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Post by DrSchadenfreude on Apr 21, 2024 10:09:42 GMT -5
Tense opening game at Ball Arena in Denver last night in the playoff opener between the Lakers and Nuggets.
Denver and OKC had the same W-L at the end of the regular season, but OKC won a tie breaker to earn the #1 seed in the West.
LeBron and the Lakers had a strong regular season finish, and are an underrated #7 seed, IMO.
So, the Lakers shot the lights out in the first quarter, and jumped out to an earlier lead. They were firing on all cylinders.
Anthony Davis had an impressive game, but he and LeBron need a better supporting cast, IMO. Davis was able to score consistently against Jokic in the post.
Denver was able to tie the game with three seconds left in the first half, then the Lakers got cold in the third quarter, and LeBron looked gassed by the end of the game. In fact, LeBron fell and injured his arm at the very end of the game. He's getting old.
The big difference this year, compared to last, for the NBA champion Nuggets is the absence of Bruce Brown-- Denver's stellar 6th man in the 2023 playoffs.
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Post by Walter on Apr 21, 2024 10:38:45 GMT -5
Tense opening game at Ball Arena in Denver last night in the playoff opener between the Lakers and Nuggets. Denver and OKC had the same W-L at the end of the regular season, but OKC won a tie breaker to earn the #1 seed in the West. LeBron and the Lakers had a strong regular season finish, and are an underrated #7 seed, IMO. So, the Lakers shot the lights out in the first quarter, and jumped out to an earlier lead. They were firing on all cylinders. Anthony Davis had an impressive game, but he and LeBron need a better supporting cast, IMO. Davis was able to score consistently against Jokic in the post. Denver was able to tie the game with three seconds left in the first half, then the Lakers got cold in the third quarter, and LeBron looked gassed by the end of the game. In fact, LeBron fell and injured his arm at the very end of the game. He's getting old. The big difference this year, compared to last, for the NBA champion Nuggets is the absence of Bruce Brown-- Denver's stellar 6th man in the 2023 playoffs. The Lakers do not have enough depth to stay with Denver. They might steal a game or maybe even two, but will not win 4. No way. |
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Post by DrSchadenfreude on Apr 23, 2024 19:06:01 GMT -5
Game Two started late on TNT last night.
The Lakers were killing the Nuggets before and after halftime-- up by 20 points-- and Anthony Davis was scoring at will.
The Nuggets couldn't buy a bucket. They were even missing lay ups. Jamal Murray was ice cold.
It was getting late, and thought, "F*ck it... I'm going to bed."
So, I was pleasantly surprised this morning to read that Jamal Murray hit a buzzer beater to win the game 101-99.
I don't know what happened in the second half, but somehow the Lakers found a way to lose.
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Post by DrSchadenfreude on Apr 30, 2024 10:03:01 GMT -5
What a strange series it was.
I stayed up late last night to watch the Nuggets win another last second squeaker in Denver-- 108-106.
The Lakers led for most of the game, but the Nuggets got back in it in the third quarter.
The game ended in a cliff hanger, and could have gone either way in the closing minutes.
IMO, the Nuggets were better than this in 2023.
It will be interesting to see how they play against Minnesota and, possibly, OKC.
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Post by Walter on Apr 30, 2024 23:24:22 GMT -5
What a strange series it was. I stayed up late last night to watch the Nuggets win another last second squeaker in Denver-- 108-106. The Lakers led for most of the game, but the Nuggets got back in it in the third quarter. The game ended in a cliff hanger, and could have gone either way in the closing minutes. IMO, the Nuggets were better than this in 2023. It will be interesting to see how they play against Minnesota and, possibly, OKC. Denver did not match up well with the Lakers, but IMO, the lack of Laker bench depth compelled both LBJ and AD to play too many minutes and they kept running out of gas. AD was a no-show for most of the 4th Qs all series. |
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Post by oujour76 on May 1, 2024 4:04:53 GMT -5
What a strange series it was. I stayed up late last night to watch the Nuggets win another last second squeaker in Denver-- 108-106. The Lakers led for most of the game, but the Nuggets got back in it in the third quarter. The game ended in a cliff hanger, and could have gone either way in the closing minutes. IMO, the Nuggets were better than this in 2023. It will be interesting to see how they play against Minnesota and, possibly, OKC. Denver did not match up well with the Lakers, but IMO, the lack of Laker bench depth compelled both LBJ and AD to play too many minutes and they kept running out of gas. AD was a no-show for most of the 4th Qs all series. If not for your coach, Lakers win that series. |
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Post by Walter on May 1, 2024 8:28:00 GMT -5
Denver did not match up well with the Lakers, but IMO, the lack of Laker bench depth compelled both LBJ and AD to play too many minutes and they kept running out of gas. AD was a no-show for most of the 4th Qs all series. If not for your coach, Lakers win that series. Perhaps. If inconsistency is the coach's fault, then yeah, because "INCONSISTENT" could have been added to the jersey all season, and it showed again in the series. |
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Post by oujour76 on May 1, 2024 9:05:38 GMT -5
If not for your coach, Lakers win that series. Perhaps. If inconsistency is the coach's fault, then yeah, because "INCONSISTENT" could have been added to the jersey all season, and it showed again in the series.
A lot of that inconsistency is coaching based. Players not knowing what to expect, for example. I haven't watched the Lakers as much as you have, but as someone who has played a ton of basketball, it's clear that Ham has lost that team. |
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Post by Walter on May 1, 2024 14:48:33 GMT -5
Perhaps. If inconsistency is the coach's fault, then yeah, because "INCONSISTENT" could have been added to the jersey all season, and it showed again in the series.
A lot of that inconsistency is coaching based. Players not knowing what to expect, for example. I haven't watched the Lakers as much as you have, but as someone who has played a ton of basketball, it's clear that Ham has lost that team. Heard a beat reporter say yesterday that a lot of the frustration in the locker room revolved around players not understanding their role. Ham's response to that was that his players were so red hot or ice cold on both ends of the court for games at a time, that though he could see talent, he could never rely on some parts of his bench to show up on a given night, and so kept searching for that magic rotation that would give everyone the spots and rolls they needed, or wanted, and he could never find it. And that in turn frustrated the players. As the joke goes, "What spins and is always angry?" A vicious circle. " |
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Post by oujour76 on May 1, 2024 15:39:13 GMT -5
A lot of that inconsistency is coaching based. Players not knowing what to expect, for example. I haven't watched the Lakers as much as you have, but as someone who has played a ton of basketball, it's clear that Ham has lost that team. Heard a beat reporter say yesterday that a lot of the frustration in the locker room revolved around players not understanding their role. Ham's response to that was that his players were so red hot or ice cold on both ends of the court for games at a time, that though he could see talent, he could never rely on some parts of his bench to show up on a given night, and so kept searching for that magic rotation that would give everyone the spots and rolls they needed, or wanted, and he could never find it. And that in turn frustrated the players. As the joke goes, "What spins and is always angry?" A vicious circle. " Understood, and from what you’ve described sounds like a coaching issue to me. |
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Post by DrSchadenfreude on May 1, 2024 16:09:18 GMT -5
Denver did not match up well with the Lakers, but IMO, the lack of Laker bench depth compelled both LBJ and AD to play too many minutes and they kept running out of gas. AD was a no-show for most of the 4th Qs all series. If not for your coach, Lakers win that series. Newsflash, Harry. The NBA Champion Nuggets are something like 11-1 vs. the Lakers in recent history. It's reminiscent of the Colorado Buffs repeatedly rolling Oklahoma in the 90s. As for Anthony Davis, he injured his left shoulder in the second half of Game Five and could barely raise his arm. I was surprised the Lakers kept him in the game in the 4th quarter. |
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Post by oujour76 on May 1, 2024 17:07:47 GMT -5
A lot of that inconsistency is coaching based. Players not knowing what to expect, for example. I haven't watched the Lakers as much as you have, but as someone who has played a ton of basketball, it's clear that Ham has lost that team. Heard a beat reporter say yesterday that a lot of the frustration in the locker room revolved around players not understanding their role. Ham's response to that was that his players were so red hot or ice cold on both ends of the court for games at a time, that though he could see talent, he could never rely on some parts of his bench to show up on a given night, and so kept searching for that magic rotation that would give everyone the spots and rolls they needed, or wanted, and he could never find it. And that in turn frustrated the players. As the joke goes, "What spins and is always angry?" A vicious circle. " Lakers led in the games for the series by a ratio of 3:1. Losing leads and close games on a regular basis comes down to coaching. For God’s sake, Austin Reaves had to beg his way onto the floor in Q4 of the last game. |
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Post by DrSchadenfreude on May 1, 2024 18:50:08 GMT -5
Heard a beat reporter say yesterday that a lot of the frustration in the locker room revolved around players not understanding their role. Ham's response to that was that his players were so red hot or ice cold on both ends of the court for games at a time, that though he could see talent, he could never rely on some parts of his bench to show up on a given night, and so kept searching for that magic rotation that would give everyone the spots and rolls they needed, or wanted, and he could never find it. And that in turn frustrated the players. As the joke goes, "What spins and is always angry?" A vicious circle. " Lakers led in the games for the series by a ratio of 3:1. Losing leads and close games on a regular basis comes down to coaching. For God’s sake, Austin Reaves had to beg his way onto the floor in Q4 of the last game. Did you even watch the series, Harry? Explain the 11-1 Nuggets-Lakers history lately. Did you watch the Nuggets win out in the NBA playoffs last year? The truth is that the Nuggets have been typically getting off to slow starts, then elevating their game in the second half. My own take is that it's partly a function of Nikola Jokic starting games by consistently passing the ball, instead of driving or shooting 3s. He has taken very few shots in the first halves of these games. It's an obvious pattern with Jokic. Then, as the pressure builds, he starts driving or shooting more frequently from the perimeter. That, in turns, loosens up the double-team defenses against Jamal Murray. |
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Post by Walter on May 2, 2024 15:30:48 GMT -5
Heard a beat reporter say yesterday that a lot of the frustration in the locker room revolved around players not understanding their role. Ham's response to that was that his players were so red hot or ice cold on both ends of the court for games at a time, that though he could see talent, he could never rely on some parts of his bench to show up on a given night, and so kept searching for that magic rotation that would give everyone the spots and rolls they needed, or wanted, and he could never find it. And that in turn frustrated the players. As the joke goes, "What spins and is always angry?" A vicious circle. " Lakers led in the games for the series by a ratio of 3:1. Losing leads and close games on a regular basis comes down to coaching. For God’s sake, Austin Reaves had to beg his way onto the floor in Q4 of the last game. Let's just say nobody here in LA is shocked, surprised or upset at Ham's departure. I'll have to check, but I believe the Lakers will be paying 3 head coaches next season; Vogel, Ham and whoever they hire. Can you say, "lack of continuity"? |
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