Joined: 17 Nov 2007 Posts: 67856 Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2023 10:18 pm Post subject:
Miami just might pull this off. If they can hold home-court winning 1 in Denver gives them a slight edge. _________________ Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.
America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
imagine if we have Gabe vincent instead of DLO in the WCF we would have won 😅
Lakers would’ve won regardless if dlo just had a good series. All we needed was 12+ points from him. I personally believe in the butterfly effect so gabe could’ve been shut down by Bruce too. Everybody plays different with different players.
pretty much he just needed to average atleast 12-15ppg . all of those games were so close we just lacked a closer in the last 3 mins
Miami won't pull this off. Denver is much more talented. But I'll be rooting for the Heat and hoping for a miracle. Nuggets had huge breakdowns on defense leaving 3pt shooters wide open and fouling 3 pt shooters. And the Heat caught them off guard playing with more force to start the game than they had in the last game. That bad start and the really bad defensive breakdowns cost them the game. Nuggets will correct those things. KCP was really bad in this game too. He has been playing so well for them.
The Lakers series gave the Nuggets some sort of perception of invincibility where they could come back from big deficits to win games. That perception was shattered tonight when they couldn't come back late in the game.That has got to be a wake up call for the Nuggets that the Heat won't just roll over. Nuggets could still make this a short series but it was kind of a reality check tonight when they lost home court.
The Lakers series gave the Nuggets some sort of perception of invincibility where they could come back from big deficits to win games. That perception was shattered tonight when they couldn't come back late in the game.That has got to be a wake up call for the Nuggets that the Heat won't just roll over. Nuggets could still make this a short series but it was kind of a reality check tonight when they lost home court.
If Spo was coaching the Lakers, we would have won this year.
Spo is amazing. But I can't help but think about how stochastic the NBA is. Jokic was making some absolutely absurd heaves against us that may have been the difference between winning and losing Games 1 & 4.
To me the biggest thing about this game was that the Heat did something to get Murray off his game. Against the Lakers he played like a first ballot HOFer (his splits of 32/6/5 on 65% are pretty similar to Kobe's 34/6/6 on 63% TS% against ironically the Nuggets in the '09 WCF). If he plays even like bubble Murray (still an All-NBA first team kind of performance), the Lakers probably win. Meanwhile, today Murray was just straight up bad before coming alive late in the game.
My eyes are not good enough to say what the Heat did. Was it a matchup thing, or was it a coaching thing? The Nuggets defense has holes and while they have plenty of role players who can step up, they need Murray to be great to really have the firepower. As good as he is, Jokic can't do it all.
Spo is amazing. But I can't help but think about how stochastic the NBA is. Jokic was making some absolutely absurd heaves against us that may have been the difference between winning and losing Games 1 & 4.
To me the biggest thing about this game was that the Heat did something to get Murray off his game. Against the Lakers he played like a first ballot HOFer (his splits of 32/6/5 on 65% are pretty similar to Kobe's 34/6/6 on 63% TS% against ironically the Nuggets in the '09 WCF). If he plays even like bubble Murray (still an All-NBA first team kind of performance), the Lakers probably win. Meanwhile, today Murray was just straight up bad before coming alive late in the game.
My eyes are not good enough to say what the Heat did. Was it a matchup thing, or was it a coaching thing? The Nuggets defense has holes and while they have plenty of role players who can step up, they need Murray to be great to really have the firepower. As good as he is, Jokic can't do it all.
Murray averaging 32ppg+ in the series is what killed us… Tonight 18pts and Heat won by 3…
But Game 1, 2, and 4… Jokic and Murray had one or two of those heaves that ended up being the difference makers. Those 3 games came down to one possession.
If Miami manages to win the championship with the team they are putting out there right now, I am goating them as one of the biggest over-achievers of all time.
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Yeah, not really fair to compare a Rookie coach who only had a couple of months to try and figure out as much as possible about his roster while also just simply learning how to be a Head Coach period to imo the clear best coach in the NBA currently who's been doing it for quite awhile now and fully knows his roster inside and out.
In all honesty what Spo is doing these Playoffs especially is pretty incredible and if they somehow knock off the Nuggets to win it all it will be up there as one of the most impressive Championships ever imo.
OK .. so why have a rookie coach in the first place when the org is aspiring for a deep playoff run? Color me puzzled ..
(I'm pointing out that even if we buy the premise that Ham isn't an elite coach, the greater blame for that goes to the FO/ownership then on Ham - it's not as if Ham hid the fact that he had never been a head-coach nor had ever coached a team in the playoffs)
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What's his overall point though? There is only one cancer like Kyrie in the NBA. So it's not much of a point to say don't cater to him.
Does he mean catering to stars in general? I would say that has shown to work out very well for pretty much the entire history of the NBA. There are always levels to it. Jimmy was viewed as a cancer as well and left his last two teams because it seemed like they didn't cater to him enough. He expected Minny to let Wiggins go so that they can rework Jimmy's deal and pay him early.
End of the day unless you have an outlier year in the NBA then you usually need top stars to win it all. And stars will always get some level of preferential treatment because teams will be scared of losing them. That is just life.
Well I read him as saying: continuity matters (both in coaching and players), coaching matters (Spo!), teamwork matters (4+ undrafted players), patience matters (Miami could've fired Spo countless times), culture matters (absolute grit, belief in themselves, selflessness and trust)
When an org ignores the above and just focuses on star-power (numerous examples: Nets, Clippers, Lakers with Westbrook), they often won't get the results they expect/want.
Obviously caveat being that Spo is a mastermind and by far the best coach in the NBA.
With how the Lakers have always been run, the Lakers need the best top-end talent to win it all. They won in 2020 mainly because LeBron and AD were the best top-end talent in the league. LeBron and AD as a big 2 no longer are that level of dominant.
I think with great coaching, the Lakers can improve around the edges and give themselves a shot at winning a ring.
But the Lakers don't have that. Without a high-level coach, I want the best possible trio at the top while not completely ignoring depth.
Otherwise, you can only improve around the edges and hope Ham grows significantly as a coach.
The bolded is the uncomfortable truth, that I think Lakers FO began to realize. Finally had a team that was able to win without LeInjured and AD-motorchoice
It’s funny and encouraging, but Reaves, Rui, Christie would all fit seamlessly into Heat culture. At least we are finally trending in the right direction.
Obviously caveat being that Spo is a mastermind and by far the best coach in the NBA.
With how the Lakers have always been run, the Lakers need the best top-end talent to win it all. They won in 2020 mainly because LeBron and AD were the best top-end talent in the league. LeBron and AD as a big 2 no longer are that level of dominant.
I think with great coaching, the Lakers can improve around the edges and give themselves a shot at winning a ring.
But the Lakers don't have that. Without a high-level coach, I want the best possible trio at the top while not completely ignoring depth.
Otherwise, you can only improve around the edges and hope Ham grows significantly as a coach.
The bolded is the uncomfortable truth, that I think Lakers FO began to realize. Finally had a team that was able to win without LeInjured and AD-motorchoice
It’s funny and encouraging, but Reaves, Rui, Christie would all fit seamlessly into Heat culture. At least we are finally trending in the right direction.
Unfortunately they are being paid like dominant players
I still don't get how we couldn't win at least one game vs the Nuggets. The Heat are not as good as us.
Game 2 demoralized the team. I knew they weren't going to win the series after what happened in the 4th. They had it in the bag, and all Lebron had to do was pass the ball. This is why I hesitate to blame DLo, because everyone knows Lebron is gunning for the glory and awards. And the worst part of it is the media and fans cover for him like he wasn't the problem, especially on defense. _________________ Yi Jianlian Fanboy. Respect The Chair.
Starting anew. I'm retiring my main.
Last edited by Denny_Russo on Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:11 am; edited 1 time in total
I think Malone’s whining is annoying, but the man has a point. I find it lame that LeBron and Kyrie can’t let the Finals play out without making it about themselves all the time. As if they don’t get enough attention. _________________ 14-5-3-12
Spo is amazing. But I can't help but think about how stochastic the NBA is. Jokic was making some absolutely absurd heaves against us that may have been the difference between winning and losing Games 1 & 4.
To me the biggest thing about this game was that the Heat did something to get Murray off his game. Against the Lakers he played like a first ballot HOFer (his splits of 32/6/5 on 65% are pretty similar to Kobe's 34/6/6 on 63% TS% against ironically the Nuggets in the '09 WCF). If he plays even like bubble Murray (still an All-NBA first team kind of performance), the Lakers probably win. Meanwhile, today Murray was just straight up bad before coming alive late in the game.
My eyes are not good enough to say what the Heat did. Was it a matchup thing, or was it a coaching thing? The Nuggets defense has holes and while they have plenty of role players who can step up, they need Murray to be great to really have the firepower. As good as he is, Jokic can't do it all.
Murray averaging 32ppg+ in the series is what killed us… Tonight 18pts and Heat won by 3…
But Game 1, 2, and 4… Jokic and Murray had one or two of those heaves that ended up being the difference makers. Those 3 games came down to one possession.
Miami got Bulter on Murray to slow him down.
While we went with the 3 guards crap.
Ham is so dumb that he doesn’t realize our small ball lineup don’t work.
Miami got long and tough wing defender.
We got just liabilities.
DLo can’t defend
Schroder is too small to defend anyone on the Nugget
Reave is not bad, but the mismatch in other position makes his job harder.
You can maybe have one of those guy in a lineup against Nugget.
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