yeah, I don't see Lebron letting this fourth championship go now that it is right there for him. Ever since 2011 he has only lost when there was a really major talent and chemistry differential between the opponent and his available supporting cast. The Heat are good but are they that much better than the Lakers? Don't see it.
-
Changing RCF's index page, please click on "Forums" to access the forums.
2021 NBA Offseason Thread
- Thread starter Los216
- Start date
- Status
Pioneer10
Come home Sideshow Bob
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2005
- Messages
- 16,676
- Reaction score
- 16,702
- Points
- 123
The Lakers roleplayers are average shooters but they're there to play tough defense and while guys like Dragic can score against anybody I just don't see the Lakers having a mismatch problem on defense. They should be able to play any of their base coverages or even a 3-2 zone and not have to worry too much about doubling. They've had to double some ridiculous offensive talent so far in Lillard, Harden, and Murray but with the Heat beat you more as a team with guys like Bam/Dragic/Butler creating mismatches. The Lakers have a lot of good 1/2 hybrid guys who match up well with Hero and Dragic. Then they can throw Green/Kuzma/Lebron onto Butler. Then unlike Boston they have AD/Howard who actually are bigger then Bam and just as athletic.
The Lakers aren't a great 1/2 court offensive team but they have two zone killers in Lebron and AD and unlike Milwaukee they should be able to hunt down and bully weak link in the post if they go to what they did against the Bucks. AD just overwhelmed Bam in the regular season and Lebron's Lebron and they have the personnel to hunt down these weaker defenders that Miami likes to trot out. Just seems like the Lakers have the mismatch advantage on both offense and defense in this one. They are really big and physical
The Lakers aren't a great 1/2 court offensive team but they have two zone killers in Lebron and AD and unlike Milwaukee they should be able to hunt down and bully weak link in the post if they go to what they did against the Bucks. AD just overwhelmed Bam in the regular season and Lebron's Lebron and they have the personnel to hunt down these weaker defenders that Miami likes to trot out. Just seems like the Lakers have the mismatch advantage on both offense and defense in this one. They are really big and physical
Pioneer10
Come home Sideshow Bob
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2005
- Messages
- 16,676
- Reaction score
- 16,702
- Points
- 123
Interesting thing is Miami played the Bucks really well in the regular season (Miami was the one team that many feared would cause them problems and that turned out to be true). They lost to the Lakers twice in the regular season.
Now the Heat are a different team with Crowder and Iggy then in the regular season but the issue they had was Bam was able to slow down Giannis but AD just killed the Heat as he the ultimate zone buster with that midrange game of his. The Lakers just present a lot of matchup problems for the Heat that they haven't had to face
A third of ESPN experts picking the Heat, interesting...
www.espn.com
Higher than I would have expected
Experts' picks for Lakers-Heat in the NBA Finals
Lakers or Heat in the NBA Finals? Who will win Finals MVP? Our experts are making their predictions.
www.espn.com
Higher than I would have expected
Bob_The_Cat
Gold Star Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2010
- Messages
- 10,476
- Reaction score
- 15,910
- Points
- 123
Seems about right for a team that's flopped the last couple years in the playoffs...
It's actually pretty amazing to look back at Doc's coaching career and the overall lack of success in the playoffs despite having quite a bit of talent at his disposal.
Orlando - 5 Seasons
1 Missed playoffs
3 1st round loses
fired at the start of 5th year
Boston - 9 years
1 NBA Title
1 Loss in Finals
2 missed playoffs
2 1st round loses
2 2nd round loses
1 Conference Finals Loss
Clippers
3 1st Round loses
3 2nd Round loses
1 Missed playoffs
Total:
5 Missed playoffs
8 1st round loses
5 2nd round loses
1 Conference Finals loss
1 Finals loss
1 Finals win
Overall Playoff Record: 91-89
That's with having CP3, Griffin, Jordan, George, Piece, Rondo, Kawhi, TMac, Grant Hill, Garnett, Allen, etc.
Cassity14
Gold Star Member
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2012
- Messages
- 6,920
- Reaction score
- 14,338
- Points
- 123
I don't think his Celtics teams ever underachieved after becoming title contenders though. They made it to the finals twice, won once, got completely ravaged by injuries in the 2009 year, and got bounced by Miami's Big 3 multiple times in super close series.
A third of ESPN experts picking the Heat, interesting...
Experts' picks for Lakers-Heat in the NBA Finals
Lakers or Heat in the NBA Finals? Who will win Finals MVP? Our experts are making their predictions.
Higher than I would have expected
Just one person picking Lakers in 5. They know the Lakers beat the Rockets and the Nuggets in 5, right? Do people really think the Heat are a substantially tougher opponent? They probably would've been a 7th or 8th seed in the West. I'd love to see a good competitive series but can't see it happening realistically.
Cavatt
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2008
- Messages
- 29,234
- Reaction score
- 38,392
- Points
- 148
I get that, but the seeding is sort of irrelevant as Miami beat a team with a better record than the Lakers.
I think Bam and Butler can be neutralized, but I could also see the heat have a couple of overwhelmingly good shooting games while they guard the Lakers from 3 very well.
I'd say that the Lakers had the easier road so far, and the teams they beat had more easily exploited weaknesses than the Heat. Denver might be better than the Heat, but we will have to see. I think the defense made Miami better than the Nuggets.
I see the point, but the Rockets were coming off a win over the Mavs, and the Nuggets were coming off a win over the Clippers. In theory, you beat a team like the Clippers, you should at least have a puncher's chance against the Lakers. But the Lakers are just on another level this year.
EDIT: Haha, I'll leave this up as a monument to my stupidity.
Last edited:
Cavatt
Hall-of-Famer
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2008
- Messages
- 29,234
- Reaction score
- 38,392
- Points
- 148
Easy to make assumptions from a small amount of time.
Def looks bad for the Heat. They can't guard them right now. Bam and Butler both get dominated. Still, the Lakers are shooting and insane 3 or percentage.
I'm afraid everyone saying you can't play Herro and Robinson against LeBron are right.
See if they can make adjustments.
Alec
All-Star
- Joined
- May 21, 2011
- Messages
- 7,246
- Reaction score
- 9,962
- Points
- 113
Dragic was heading back to the court from the locker room when the trainer with him suddenly got a phone call and then they turned around?
I don’t know what I find more awesome, the fact that Riley has the trainers phone number or the fact that he’s playing 4D chess and already looking past this game as a loss.
I don’t know what I find more awesome, the fact that Riley has the trainers phone number or the fact that he’s playing 4D chess and already looking past this game as a loss.
- Status