LAKERS -vs- NUGGETS - 9/20 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:23 pm    Post subject: LAKERS -vs- NUGGETS - 9/20 - Thoughts and :-)) Ratings

My Heart Can’t Take It!... This game, man.

Let’s just fast forward to the fourth. The Lakers offense slowed, bogged down by iso ball in the half court. The turnovers had piled up. LeBron had pushed the team in the first half, but Anthony Davis took the baton in the second half.

Vogel in the huddle midway through the tight fourth:

“Offensive swag wins this game for us. Big shots like you just hit. Big shots like you’ve been hitting,” he said, pointing to AD. “Big shots like you just hit,” pointing to another Laker. “Okay? Offensive swag. Just carry that confidence. You’ve got the uniform on, right?” The Black Mamba city editions with the No. 2’s for Gigi, the jerseys we’ve worn in the second games.

Even though the offense struggled in the fourth, AD was finding a way. He would score the Lakers last 10 points.

In the final half minute, the Lakers forced Denver into a miss as KCP got a strong close on Murray. The shot was well short of the target by a few feet, but Jokic tapped at, tipping it in with 31 seconds left to give the Nuggets a 1-point lead. LeBron let the inbounds roll to the front court, he then hit AD who attacked and hit a floater to take the lead back with 26.7 left -- a heady two-for-one play by the duo.

After the timeout, Jokic backed AD and scored too easily in the post. This gave the Lakers the ball, down one with 20.8 left. They used their last timeout.

On the subsequent inbounds, Caruso missed an open three straight away. We got the offensive board in the scramble. Green was blocked out of bounds with 2.1 left. With no timeouts, we subbed in Rondo for AC.

Davis, the hot hand, took position at the far elbow, Rondo took the inbounds in the left corner. They had eye contact as Davis cut to the three line and Plumlee yelled for a switch that didn’t happen. The bounce pass came, Jokic closed from the inbounds corner like Webber on Horry stretching out to challenge (the last time we won a buzzer beater with a three in the playoffs).

AD rose up...nothing but net. Ball game.

On his way back to the bench, you could see AD yell “Kobe” as he was met with a sea of teammates.

My goodness. The Lakers win 105-103.

“I want to take those shots. I want the big time plays,” an out-of-breath Davis said right afterward. “You going to live with me, die with me shooting last game-winning shots. I made it. This is what they brought me here for, to make big time plays. Obviously, we’re wearing the Mamba jerseys. We never want to lose in these jerseys.”

It’s one of those shots I wish I could rewind to look at the crowd reactions, take in every little bit of it in front of the Staples fans.

“It probably would have blown the roof off Staples,” LeBron said. It certainly did in Laker households everywhere.


LeBron -- -- Clearly, LeBron was in Plumlee’s head as he was maybe expecting LeBron to slip screen on that final play. LeBron was just waiting for an inbounds pass over the top, but Rondo changed it up and the rest is history. “When you want to work for a championship, it’s never going to be easy. You figure out a way to win games like this.” LeBron helped carry the team in the first half. Everyone else was struggling to start the game, but LeBron was feeling it. He had that three ball working, which is dangerous...and maybe dangerous for us if he settled for that. He had 20 points in the first half, including 3-4 from three. He’d go 0-4 in the second half. We got him going downhill a little in the first half. He had some iso’s against Jokic in the second half half where he was able to get the rim, but the paint was able to load up against him at times when things slowed down. Not a good close for him with a charge, a fall where he lost he ball. Just a lot of stuff that conspired against us in the close except for AD offensively. Defensively, we saw some good moments from LeBron on Murray. I’m curious if we’ll see that a little more so the switching between those two wouldn’t hurt as much. Maybe save it for some key possessions. The Stats: He scored 26 points on 10-20 shooting (3-8 from three, 3-4 from the line) to go with 11 boards, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 6 turnovers and 2 fouls in 36 minutes. He was a -9.

Davis -- -- “I’ve never hit a game winner like that before,” he said. Wow. Wow! Not many have. It’s the Western Conference Finals. Two different halves from AD tonight. Let’s quickly set the table of the first half. He was playing tired in the half, like he didn’t have his second wind. He’s got to impose himself on the opponent, not sit back. But you could see it in the second quarter, especially with a non-box out near the end of half to give up points, then also a lazy foul on Jokic. He just didn’t have his foot on the gas like he should. He had 9 points on 3-10 shooting in the first half. Barkley was on him during the halftime for coming out with such a weak impact. Barkley asked him afterward why he’s not aggressive all the time (kind of a buzzkill interview by TNT after AD just did what he did). AD said he thinks the game too much sometimes instead of just going out there and being aggressive and making plays. In that second half, he got that perimeter going. He’s facing up and not seeing double team action like if he had a man backing in the post. So this allows him to occasionally get going to the hoop for FTs or hit from the midrange. He had a number of midrange makes in the second half and did a great job knocking down all seven of his FTs tonight. He buried a huge stepback three in front of the Nuggets bench with 3 minutes left, just beating the shotclock. He looked back at them as he walked back down court. On D, though, he gave up a big hoop in the post to Jokic with 20 seconds left. That ticked him off he said for allowing Jokic to get to his strong hand. Then came the big three on the other end. That was about from the same area as his previous three a few minutes earlier. Both LeBron, AD and Vogel all mentioned AD missing a three from the same spot against Brooklyn earlier in the three and that he had the confidence to bury this one. “Coach telling us just a constant reminder that Kobe’s with us,” he said. That Mamba blood was flowing through those veins tonight. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 11-23 shooting (2-4 from three, 7-7 from the line) to go with 9 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 39 minutes. He was a +8.

Green -- -- On the good side, he sank three three’s tonight. He took 10, though, and banked in one of them. A lot of good looks, too. His last make was a big one in a rare transition opportunity in that fourth. Earlier in the game, LeBron had some words with him after he couldn’t connect on a two-man sequence above the arc. He had a chance to get a game winner but he was blocked out of bounds in that left corner. And the rest is history. DEfensively, he probably had the best play of the game. He rotated to reject Millsap trying to throwdown at the rim. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-14 shooting (3-10 from three) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 28 minutes. He was a +10.

McGee -- -- He got the start again. This time for both halves. We’re basically buying time for Dwight and AD with McGee’s minutes. We got 12 tonight and he was a -2. Good job getting to some offensive boards. A couple of those led to Laker threes. He missed a few chippies. McGee got his only points on a tough And-1 lob layup. Defensively, he had a couple moments to prevent scores at the rim, but he also was nailed to the floor on another to give up a layup. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 5 boards (3 offensive), 2 assist, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 12 minutes. He was a -2.

Caldwell-Pope -- -- Lost in the big AD shots down the stretch, KCP bailed out the offense with a huge corner three with 5 minutes left. Just stuck it with a man on him to barely beat the shotclock. That was a big make. He could have taken a three in our final possession on a kickout, but swung it to AC for a great shot at the top of the arc. It just didn’t go. His one assist tonight was a lob to McGee for an And-1. We need more guys able to attack the paint and do that. Defensively, a lot of conversations with KCP and the refs tonight. They weren’t seeing eye to eye about the Nugget screens. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 3-6 shooting (3-5 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 31 minutes. He was a -2.

Kuzma -- -- Yuck. Kuz is not a ball dominant player, so to have 4 turnovers in his 21 minutes? That’s just awful. Weak first half with those turnovers and general poor play. He’d score a turnaround against the shotclock. He’d flash to the middle off a LeBron double and scored a layup. In the second half, he’d get a layup off a Green drive and dish. It was mentioned during the game that Porter Jr. was scoring (15 points) and Kuz would try to go back at him on the other end. That did happen on a couple occasions. I think on one of those, he booted the ball on the dribble. The other he missed a floater in a crowd. Got to have more intelligent of an effort from Kuzma in the next one. The Stats: He scored 8 points on 3-7 shooting (0-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -2.

Caruso -- -- “He’s the goat. The real goat,” AD said afterward. Great game from AC tonight. Too bad he didn’t hit that open three in the final possession. He said he thought it was going down. He had the bench on their feet with a soaring dunk in the first half. While they were singing his praises on TV, he also sank a wing three on a kickout. Later, he’d add in a finger roll on the break after a steal. The bench just went nuts for him on that dunk, though. Asked what the PG version of what they said was, he joked, “Congratulations. Nice two-point dunk.” Staples would have gone nuts. He came up with several big defensively plays in the second half. He forced Jokic into miss in the post. He stole the ball on a double of Porter. He forced a handoff turnover on Murray. He drew an offensive foul on Plumlee on a switch in the post. Just a lot of little stuff adding up. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 3-6 shooting (1-4 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover and 3 fouls in 29 minutes. He was a -1.

Rondo -- -- Assist of the game. On time, on target to AD for the game winner. Let’s rewind to the play just before this where Jokic scored over AD in the post on iso. AD went to the bench and was ticked. Rondo told him to get it back. The last play was for LeBron. Rondo said KCP wasn’t open backdoor and Green wasn’t open backdoor. He then checked LeBron and saw AD coming. That was Rondo’s 9th assist. It was a quieter game from him (he had 5 turnovers, as well). In the first half, he did a really good job getting into the paint to collapse the D. On one, he broke Murray down and lobbed to Dwight. In the second half a couple of those turnovers down the stretch were painful (fumbled a ball out of bounds, threw another into the backcourt). But he does a good job pushing tempo and we need that as a constant. That led to a Green three late. Rondo then swished a step-back three himself next time down working off a screen. That was his only bucket. Glad we had that AD/Rondo chemistry for that last one, and glad he asked Vogel to sub him in for that. AD said afterward Rondo pushes him to be aggressive. Rondo's reaction after the made three. Just stoic. Like my work here is done. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-2 from three) to go with 4 boards, 9 assists, 1 steal, 5 turnovers and 3 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a +6.

Howard -- -- You knew the refs were going to be looking to call him for whistles. Honestly, Jokic did more holding and pushing in the last game than Dwight, but since he’s a star. The refs weren’t going to call all that. Tonight, they gave Dwight a few cheap ones down the stretch to send Jokic to the line. A few years ago, the refs wouldn’t blow those whistles on Dwight. Dwight’s only basket came ona drive and lob from Rondo. He’d also bury a freethrow after drawing a foul on a Laker made three to complete a 4-point play. Low key big play that won’t go as a stat, he swatted a Dozier layup attempt from behind to prevent an And-1 (Dozier missed both FTs). Just 13 minutes and he was a +10. He needs to be aware that they are going to call cheap ones against him and try to avoid some of the holds or things that could get him in trouble. We need him on the floor more. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-1 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 1 steal and 5 fouls in 13 minutes. He was a +10.

Morris -- -- No shots tonight. I need him with some open three looks as we collapse the D in our five out situations. He did hit LeBron on a give-and-go for an And-1 layup. That was it. I think the micro ball suffered a bit from Kuzma’s poor play tonight. The Stats: He didn’t score or shoot, had 1 board, 1 assist, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -8.

Vogel -- -- Key Moment: The game winner. Rondo whispered in his ear to sub him in as the passer. So Vogel brought in Rondo to make that inbounds pass and set the table on the play as we didn’t have a timeout. The play was set for LeBron, but LeBron never moved as AD circled behind him. He didn’t even set a screen, but Plumlee was yelling for the switch, ran right to LeBron who now had two defenders on him as the ball inbounded to AD. “That was Mamba right there,” Vogel told the team afterward. It’s emotional to hear Vogel referencing Kobe in the middle of that fourth quarter huddle. For AD to be yelling “Kobe” as he returned to the bench. And for them to reference Kobe afterward.

Key Substitution: Well, Rondo to make that pass was key. But let’s talk about the Dwight subs. Dwight was a +10 on the night, tied for the high with Green. Vogel didn’t start him in either half, played him that second and fourth quarter...even down to the stretch. He took him out for that defensive stand where AD got scored on in the post. I assume to have more mobility on the perimeter, but we lose muscle and some strong D. The refs had their eye on Dwight and called him for some weak fouls in that fourth. I think Vogel realized Dwight would be in the crosshairs in this one so kept the minutes tighter.

Key Stats: The turnovers. “We said two things before this series. Turnovers and putting them on the line is going to beat us,” AD said. The Lakers had 24 turnovers with 23 assists. The offense really bogged down and this should be a big focus of adjustments in the next game. We got very, very iso heavy.

Coach’s Challenge: None tonight. Vogel tried to use a timeout at one point but the refs didn’t see it. He could have also used it fairly early in the fourth as there was a basket interference he could have won, but we didn’t pull that trigger on that. He was good with the timeouts though. He had encouraged the guys to keep the confidence up midway through that fourth. He had the one remaining for that final possession where we missed. The team went into one of their baseline out of bounds sets right away without the timeout and the rest is history.


Last edited by DancingBarry on Mon Sep 21, 2020 8:47 am; edited 2 times in total
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Yue_Fei
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:26 pm    Post subject:

Great game and what a great showing by AD to come out and dominate the second half!

I was instantly reminded by that 2 for 1 play before the end - of Kobe's behind the back pass to Gasol. Then the 3. It was impressive that Jokic recognized Plumlee made the mistake and tried to cover AD (maybe it was be design from the D side), but AD too good of a jump shooter.

My conclusion after watching these games this year with this team - you want to make LeBron a jump shooter, but not AD. Lebron is a wing with a big man mentality - after a few jumpers he will stop taking them and try to get layups or get fouled. AD is the opposite - a big man with a guard mentality - he will gladly take and can as many mid range shots as you give him, no problem, and most of those will just splash and hardly even ripple the net.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:44 pm    Post subject:

Awesome we got the win. Now it's time for Vogel to make the adjustments. Next game shouldn't be this close! GO LAKERS!

And DB - thanks!
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:11 pm    Post subject:

DB,

Great buzzer beater and a great win, a necessary win, a win that can bring championships, a win that puts the Lakers only 6 more games to becoming champions, for the 17th time!
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:14 pm    Post subject:

Games like this are always bound to happen. LA taking their foot off the gas, Refs showing more favoritism to the nuggets, a rare 2nd half stinker from Bron, etc...Close game, Denver had everything going their way and we still got off with a W.

Hopefully, the refs give us a chance again in G3.

Battle of the Big Men has been amazing so far!


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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:42 pm    Post subject:

A terrible game against a mediocre opponent.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:46 pm    Post subject:

Baron Von Humongous wrote:
A terrible game against a mediocre opponent.


They beat the clippers down 3-1 how are they mediocre?
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:54 pm    Post subject:

lordtrapula wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
A terrible game against a mediocre opponent.


They beat the clippers down 3-1 how are they mediocre?

They went down 3-1 against the Clippers.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:56 pm    Post subject:

FT at 94,7% tonight. WTH happened there.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:56 pm    Post subject:

Baron Von Humongous wrote:
lordtrapula wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
A terrible game against a mediocre opponent.


They beat the clippers down 3-1 how are they mediocre?

They went down 3-1 against the Clippers.


Okay now imagine the talent and willpower needed to overcome that and win the series

I wouldn't put these guys as pushovers or anything
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:59 pm    Post subject:

lordtrapula wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
lordtrapula wrote:
Baron Von Humongous wrote:
A terrible game against a mediocre opponent.


They beat the clippers down 3-1 how are they mediocre?

They went down 3-1 against the Clippers.


Okay now imagine the talent and willpower needed to overcome that and win the series

I wouldn't put these guys as pushovers or anything

Or Rivers is a terrible coach.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:29 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB, great analysis.

Glad they mentioned the missed 3 versus Brooklyn, literally as he started up to take that shot I was simultaneously watching / saying oooooh / and my head saying "that was just like the Nets game before COVID caused league to shutdown" (he tried to hit the game winning 3 at the buzzer then)

But he hit this one (and I did not mind the fact he took the one vs the Nets)

Love the win, but concerned about a couple things:

1. The overt, over the top favoritism shown to the Nuggets tonight by the officials. It was primarily with Jokic and the number of "fouls" he sustained that were created by him merely pretending he was fouled, eg locking his arm into Dwight when Dwight got a rebound and then acting as if Dwight chucked him out of bounds (replay clearly showed none of that happened); then the pretend "oh Dwight hit me in the face" when he kept doing numerous up and under attempts (like Ref, seriously, if Dwight hit this clown in the face, his nose would be bleeding). There were more like that, but it is incredibly annoying to watch, especially when the refs hold their whistles on real fouls the Nuggets caused.

I just hope this does not become a theme for the series.

2. Lakers offense for most of the second half - was piss poor. Actually, terrible. Little movement, most of the passing above the 3 line, no penetration; lots of dribbling and only taking any action around 10 seconds on the shot clock. Etc, etc. I hope they fix this because Malone (Denver's coach) has essentially claimed "stop their break, get them in the half court, you can beat them" and in the second half that game plan almost came to fruition. While defense is absolutely key, you need to have at least a functional / decent half-court offense, and they did not even look like that for many, many second half possessions. Hopefully this is improved.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 12:37 am    Post subject:

Malone post game “we’re angry”

They will come out like gangbusters. Be interesting to see how the Lakers respond.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:12 am    Post subject:

Baron Von Humongous wrote:
A terrible game against a mediocre opponent.


this arrogance, after we finally went to the WCF after 10 years of waiting...annoying
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:35 am    Post subject:

It's weird to hear Vogel's message during that timeout. Big shots? I thought defense is what we hang our hat. Get TOs and make easy baskets in the transition.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 1:52 am    Post subject:

Seemingly Rondo, D12, Marquis, Lebron, AD and others realize that this is their time to win a ring - hence puttinf forth energy that surpased the Nuggets in the first half. That is a great sign

Next season, whenever it starts, will have several team that will be really good that makes the Western Conference that much harder - bad news for the Clippers with Warriors, Trailblazers, Nuggets, OKC (if CP3/Adams stay), Pelicans and Graizzs being legitimate contenders
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:26 am    Post subject:

DrDent wrote:
Thanks DB, great analysis.

Glad they mentioned the missed 3 versus Brooklyn, literally as he started up to take that shot I was simultaneously watching / saying oooooh / and my head saying "that was just like the Nets game before COVID caused league to shutdown" (he tried to hit the game winning 3 at the buzzer then)

But he hit this one (and I did not mind the fact he took the one vs the Nets)

Love the win, but concerned about a couple things:

1. The overt, over the top favoritism shown to the Nuggets tonight by the officials. It was primarily with Jokic and the number of "fouls" he sustained that were created by him merely pretending he was fouled, eg locking his arm into Dwight when Dwight got a rebound and then acting as if Dwight chucked him out of bounds (replay clearly showed none of that happened); then the pretend "oh Dwight hit me in the face" when he kept doing numerous up and under attempts (like Ref, seriously, if Dwight hit this clown in the face, his nose would be bleeding). There were more like that, but it is incredibly annoying to watch, especially when the refs hold their whistles on real fouls the Nuggets caused.

I just hope this does not become a theme for the series.

2. Lakers offense for most of the second half - was piss poor. Actually, terrible. Little movement, most of the passing above the 3 line, no penetration; lots of dribbling and only taking any action around 10 seconds on the shot clock. Etc, etc. I hope they fix this because Malone (Denver's coach) has essentially claimed "stop their break, get them in the half court, you can beat them" and in the second half that game plan almost came to fruition. While defense is absolutely key, you need to have at least a functional / decent half-court offense, and they did not even look like that for many, many second half possessions. Hopefully this is improved.


You haven't noticed that's the lebron 4th quarter protect offense!
It's just usually not THIS sloppy. Great win! I woke the house up!
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:31 am    Post subject:

nutella wrote:
It's weird to hear Vogel's message during that timeout. Big shots? I thought defense is what we hang our hat. Get TOs and make easy baskets in the transition.


I see nothing weird about that, that shot was borderline historic especially if they close out this series.

Denver is feisty and will keep coming at you, in the 2nd half they tightened up and stopped turning the ball over.

This is deep in the playoffs, teams aren't just gonna roll-over. They will make adjustments.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 2:51 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB. A win is a win no matter how ugly. We need to straighten out the half court offense (especially in 4th quarters). This has happened a few times during the playoffs. Lebron eating clock and then forcing the action usually does not work well. Having Rondo in the game (and not allowing him to touch the ball) magnifies the problem.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:27 am    Post subject:

Championship mentality , PJax like, basically y’all good, y’all know y’all good, y’all know all the plays needed, go out and do y’all thing... great speech for veteran team, not hung up on do this do that speech

Vogel in the huddle midway through the tight fourth:

“Offensive swag wins this game for us. Big shots like you just hit. Big shots like you’ve been hitting,” he said, pointing to AD. “Big shots like you just hit,” pointing to another Laker. “Okay? Offensive swag. Just carry that confidence. You’ve got the uniform on, right?” The Black Mamba city editions with the No. 2’s for Gigi, the jerseys we’ve worn in the second games.
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:46 am    Post subject:

Thanks DB!
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 4:58 am    Post subject:

Lakers are now 51-0 (regular season + playoffs) when leading to start the 4th quarter.

AD ON DA WAY!
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:24 am    Post subject: I think Fisher's .4 was more recent than Horry's

Great writeup, but everyone says It's the first playoff buzzer beater since Horry, but I'm fairly certain Fisher's .4 was more recent.

In either case, all were great shots!
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:45 am    Post subject:

Need a little less Morris-McGee, and more AD-Dwight at 5. AD said post game he is ready to play 5 full time, that it is just in the RS he prefers being a 4 (I am guessing it is easier with injuries and the banging).

Dwight has to foul less, although some of them are cheap calls. By sending them to the FT line we give them cheap points. I do not mind fouls around the basket, but some of our fouls were cheap ones.

When teams begin to put 2 players on the elbows on Lebron at the perimeter, Lebron needs to make a decision sooner than later. He can sometimes get caught up waiting too long to make a play. I think he may have been tired last night, or perhaps a little bit the ankle as well. Just an off night after a great start. But when that does happen, we got to get more earlier action going in the offense.

AD, man what can I say. And to top it off with the Kobe chant. the Kobe Mamba designed jersey. Man that was special. I woke up my 6 year old daughter with my screaming after the AD 3. I am usually very quiet, I just did not see that one coming the way it did. AD just elevated himself onto another level as a player with that one moment. Keep at it big fella.
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laker50
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 21, 2020 5:50 am    Post subject:

It seems that Denver is close to finding a way to neutralize the Lakers.
It is clog the lane for Lebron. Double team him and triple team him in on drives. But give him the three as he wants.
Hopefully, Vogel is smart enough to counter.
Problem is Lebron can no longer fast enough to by him man like Murray and the Lakers offense can look stagnant.
The key is ball and player movement. But nobody but AD wants to shoot the final shot. Danny Green and Rondo are big keys for they can do it.
Kuzma is a liability and only can shoot when it doesn't matter.
Curuso and Howard are huge keys.
Howard can slow down the Joker. Nobody else can. Play him. McGee seems to be useless.
it may be that KCP or Morris play may decide the series.
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