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

Being the best at your position while giving zero fs about anyone or anything outside of your bubble is a strong position to operate from. He's the anti KD.

We're not winning it so my goal now is to cause Mikey as much pain and suffering as possible. I hope he has stress induced migraines from us getting to the line more than them.

I think we can hit first and take game one and then they rip off 4 straight.







Want to come help out and sit courtside? I'm sure Rob and Jeanie will get you some free tickets

 

f*** it. Lakers in 6

 

People tend to forget that the Lakers played the Nuggets much closer than any other Team in the Playoffs last year.
Haters love to focus on the sweep, but 3 of those 4 games we were within one basket in the final minute.
We lost 4 games by a total of 24 points, a much smaller margin than any of the other Teams Denver defeated last year.

LeBron & AD feel more solid this year. DLO & AR are both playing consistent Ball.
Vincent & Dinwiddie give us reliable backups..
LeBron doesn't forget something like "who's your daddy.." I expect a much more competitive series.

 

I was hoping we'd have more pride in the regular season but now that the games "matter"...this is going to show me just how much pride these guys actually have.

You get swept again, you shouldn't play basketball next year.

You make it competitive and still lose, ok I respect that because they're the better team.

You come in and SMACK denver in the face and win the series? You probably punched your ticket to get to the finals as there will not be any other team left in the west that we should truly fear (MAYBE the Suns).

 

i hope they focus more on shutting down murray and MPJ instead of just worrying about jokic all game

jokic will do his thing regardless, but its murray, MPJ, and gordon (to a lesser extent) that will truly beat you and who can actually be contained, unlike jokic

 

All the above plus Prince too with size, decent D and has been knocking down basically 40% from 3 all year. Rui himself is a factor and a better player than he was last year.

And there's no way Jokic pulls those out of his butt slingshot 3s from behind his head from way deep with AD all over him at the buzzer 3-4 times, and in general that as a team they shoot as well every clutch shot as in that series last year. Yes it was a sweep but not a typical sweep. Stupid first game strategy from Ham going midget on them because it worked with GSW series, and the rest of the games were competitive enough as you say with the total of only 24 point separating us in that sweep.

 

Reasons to think this year could be different:

1. LeBron is a materially better player this year than he was last year when healthy, let alone the injured foot version of him we had the entire playoffs. The way he's been playing since the All-Star break, I think he's one of the Top 3 to 5 players in the league right now. The only guys I'm taking over him for sure are Jokic and Luka.

2. The halfcourt offense has been much better this year and legitimately great since January. This was our biggest issue against Denver last playoffs. Transitioning to more 5-out sets was controversial at the beginning of the season, but its proven to be the right move. We're all of a sudden a good three-point shooting team. Our organized offense is very strong and when we run organized offense more than 50% of the time (as opposed to freelancing) our points per possession and overall record is very good. AD has been better and attacking double teams and late rotations. LeBron's jumper has bounced back in a big way. It hasn't necessarily borne out in the regular season matchups against Denver, but I think we're much better equipped to go blow for blow for them in the halfcourt this year.

3. This one is much more of a stretch, but we theoretically have a better answer for Murray this year with Vincent. He's bigger and more physical than Schroder and can theoretically be a much better spot-up threat. I love DLo, he's a had a great season and is super important to our team. But I can't/don't trust him in this matchup. I think the most important thing DLo can do for us in this series is help keep the offense afloat for those few minutes that one of LeBron or AD is out (more so the former). We can't get blitzed in those non-LeBron minutes. Now this is all predicated on Vincent being something close to what he was for Miami last postseason, rather than what we've seen from him this season. But if we can get 90% of Miami Vincent, I really think that could swing the series.

I still think its a longshot, I'd give us a 20%ish chance of us winning this series and maybe that is generous. But we've rounded into a good team. The Nuggets are great, but they're a Tier 3 championship team to me. I don't think they're a Tier 1 championship team like the 01 team or the KD Warriors or the 87 team, the truly iconic champions. I also think they're a notch below the Tier 2 championship teams like the 14 Spurs or 13 Heat. I've said it before, but they remind me a lot of those 2000s Spurs teams. They don't overwhelm you with talent, but they're so consistent and have such a high floor due to their execution and the singular talent of their best guy. Those Spurs teams didn't win it every year and never even made consecutive finals, but it took some crazy stuff to keep them from doing so. With dominant series from LeBron and AD and a little bit of luck down the stretch of a couple of these games, I really believe we can beat them.

 

This would be a heck of a longshot if we pull it off, but a longshot it is.
We don't match up well with them, they are too athletic, and we no longer have a Dawite to check JockItch.

We'll do a little better than last year but I fear the result will be the same.

In order for us to win, a few things have to happen.

* Ludabrow's back and health
* Lebron will have to turn back the clock somehow. He looked old yesterday. He is 39, but he'll have to pull a rabbit out the hat one more time.
* Both Dlo and Austin will need to figure out how to be effective, as they're both limited athletically, especially DLo.
* We need our bench to play out of their minds, especially Dolomite and Vincent.

JockItch is the most skilled player in the league and Denver is way more, significantly more athletic at the other 4 positions. This is why this matchup is so hard for us. We'll need to move the ball so our 3 point shooters can get open, and we need to stop overhelping on defense. We might have to just do the "let JockItch get 40 and stop the other guys" approach. It's his passing that really kills us.

Unfortunately I have Nuggets in 5 on this one. We'll grind one win out based on pride alone but their talent and athleticism advantage will be our undoing.

 

This is the key. Austin and DLO will get open shots, they have to hit them.

 

We are going to need some players outside of LBJ/AD to show up and play at a high level. Looking at you D'lo....

If we can force Murray/MPJ etc. to be average (seems Murray has a Jimmy Butler boost in the playoffs), we will have a chance.

 

Here is the schedule that has been released so far, all times Pacific.

Game 1
Date and Time: Saturday, April 20, 5:30 p.m.

TV Channel(s): ABC

Location: Denver

Game 2
Date and Time: Monday, April 22 at 7 p.m.

TV Channel(s): TNT, Spectrum SportsNet

Location: Denver

Game 3
Date and Time: Thursday, April 25 at 7 p.m.

TV Channel(s): TNT, Spectrum SportsNet

Location: Los Angeles

Game 4
Date and Time: Saturday, April 27 at 5:30 p.m.

TV Channel(s): ABC

Location: Los Angeles

Game 5 (if necessary)
Date and Time: Monday, April 29, TBD

Game 6.( if necessary)May 2* Denver Nuggets Los Angeles Lakers TBD TBD
7. May 4* Los Angeles Lakers Denver Nuggets TBD TNT

Let's shock the world on Saturday

 

The thing about a team having your number is they do till they don't. DLO hits 3s likes he has been, Austin shows up shooting wise. If Gabe has any legs built up he might help us. LeBron is healthy and looking strong. I have no Denver fear. Maybe AD has a monster series. We were getting embarrassed by the clips and ended that. We can do the same to the nuggets.

 

Why? Cause that's your lane?

 

Memo to Michael Porter, Jr: your brother is now a disgrace and has been kicked out of the NBA for being a crooked, cheating prick. Your family's name is tarnished, it goes without saying. Hey, it happens.

So what if the NBA has probably hired investigators to go through your jit to make sure you're a crook, too. I meant : NOT a crook. Just...keep it out of your consciousness. Or at least try to. You said that Covid-19 was used to control our minds. Maybe, just maybe, the NBA busting your brother just as the playoffs begin is merely a coincidence. But such laser-like intelligence - smarter than thousands of doctors and immunologists - you should be good to go. So..."smart"! Then again, maybe not. Anyway. Try to keep calm and don't let it affect your game.

However: just because this reflects on you and your family, DO NOT LET IT AFFECT YOUR OUTSIDE SHOT. Just...don't let it get to you. Sure, everyone is talking about your family, but you should be able to get over that and not let it infect your overall game.

Just tryna help, son.

 

considering it was around this same time last year that his brother got busted for vehicular homicide, i think he's used to it

 

I don’t expect them to win this series, but one can always hope. Just make it respectable. I’m rooting for them.

 

What's Malone obsession with the Lakers.
I don't think they are favorites this year.Jokic is going to his new horse, before playoffs he said he wants to swim in a new pool that they just built a couple days ago.He doesn't strike like guys like LeBron or Steph who committed to basketball 365/24/7.Wouldn't surprise if Dallas will eliminate them if Lakers still losing