2021 NBA Offseason Thread

[Bob_The_Cat]

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.

Maybe they got results from an x-ray or something? Who knows

 

[Cavatt]

The Heat look like a team that doesn’t want to be there anymore.

Man they got completely shut down. They have a lot to work on, but Herro and Robinson are going to be dominated by these men.

Hard to believe after all that the Heat went through that Lakers defense could be that much better.

Lakers hit a lot of shots, and it gave Davis and LeBron a lot of space to operate.

Still that Lakers defense. Wow suffocating.

 

[cavsfever]

The Lakers just bullied the shit out of the Heat. Just brutalized them physically, without having to play sloppy or dirty. They are just so big and so skilled

 

[Lee]

Man they got completely shut down. They have a lot to work on, but Herro and Robinson are going to be dominated by these men.

Hard to believe after all that the Heat went through that Lakers defense could be that much better.

Lakers hit a lot of shots, and it gave Davis and LeBron a lot of space to operate.

Still that Lakers defense. Wow suffocating.

Vogel wont be given enough credit, but that defense is all him using his players well just like Spolstra is now getting credit. Everyone assumes Lebron coaches himself and the rest of players, and even a Lebron needs a good coach.

Its weird, if Jordan is so great, why doesnt everyone assume he didnt need coached and give Phil allot of credit too?

 

[Pioneer10]

Denver was a really really good team: they had two guys who were playing like MVPs caliber players in Murray and Jokic then they came at with roleplayers who had size and could shoot (MPG, Grant) and other guys who know their roles.

The Heat just look so small against the Lakers. With Dragic injury it's all over but even if healthy they were getting steamrolled inside: they're going to have to try Meyers Lenard at some point. Bam against small ball teams is insanely effective but he ran into a team that played 3 guys in the starting lineup who were as big and as athletic in him. I'm still confused about how the Bucks got so easily demolished by the Heat they should have been able to pound the Heat down low as well.

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

The size clearly affected the Heat. Boston didn’t have any real legitimate size, and though the Bucks did, the Lakers are just way more physical on D and as a team do a great job of getting in passing lanes and getting out in transition.

Nuggets had a few guys they could throw at AD and it didn’t work all that well. If Bam is out or even slowed by the shoulder this looks like an easy sweep.

Lakers won’t shoot that well again in this series, but Davis and LeBron will own the paint the entire series.

 

[Los216]

 

[MediumBaller]

Teams can't even really run "small ball" lineups against the Lakers because when the Lakers go 'small,' they're still pretty massive. They've been running Morris/LeBron/AD as their small ball lineup, which is 6'8/245 pounds, 6'9/255 pounds, and 6'10/250 pounds. The Lakers have three guys as big as Bam on the floor at almost all times.

Miami's biggest problem, imo, is that their best defenders can't shoot well, and their best shooters can't defend well. If they play Robinson and Herro, LeBron is just going to constantly hunt them.

After facing Lillard, Harden, and Jokic/Murray, this is the first series the Lakers aren't facing an elite guard who can break down a defense. After the Murray/Jokic pick and roll, this matchup is much easier for them. I don't want to be too confident, but I have a hard time seeing the Heat win this series. Their two best players play the same positions as the Lakers' two best players, and they're much worse.

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

Doc’s not the worst candidate there. Better than D’Antonio for sure. Coaching searches this year are kind of interesting as there’s probably not going to be any college coaches involved given the circumstances.

I wonder if Udoka gets an interview or he gets passed over.

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

Teams can't even really run "small ball" lineups against the Lakers because when the Lakers go 'small,' they're still pretty massive. They've been running Morris/LeBron/AD as their small ball lineup, which is 6'8/245 pounds, 6'9/255 pounds, and 6'10/250 pounds. The Lakers have three guys as big as Bam on the floor at almost all times.

Miami's biggest problem, imo, is that their best defenders can't shoot well, and their best shooters can't defend well. If they play Robinson and Herro, LeBron is just going to constantly hunt them.

After facing Lillard, Harden, and Jokic/Murray, this is the first series the Lakers aren't facing an elite guard who can break down a defense. After the Murray/Jokic pick and roll, this matchup is much easier for them. I don't want to be too confident, but I have a hard time seeing the Heat win this series. Their two best players play the same positions as the Lakers' two best players, and they're much worse.

If Dragic is done for the series I don’t think it matters anyway. They just won’t have the scoring/playmaking to keep up even if they play exceptional defense. Even if he plays, I can’t imagine he’ll be all that effective with to plantar fascia in his foot.

 

[Los216]

 

[cavsfever]

Vogel wont be given enough credit, but that defense is all him using his players well just like Spolstra is now getting credit. Everyone assumes Lebron coaches himself and the rest of players, and even a Lebron needs a good coach.

Yeah, Vogel doesn't get nearly enough credit IMO for how dominant the Lakers have been this year. Someone earlier on this thread said Spoelstra is >>> better than Vogel and I don't think that's true. Spoelstra is great but Vogel is terrific too. He was really smart in so many ways, in managing to somehow fix the Lakers shortage of top perimeter defenders, in maximizing their inside advantage while managing Lebron's liking for a clear lane on offense, and in the personality management area in earning Lebron's trust by taking care of hte team defensive aspects Lebron has not been great at while at the same time still letting Lebron be the on-court coach in all kinds of areas.

Vogel doesn't get enough credit for those Indiana teams he had either. Who did those teams have? A young Paul George and who else? Roy Hibbert, David West, George Hill, Lance Stephenson? What business does that lineup have making it difficult for the Heat to get to the Finals? Outside of PGIII all those guys are pretty meh/mediocre, and as we have seen since PGIII even at his best is probably not suited to be the best player on a Finals team.

Even if people in general didn't give Vogel enough credit for what he did in Indiana, I bet Lebron saw it, understood it, and did credit Vogel for his defensive smarts -- probably a big reason he could earn LBJs trust this year. With the benefit of hindsight, Vogel was a much smarter head coach pick than Kidd or the other contenders.

 

[Bob_The_Cat]

This guy is a fucking clown. Thank god LeBron came back and spared us from having to watch the debacle that would’ve been Kyrie, Waiters, Wiggins, Bennett, and Thompson. Pretty sure had LeBron not come back, Kyrie would be gone and we wouldn’t have made a single playoff appearance with him here. LeBron made plenty of game winners when they played together, playoffs included. I don’t wish anyone to get injured, but watching KD and Kyrie get bounced in the 1st or 2nd round would be pretty satisfying.

 

[cavsfever]

Besides Kyrie being irritating as fuck, I also have a grudge against KD for his cowardice in going to the Warriors. All time pussy move.

 

[macbdog]

This is just ridiculous. Kyrie apparently has heart issues because he needs to go on a low sodium diet.