Optimism Discussion: The Laker's Sky Is Not Falling

Defeated the 2nd seed then the defending champs.. after having to win the play-in game in OT.

I hope that isn't the pinnacle and we oust Denver.

 

Denver top 6 is awesome but come on Christain Braun and Jeff Green is the rest of their 8 man rotation.

Lakers will be the first full strength team they'll face in the playoffs so far: No McDaniels, No Ried and then no Paul/Ayton and just generally a no depth Phoenix team.
AD needs to stay out of foul trouble but Vando and Rui match up better with Denver than the Warriors and Ham is going put Jokic on island with DS/Reaves/DLo going at him

 

Denver hasn't proven anything at all to me yet. Paper tigers like Phoenix. Lakers will be up to the task.

 

I remember thinking that two superstars at different positions PLUS really good role players was probably the ideal, but I wasn't sure.

Then the Lakers signed Karl Malone and Gary Payton to add to Shaq and Kobe, and while those names are mesmerizing, shiny objects to NBA fans, I wondered, "How could this possibly work?" It didn't. You NEED solid role players who play good defense.

I learned a lot from that and kept thinking about it, and that was the main thing that made me say, "WTF? Why???" when we signed Brick.

No to aging superstar players being added. That being said: the Old Man, while he continues to stupefy me with his tremendous play at age 38, his expiration date looms nonetheless. It's gonna be impossible to replace him, but you can hope to get close with a guy who has a good three solid years left.

Yea? So: who? (At this point I stop worrying about it and look to Game 1 of the WCF against DEN. That's all that matters for a fan like me, right now.)

 

No. No. No … man we had ourselves a 4-peat for certain if Karl doesn’t get injured the 2nd time. We we kicking a** all year. But yes to everything else.

 

Don't have to look very far... Reaves is gonna replace LeBron!

But then, who will replace Reaves? Still don't have to look very far...Christie gonna replace Reaves!

 

AD and Embiid together?
No thanks.
Giannis, Luka, Tatum, or Booker are on my list a few years from now.

 

had me til Booker. He's one of those guys I'd rather beat. Luka is gaining traction in that dept as well. There's a narrative that he can't play effectively with another star or not being the center of attention. Not sure it's true, but the sure ended on a sour note, and Mavs fans I know did not blame Irving interestingly enough.

 

I understand the distaste for Booker, I really do.
That being said, his mid range game is so similar to Kobe’s that I just can’t dislike him. Every player who learned under, or has patterned his game after the second most talented scorer to ever lace em up is welcome anytime in the PNG.

 

4 out of 5. Not a 4-peat. Horry missing all but 2 threes in the 2003 series against the Spurs is what cost the Lakers a 4-peat.

 

That kid Braun is a good defender .

Nobody is worried about Gordon on Lebron ? He usually gives Lebron fits and Lebron isn't fully healthy either .

I agree it's a good matchup because we can target both Jokic and Murray defensively though

 

I’m extremely worried about Gordon, MPJr and Braun defending Lebron. That’s 3 young, athletic legs to throw at him. Especially since he doesn’t seem to have the lift and explosiveness he had earlier in the season. Rui has to come up big in this series.

 

I'm pretty pumped for this series. This is the next chapter of the NBA. Both of these centers (Jokic and AD) can play in a fast, dynamic post-Warriors NBA and they've arguably been the best players in the league for some time. They will be matched up against each other and both teams will run everything through them. We're going to see strategic, modern basketball played around the best defensive center since Bill Russell against the best passing big man ever. When's the last time we've seen an actual big man battle, let alone one of this caliber? It's going to be awesome.

 

Warms my heart

 

It’s nice to shove it back in all these laker hater faces, isn’t it.

 

he is, but he can't guard any of lebron, AD, or reaves.

i'd have been more worried if we hadn't just won two series where teams didn't double lebron. also, if gordon isn't helping jokic, i'm just getting AD the ball at the elbow and letting him work.

it's going to be a tough series, but gs is a better team than denver, imo. that doesn't mean we'll beat denver. it just means we've already beaten one, maybe two better teams.

yeah. again, i'm sure if we lose to denver, all the haterz will be like "see, da fakerz weren't for real!". ok. i mean, we're one of the last four standing. if we suck, your team is sad/embarrassing. and you were most certainly wrong.