Playoffs - Round 1: Lakers Vs. Denver. Let's Freaking Go!!

Well, Brunson and Don are #1 options so obviously they're numbers are better. Jokic helps you in many ways but he also controls the whole offense which decreases your numbers.

I take Brunson over him but not sure on Don. I just think you're not being objective on this one

Of course, my take is not to take anyone expressing what they want. It's just my opinion of it. I grew up idolizing Kobe and have this mindset in sports because of him. I don't care the C-Bags win one when we fail to be there to stop it. It's always in our control to stop that and that's by being there and winning it ourselves. Every year is the same and every year that's my mentality. We are out so we just have to sunk in others' success and use it as a catalyst for next year. That's how I view it

 

I embrace Nuggets' hate towards us. They have it because they want our place. They'll never get it. They hate us because we are better, bigger. I embrace it. They also deserve the trash talk because they are beating our a**** year after year. Kobe would never let it happen. LeBron unfortunately does.
When you are the best in the world, many will hate you. It comes with it. Let them hate us, we just have to continue being the biggest franchise in the world

 

Look I do completely agree with the principle of what you’re saying

But man, it’s been a frustrating time as a Laker fan, I don’t see the harm in a little childish fun in our own echo chamber tonight. I don’t think anybody here is being too serious or trying to discredit from how great Denver has been, or trying to deflect from the issues and standards on our own team

I’m also not a fan of weaponizing a hypothetical reaction from the late Kobe to shame a little casual **** talking

 

Sure. But come on Kobe was in his prime and late prime with Pau Gasol in 2008, 2009 and 2012.

 

not sure how many more times i'm going to have to post side by side stats between bibby, terry, and murray. and you don't want to see the brunson/mitchell stats, jamal. the fact that they do it as #1 options is more--not less--impressive. this is really the whole point. if jamal murray is your number one option, you're definitely the worst team in the nba.

taking murray over mitchell and claiming it's my bias that's coloring the situation.

btw, loved watching minny just hunt that clown relentlessly on offense. where's murray? just send the ball to wherever they're trying to hide him this time!

 

Annoying that he was a star who couldn't miss against us and got played off the court against Minny

 

yeah, saw him upfake, reset...and then just shank a three last night and was like WHERE THE HELL WAS THAT THREE WEEKS AGO?! same freaking shot, man.

 

I disagree 10000%
Part of sports is enjoying when the team that has knocked you out of the playoffs, multiple years in a row, gets the boot.
Especially when their coach has been consistently whining about how the media would rather talk about your team than his.
I’m loving it and will enjoy every single meme and story regarding the Nuggets historical meltdown.

 

Nikola Jokic did not decide whether to play for Serbia at the Olympic Games

Nikola Jokic does not yet know whether he will perform at the Olympic Games in Paris.

« I don’t know, friend, let's see. I need to think about it », – said the center after the defeat in the seventh game of the series.

 

MINN has 100x better perimeter Defense than we do though.. That stat looks like it does for a reason.

 

maybe. but they also missed shots they made against us. perhaps they were more tired or something, but i watched a lot of this series, and if that mpj played us, we win.

 

For a while I was wondering why the Wolves had Ant guarding Murray when McDaniels seemed to be bothering him more. The answer was that McDaniels is the perfect guy to erase MPJ. Rui or LeBron (mostly Rui) would lose him on screens and contest late, but McDaniels is quick and slippery enough at 6'9" to really stick to him.

MPJ also did just miss shots he made against us, particularly those back-breaking, momentum-shifting ones. Some of it is just bad luck, but I'm sure some of it is just comfort level knowing that a smaller or slower guy is closing out on you, rather than a freak like McDaniels.

 

vando would have helped on both guys.

 

For sure. One of the questions I'd ask every single candidate for our HC spot is how they plan to incorporate Vando into our halfcourt offense. The playoffs are showing that size and athleticism tends to win the idea, we need to be able to keep him on the floor.

 

weirdly enough, we had a way--having two very good shooters in reaves and dlo in the backcourt. we just didn't really get to see it last year at all.

 

Sure, there do need to be some schematic solutions though. You could have Steph and Klay in the backcourt and still clog your offense a bit if you just stick Vando in the corner and nothing else. We saw some promising stuff with him as a cutter and help-beater, but that got cut short by his injury. I thought it looked significantly better than what we were doing last season.

This is part of why Adelman is my #1 guy, because he's already sorted through a similar situation with Gordon. We don't have a Jokic, but we do have LeBron and AD's passing has come a long way.

 

agree. AD's passing improvements have been encouraging. if he could just get back to where he was shooting a few years ago, it would open up vando options. but that's asking a lot, and i think the three point shooting was flukey--it's two steps past his range. though tbh, jokic really isn't a great three point shooter (ask minny, who kinda dared him and won). but the threat opens things up. not to stand up for ham, but i think what he was getting at with the 5-out (which i do not support) was trying to leverage AD similarly. but AD just lost all confidence in that shot, and it's hard to play the game right now with two guys who don't feel comfortable pulling the trigger on wide open threes.

all that said, i was definitely one who thought that just because vando got schemed out against denver last year didn't mean it had to happen again. denver making gordon a threat is the evidence.

 

On the topic of the Nuggets, as much fun as I’ve had clowning on them and still have legitimate vitriol towards the way Malone and Murray carry themselves…

Jokic is legitimately one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen. He has easily been the best player in the world the past several years and totally earns those MVPs. This isn’t a controversial take right?