Lakers up 3-1. Congrats to Denver on their first NBA Finals appearance.
Lakers up 3-1. Congrats to Denver on their first NBA Finals appearance.
Boston Red (09-25-2020),Bourgeois Zee (09-25-2020),dubc47834 (09-25-2020),M2 (09-25-2020),Puffy (09-25-2020),SteelSD (09-25-2020)
as predicted...Originally Posted by adkindo
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
Lakers methodically, and without significant adjustments, eliminated Denver. Good series for Grant and Murray, they are on the rise. Malone also enhanced his reputation.
I really want to see someone make it more difficult for LeBron. It was too easy for he and Davis To get the looks and spots on the floor they wanted. No one can guard Davis, when he is motivated. Unless.. Bam?
Kingspoint (09-27-2020)
People have been trying that for nearly two decades, without success.
The last team to make it difficult for LeBron was the Pierce/ Garnett/ Rondo/ Allen Celtics.
The Lakers don't do anything special offensively. They rely almost exclusively on LeBron's creativity, AD's physical gifts, and (when he's engaged) Rondo's passing acumen. They run one of the most vanilla offenses in the game-- mid-post big, corner and wing 3-and-D guys, and an initiator at the top of the key. Pick-and-posts or pop or roll (often between James and AD or James and Rondo) start almost 80% of their sets. (That's a massive number, fwiw. The Heat and Celtic pet plays are used less than half that much.) The key, as always, is LeBron.
He's a Swiss Army knife of dominance. Need him to back down a smaller guy? Shoot over the top of them? Rebound with the big boys? Drive and dish? Post at the block? He's the size and strength of Ben Wallace with the handle of John Stockton.
AD is a dependable bucket-getter and elite defender, but there are others like him in the NBA. Until he takes that next leap (and he has at least one more jump ahead of him, perhaps two), he's not in LeBron's category in terms of effect on a game. That guy is (and has been) uniquely dominant for his entire career.
If Miami makes it to the finals, I'd try Bam on LeBron and Crowder/ Olynyk on AD. Deal with the occasional dominance and hope he regresses into the woodwork as he has in the past. Body him and make it hard for him to cut. Butler and Herro are willing to chuck cutters. Use that to your advantage. Sag to the middle. (That Heat zone is tailor-made for defending the Lakers, btw. Trapping LeBron out front how they trapped Haden strikes me as an exceptionally good use of irony as well. Spo will surely have this all figured out, assuming Miami makes it that far.)
If Boston makes it, I think they're going to struggle with AD big-time. LeBron and Rondo will feed him, and, unless Stevens uses Kanter, there's not a big who can bang on AD to wear him out. Tatum's still a boy. Hayward's game, but too small. Smart might actually make the most sense, but I'm guessing he tracks LeBron. Stevens will probably keep Tatum on him, so Vogel will want to attack that matchup looking to get Tatum in foul trouble. Brown and Kemba should feel free to double down (a lot), and, again, a zone is a great defense to employ against LA. The Lakers' supporting cast will have to hit enough shots from outside to make Boston pay a little, but it's won't take much, honestly, because of LeBron's uniques talents.
..
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
Seems to me that the best to disrupt the Lakers' offense is to make them chase you and the ball all over the court when they're on defense. Burn their candle at the other end.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Way to go Heat. That's how you close out a series.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
Bourgeois Zee (09-27-2020)
Well, it's Miami and LA in the finals.
This is a phenomenal matchup.
Some questions:
- Will Miami continue to go "small" with Abebayo at center and Jae Crowder at PF, or will Spo surprise the Lakers with Meyers Leonard and Kelly Olynyk at center to bang with Howard and McGee?
- Is it Bam v. AD, or Bam v. LeBron?
- Who will LeBron check? Butler? If so, that's a tough matchup for Jimmy. He will try to tire LeBron out. How much does the old man still have in his tank?
- Rondo v. Herro off the bench is old school Kentucky v. new school Kentucky. That's a matchup in basketball heaven, right there.
- Who does Duncan Robinson match up with? Anyone? Would Spo put him on Green? KCP? Morris?
- I love that Iguodala found his stroke right before the finals.
- This might be the smartest Final on record. Rondo is a genius. LeBron is a basketball savant. Butler and Dragic are incredibly smart. Bam's got that basketball IQ too (as does Herro). This Finals might be a PhD in how to play the game.
- The Heat are sure to zone. Do the Lakers go with an all shooter team? If so, does Rondo fit in that scenario?
- Is LeBron ready to go all Golden State? Because I suspect the Heat will clog the middle and make LA beat them from outside.
- Can Miami handle LA's length and strength? No one yet has been able to. And it's not like Miami's got much in the way of height.
dubc47834 (09-29-2020),Kingspoint (09-27-2020),UKFlounder (09-27-2020)
Let LeBron get his and try to stop everyone else.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
Congradts to Jimmy and Jae. Well deserved. I suspect they'll both be on the phone with Buzz tonight. Ring out Ahoya!
BillDoran (09-28-2020)
Lakers in 5.
“The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.”― Marcus Aurelius
I liked the Heat before the playoffs and I still like them as they head into the Finals. Heat have the athletes to matchup against Lebron and AD. Bam, Jimmy, Crowder and I'm guessing we'll see a lot of Iggy. This Heat team is so different than all the modern finals contenders. You can't try to shut one or two of them down, they have a bunch of guys who can all run the offense, score, create, rebound, defend, etc. Clamp down Jimmy and Dragic then Bam and Herro torch you. And Spo is as good of a basketball coach as there is on the planet right now.
I expect this to go 6 or 7 and I'm gonna take the Heat.
Kingspoint (09-28-2020),M2 (09-28-2020)
If you can stop LeBron from creating for others, that's not a poor strategy at all.
The issue is that, as LeBron has aged, he knows this is a plan.
That's how Stotts has played Lebron the last 7 years and it usually resulted in a 20-pt Blazer win. (Or Harden, or Westbrook). It does work. You aren't going to stop great players. But, they can't beat you alone, no matter how great they are. They need help, too.
"One problem with people who have no vices is that they're pretty sure to have some annoying virtues."
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