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LeBron James

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MediumBaller said:
Also, I think Luke Walton is a much better coach than Ty Lue. His rotations are certainly better. Lue never would've went off on the refs in the postgame like Walton did a few days ago. Walton doesn't have LeBron playing whole quarters. He's been taking him out with about 4 minutes to go in the first quarter each game. LeBron is much better and fresh when he isn't playing whole quarters. He also had Lebron on the bench in the fourth quarter. They were down with six minutes left in the game and he had Bron on the bench resting up. Didn't bring him back until there were about 4 minutes left. Lue would've been riding LeBron at that point because he didn't know what else to do. It obviously remains to be seen how that holds up throughout the year, but it's been promising so far.
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Actually though, I just checked out Lebrons MPG and he is still up over 36 minutes average. When you consider that LA is trying to play at an extremely fast pace — much faster than we ever did — I still think that’s too many minutes. I mean, it still puts him among league leaders in MPG

Also thinking that pace is going to look bad playing the Warriors...
 
Lakers are not good at all, they are undersized.get beat easily physically, and in paint.
i think this move by Lebron ruined us and himself.should have stayed in cleveland.
 
Truly, is it not for the best if LeBron just misses the playoffs this year? Save minutes and his legs?
 
I would like for Lebron to get another ring with L.A. This group likes to push with no players are athletic enough to finish around the rim. They got rid of Randle he would of been good and Clarkson as well both can move up and down beautifully. I just thank they have too many players that need time to develop and are not ready for the big lights in the play offs.
 
Watching the Spurs-LA game last night that was also my impression -- the supporting cast is still a ways away. Josh Hart is a key piece of that team and he kind of looked like a rookie out there. Rondo is a really nice bench piece but you can't count on him to carry a co-starring load at this point in his career. LA is just a team that does not have a second star and lacks interior size and defense. That makes it tough. Still, it's not like they played badly, they came extremely close to beating the Spurs at home. Think the supporting cast as a whole has more talent than the non-Lebron Cavs did last year, but they are in the Western Conference and Lebron is a year older. It is so clear that he cannot play at full intensity on both ends for 35+ minutes any more, at least in the regular season, and I don't think he can carry a team without a second star through the Western playoffs. He barely, barely managed it in the East last year.

Hindsight is 20/20 but they really should have gone all out to get Kawhi. Not sure something like Ingram + picks could have beaten out the Raptors though, Pops is doing good things with DeRozan.
 
just watched the Lakers lose to the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are, like, not a very good team.
 
Yeah, Lebron just loafs around out there. Strolling around on the perimeter while the rest of the team plays, letting his guys play four on five for a while as he jogs downcourt after the latest argument with the refs, etc. You can see the thought process...shall I do something on this play? Eh, maybe not. Regular season Lebron looks even older than he is, all those miles in the NBA, looks like they should roll a rocking chair onto the court for him sometimes.

But then he's such a fucking chess master when he does exert some effort. Plays the game at such a higher level.

The rest of the Lakers young guys seem to be handling it pretty well, as in they are still playing hard and don't spot the other team to giant leads like the Cavs supporting cast used to. It doesn't feel dysfunctional. But the supporting cast lacks polish, clutch scoring outside of Lebron, and frontcourt size and they aren't really set up to play four on five for a chunk of the game.

Lebron's approach was optimized to get you a mid-range playoff spot in the East with little effort, but at some point you're gonna have to really try to make the West playoffs. Right now, Lakers two games behind the Kings (!) and two games out of the last playoff slot. Down in the bottom of the conference with the Rockets and Thunder (!). West gonna be tough! Maybe looking at another dramatic deadline trade. But no one is going to gift the Lakers any stars I don't think.
 
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Another day another Lakers L, LeBron doesn’t play defense at all and just does wtf he wants on offense, I can’t see him being able to play off ball or in a system anymore to be honest.

The habits he got here over the last few years and in the majority of his career are too strong to shake off at this late stage of his career, that team is a mess honestly I can’t see them competing with GS even if they add Anthony Davis next year.

Also roster selection doesn’t make sense, too many “playmakers” not enough shooters and defenders, that team just has bad synergy basketball wise the players don’t really fit well.
 
K1rieIrving>AllOtherPG's said:
Another day another Lakers L, LeBron doesn’t play defense at all and just does wtf he wants on offense, I can’t see him being able to play off ball or in a system anymore to be honest.

The habits he got here over the last few years and in the majority of his career are too strong to shake off at this late stage of his career, that team is a mess honestly I can’t see them competing with GS even if they add Anthony Davis next year.

Also roster selection doesn’t make sense, too many “playmakers” not enough shooters and defenders, that team just has bad synergy basketball wise the players don’t really fit well.
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Yeah, that team is more set up for Lebron to play off ball with either Lonzo or Rondo distributing and Lebron putting in more effort on defense...that ain't happening.

If they want to save this season without a major trade (which could be counterproductive if it isn't just the right trade) the young guys will have to develop fast. They are in games but not winning them the rest of the team has to develop that winning fourth quarter edge, which will require getting roles clearer. I don't think it's hopeless in terms of getting it together for a playoff spot, they do have talent but the chemistry is not there. This is one of Lebron's greatest challenges in a career full of them.

I do really wish we had had the chance to see Lebron play with Pops / see what Pops would have done with fitting Lebron into a system. But no way Lebron was going to move to San Antonio to become a basketball monk, he was only leaving Cleveland for the bright lights.
 
K1rieIrving>AllOtherPG's said:
that team is a mess honestly I can’t see them competing with GS even if they add Anthony Davis next year.
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Not sure about this, AD would overnight fix a lot of the problems the Lakers have. They need interior size and defense and a second all-star level scorer -- bang, AD doesn't just fix it he makes you great in all those areas.

but they won't get AD so it's moot.
 
Their perimeter defense and defensive rebounding are their #1 and #2 critical things they need to address if they plan on making the playoffs. On the surface people will focus on shooting but guys like LeBron, Ingram and Kuzma are shooting the three ball way below their average.

LeBron isn't defending AT ALL which is concerning and will have an impact on the young guys (vets like Crowder stopped caring after watching his effort) but Lakers fans are delusional.

(1) LeBron missed clutch free throws -- sure this cost them a game but he's shooting a career high 79.6% from the line.
(2) Turnovers being an issue -- Pace and familiarity can explain this but then the numbers dispute that claim entirely. 3.3 TOV/game is less than his career average of 3.5 TOV/game. He turned the ball over 4.1 and 4.2 times per game the last two seasons for the Cavs and we didn't really push the pace.

Lakers fans blamed him for not defending Butler, even though Ingram is physically a good defender. Ingram got picked and Butler hit a tough three with zero space over Rondo, not sure what they're complaining about.

I haven't seen the numbers but I just don't think LeBron fits well with either Lonzo or Rondo. The passive aggressive comments about filling needs were always there with LeBron in Cleveland but I was surprised at how visibly frustrated he was after their loss to Minnesota.
 
Lebron's defensive slacking and the four on five defense is even more glaring this year than it was last year. He is also taking some possessions off on the offensive rebounding end. Thing is, I never really blamed Lebron for this behavior as defensive slacking during the majority of regular season games is pretty clearly the route he has taken to extend his career as a top level player. It's what lets him continue to rack up big minutes during the regular season, be a dominant force in the playoffs, be a top offensive player, and even turn it on defensively for short bursts at key moments in regular season games (e.g. in the fourth). On net I think it is probably a good tradeoff for both him and the team he is on. The playoffs are what matters anyway. But clearly it can't be allowed to become contagious and it's a major defensive minus that the team has to fill in somehow. If people want to change this about him he would have to play a lot fewer minutes in the regular season.
 
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