NBA Playoffs 2023 Discussion

Don't be surprised if the Lakers come out laxed in the 1st half trailing, we seen it all year. It be nice to see them come out guns blazing at tip off

 

Yeah, in The Bounce (Athletic daily email from Shams and a few others) they mentioned how quickly Prince jumped up and shoved Gobert. Had to go back and watch it, that's a straw that broke the back, not a one-off.

Like I said in another thread, this is the type of mentality and behavior (fight, McDaniels hand, halftime fight, and the post-game audio leak) you expect from a team that is defeated because they just got bounced. NOT the winner. Really bad vibes in Minny and really good for us.

 

I don’t know. I can see it making Edwards, MC, Kat, and Prince playing even harder and with more focus and edge.

 

Why couldn't the Lakers give Vogel this roster instead of Westbrick and the expendables.

 

I have no doubt they will, but that's not enough. The mere fact Prince is in that sentence is proof of the lack of depth up front they're now faced with. I know rotations get tighter and minutes go up for the top of the roster during play-in and playoffs, but KAT isn't playing all 48.

 

There's no excuses for this game. If we don't win it's mostly our fault regardless of how Minny plays. So let's see what this group has to offer.

We have a chance to have very entertaining and unexpected playoff series with Memphis and maybe more, so it's up to this group and LeBron to show how much they want it. We have been having effort lapses here and there, but this group deserves a lot of praise for climbing back and put us in the best possible scenario we could have imagined 2 months ago. I trust them they win this game, I'm ready!

 

I can easily see us getting off to a slow start, with the Wolves going 5-out without Gobert and slashing/kicking. We had Reaves on Ant last time, this time I think it needs to be Vando. Without Gobert, there are more driving lanes for Ant and we no longer need to use Vando on KAT. LeBron can “hide” on Anderson or Prince, but I’m also interested in him guarding KAT. Strength seems to bother KAT more than size.

 

Ding Ding!

 

Thankful for home court advantage

 

MINN is in a spiral, but definitely don't get too comfortable..
Crush them early & then bury them, so future opponents start to fear us...

Anything less is a waste of the time & energy they all have put into turning this season around...

 

I have to assume the situation there is so toxic at this point that nobody even wants to make the playoffs and KAT just wants to go home.

 

I got the same fears....this team can go off on us offensively if we fall asleep...mainly looking at you, LeBron.

I better not see a guy like Prince go off because LeBron literally refused to play defense on him.

 

Prince will prolly go off and he has been doing that parts of the year but LBJ is too big for him so they gonna need someone bigger

 

Maybe the best game plan vs the Lakers is to play possum. ??
Make them come into the game underestimating you..?

 

Bah..we have a friggin healthy Lebron James and Anthony Davis! Damn the Timberwolves, they ain't winning jack. Memphis is done in 6 at the most too. Folks are going overboard with the handwringing angst stuff IMO

 

I'm cautiously optimistic about our chances to do some serious damage in the playoffs. It seems the entire squad is semi-healthy, which is something we haven't had for like 3 years. We also have some momentum and even though the team became much younger, we still have a lot of postseason experience. On top of all that, they way the season played out, we will not have to play any of the true top dogs before the WCF. This should be a fun ride, and who knows, maybe we get to watch a Lakers - C Bags finals again?

I expect our team to take care of business and demolish the Timberwolves tonight. Memphis won't just lay down and surrender, but the Lakers should be able to win in 6.

 

If we beat Memphis, we may get the Warriors next. Both having to win at least one game away. It's not an easy ride and we have to exceed ourselves in ways we haven't yet. It's more LIKELY we get beaten by Memphis or Warriors, but we have a chance.

Anyway, let's focus on Minny first and take it game by game.
LeBron knows he doesn't have much more chances on the postseason. Especially with such a good group and conference context. Certainly the past 2 years have humbled him a bit so I bet he's aware what's at stake. Hope he turns it up like he does in the playoffs and the team feed off of him. I'm so excited to watch it!


Regarding rotations, I'm guessing a 9-man rotation with Schroder, Beasley, Troy and Rui. Vando will probably play back 5. Maybe against Minny we get some run on Gabriel/TT against KAT and depending who plays backup 5 for them.

 

I hope for / expect a concerted effort from the team and coaching staff to play through AD. As great as LBJ can still be, and as good of a supporting cast as we have now, IMO we go only as far as AD can carry us. And it won't be very far on putbacks and defense alone. Time for you to shine big fella - go out there, demand the ball and show the KATs and JJJs of this world who's the boss.