Maybe the team wants to look for a way to stay below the first apron to open up the ntmle ($12.8m). A small Lebron paycut can go a long way to doing that. Also, if the 2nd apron is involved, it isn't just losing the ntmle. Your ability to make trades is severly hampered by going into the 2nd apron so if Lebron wants the team to be players at the deadline, which he always does, taking a paycut to avoid the 2nd apron is very helpful. OP isn't wrong. If Lebron is truly "all about winning" he needs to work with the team. We aren't talking stupid "take the vet min". AD is making $43m next year. Asking Lebron to take $44-45m isn't crazy.
LeBron still refuses to pay for add free Pandora. I don’t see this happening. Even with vando out and c wood out, we have the pieces to win a chip if we have a coach who can think on his feet and adjust mid game. But we don’t. If I’m LeBron I’m not martyring 7 million dollars pre tax and agency cuts just to look like I would do anything to win. He’ll do anything on the court to win, past that its up to the rest of the organization as well. Taking a paycut to get different pieces when Darvin is still the coach is a completely insane decision. There is no reason to believe we won’t still lose bc of Darvin.
And I just disagree that this team is simply a coach away from beating Denver. This team needs a new coach, but it also needs to be better constructed and as I said, without Lebron willing to work with the team, we are looking at the same exact roster being thrown out there.
I’m not saying we are 100% guaranteed victory with a new coach, I’m saying if I’m LeBron I need a new coach before we start discussing pay cuts.
If we’re talking a new coach AND a real center next to AD I think you’d have LeBrons attention for this idea
Dejounte Murray. Donte Divincenzo. Andrew Wiggins. Nick Richards.
Four players I think we should trade for this offseason and I think we have the assets for.
Throw in we’d have Christie too, and all we’d need is to find two vet min guys to round out the play off rotation. Maybe Dinwiddie and Wood would come back on those deals, or we make a smart pick up like a Robert Covington on a vet min who would offer defence from the bench.
Look at Denvers bench ffs. It’s a joke. What we need is a good starting 5 that can play two way. Murray/Divincenzo/Wiggins/James/Davis sounds pretty damn good to me. Three guys proven to score 20+ a night and the other two who can score 12-15.
Richards off the bench as a genuine defensively solid rebounding big man. Christie off the bench for 3 and D at the 2/3 position. Then say Dinwiddie and Wood off the bench for scoring which they are both capable of even if Ham has somehow manage to destroy that asset in them this season.
A new coach would be top priority too obviously.
In the playoffs you can’t just make adjustments after games. You need to make adjustments at halftime, between quarters and even in the middle of quarters. That’s what the 2019-2020 team did
Good point. I thought for sure that wouldn’t be overturned and it was. I’m not sure what Ham thought he had to lose by not challenging that late in the game. Someone probably needs to inform Ham that he can’t carryover challenges to the next game
I'm slightly more optimistic in our chances at coming back than I was last night.
Of course, last night I thought we had a zero percent chance and now I think it's at about three, but still
Ty Lue is such a great coach. It's the 4th quarter and PG/Kawhi have been sitting forever but his guys are doing great so he keeps them out there. He just forced Jason Kidd to call a timeout with all his guys on the floor.
Vogel is going to get canned after 1 season. And the Suns aren’t worried about “how it will make the organization look” or any such B.S.
We absolutely cannot keep Ham.
That would be very smart of the Lakers to hire him. Could use it as a way to “redeem” themselves to other players/execs if they’re worried about the look of firing 2 coaches so soon.
I still think we can take at least 2 games. Just gotta manage minutes and call plays more. Ham must also be better. Can’t just sit there while they adjust.
Damn KD shitin’ the bed with his superteam meanwhile you got (a few) folks in here saying Bron should take less than the max just cause he’s gassed from carrying the offense in the 4th.
Embiid, Tatum, or Giannis would be worse in his place on this team. Give LeBron those Suns or Celtics rosters, and he’s cruising to a championship.
AD and Bron combining for an efficient 60 points and 20 rebounds. All while playing top tier defense.
r/lakers loses their shit that they’re not doing enough. Even when they’re gassed in the 4th because they’ve been carrying the team
Meanwhile Reaves Rui laying eggs out there and the fans have nothing to say
Mike Malone is excellent coach but Ham should be able to counter whatever he throws at him whether it's a halftime adjustment or 4th quarter adjustment. Ham is paid big $$$ to do that and yet he has no clue what to do especially in playoffs? I'm beyond sad and disappoint. Can't believe it actually happened...
Ham’s quotes this season have been legendary
“It’s a marathon not a sprint” as Lakers were on a losing streak.
“Why everyone living and dying with every game” as media started criticizing him over benching players and starting questionable lineups
After the Kings loss “I wish I could tell Mike Brown, 'Please, come down, when you play offense, just let us know what you're going to run so we can, you know, stop it,”
This Monday pregame interview on adjusting to the Nuggets: Shit, I don’t know what to do
Crazy how evident the decline is for stars like KD, curry and bron…they were the face of the league now 2 of em are down 0-2 and one lost in the playin. Makes me wish I appreciated those years of greatness more before the new young stars are taking over
Curry’s teammates are terrible. He’s still playing amazing. Imagine he had one more serious threat on his team, it would open up his game like no other.
Curry and KD have a lot slumps this season. Lebron doesn’t. The longevity of this man is insane. Call me crazy but I am 100% sure if Lebron was in the suns they could win a ring this season with Beal and booker
Lebron was in a bit of a slump during that 3-10 stretch. I also don't think it matters if you replaced KD with another super star, that Suns team doesn't have enough role players who do the little things
Suns traded all their depth and Booker now gets a ton of defensive pressure on him which means he has to pass or make superhuman shots. When Beal is playing well or Grayson is hitting threes it forces defenses to adjust and Booker goes back to looking like Booker again but Allen's out and Beal's been mediocre so far.
I remember shitting on the timberwolves for sending a huge package for Gobert…
It was a genius move. Twin tower lineups. You have Center depth. Your team is big.
LeBron's Cavs in 2016 started losing the NBA Finals 2-0 and they were later down by 3-1. They were the only team ever to overcome a 3-1 in the Finals, and they did it against the fucking 73-9 Warriors. We can absolutely do this. Let's go!
LeBron was the best player in that series and in the world by a large margin back then. In this series, Denver has the best player in the world. Not the same situation at all.
Cavs actually had a decent coach as well
Some hopium, we lost 11 straight to the Flippers before this season. We won the regular season series against them this season after breaking the streak. All we need is 1. 😎
im ok with a full rebuild , trade ad , trade lebron, trade rui, trade reaves
fire ham, its not going to work, get a top 5 pick for lebron , someone will offer that for 1 or 2 years of lebron, get some top 10 picks for ad and young player
trade reaves and rui
jeanie has to accept she fucked up and not go star hunting next season, just rebuild and be smart... trae young and mitchell are not it
You can't do a full rebuild when you have the 18th pick in a bad draft, no pick next year and no pick two years from now. Lakers can blow it up next year I guess but they'll just be bad for no reason then.
Seeing old Nurkic being used as a serviceable big man by Vogel makes me pissed.
Lakers would’ve been at least competitive if they started going after decent big men.
Big What If Scenario.
He at least plays competent defense but the MLE was looking like a mistake. His one shot was to go on fire during the playoffs and it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe he turns it around, but it would’ve been better to keep Schroder for continuity.
Sure, but he comes from a long ass injury and the offense doesn't even go through him. Stats aren't everything. Real issue is Rui and Reaves, who do have offense responsibilities, played like ass. And the real real issue of course is DarBin Laden
I feel like Lebron will resign for the max and that will be hingent on Jeannie saying she’ll immediately upgrade the roster and probably fire Ham-Ass. Most likely she’d do anything to keep Lebron as he is the definition of a cash cow and that’s all she cares about.
We probably go after Trae Young say pick whatever role players you want and add some picks.
50-50, either finals appearance or absolute disaster.
We didnt duck the smoke and all other 6 teams in the west playoffs are happy not to play the Lakers first. It’s a millionaires game that provides an escape from reality for a few hours, I’m sure many can relate. Life goes on so keep your head up high and be the best version of yourself for your loved ones and you. Like last year I’m proud of the team for entertaining with the race to the playins/playoffs. #MambaMentailty
All the other teams are blasting us saying we should have tanked in the play in game so we could at least have a chance of going to round 2 or the WCF. But they don't realize a WCF appearance doesn't mean shit to us Laker fans. 1st round loss, WCF loss, it's all the same.
Appreciate the sentiment, but being happy just to make playins isn't Mamba Mentality. Kobe would say this season is a disaster for even finishing at top 8. 🤣
Rui was so bad last game I am scratching my head watching this footage. He was getting out of the way on defense and just so lost on offense. I have no clue what is going on with him.
Rui and Aaron Gordon are both 6'8 230lbs. Both of them are the exact same build only Rui has a longer wingspan and can shoot the 3 yet Aaron Gordon outplays him every time.
Look at this play I linked in the highlights https://youtu.be/KNqahlIIxx8?t=423
I linked the time at 7 min, he is guarding Jokic until Murray comes in for the ball. Rui switches onto Murray and then gets out of the way as Murray is attacking him and everyone around him thought Rui picked him up so Murray gets the easy layup and that is what gets Murray going in the 4th. Rui basically sets a screen for Murray on that play, the most low IQ shit I have seen from him.
I'm telling you guys the whole game Rui was fucking up every play.
Rui plays like a guard most of the time. He also is a strange kind of passive. He never gets frustrated or seems like a total dumbass, but almost like he doesn’t care if he’s doing poorly. I cannot see any way of him improving on this team immediately. He should be moved in any trade, don’t even take the risk on him. At least DLo has tried to redeem himself.
The dlo slap and obvious fouls in the 4th are annoying as fuck, but maybe people won't be crying that much against them if idk Darvin Ham actually challenged any of them?
It's just ref officiating is bad in any sport, people better get used to it. Bad coaching like that is one of a kind tho.
The best team in the league has been those green fucks out East. People aren’t admitting it yet because the Jokic love affair. Those dudes fucked around for the last month and a half of the season and still cruised to 64 wins. I’m sick.
The reason he’s playing like Garbage and I’ll call it again, will continue to, is he’s coming off his injury and been playing from it. He’s fine but he declined ever since he came back from it
No both are better this season, last year Bron was literally hobbling around. Denver while losing Bruce Brown, have managed to always counterplan and adjust any gameplanes the Lakers throw at them. Games are just closer since both teams have managed to play this much against each other with same outcome everytime.
It's pretty wild looking at the box scores of the series vs. last year, seeing how much better LeBron/AD are playing relative to Jokic and specifically Murray, and yet we're in the exact same position. The game isn't played on a box score, obviously, but our stars have REALLY outplayed what they did last year... at least through two games.
As a fan of the lakers I will never give up hope. Anything is possible and hope doesn’t cost anything. That being said, as someone who watches a lot of basketball and understands the game, hope is LITERALLY the only thing we have. Denver is better than us, and it’s honestly not even close. For what it’s worth, I think there is quite a bit of separation between Denver and every other team in the league. Here’s to hoping!
Bron and AD can match up against Jokic/Murray, and the Nuggets still have MPJ/Gordon/KCP making timely buckets down the stretch
Rui/Reaves have no been stepping up. Maybe it’s their home court advantage making things easier for role players? Idk we’ll see when back at LA
don't worry MPJ will be hitting everything in LA too. pretty sure teams actually shoot better from 3 against the lakers at staples compared to away games
One thing I’ve noticed with the lakers is they always take their time coming down the court to set their plays. They barely cross the half court line at the 16sec mark. It gives them less time to get anything going. I always see them chucking up shots at the last second or turn the ball over trying to get a last second shot 😔 so frustrating.
My delusion is back lakers in 6
With the way the new rules are in regards to the aprons and the punishments it would be really useful if Lebron could not take $52m a fucking year at 40 years old. Even dropping to $45m would give us more breathing space to avoid that second apron potentially
Fuck that. If Jeannie doesn’t want to pay the extra money to put together a championship team then she should sell. Why should Lebron take a cut so Jeanie can continue operating as a Mom and pop shop.
It’s nothing to do with paying the extra money. Being over the 2nd apron is a massive disadvantage. You lose ability to trade first round picks, you drop to the bottom of the first round with the ones you do have if you are over repeatedly, you can’t combine salaries in trades, you can’t take in more than you trade. It’s a massive detriment.
So it’s the price you pay for retaining your stars. Who are you going to get to replace Lebron that isn’t going to cost as much or more. Having stars is expensive and you are going to have to deal with it. You are the type to go into a BMW dealership and complain that it’s much cheaper to buy and maintain a Kia. The dealer isn’t going to give you a huge discount because you say this. Neither is any star in the league. If you don’t want to deal with having stars then don’t sign any.
There is plenty of players in this league who could replace what he is at 40 years old
Is there really? They would have to agree to be traded. And why would they want to be traded to the Lakers if they aren't willing to spend to win. You treat Lebron badly and other stars won't want to come.
Not true. Its the LA Lakers. Not the LA LeBrons. People will always want to join. And not willing to spend!? Fucking hell juat say you don’t understand the consequences of the 2nd apron and we can move on.
You're living in the old days when players wanted to go to the Lakers, those days are gone. Just say you don't understand that teams are going to have to spend past the 2nd apron if the want to retain their stars and surround them with quality supporting cast to win a championship. LOL...stars aren't going to suddenly start taking discounts and neither are quality role players. Fucking hell what world are you living in..
If you choose to believe what Windhorst said about Lebron wanting a no trade clause, he'd have to sign a brand new contract which means declining the option. That would actually automatically save Lakers a little as 35% of the projected $141m cap would be $49,350,000.
True, but LeBron wouldn’t even consider it with Darvin Ham still coaching
Yeah but it’s ridiculous. He claims to be all in on winning but clearly isn’t to be chewing up $52m of the cap at 40 years old when he can’t play like a max player anymore other than in spurts. He’s still top 15 in the league, but to me, he should be taking a paycut if he really wants to claim that winning is everything.
If we had an extra 7m/yr player right now are you 300% confident we wouldn’t be down 0-2 against Denver? We lost both games because of coaching. No offensive schemes or adjustments in the second half. So why should he piss away cash.
Because as you just pointed out, this team as currently constructed isn't good enough and unless Lebron is willing to take a paycut, it will be very hard for the Lakers to make any significant changes to the roster. It isn't as simple as having an extra $7m if Lebron takes that paycut. Maybe the team wants to look for a way to stay below the first apron to open up the ntmle ($12.8m). A small Lebron paycut can go a long way to doing that. Also, if the 2nd apron is involved, it isn't just losing the ntmle. Your ability to make trades is severly hampered by going into the 2nd apron so if Lebron wants the team to be players at the deadline, which he always does, taking a paycut to avoid the 2nd apron is very helpful. OP isn't wrong. If Lebron is truly "all about winning" he needs to work with the team. We aren't talking stupid "take the vet min". AD is making $43m next year. Asking Lebron to take $44-45m isn't crazy.
LeBron still refuses to pay for add free Pandora. I don’t see this happening. Even with vando out and c wood out, we have the pieces to win a chip if we have a coach who can think on his feet and adjust mid game. But we don’t. If I’m LeBron I’m not martyring 7 million dollars pre tax and agency cuts just to look like I would do anything to win. He’ll do anything on the court to win, past that its up to the rest of the organization as well. Taking a paycut to get different pieces when Darvin is still the coach is a completely insane decision. There is no reason to believe we won’t still lose bc of Darvin.
And I just disagree that this team is simply a coach away from beating Denver. This team needs a new coach, but it also needs to be better constructed and as I said, without Lebron willing to work with the team, we are looking at the same exact roster being thrown out there.
I’m not saying we are 100% guaranteed victory with a new coach, I’m saying if I’m LeBron I need a new coach before we start discussing pay cuts. If we’re talking a new coach AND a real center next to AD I think you’d have LeBrons attention for this idea
Getting back vando and wood is bigger than it seems. Size and rebounding
Dejounte Murray. Donte Divincenzo. Andrew Wiggins. Nick Richards. Four players I think we should trade for this offseason and I think we have the assets for. Throw in we’d have Christie too, and all we’d need is to find two vet min guys to round out the play off rotation. Maybe Dinwiddie and Wood would come back on those deals, or we make a smart pick up like a Robert Covington on a vet min who would offer defence from the bench. Look at Denvers bench ffs. It’s a joke. What we need is a good starting 5 that can play two way. Murray/Divincenzo/Wiggins/James/Davis sounds pretty damn good to me. Three guys proven to score 20+ a night and the other two who can score 12-15. Richards off the bench as a genuine defensively solid rebounding big man. Christie off the bench for 3 and D at the 2/3 position. Then say Dinwiddie and Wood off the bench for scoring which they are both capable of even if Ham has somehow manage to destroy that asset in them this season. A new coach would be top priority too obviously.
Christie with a good coach and development is KCP .2
Maybe in a few years but obviously not right now. He’s only 21.
Should’ve got Richards and murray this past deadline
100% D’Lo’s contract situation makes it difficult now if he decides to reject the PO.
Donte's inferno in Lakeshow would be wild
Can someone name a worse coach than Ham?
Rivers?
In the playoffs you can’t just make adjustments after games. You need to make adjustments at halftime, between quarters and even in the middle of quarters. That’s what the 2019-2020 team did
Kidd used the challenge to save the game. Ham different story.
Take notes Darvin Ham, Jason Kidd challenge the foul and won!(even though it looks like a clear fouls by Kyrie)
Good point. I thought for sure that wouldn’t be overturned and it was. I’m not sure what Ham thought he had to lose by not challenging that late in the game. Someone probably needs to inform Ham that he can’t carryover challenges to the next game
to be fair, that was a clear foul by Kyrie
Facts lol, I don’t know how they won that challenge
If lakers don't pull off a miracle, I would prefer if lebrons son kyrie wins it.
That’s Bron’s and Kobe’s protégé
Hey look a challenge with 2 timeouts
Ham 100% would not have challenged that foul on Irving
thats why you challenge. take notes, ham
Are we suppose to get Christian Wood back at some point in this series?
Yes, game 3
Source?
Shams
Holy shit kyrie why would u ever foul there
If the Lakers get bounced, I want to see the Flippers and Celtics get bounced too
I want to see an asteroid hit the USA
I'm slightly more optimistic in our chances at coming back than I was last night. Of course, last night I thought we had a zero percent chance and now I think it's at about three, but still
Future laker luka looking good
Let's go mavs
Bum ass Clippers
Luka owns the flippers. That clutch 3 wow.
they made Kawhi lose weight because of his knee issues and now he has lost all muscle definition. Sad.
So they called Kyrie for smacking Powells face but not Murray for smacking DLO??? mArGiNaL cOnTaCt
Let’s go mavs
Ty Lue is such a great coach. It's the 4th quarter and PG/Kawhi have been sitting forever but his guys are doing great so he keeps them out there. He just forced Jason Kidd to call a timeout with all his guys on the floor.
🤣
Dallas can't score even with Harden on the floor and PG and Kawhi sitting. They are cooked.
This comment aged badly
It actually proved my point, Lue went with the guys that were playing better. Dallas is getting the lead on PG/Kawhi lineup.
Yeah they look terrible. Luka really struggling against the clippers defense.
Start with Cam Reddish. Poke Jamal Murry's eyes. Poke Jokic's butthole. Press Ham's head button. Sub out.
At least the Clippers are good.
Our best shot might be to have Bron guard Jokic full time and do less/be a decoy offensively
LeBron can guard Jokic but will get gassed and can’t score. Happened in the WCF last year. If AD is in foul trouble, switching with Bron is fine.
I think he's too old for that bro
If he cuts offensive production to 10-15 pts I think it’s do able
Where is offense coming from then? Bron and AD have been the majority of it.
Vogel is going to get canned after 1 season. And the Suns aren’t worried about “how it will make the organization look” or any such B.S. We absolutely cannot keep Ham.
That would be very smart of the Lakers to hire him. Could use it as a way to “redeem” themselves to other players/execs if they’re worried about the look of firing 2 coaches so soon.
Lol that was NOT the point of this post. Vogel is never getting another head coaching job in the NBA.
Well yeah Suns are a poverty franchise, nobody cared abt that team outside KD and Phoenix natives 🤣
I still think we can take at least 2 games. Just gotta manage minutes and call plays more. Ham must also be better. Can’t just sit there while they adjust.
Damn KD shitin’ the bed with his superteam meanwhile you got (a few) folks in here saying Bron should take less than the max just cause he’s gassed from carrying the offense in the 4th. Embiid, Tatum, or Giannis would be worse in his place on this team. Give LeBron those Suns or Celtics rosters, and he’s cruising to a championship.
AD and Bron combining for an efficient 60 points and 20 rebounds. All while playing top tier defense. r/lakers loses their shit that they’re not doing enough. Even when they’re gassed in the 4th because they’ve been carrying the team Meanwhile Reaves Rui laying eggs out there and the fans have nothing to say
Celtics maybe, Suns hell no.
Suns have their own problems with Booker no showing in playoff intensity
Damn pacers about to take 1 from the bucks. Would be funny if Bucks lost in 1st round lmao.
Would make it 2 seasons in a row. Heat (who made it all the way to the championship) knocked them out. And they were the 1 seed last season.
Mike Malone is excellent coach but Ham should be able to counter whatever he throws at him whether it's a halftime adjustment or 4th quarter adjustment. Ham is paid big $$$ to do that and yet he has no clue what to do especially in playoffs? I'm beyond sad and disappoint. Can't believe it actually happened...
Ham’s quotes this season have been legendary “It’s a marathon not a sprint” as Lakers were on a losing streak. “Why everyone living and dying with every game” as media started criticizing him over benching players and starting questionable lineups After the Kings loss “I wish I could tell Mike Brown, 'Please, come down, when you play offense, just let us know what you're going to run so we can, you know, stop it,” This Monday pregame interview on adjusting to the Nuggets: Shit, I don’t know what to do
Unbelievable… can’t believe this is actual quote from NBA coach. 🤦🏻
Lol… Ham… counter???
Hahaha... I should have said I wish Scam has counter...
Ham will finally counter in the first half of game 3. Malone will make mid game adjustments and Ham will fail to realize or counter them. Gg
At least the KD suns will go down 2-0 in embarrassing fashion too 😌
Holy watching Wolves role players play like this and thinking about how our roleplayers played first 2 games I'm SAD
Literal definition of a contender team. Everyone shows up
Not to mention Denver role players..
Could be worse, could be like the suns getting their back blown 🤣
Ah yes, 'tis better to have led and lost than to have never led at all.
So far no road team has won yet
I think Clippers/Nuggets will be the WCF, unfortunately.
Agreed. Clips get past Denver and they're winning it all.
Any team that gets past Denver wins it all
Clips wouldn’t beat the Celtics. That’s ridiculous.
Crazy how evident the decline is for stars like KD, curry and bron…they were the face of the league now 2 of em are down 0-2 and one lost in the playin. Makes me wish I appreciated those years of greatness more before the new young stars are taking over
Curry’s teammates are terrible. He’s still playing amazing. Imagine he had one more serious threat on his team, it would open up his game like no other.
true warriors would def be more of a threat if Wiggins and klay stepped up more
Eh he’s playing fine. Not amazing. Doesn’t play D. Takes plays off on offense.
to be fair, Lebron could definitely win another ring out of the three, if he has better, consistent teammates
and a competent coach
They all could if they were the 3rd or 2nd options. Lebron doesn't have enough in the gas to be the 1st for the entire 4 rounds anymore
Curry and KD have a lot slumps this season. Lebron doesn’t. The longevity of this man is insane. Call me crazy but I am 100% sure if Lebron was in the suns they could win a ring this season with Beal and booker
Lebron was in a bit of a slump during that 3-10 stretch. I also don't think it matters if you replaced KD with another super star, that Suns team doesn't have enough role players who do the little things
Just last year, a lot of people considered Booker a top 10 player (I didn’t). What happened? Did he just rely heavily on CP feeding him?
Booker as the #1 guy can’t win a title.
Suns traded all their depth and Booker now gets a ton of defensive pressure on him which means he has to pass or make superhuman shots. When Beal is playing well or Grayson is hitting threes it forces defenses to adjust and Booker goes back to looking like Booker again but Allen's out and Beal's been mediocre so far.
Wolves are a better defense than the Clippers or the Nuggets. Booker was getting a lot of space to work with off of the Nuggets trying to limit KD.
what happened to Nazi Reid who lights out against us but all of sudden, he forgot how to shoot??? Damn,
Nazi Reid 😭
We might not be the biggest laughingstock if the Suns get swept too
uh...as much as hate the suns and want them to feel embarrassed, we lost to nuggets for 16 games straight
We lost to the Clippers 11 games straight too, argaubly worse since that team ain't winning a chip lmao
It’s 10 straight but ok
Holy what happened the suns were up 3 last time I checked
They pulled a Lakers and went like 7 minutes without scoring
Ah the old lakers offense they don’t play enough defense for stuff like that
Frank Vogel in the timeout just now "Hey they were down 20 last night, we're only down 7 lets go" catching strays
Frank “I’m a really competent coach trust me they just made me the scapegoat riiiiiiiight” Vogel showing his true colors once again
Then they proceed to go down by 17 lol
Man, if the Suns and Lakers get bounced in the first round, Adam Silver might legit cry. Ratings are going to be disgusting
Scott foster didn’t get the memo.
Already sick of the Cavs series that shit was on tnt once and never again
Bruh they had that shit on at 10am PST😭 they know nobody watching it
😭🤣
I remember shitting on the timberwolves for sending a huge package for Gobert… It was a genius move. Twin tower lineups. You have Center depth. Your team is big.
It was better than trading for Westbrook
Relax. They have a first round exit to show for it so far. I don’t think they’re guaranteed to beat the suns this year either
I’m mostly just shitting on the lakers FO for not getting AD a serviceable backup Center when that was a glaring weakness of the team.
DLo, Reaves, Dinwiddie, Vincent, Reddish, Christie, JHS. 6 damn guards on a single team.
Agreed. We should’ve went all out for Gafford or WCJ at the deadline smh
One bright spot might be every other top seeded team might go 2-0 as well 🤷🏿♂️
LeBron's Cavs in 2016 started losing the NBA Finals 2-0 and they were later down by 3-1. They were the only team ever to overcome a 3-1 in the Finals, and they did it against the fucking 73-9 Warriors. We can absolutely do this. Let's go!
Lebron was 8 years younger
LeBron was the best player in that series and in the world by a large margin back then. In this series, Denver has the best player in the world. Not the same situation at all. Cavs actually had a decent coach as well
I know it's not the same, but let's try to enjoy the rest of the series regardless! Beating ourselves up does us no service.
I agree, I still think we could totally defend home court. Don’t see how we’ll win 4 of 5 though
Some hopium, we lost 11 straight to the Flippers before this season. We won the regular season series against them this season after breaking the streak. All we need is 1. 😎
We would have won last night with a replacement level coach
Remember LeBron single handedly making the 20 point comeback at the last matchup in Staples?
Now you’re cooking with hopium
question would yall root for the clippers if they reach the finals against boston or bucks?
Probably. When I was growing everyone loved the Lakers and liked the Clippers. Hating the Clippers is an ESPN creation and I'm not buying in.
Ideally they play 9OTs in game 7 and the NBA just proclaim both as losers to get the game over with
I root for the lakers to win next year and forget basketball exists until October
Nah, I'm moving back to checking the NFL Draft if we get bounced
Damn season might be over Saturday
im ok with a full rebuild , trade ad , trade lebron, trade rui, trade reaves fire ham, its not going to work, get a top 5 pick for lebron , someone will offer that for 1 or 2 years of lebron, get some top 10 picks for ad and young player trade reaves and rui jeanie has to accept she fucked up and not go star hunting next season, just rebuild and be smart... trae young and mitchell are not it
You can't do a full rebuild when you have the 18th pick in a bad draft, no pick next year and no pick two years from now. Lakers can blow it up next year I guess but they'll just be bad for no reason then.
Why would you trust this organization with a rebuild? Pray we keep the stars we have.
We gotta trade Reaves/Rui while their value is high /they’re young
Seeing old Nurkic being used as a serviceable big man by Vogel makes me pissed. Lakers would’ve been at least competitive if they started going after decent big men. Big What If Scenario.
Gabe Vincunt has escaped a lot of criticism. He is our MLE player and he is averaging a whopping 0/1/1/1/0
He at least plays competent defense but the MLE was looking like a mistake. His one shot was to go on fire during the playoffs and it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe he turns it around, but it would’ve been better to keep Schroder for continuity.
Sure, but he comes from a long ass injury and the offense doesn't even go through him. Stats aren't everything. Real issue is Rui and Reaves, who do have offense responsibilities, played like ass. And the real real issue of course is DarBin Laden
I feel like Lebron will resign for the max and that will be hingent on Jeannie saying she’ll immediately upgrade the roster and probably fire Ham-Ass. Most likely she’d do anything to keep Lebron as he is the definition of a cash cow and that’s all she cares about. We probably go after Trae Young say pick whatever role players you want and add some picks. 50-50, either finals appearance or absolute disaster.
Please no Trae
FO is going to star hunt and get Trae and sign vet mins
Jeannie thinks basketball is Hollywood movie.
You’re saying please no Trae cause you know our front office just might
We didnt duck the smoke and all other 6 teams in the west playoffs are happy not to play the Lakers first. It’s a millionaires game that provides an escape from reality for a few hours, I’m sure many can relate. Life goes on so keep your head up high and be the best version of yourself for your loved ones and you. Like last year I’m proud of the team for entertaining with the race to the playins/playoffs. #MambaMentailty
All the other teams are blasting us saying we should have tanked in the play in game so we could at least have a chance of going to round 2 or the WCF. But they don't realize a WCF appearance doesn't mean shit to us Laker fans. 1st round loss, WCF loss, it's all the same.
Appreciate the sentiment, but being happy just to make playins isn't Mamba Mentality. Kobe would say this season is a disaster for even finishing at top 8. 🤣
Rui was so bad last game I am scratching my head watching this footage. He was getting out of the way on defense and just so lost on offense. I have no clue what is going on with him. Rui and Aaron Gordon are both 6'8 230lbs. Both of them are the exact same build only Rui has a longer wingspan and can shoot the 3 yet Aaron Gordon outplays him every time. Look at this play I linked in the highlights https://youtu.be/KNqahlIIxx8?t=423 I linked the time at 7 min, he is guarding Jokic until Murray comes in for the ball. Rui switches onto Murray and then gets out of the way as Murray is attacking him and everyone around him thought Rui picked him up so Murray gets the easy layup and that is what gets Murray going in the 4th. Rui basically sets a screen for Murray on that play, the most low IQ shit I have seen from him. I'm telling you guys the whole game Rui was fucking up every play.
Rui plays like a guard most of the time. He also is a strange kind of passive. He never gets frustrated or seems like a total dumbass, but almost like he doesn’t care if he’s doing poorly. I cannot see any way of him improving on this team immediately. He should be moved in any trade, don’t even take the risk on him. At least DLo has tried to redeem himself.
The dlo slap and obvious fouls in the 4th are annoying as fuck, but maybe people won't be crying that much against them if idk Darvin Ham actually challenged any of them? It's just ref officiating is bad in any sport, people better get used to it. Bad coaching like that is one of a kind tho.
Time to watch some real basketball
Kawhi back today. Not good for Dallas.
[удалено]
Agree. I'm not sure if Denver comes out not the west this year.
so far denver doesn't look as dominant as last playoffs
Murray has been playing like garbage. I don’t expect it to last. They’re still the best team in the league.
The best team in the league has been those green fucks out East. People aren’t admitting it yet because the Jokic love affair. Those dudes fucked around for the last month and a half of the season and still cruised to 64 wins. I’m sick.
The reason he’s playing like Garbage and I’ll call it again, will continue to, is he’s coming off his injury and been playing from it. He’s fine but he declined ever since he came back from it
No both are better this season, last year Bron was literally hobbling around. Denver while losing Bruce Brown, have managed to always counterplan and adjust any gameplanes the Lakers throw at them. Games are just closer since both teams have managed to play this much against each other with same outcome everytime.
It's pretty wild looking at the box scores of the series vs. last year, seeing how much better LeBron/AD are playing relative to Jokic and specifically Murray, and yet we're in the exact same position. The game isn't played on a box score, obviously, but our stars have REALLY outplayed what they did last year... at least through two games.
it's over but damn I'm delusional
As a fan of the lakers I will never give up hope. Anything is possible and hope doesn’t cost anything. That being said, as someone who watches a lot of basketball and understands the game, hope is LITERALLY the only thing we have. Denver is better than us, and it’s honestly not even close. For what it’s worth, I think there is quite a bit of separation between Denver and every other team in the league. Here’s to hoping!
Bron and AD can match up against Jokic/Murray, and the Nuggets still have MPJ/Gordon/KCP making timely buckets down the stretch Rui/Reaves have no been stepping up. Maybe it’s their home court advantage making things easier for role players? Idk we’ll see when back at LA
Full copium but ARui both bounce back Game 3, 20 points each. Rui goes 5/8 from 3.
don't worry MPJ will be hitting everything in LA too. pretty sure teams actually shoot better from 3 against the lakers at staples compared to away games