Game Debrief: What Went Right And What Went Wrong?

Somehow we keep winning. Coaching must include more than calling timeouts.

 

Dude charges more blantantly than prime LeBron.

 

Nothing AD put up offensively as a shot could go in, but his defense, his play on the offensive glass, and his calm hitting of clutch crunch FTs was everything for us. Who knows if they shot cortisone into his lower back or whatever, but he was a BEAST despite not having a great offensive game.

We went up 18 and I think most of us knew the Pels would make a push. Zion was unstoppable...until whatever it was there that made him walk back to the locker room with 3 mins left and a tie game. Man, tough break for N.O.

I don't get why Willie Green didn't play BI after Zion went out. I think less of every coach who whines about the FT disparity, and the narrative - which by now is insinuated, heavily - that the refs are in the bag for the Lakers. The league really needs to take a look at this: whiny little b**** coaches who complain that the refs jobbed them against the Lakers? Not a good look for the NBA. Also: demonstrably BS.

I liked how we responded after NO tied it, although, like the previous game, we start to play the slow deliberate game in the 2nd half and it's not as effective as maintaining the running, get out on the fast break Laker offense. You know, the 2nd Q Lakers: Zion hits a shot 21 secs into the 2nd Q: Pels up 10. Less than 2 minutes later, D-Lo hits a shot to put us down by 1: that was all defense and rushing it up the court before the Pels could get settled on D. We won that quarter by 18 and it was the quarter that put us over for this game.

Overall: D-Lo, in a big game: showed up.

Can we keep that up for 24 mins? Against DEN? Man, I don't see it. 48? Fuhgeddaboudit. I just hope we don't get swept. If we win two I'll be amazed.

Still: really good showing by the Lakers over the last 6 weeks or so. We were the #10 just a week or so ago; now we're #7 and it just was in the cards that we play a team that has been punching us in the mouth and taking our lunch money the last 8 games straight.

What went Wrong?: Lebron was horrific shooting outside, and he drove for a virtually uncontested layup and missed twice, as if he was just gassed. He did take two vicious charges and the Zion one was rough. Still: 23/9/9 with only 2 TOs in 41 mins for the Old Man: me citing this as what went Wrong seems like weak tea.

Dinwiddie had 5 mins and was 0-3, but his D was good. And hell: Klay Thompson was 0-10 incl 0-6 from 3 in a win or go home game for GSW. In 32 mins: 0 points for Klay. Talk about cold...I have nothing against GSW (okay, maybe Dray), but I'm glad to see them eliminated...

Now: who thinks the #7 seed can win the series over the #2 seed? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? I'm gonna be bold and say we win two against DEN.

Okay: one.

If we somehow pull off what I'd consider a "miracle" - a religious term and I'm not religious - and beat DEN I think we could make it to the WCF again. If AD and Bron stay healthy.

 

Zion played the game of his life and we still win. Felt like Lebron got into a 1:1 battle with Zion which helped them get back in the game.

 

Lebron needs to be smart enough to let go of one on one matchups at this stage of his career. Set your ego aside and make the right play.

 

Right: We still managed to survive after giving up an 18 point lead and allowing the opponent to go on multiple runs and get back into the game.

Wrong: If we play like we did in this play-in game (or on the last road game @Memphis) then there's no way we're going to win a best of seven series vs. DEN.

 

I think we were in control for most of the game and they were the ones chasing. In the 4th they got close and it was up for grabs but I'm not sure they still win it with Zion, at most it would be a toss up. At some point, NO didn't know what to do.

AD wasn't dominating offensively and LeBron didn't had the best game, especially shooting. We still won and controlled most of the game.

Great D from Rui and DLo getting hot came up big. Multiple 3s from guys like Prince and Vincent helped too.
We did our job.
This is the best time to face Denver. We only aim at Championship and the best way to get there is to defeat Denver in R1. Let's get it

 

Why was BI benched late?

 

It seemed like after Zion bulldozed over him, he backed off a LOT. He also quit making his shots. I think that charge hurt him way more than he let on. I also suspect that it led to Zion getting injured. I also think that charge should have been a Technical. It was massive and very purposeful, he was laughing about it afterwards.

 

I said it before that NO is a better team without BI on the floor.Its not a coincidence that CJ game suffered when BI came back.CJ is most affective with the ball but he isn’t going to get that with BI.If I were them I’d look to trade him for a modern big and bench help

 

I think much of this is on Ham. He had no ideas on how to slow the Pels down at this point, never called a needed timeout and seemed to just be waiting for hero ball moments.

 

I also think they need to trade BI, although not necessarily to get out of the way of a 33 year old CJ. Even when both BI and Zion are heavy they never really run actions together. They just sort of take turns isolating from similar spots. I agree they should look for an upgrade at center, or frankly an upgrade on CJ.

 

ingram for trae young, straight up--who says no?

 

BI didn't play well at all and NO went on their run with him on the bench. i've always liked him and rooted for him since he got traded, but he's just not guy you can depend on to win games

the only pels who showed up last night were zion and alvarado

 

i thought trey murphy played pretty well. love that guy as a role player. elite 4th/5th starter. both he and jones are just great options in that kind of role. it's part of why i think they need to move ingram. they've got creators in zion and mccollum. they need to put three and d around that.

 

I think they should move him because their two best players don't play together like at all. I'm not sure which player is at fault there, whether a better table setter could figure it out for them and what's on Willie.

I need to see them both in a different structure, apart to determine it.

BI needs to be the #1 but he's not good enough to be a clear #1 playoff team.

That Trae swap might be a good fit for both. Would CJ get PTSD from playing with another small scoring pg who doesn't defend?

 

games like this just outline how poorly coached we are. In terms of overall talent we are not that far off from the Nuggets, but look at how easily they pass the ball around to create open shots, compared to how poorly we do it.

our offense against good defensive teams or when shots are not falling, is basically give Lebron the ball and everyone else stand still.

 

If you still think we have any shot at winning this series, you’re delusional. Not because of a talent disparity, but mentally this team chokes in every crucial moment against the Nuggets.

And sadly, now they probably think Trae is the solution and I won’t be watching that trash.