Not shocked at the loss. Portland has been better all bubble. It was still frustrating as hell watching our g league starting backcourt suck against real NBA talent.
Vogel was just awful. KCP and Green were bad but I honestly don't know what he is doing. So many head scratchers and this isn't hindsight is 20/20. The entire game thread was wondering what he was doing in real time He went way too many minutes with these straight from the 80s lineups with AD at the 4 and that just killed the spacing and doesn't allow you to use AD as a faceup guy attacking the rim Decided to take out a red hot Kuzma who was playing great with Morris and LeBron. Both Morris and Kuzma go out and the 6 point lead evaporates as he again refused to play AD at the 5. So he went big with Danny Green of all people Caruso came in way too late after the Blazers abused KCP He decided to go with a trap of Lillard at the end of the game with a small guaed even though the Blazers already showed they could get a very easy shot on the same trap earlier in the game Then didn't even try Dion when LeBron was sitting This was just awful coaching IMo
Vogel didn't cost us the game even though his coaching wasn't great. Blame the players for once. 1) AD is simply way too talented to be standing around the perimeter pretending he is Stephen Curry. We could have signed Andrea Bargnani if that's what we needed. The fact is, AD needs to toughen up, demand the ball in the post, and start dominating the post. 2) LeBron James played well overall but I'm not a huge fan of him constantly looking to pass early into the game and then thinking he can go on a scoring bunch like he is MJ or Kobe. Those two missed free throws by him in the fourth was HUGE. Solid game overall and he couldn't really force his teammates to make wide open threes. 3) Danny Green + KCP were TRASH. IMO, Danny Green is the biggest problem the Lakers will face in the offseason. He's no longer an elite defender and his three point shooting is disgusting. For a 3 and D player, he's the most overpaid by far. If we can't get rid of him in the offseason, it's going to be a tough next season. KCP, where can I start with this guy? He's back to being the regular season KCP. 4) Caruso is just great at on-ball defense. He did a great job defending but his offensive arsenal is very limited. I have no idea why he forced that horrible three in the last minute of the game. He's too smart of a ballplayer to make these dumb mistakes. The entire game, he did not contribute much offensively outside of a dunk while attacking the rim that gave the Lakers a spark. 5) Dwight Howard was a huge boost for us with his toughness even though the box score doesn't show it. He hurt the Blazers and got into their heads. The problem is, Vogel is poor at adjusting. He'll stick to his same players he did and roll with them. I would have liked to see Waiters there instead of KCP or Green. Why? Because Waiters can actually create his own shot and at the very least, force Lillard or C.J. to defend. Unfortunately, with KCP and Green basically being deadweight on the court, we were struggling offensively. 6) Kuzma played well. Can't hate on that performance. Two biggest problems: AD is too soft and needs to dominate the paint. Lakers can't make any threes. Let's get one thing straight... This is NOT the same Lakers team we saw before the season shut-down. If you're asking for my opinion, I don't think we beat the Raptors, Clippers, or Rockets playing the way the Lakers have since the NBA restarted. Forget about the 'Playoffs is a different thing' because it isn't. The Lakers were always a force in the playoffs because their fans dominated the arenas and other teams caved in. With no fans, we've lost a huge advantage. No homecourt advantage, can't make any threes, AD settling for terrible shots... And this Portland team is much better than any 8th seed in NBA history. This is a team that when fully healthy all season, would have been top four in the seeding. Lakers 1st seed is actually a curse for them. Portland>Rockets>Clippers. Yikes.
Not surprised at all. We needed this to wake up. The team has been playing like s*** in the bubble. Kuz was once again the bright spot, but our “shooters” need to actually make shots at least some times
The starting lineup as predicted put this team in thea big hole both at the beginning of the game and the second half. If you want to keep Kuzma scoring off the bench then you got to go with Morris starting over McGee McGee just doesn't work against playoff teams. AD has no space to work and despite his shot blocking he's just not a all NBA defender like Dwight The Blazers are good and I'm not taking anything away from them but this team looks like it was bottled up and right when it's get going the coach decides to close the lid again (going away from Kuzma/Morris/AC)
That is my biggest problem too. Danny is not looking good on defense or offense. At least KCP gives you good defensive plays or steals sometimes. Danny has given us nada recently
Then maybe have the Lakers take the seeding games more seriously. Also, there is 0 indication since they went into the bubble that the team can hit the broad side of a barn.
We will see how they bounce back. We've waited long enough for guys to shoot better. Time to shorten the leash.
There are Lakers fans who thought it was just a bluff and that the Lakers were suddenly going to start draining threes when the playoffs began. This isn't the same team from four months ago. So much has changed... there was more time off due to this coronavirus than if it were just an ordinary season. I don't like this Lakers team we are seeing. And I'm afraid this talk about Anthony Davis being overrated is slowly coming into fruition. He's the best PF but I know damn well I am taking Lillard over him right now. The fact that AD gets outplayed by Nurkic and Whiteside is making me question whether we should have just kept Ingram, Ball, and Hart + pick.
I wasn’t just talking about this game. Both were bad today, but Danny has been bad half the season IMO
Not a very good excuse. Lakers were up 6 late into the fourth and blew it. LeBron+AD missed four straight free throws. Lakers looked horrible offensively and have been since the Bubble season. Pre-Corona, I would have put money that the Lakers would win the chip. Post-Corona, no chance. This bubble Lakers team wouldn't be a top four seed in the West.
And this is why I didn't like this matchup and voiced my concerns. Sorry to be right about it. Our backcourt is trash and theirs, even with a broken back McCollum is still a nightmare for us. Add on a pretty bad showing from AD and we have ourselves a tough loss. The problem is that I don't see what the solution for us is. Other than maybe starting Kuz over Danny Green who has just been completely useless. He can't guard anyone any more and if he isn't going to make shots there's no point to him being in there. Honestly I would liked to have seen some more of Waiters out there. Just something to give us an offensive boost.
For all the hate Rondo gets here... He's likely our best option. At least he can create for others and hopefully give us solid minutes while Bron is out. When Bron is out and no Bradley+Rondo, relying on Caruso to do anything is a joke. I know teams don't usually go deep into their rotation for the playoffs but Cook probably should have taken some of Green's or KCP's minutes to at least knock down some threes. Just a very poor performance by the Lakers. And if AD plays the way he again, I don't even care if we re-sign him because it's all the evidence I need to know he doesn't have it.
Man it’s just one game. Say “I was right” if Portland wins the series. I know we’re upset at the loss, but we’ve seen too many series where teams lose the first game and come back to win the series to get too panicked yet.
