Lebron is not the problem with our team. He recorded another monster triple double. The problem is his sidekick AD who has shown us more softness than I feel comfortable with in this bubble. Wake the hell up and man up AD. If you are truly a top 5 player in this league show us. I firmly believe that we will go as far as AD will take us. He needs to play with heart and fire in order for us to win it all.
Seriously, no shooters and soft AD is a bad combo. POR is on a roll... 0-2 here we come (unless Bron goes for 50).
Don't disagree at all with your AD comments. It is difficult to criticize LeBron after putting up a triple-double, but, that game, once it became obvious by the 4th quarter that no one was hitting their outside shots, I felt he needed to shift gears and do two things: post himself up, and start relentlessly driving the lane and force the refs to blow the whistle. He did neither. That's the moment when the best player must shoulder the load and will his team to a win. Maybe it was because he drove a few times and did not get a call, but he can't retreat into passive mode when the game is on the line.
I could swear, that before he became a Laker, he was getting a lot more calls. Now, he gets killed in the paint and no whistles. Starts to piss me off and probably makes him more hesitant to drive to the basket.
lebron never got wade/harden calls. too big and strong, seemed unfair. like shaq. he got away with offensive fouls (and probably still does), again, like shaq. but the cost is that he can be hacked. luka gets some of that, too, simply because he's bigger than most guys guarding him. not sure what the nba's excuse has been with wade and harden, who both got to be physical and weren't allowed to be touched at all.
I disagree , Lebron is our best player , he has to dominate scoring wise . Sure AD has to be a lot better but we can't win close playoffs games with a passive Lebron down the stretch . AD isn't a top 5 player when everybody is healthy , he's top 7-8
Ok you put him top 10 I put him top 5 we are splitting hairs. AD isn’t playing like either right now. That’s the big issue. Lebron was still effective whether you guys think he was aggressive enough down the stretch. I’ll give you that part. But he kept us in the game and gave us a 7 point lead when AD was on the bench. When AD came back in with 6 plus to go in the game he needed step up. He didn’t. But worse he played passively and inefficiently all game long. He was 1 for his first 10. How does anyone excuse that and how does he live with it? Who was guarding him again? Gabriel somebody I’ve never heard of? AD needs to show us some life, some fire, some actual passion and heart on the court. I think the role players will pick up more slack if he does.
I fully expect him to come out firing on all cylinders today. If he doesn't, he's not the guy. Seriously. Everyone can have some bad games, I'll give him that. But this is about attitude and effort. And right now... it's not there.
I truly hope not Kenzo. AD is one of my favorite players but this version sucks. Hoping for that turnaround tonight like Karacha said.
He better. We are all spoiled by the time with Kobe, soft is not gonna cut it here in LA. Still a huge AD fan.
doesnt it seem like AD only gets going by starting with jump shots and easy setup by James rather then dominating the paint?
You have 3 guys who needs more minutes IMO: Kieff, Kuzma, and Dion. Kuzma and Kieff even if they're missing shots are aggressive on both offense and defense. They force the defense rotate and take pressure off the other players. Plus their defensive flexibility is great. You get the best of both worlds: better spacing without sacrificing defense or rebounding. Waiters needs to get some minutes with Lebron on the bench. The guy can create and with the AD/Caruso/Kuzma/Morris lineups those guys can have his back on defense Plus the Lakers have one guy in Green who can give up his minutes to the above 3 and will be addition by subtraction right there
i laugh everytime green takes a wide open 3 because i already know it'll be a brick he needs to be buried at the end of the bench. give his minutes to waiters
Beautiful dominant game by AD and the rest followed. That's what we need to see over and over until we win that championship. Great stuff.
