LAKERS -vs- NUGGETS - 9/22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

 
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 8:58 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -vs- NUGGETS - 9/22 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

A Poor Response... The Lakers saw what the Nuggets were going to do in the last game -- pack the paint. It stagnated the Lakers offense and we were fortunate to come away with the W. That wasn’t the initial problem with this game, however.

The Lakers have not looked great in their micro ball lineup. In the second quarter tonight, they got steamrolled, which should be no surprise as these lineups struggled. They got outscored 15-2 to open that quarter and the Nuggets were feeling themselves.

“They want the game more than we do right now,” Vogel told the team in a timeout. True, but that small lineup has been flawed.

The Lakers were outrebound 23-11 in the first half as the lead ballooned. As they went big near the end of the half, they chipped away at the lead.

Vogel started Dwight in the second half down 10, saying it was a good opportunity to see if the team could rise to the occasion with a comeback.They would quickly cut it to 5, but then fade as the offense grew stagnant and the Lakers couldn’t get stops. They began to grow frustrated.

The adjustments from L.A. were poor in this one. You knew the Nuggets were going to pack the paint like everyone else does. We tried to go to some post play in the second half, but everything off the ball was stagnant. To make that work, you need lower post position, screens on the weakside and cuts to occupy the offense and keep spacing. None of that happened and the Lakers trailed by 20, more than they have trailed in any playoff game this year.

To start the fourth, they didn’t go to the micro ball. They kept AD in with LeBron and started to pick up the pace and intensity as they switched up to a zone on defense. They cut the lead to 12 to force a timeout. Rondo came up with several steals. They cut it to 8, forcing another timeout.

They trimmed it down to 3 and twice had chances to tie it with a three (Lakers made 6-26) but couldn’t knock it down. They couldn’t get over the hump and those misses hurt the energy as they were already gassed. Denver regained control with a 10-1 run and that’s all she wrote. The Lakers fell, 114-106.

They played like it was a 2-0 series lead for most of this game, but this could just as easily be the Lakers down 2-1 right now. Denver has them dialed in as we saw late in the last game. The Lakers need to bring the sense of urgency out of the gates next time (they were outrebounded 44-25).

They’ve got to go hard in the next one.


LeBron -- -- Up and down game from LeBron on his way to a triple-double. He had 10 points, 9 assists but 5 turnovers in the first half. Good moments early when he’d attack Jokic with speed off the screens. But getting downhill disappeared pretty quickly. The turnovers were a variety in that half: an inbounds pass he threw out of bounds; a travel after hesitating to take a three; fumbling a pass away in the paint; stripped trying to split the double team. In the second half, as we started to fade, we called a timeout to get the ball to LeBron in the post, but he settled for long fades as the team around him stood still and the D could load up. He caught an elbow to the mouth. No reason for Murray to raise his elbow up and drill LeBron on a screen on the defensive end. The refs reviewed it for a long time and finally determined that it was a flagrant-1. Not thrilled with the sense of urgency he’s played with, whether that’s walking the ball up and slow to get into offense or on D. There was a track down block he could have gotten on one play but stayed on the ground. In the fourth, he was able to get some easy ones off Rondo steals in transition. His effort on D picked up with some great plays under the hoop. A painful turnover in transition and a couple more misses helped in the Lakers demise after the 21-4 run. “We played some pretty good ball in the fourth quarter, but those first 36 minutes hurt us, obviously. The Stats: He scored 30 points on 14-23 shooting (1-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 10 boards, 11 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 6 turnovers and 1 foul in 37 minutes. He was a +2.

Davis -- -- He had 16 points on 5-8 shooting, but no rebounds in the first half. He was getting into the paint for short ones or drawing FTs. But the effort on the glass. We need to play hungry but instead we were getting outrebounded badly. In the third quarter the offense was a lot of shoot-over-the-top-of-the-D stuff. Still, he had no rebounds heading into the fourth quarter. We mixed up the rotations a little in that fourth quarter to see if we could make a run. He’d get fouled on a three and dunk on the break to help force a timeout. (He also airballed a three, his balance in this game was a bit off at times on jumpers.) He’d also hit a floater. But he was dragging himself up court at times and just setting screens and not much offensively. A lot of minutes tonight. The Stats: He scored 27 points on 9-17 shooting (0-4 from three, 9-10 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3 turnovers and 4 fouls in 43 minutes. He was a +4.

Green -- -- A bit of a yawner from him. His only make was a step-back three. He’d get FTs on a drive and make one. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-4 shooting (1-3 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist and 4 fouls in 20 minutes. He was a -3.

McGee -- -- He didn’t play in the second half. He had just the single 8-minute stretch where he was a +2 to open the game. Before this series began, you thought it might make sense to start Dwight and have McGee switch to what was normally Dwight’s rotation to start the second quarter. I’m not sure if that will happen in the next game or not, but that might be in the mix. In the second half of this game we seemed to recognize that it’s generally better to have Dwight on the floor...and that our micro ball was a failure. So that’s at least something optimistic. For McGee in this one, he stripped Jokic in the post and it led to a layup for LeBron the other way. He scored a layup himself off a drive and dish from KCP. He had an And-1 layup off a LeBron interior feed. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-2 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 8 minutes. He was a +2.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Big start to the second half with a three in transition. He then followed that up with a steal for a layup to force a Nugget timeout quickly into the third. That was about the only good thing going on in that quarter. Man, he had a wide open wing three in the fourth quarter that could have tied the game and just could not drain it. That was probably the biggest miss of the game. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 5-8 shooting (2-5 from three) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 foul in 27 minutes. He was a -9.

Kuzma -- -- Early, we ran him off a high wing screen by McGee early on which allowed him to take a bounce pass and score around Jokic on the move. I was optimistic we were going to get a few more cutters and off-ball screens, but it died off. He was later hit on a three with no call, but still got it to drop for his other bucket of the first half. Wish he could have been sharper in the fourth quarter. He got tapped on an And-1 on the break (although, I’m guessing he makes that layup, they don’t blow the whistle), but he made just one of those FTs. Then, he had a wide open three to tie the game, but he couldn’t knock that one down. We needed our bench guys to get us over the hump with some extra energy and they just couldn’t do it. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting (1-2 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 26 minutes. He was a -3.

Caruso -- -- He couldn’t hit a shot in the first half, going 0-5 and missing all three of his threes. The Lakers were 4-13 in the first half on threes. He didn’t get anything in the second half, either. You shouldn’t count the layup with a second left. So scoring-wise, nothing tonight. His best play on that end was hitting LeBron on a cut for a layup. He also found Kuz on a drive and dish, as well. A couple of steals with his usual defensive hustle. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-7 shooting (0-4 from three) to go with 1 board, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 25 minutes. He was a -6.

Rondo -- -- Very up and down game, but I think part of it was the lineups he was in. He had the team-low -17 in the first half on 1-5 shooting (4 assists, 2 turnovers). This was that regular season Rondo where he’d miss open shots or try to make hard passes instead of the easier/right ones. He was also in those micro ball units which have just got cooked in their first half minutes. Once we went bigger and had AD out there to run with him, things started to look better in the half. Still, the Nuggets were leaving him open to help elsewhere and they’d live with that kind of output for sure. In the fourth, we ditched that micro ball and went with AD out there and zoned up. Rondo was a terror in that zone again. Stealing the ball and getting the Lakers out to easy scores and igniting the comeback. Just some excellent minutes that we really missed in the first half. Some moments offensively getting penetration for layups. We didn’t see any of that AD/Rondo connection action. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-10 shooting (0-3 from three, 1-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 8 assists, 3 steals, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -13.

Howard -- -- He got the start in the second half again but would only get 14 minutes. He had 2 more fouls to give in this game. How many more minutes could we have played him? The foul calling is certainly a concern. If they called all the misc. action under the hoop evenly, this wouldn’t be series. The Nuggets fly into him, clutch and grab and they let so much of that go, or call Dwight when he retaliates. He does it and it’s a whistle. He’s got to know he’s under that microscope and be more careful. But still...play him more. We got destroyed with that micro ball. I think the fouls are in Vogel’s head. Of course, right after entering this one, Dwight picked up a bogus first foul going for a loose ball, then he picked up a tech for tossing the ball after the call. He’s going to get a few fouls, but how about starting him that second quarter at the very least since we’ve been getting drilled. Scoring wise, he’d finish a lob dunk. He’d also have an And-1 jumphook after a rim run. I mentioned in the last thread, I wanted to see some more post touches like that for him. He’s too big under there offensively but we don’t use it and he could get a few fouls calls as a result. I don’t think we see it, though. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 1 offensive board, 1 steal, 1 block, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 14 minutes. He was a -1.

Morris -- -- Those micro ball minutes looked awful. He just looked undersized and the Nuggets knew it. They were bumping him out of the way and getting to the rim. We brought him back to run at PF with a bigger lineup for the final minute of the first half and he hit a three. That unit looked much better. He’d later have a drive and dish to AD for a layup. But I hope the experimenting as the C spot is finally buried with this game. No rebounds, either. Honorable mention for also getting a bogus whistle on a nice block on Murray. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-2 shooting (1-1 from three) to go with 1 assist and 2 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -13.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: I think just the first half of this game and the lack of adjustments. We didn’t really do anything too different from the last one. Same rotations, some minor play tweaks, but nothing consistently new. We should have treated the last game as a loss and come out of the gates with changes of substance. That second quarter was painful. Our big adjustment in the third was starting Dwight, but we still lost that quarter, too, as the offense continued to stagnate.

Key Substitution: First, going with the micro ball and not Dwight in the first half. That killed us. Second, recognizing that we couldn’t go back to the micro ball to start the fourth and keeping AD in there. That unit with some zone thrown in the mix went on a run. But we were buried and it was too big of a hole to come out of. I’m hopeful, though, that we actually see the end of the micro ball against the Nuggets. I’m especially annoyed that Dwight finished the game with 4 fouls. That means two more to give and more minutes that could have been had. Sigh.

Key Stat: The epic rebounding low is probably that key stat of the night, but we’ve mentioned that already. As bad as the rebounding was we could have given up a few less rebounds if we just hit our shots. You want the paint to open up, ultimately you’ve got to knock down those spot up jumpers. Lakers went just 6-26 from three (also a poor 14-22 from the line). This was one of our bad shooting games. Hopefully, we get back to average and hit 2-4 more in the next one, along with not getting killed by playing small.
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TooMuchMajicBuss
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 9:26 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Great writeup on a bad game.

Do better next time Lakers.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 9:47 pm    Post subject:

Thanks DB. Great summary.

Just curious DB, are you concerned about the Nuggets possibly having figured our boys out and maybe, just maybe, we may not have a good answer?

My thoughts are this.

1. 1000% agree re Vogel's stubborness with the small ball lineup. That was getting whacked by Denver's backups last game (playing with Murray), and did again tonight. After game 2 folks in the in game thread were hoping he would not go to that lineup, but we knew better - Vogel needs to actually get zapped before he says "oh, finger in electric socket. Bad idea." So, he did not disappoint: Small ball played, and of course, we got walloped again. Hopefully he learns from the loss zap.

2. I also note that there were stretches where Jokic and Murray were just making ridiculous shots. Grant of course has a career high. Lakers got their arses handed to them on rebounds (unlikely to happen again), and their three shooting was awful (23%)...punctuated by a combined 1-8 from LBJ and AD, and its noticeable that often in "big games" this year the Lakers lost (think Bucks at Milwaukee, or Christmas vs Clippers) losses could often be simplified as "look at their combined 3 shooting, it was awful." I'm not saying this series of events we saw could not happen again, but I think it unlikely - it just "felt" like the sky, moon, stars, etc were all in the right position for Denver.

3. I also found it interesting how, when we make these types of runs, usually AC is in the lineup. He was inserted with about 3 minutes in the third and played all the way up to them cutting the lead to 101-98.

In sum, I don't want to be overly enthusiastic, especially when by the end of the 3rd I was basically saying this was putrid and I was embarassed for our guys shameful performance...but, they came back, showed heart, and in a game that frankly *should have been* a 20 point blow out when you consider point 2 above. I think with some better offensive movement, and more desperation and energy on D, Lakers can strike back effectively.

In a way, I think Jokic's post-game interview summed up it nicely re the 4th quarter run "we were just hoping they would stop playing, and they didn't" with a semi look of exasperation (it's like, we gave them an arse beating, but they kept coming back, WTH?). Hopefully the Lakers can make some adjustments and get the W.
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 10:23 pm    Post subject:

It seems like Vogel will not make any adjustment until it’s our turn . Him implementing the zone took Denver by surprised and almost won the game for us . I don’t think Malone will be surprise again though. Denver wanted the game badly with that energy and you see how they outworked us throughout the game.

Now that Vogel seen the first 3 games, hopefully he won’t be stubborn to utilized the small ball lineup and expect Lebron to be our last line of defense. High screen and roll has been getting Denver into their rhythm, Vogel has not made any adjustments to counter that. Rondo showed him how he attacked both Murray and Jokic though by simply being active pressuring the ball. So if there’s any positive to take on that loss, it will be how can we neutralized that.

I don’t think we can establish any sort of rhythm it we keep force feeding AD. Our offense has to start with Lebron and how to attack and unclog the lane. Vogel has not been doing him any favor by his rotation while Green keep bricking his shot. Also start Morris to space the spread the floor with better spacing and let Jokic come out and pressure him to guard AD.
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A Mad Chinaman
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 22, 2020 11:35 pm    Post subject:

Lakers weren't able to match the Nuggets' passion and energy
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:56 am    Post subject:

Lbj needs to play well. He is playing poorly this series. He has to be aggressive. Most of his 30 points are due to the effort put in by other players.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 3:57 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB.
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danzag
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 4:50 am    Post subject:

Thanks, DB.

This was frustrating to watch. That small ball experiment was terrible, cost us the game.
Vogel has a lot of adjusting to do.

We're lucky we're not down 1-2.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:31 am    Post subject:

I hate to blame the officiating, it's all too often an excuse by the members and fans of the losing team. In the case of Game #3 the tables were set by the refs in Game #2, when they decided to whistle based on star status. They're not going to allow a repeat of Game #1, when Howard, a role-playing bench jockey, was going to neutralize a star. Jokic was allowed by bump, push, grab, and elbow, but when Howard tried to do the same he'd draw the whistle. Jokic realized this early, so he kept baiting Dwight into fouls, knowing that Howard doing the same would result in Nugz FTs. That being said, I thought Vogel waited far too long to bring in Dwight. The Nugz had already defined the game with their energy and physicality.

While Howard was the more extreme case, it was evident during the first half. The Lakers simply responded by losing focus and energy, and that's on them rather than the officiating crew. While I liked they way the team fought back (kudos to Rondo) in the fourth, they were gassed by the time the Nugz lead was reduced to low single digits. At that point the tired legs took a toll on the shot selection, and that was the game.

The Nugz will lose the series, but you have to commend them for energy and coaching. Once you take away the Laker transition opportunities, the Lakers fall into iso ball as they lack a coherent half-court offense. While Lebron is the master of isolations, forcing him into iso after iso reduces his stamina. The Nugz know to pack the paint, use physicality to jockey for position, and attack every errant shot or poorly secured Laker rebound.

Anyway, as Van Morrison once sang, "...my mama told me there'll be days like this." The Nugz hit their difficult shots and brought energy. The Lakers did neither.
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 5:59 am    Post subject:

Jerami "Michael Kobe Durant" Grant isn't going to kill us like that every night, right? He destroyed us with his scoring, energy and sense of urgency. Hopefully that was a one off moment for him.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:21 am    Post subject:

Danny Green is a very expensive cheerleader. No wonder Raptors let him go.
Denver team is younger and super confident. Coming back from 3-1 deficit twice is impressive. They are good and they won last 6 quarters. We have a series and it's 50-50 who will win
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ribeye
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 7:27 am    Post subject:

The Lakers obviously have the two best players of the teams remaining in the playoffs. They also have about the worst remaining players. Most fans worried just how much this second fact will haunt this team, and expected games like this--and I can say I expected more than we've seen. That this team slightly exceeded my expectations is a good thing, but with that, now, any defeat is so much harder.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 8:29 am    Post subject:

In the three losses the Lakers have had in the playoffs, they shot the following from the three point line:

23.1% Vs Nuggets
28.9% Vs Rockets
15.6% Vs Blazers

In their 10 wins, the Lakers are shooting 41.7% from three. The worst was 36.1% versus the Nuggets in game 3 that the Lakers barely won.

If the opponent packs the paint and forces three and the Lakers miss they lose. If they hit the threes the Lakers win. Simple as that. Shooters got to step up.

L7
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 8:31 am    Post subject:

dont get too comfy out here--i would like to see a little more insight oppose to re-telling, as of late.. keep up the good work--and stay on your toes, before someone comes along and out does ya
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 8:48 am    Post subject:

Booo losing.

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 9:59 am    Post subject:

Gile wrote:
Danny Green is a very expensive cheerleader. No wonder Raptors let him go.
Denver team is younger and super confident. Coming back from 3-1 deficit twice is impressive. They are good and they won last 6 quarters. We have a series and it's 50-50 who will win

It aint 50-50 if the game is called fairly, sorry.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:14 am    Post subject:

Laker7 wrote:
In the three losses the Lakers have had in the playoffs, they shot the following from the three point line:

23.1% Vs Nuggets
28.9% Vs Rockets
15.6% Vs Blazers

In their 10 wins, the Lakers are shooting 41.7% from three. The worst was 36.1% versus the Nuggets in game 3 that the Lakers barely won.

If the opponent packs the paint and forces three and the Lakers miss they lose. If they hit the threes the Lakers win. Simple as that. Shooters got to step up.

L7


Yeah, which is why as much as that rebounding was ridiculous...I went with this as the key stat. This is ultimately the bigger factor. If they pack the paint, we've got to hit our shots. We've been pretty good so hopefully we see a bounce back there along with some tweaks to how we are matching up. Also, we can improve our shot quality a lot with more movement/screening off ball to occupy defenders. That's not happening like it should.
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 11:46 am    Post subject:

Laker7 wrote:
In the three losses the Lakers have had in the playoffs, they shot the following from the three point line:

23.1% Vs Nuggets
28.9% Vs Rockets
15.6% Vs Blazers

In their 10 wins, the Lakers are shooting 41.7% from three. The worst was 36.1% versus the Nuggets in game 3 that the Lakers barely won.

If the opponent packs the paint and forces three and the Lakers miss they lose. If they hit the threes the Lakers win. Simple as that. Shooters got to step up.

L7


Good call. In a way we can point to a number of factors like this. Combine them all up and there's the L.

Honestly, I did not want to "jinx" with negative vibes but I was very concerned about game 3. Just felt like an L was incoming - no rational explanation. I suppose I could have said the play in second half of game 2, alone, warranted that feeling, but with the Media coverage being over the top re AD's shot, Malone saying his guys were pissed, etc...just felt like we'd get one in the face.

And let's be real. Lakers come back and win game 3? That would have been it. As resilient and talented as the Nugs are, that would have been a greater gut punch than the game 2 loss. They would be like "wait, we had a 20 point lead, rebounded vastly better, shot 3's vastly better, had a career nite from Grant, our big 2 played fantastic, and still couldnt win?". This series would have been over Thursday.

However, I dont feel the same un-nerving gut feeling I did going into game 4 as I did in game 3 (concern, yes, but not one predicting an L). I really feel the Lakers will be the more "pissed" club, and if they just put the effort in, and be just a bit more accurate with 3's, they will take Thursday.

Put another way, yes Denver can hold its head high. But wow, it took *THAT* much for them to win (including favorable officiating), yet it was still a game with 3 minutes left? If I'm a Denver fan, I am feeling the same gut "uh oh" going into game 4 as I did as a Laker fan going into game 3...

Hoping I am right on all this, gut level and all
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:41 pm    Post subject:

Quote:


Put another way, yes Denver can hold its head high. But wow, it took *THAT* much for them to win (including favorable officiating), yet it was still a game with 3 minutes left? If I'm a Denver fan, I am feeling the same gut "uh oh" going into game 4 as I did as a Laker fan going into game 3...

Hoping I am right on all this, gut level and all


There is another way for Denver fan to spin this:
We lost game 2 on buzzer beater.
In game 3 we were up 20 points and we were able to survive Lakers comeback
Jokic has figured out how to deal with Howard
Nobody on Lakers roster (other than LBJ) can stop Murray on the perimeter
Lakers looked tired in 4th
There is only 48 hours between games for the rest of series (it helps younger Denver team)

All I am saying is that we have a series and I wouldn't be surprised if we see game 7.
And please do not blame referees for a loss, it's getting old
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:57 pm    Post subject:

Gile wrote:
Quote:


Put another way, yes Denver can hold its head high. But wow, it took *THAT* much for them to win (including favorable officiating), yet it was still a game with 3 minutes left? If I'm a Denver fan, I am feeling the same gut "uh oh" going into game 4 as I did as a Laker fan going into game 3...

Hoping I am right on all this, gut level and all


There is another way for Denver fan to spin this:
We lost game 2 on buzzer beater.
In game 3 we were up 20 points and we were able to survive Lakers comeback
Jokic has figured out how to deal with Howard
Nobody on Lakers roster (other than LBJ) can stop Murray on the perimeter
Lakers looked tired in 4th
There is only 48 hours between games for the rest of series (it helps younger Denver team)

All I am saying is that we have a series and I wouldn't be surprised if we see game 7.
And please do not blame referees for a loss, it's getting old



You can crawl back to your little nugget board now.
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DrDent
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:10 pm    Post subject:

Gile wrote:
Quote:


Put another way, yes Denver can hold its head high. But wow, it took *THAT* much for them to win (including favorable officiating), yet it was still a game with 3 minutes left? If I'm a Denver fan, I am feeling the same gut "uh oh" going into game 4 as I did as a Laker fan going into game 3...

Hoping I am right on all this, gut level and all


There is another way for Denver fan to spin this:
We lost game 2 on buzzer beater.
In game 3 we were up 20 points and we were able to survive Lakers comeback
Jokic has figured out how to deal with Howard
Nobody on Lakers roster (other than LBJ) can stop Murray on the perimeter
Lakers looked tired in 4th
There is only 48 hours between games for the rest of series (it helps younger Denver team)

All I am saying is that we have a series and I wouldn't be surprised if we see game 7.
And please do not blame referees for a loss, it's getting old


Whatever rationale makes you feel better, go for it.

However, any objective view of the last game shows the officiating was dictating the game at times depending on lead, lead size, etc. It was blatantly obvious, if you choose to ignore that, then whatever floats your boat pal.
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laker50
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Joined: 07 Mar 2014
Posts: 2140

PostPosted: Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:57 pm    Post subject:

The problem with the Lakers is they don't have a PG like Murray who can easy get by his man. This breaks down the defense and forces a double team. And Denver are getting to be good shooters.
Rondo and Lebron could do that when they were younger. But they have lost a step. But they are smart players.

What is needed is player and ball movement. And one other good shooter besides AD who can hit a consistent shot.
The problem is DG, KCP, Morris, Caruso, and Kuzma are all streak shooters. When they are on the Lakers are on.

They just have to learn to hit those open jumpers.
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DrDent
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Joined: 30 Jun 2016
Posts: 12975

PostPosted: Thu Sep 24, 2020 7:58 pm    Post subject:

Gile wrote:
Quote:


Put another way, yes Denver can hold its head high. But wow, it took *THAT* much for them to win (including favorable officiating), yet it was still a game with 3 minutes left? If I'm a Denver fan, I am feeling the same gut "uh oh" going into game 4 as I did as a Laker fan going into game 3...

Hoping I am right on all this, gut level and all


There is another way for Denver fan to spin this:
We lost game 2 on buzzer beater.
In game 3 we were up 20 points and we were able to survive Lakers comeback
Jokic has figured out how to deal with Howard
Nobody on Lakers roster (other than LBJ) can stop Murray on the perimeter
Lakers looked tired in 4th
There is only 48 hours between games for the rest of series (it helps younger Denver team)

All I am saying is that we have a series and I wouldn't be surprised if we see game 7.
And please do not blame referees for a loss, it's getting old


Now, yes, series is not over and Nugs are resilient and can still win it all...BUT, after tonight just had to revisit this post:
1. "Jokic has figured out how to deal with Howard" - not yet
2. "Nobody on Lakers roster (other than LBJ) can stop Murray on the perimeter" - this appears actually to be correct
3. "Lakers looked tired in 4th" - not this game, or game 2, as in neither game were they pushing to reduce 20 point deficits in a handful of minutes in the 4th.
4.T"here is only 48 hours between games for the rest of series (it helps younger Denver team)" - not tonight.
5. "And please do not blame referees for a loss, it's getting old" - Vog did re LBJ, and suddenly the guy goes to the FT line 14 times. Also, I bet Nug fans are livid about that.

I will not lie, I am extremely happy you were only batting .200 tonight
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