| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Tank the play-in game against New Orleans to avoid Denver? |
| Yes |
|
16% |
[ 14 ] |
| No |
|
83% |
[ 71 ] |
|
| Total Votes : 85 |
|
| Author |
Message |
lakersfever714
Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Jan 2016
Posts: 12017
|
 Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I Bleed P&G wrote: | | It’s laughable that some of you think the Lakers are in a position to pick and choose whom to face. Don’t be so gullible due to this team’s one-game performance. |
Yea, so if they're not good enough to beat the Kings or Warriors, then they face no one. So technically, they're in a position to choose whom they would face: Denver, OKC, or no one.
Wow, up to 83% of LG believe we shouldn't tank.  That means we have to tank against New Orleans. We have to!!
_________________
Playoffs is good enough. - Jeanie Buss 2024 |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
dont_be_a_wuss
Franchise Player
Joined: 29 Mar 2012
Posts: 21563
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:12 am Post subject: |
|
|
The more I think about it, if we lose to Denver and then the Suns beat Denver in the second round we’re gonna spend the next 12 months saying we could’ve won a title if we tanked the play-in.
Nothing wrong with wanting an easier path. A lot of titles come down to luck of the draw. Look at Denver last year, they had nearly the easiest path to a title mathematically possible. And no one remembers that, only that they are the champs. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lakersfever714
Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Jan 2016
Posts: 12017
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
| dont_be_a_wuss wrote: | The more I think about it, if we lose to Denver and then the Suns beat Denver in the second round we’re gonna spend the next 12 months saying we could’ve won a title if we tanked the play-in.
Nothing wrong with wanting an easier path. A lot of titles come down to luck of the draw. Look at Denver last year, they had nearly the easiest path to a title mathematically possible. And no one remembers that, only that they are the champs. |
I wish more people would think like me. lol. Nobody paid attention to the fact that we didn't draw the Clippers during our championship year. As dominating as the 2020 Lakers were, Clippers were actually 2-2 against us in the regular season that year.
I can't emphasize enough the importance of "matchup". The Suns are good but we could handle them. The Pelicans are good but we squashed them. Denver actually didn't do that great against Kings and Suns but they 4-0 the Lakers.
_________________
Playoffs is good enough. - Jeanie Buss 2024 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lakersfan8
Star Player
Joined: 27 May 2014
Posts: 3000
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Denver is the best team in the West. If our aim is the championship, we would face them at some point during the playoff run. Our chance of beating them would be higher if we play them in the first round |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
venturalakersfan
Retired Number
Joined: 14 Apr 2001
Posts: 144530
Location: The Gold Coast
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
| kikanga wrote: | | venturalakersfan wrote: | | Perfect example of why teams should ignore their fans |
This is actually a good debate.
And you can't really talk. You are more of a Clippers fan than a Lakers fan |
No it isn’t, it’s a dumb debate. Do posters here seriously think that management is having this discussion? It is difficult to win in the playoffs so you win when you can. It reminds me of the 90’s when Dodger fans debated throwing the final series against the Padres for supposed better playoff matchup. They ended up losing to the Padres and didn’t sniff the playoffs for years. You win when you can.
_________________
RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
I Bleed P&G
Starting Rotation
Joined: 01 Dec 2015
Posts: 878
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:30 am Post subject: |
|
|
| dont_be_a_wuss wrote: | The more I think about it, if we lose to Denver and then the Suns beat Denver in the second round we’re gonna spend the next 12 months saying we could’ve won a title if we tanked the play-in.
Nothing wrong with wanting an easier path. A lot of titles come down to luck of the draw. Look at Denver last year, they had nearly the easiest path to a title mathematically possible. And no one remembers that, only that they are the champs. |
Take out the don’t from your username it will suit you a lot better. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lakersfever714
Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Jan 2016
Posts: 12017
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:33 am Post subject: |
|
|
| lakersfan8 wrote: | | Denver is the best team in the West. If our aim is the championship, we would face them at some point during the playoff run. Our chance of beating them would be higher if we play them in the first round |
You're assuming they would get past the Suns in the second round. The Suns and Kings have shown in the regular season they could beat Denver unlike the Lakers.
Why would our chances of beating Denver be higher in the first round if we had to play an extra game right before playing them?
Suns have trouble defending AD whereas Denver has no problem containing AD with their size.
_________________
Playoffs is good enough. - Jeanie Buss 2024 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
LakersRGolden
Star Player
Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 7941
Location: Lake Forest
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
| lakersfever714 wrote: | | lakersfan8 wrote: | | Denver is the best team in the West. If our aim is the championship, we would face them at some point during the playoff run. Our chance of beating them would be higher if we play them in the first round |
You're assuming they would get past the Suns in the second round. The Suns and Kings have shown in the regular season they could beat Denver unlike the Lakers.
Why would our chances of beating Denver be higher in the first round if we had to play an extra game right before playing them? |
Could go either way.
Gabe gets more time with the team. Vando might be back.  . Denver's health might decline. AD's back might improve.
On the other hand, the health of those available for the Lakers might go down as they play more games.
It's a gamble either way. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lakersfever714
Franchise Player
Joined: 05 Jan 2016
Posts: 12017
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 8:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
| LakersRGolden wrote: | | lakersfever714 wrote: | | lakersfan8 wrote: | | Denver is the best team in the West. If our aim is the championship, we would face them at some point during the playoff run. Our chance of beating them would be higher if we play them in the first round |
You're assuming they would get past the Suns in the second round. The Suns and Kings have shown in the regular season they could beat Denver unlike the Lakers.
Why would our chances of beating Denver be higher in the first round if we had to play an extra game right before playing them? |
Could go either way.
Gabe gets more time with the team. Vando might be back. . Denver's health might decline. AD's back might improve.
On the other hand, the health of those available for the Lakers might go down as they play more games.
It's a gamble either way. |
There's no time to incorporate Gabe and Vando back into the lineup imo. Our best bet is with our current squad. We've been beating down on most opponents without Gabe and Vando.
I'll put it this way. We have a championship caliber team but Denver is our kryptonite. Superman needs to stay away from Kryptonite.
_________________
Playoffs is good enough. - Jeanie Buss 2024 |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Halflife
Franchise Player
Joined: 15 Aug 2015
Posts: 17066
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MJST
Retired Number
Joined: 06 Jul 2014
Posts: 26691
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 9:44 am Post subject: |
|
|
Whether we played Denver in the first round or in the third round, we need to get past Denver to win a Championship.
If we want to win a Championship we have to beat Denver, be it first round, second round or third round. It goes through them.
So if we keep saying we're a Championship contender, that's where we have to prove it.
Knocking out the team that threw games to try to screw us over during the season, whose Coach doesn't stop opening his mouth about us, and whose affiliates called him the "Lakers Daddy" all off-season, in the first round... would be very sweet and a fantastic historical story for Lakers legacy.,
_________________
How NBA 2K18 failed the All-Time Lakers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxMBYm3wwxk |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dont_be_a_wuss
Franchise Player
Joined: 29 Mar 2012
Posts: 21563
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 9:48 am Post subject: |
|
|
| MJST wrote: | Whether we played Denver in the first round or in the third round, we need to get past Denver to win a Championship.
If we want to win a Championship we have to beat Denver, be it first round, second round or third round. It goes through them.
So if we keep saying we're a Championship contender, that's where we have to prove it.
Knocking out the team that threw games to try to screw us over during the season, whose Coach doesn't stop opening his mouth about us, and whose affiliates called him the "Lakers Daddy" all off-season, in the first round... would be very sweet and a fantastic historical story for Lakers legacy., |
Repeating as NBA champs is very difficult, and usually done by teams that display much more dominance than Denver has this regular season. And again, they had the easiest path to a title in NBA history last year and nearly the easiest path mathematically possible (one seed away from the easiest path mathematically possible). I think it's likely that they lose in the second round this season. I wish we could bet in CA |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SGV-Laker fan
Star Player
Joined: 23 May 2013
Posts: 8946
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 9:52 am Post subject: |
|
|
| i say we go for the win tonight. at least we won't get eliminated by the Nuggets in ONE game, and that's exactly what would happened if we play GS the next game. wish the GS-Kings game starts early so Lakers can have all the options available depending on the score of that game. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Nobody
Star Player
Joined: 13 Sep 2008
Posts: 5743
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
| The Kings and Warriors both handily won in our house a couple of times down the stretch of the season. We're 1-7 against them for the season. I wouldn't want to face them in a do-or-die game. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
venturalakersfan
Retired Number
Joined: 14 Apr 2001
Posts: 144530
Location: The Gold Coast
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 10:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Nobody wrote: | | The Kings and Warriors both handily won in our house a couple of times down the stretch of the season. We're 1-7 against them for the season. I wouldn't want to face them in a do-or-die game. |
That’s the point, I have no feeling that NO can beat this Laker team but I can’t say that about GS and Sacramento.
_________________
RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Treble Clef
Franchise Player
Joined: 20 Nov 2012
Posts: 23943
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 1:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I understand the thinking here and if we were talking about picking an opponent for a series, it would be a slam dunk to get out of denver’s bracket and see if one of these other teams can take them out.
The Lakers have virtually zero chance of losing a series to these other teams but in a one game playoff, weird stuff can happen. I think it’s better to just face Denver while they’re healthy and rested and go all out in that series knowing everything after will be a lot easier. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SGV-Laker fan
Star Player
Joined: 23 May 2013
Posts: 8946
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 1:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| the best option for the lakers is lose tomorrow's game, and Kings beats Warriors. i'd take the chance of a due to die home game against the Kings, especially with Monk still out. that's the best path for the Lakers, but frankly, i don't see Kings beating the Warriors with Monk out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
BandwagonLBJhopper
Star Player
Joined: 07 Feb 2020
Posts: 3609
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 1:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I think back on that DEN series last year, I wonder how different things play out if we sneak out that first game. We were like 1-2 plays away, Lebron on that fast break I think it was where we didn't convert - they were puckering up big time. Once they got over that one they seemed to have a ton of confidence at closing games out against us - they know Ham will put some trash lineup at some point in the game and they will makeup any deficit for Jordan Murray.
DEN is great, but their real edge vs us. is they completely take D-Lo out of the game. If he was even just his normal self vs them it's a totally different story. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
SGV-Laker fan
Star Player
Joined: 23 May 2013
Posts: 8946
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 1:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| BandwagonLBJhopper wrote: | I think back on that DEN series last year, I wonder how different things play out if we sneak out that first game. We were like 1-2 plays away, Lebron on that fast break I think it was where we didn't convert - they were puckering up big time. Once they got over that one they seemed to have a ton of confidence at closing games out against us - they know Ham will put some trash lineup at some point in the game and they will makeup any deficit for Jordan Murray.
DEN is great, but their real edge vs us. is they completely take D-Lo out of the game. If he was even just his normal self vs them it's a totally different story. |
Lakers were right there all four games last year, there were no blowouts. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Runway8
Franchise Player
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Posts: 22882
Location: La Jolla, San Diego
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 1:51 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| lakersfever714 wrote: | How is KCP shooting over 40% from three this season? He was shooting in the low thirties when he was with us and he was getting the same open looks.
I hate Denver so much!!!! It's like they were built to beat us! 
DLO needs to go beastmode!!! We can OUTSCORE them. We will score on every possession!! |
Look up his stats. Besides for down 2nd year with us where he shot 34% from three, his 1st, 3rd and last season with us were excellent. 41% his last season with us. This is what you call "grass is always greener" syndrome. Laker fans never appreciate, and always want to trade away everyone. Then they miss them when they're gone. He was a sniper as well as a pitbull, along with Caruso. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dominator
Star Player
Joined: 19 Nov 2005
Posts: 8683
Location: Irvine
|
| Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2024 11:12 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| What if New Orleans wants to avoid Denver? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ducasse
Star Player
Joined: 05 Sep 2002
Posts: 8376
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 3:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Dominator wrote: | | What if New Orleans wants to avoid Denver? |
If both teams want to lose then it comes down to who wants to lose more. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
defense
Retired Number
Joined: 12 Jan 2010
Posts: 39683
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 4:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Dominator wrote: | | What if New Orleans wants to avoid Denver? |
They would be monumental idiots |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ThePageDude
Star Player
Joined: 25 Jul 2002
Posts: 2616
|
| Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2024 5:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
I suggest after they avoid Denver in the 1st round by winning only 1 of the play-in games, they rest everyone for 3 of the 4 away games each series in order to win all the games at home and 1 on the road. This way everyone will be totally fresh when they meet Denver in the WCF.
Then I would advise them to switch gears and win the first 4 games against Denver so they get the maximum rest period before they meet the Celtics in the Finals.
Then really to get maximum legacy points, they should just win all the home games and only the 7th game on the road. That will totally cement their legacy of 18 in 18 with a historic game-7 win against the Celtics.
/s |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Halflife
Franchise Player
Joined: 15 Aug 2015
Posts: 17066
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
