Game Thread 2020-21 Season | Game #17 | Lakers @ Cavaliers | January 25, 2021

[Los216]

Brother, you have a habit of seeing what you want to see with players you like. So, I'm not gonna have this fight with you.

He's shown nothing that warrants being handed the keys to the car at this point. I hope he becomes the point guard. He isn't it yet.

Why does he need to be handed anything? He's obviously a PG and the best passer and ball handler. Where else is he gonna play?

Are they going to keep making Sexton the primary ball handler? Who is developing from us doing that? That doesn't make anyone better.

We don't even have an offensive philosophy and you're worrying about someone being handed the keys. The keys to what? We don't run a legit offense lolololololol.

How about we actually run an offense and put Darius Garland in the PG position. We haven't done that yet so how can you say he hasn't earned the that right? We don't even try it.

 

[ansatsusha80]

 

[Pioneer10]

You really think they can play Garland Sexton against a team like the Lakers if this was the playoffs and the Lakers actually gameplanned?

That would be a nightmare with Lebron hunting them out just like he did as a Cav against guys like Curry. Cavs have nice pieces with Nancy Okoro Sexton etc but SexLand I'm not sure about at all. You can hide maybe one but two of these guys who both play small on defense?

 

[Rich]

Why does he need to be handed anything? He's obviously a PG and the best passer and ball handler. Where else is he gonna play?

Are they going to keep making Sexton the primary ball handler? Who is developing from us doing that? That doesn't make anyone better.

We don't even have an offensive philosophy and you're worrying about someone being handed the keys. The keys to what? We don't run a legit offense lolololololol.

How about we actually run an offense and put Darius Garland in the PG position. We haven't done that yet so how can you say he hasn't earned the that right? We don't even try it.

Your argument essentially continues to boil down to "Garland is obviously a PG. The end."

Yet there's no actual on the court evidence of this being the case.

Even when Sexton isn't in the game Garland is timid. That's NOT a point guard.

Whatever though. You're going to die on this hill just like with Rudy Gay and various other players. It doesn't matter what Garland does or doesn't do.

 

[kidduck]

Lebron was 15 of 17 combined in first and fourth quarters.

 

[ryanf]

JBB obviously told the team to crank up the tempo. Problem is when Sexton does that, instead of going at his normal 110% speed, he cranks it up to 150% and loses all composure and like @Alec Zander said, he gets into trouble by not being able to go east/west. Basically just needs to dial it back a notch. Normally it works because he's so damn quick.

And when he tells the team to crank up the tempo - which was effective - he needs to be clear to Andre and McGee to not do stupid fucking shit.

Drummond is really starting to tick me off and I almost regret defending him, again you look at the box score and think yeah great game, but damn...it's not just the obviously boneheaded plays but he has no feel for the game. He decides what move he is going to go to regardless of how the defender reacts. He establishes good post position only to take himself out of it. For a strong big athletic dude he's the weakest finisher. Gather, power dribble if needed and SLAM. Instead he thinks "I'm going to go right to left crossover on the next possession!" and completely fucks it up by dribbling into the defender. I think a cardboard cutout would be just as good defending against him because it doesn't really matter what the defender does, Drummond has a 50/50 shot of dribbling right into you.

I'm irrationally mad that we lost a close game to the defending champs so that's a good sign, but you also get the sense LeBron probably could have ended our hopes much earlier.

LOL at this take, and i agree 100%

the problem with drummond is he wants to do things for the sake of doing it, no purpose

 

[Kouki]

Drummond is the only reason that game wasn't a 25 point blowout in the 1st half though. He was IT. So you have to keep that in mind.

RIght now, and it pains me to say this...he's the teams best player.

I admit I only tuned in towards end of 2nd quarter due to other stuffs.

Doesn't excuse his shit-tastic plays in the 2nd half. This should be common sense stuff that gets drilled in at the HS level.

What did he do that was so great in the 1st half? Looks like he shot 6-11 which is good but not great.

 

[redscoon]

It’s tough to be hard on Sexton because they are asking a lot of him right now. We really need a wing that can create some offense to take something off his plate. There’s not much going on in the half court if he isn’t generating points or collapsing the defense.

 

[shoes22]

I hope you're playing around when you say this.

Yeah, somebody hasn’t watched LeBron’s game tape this year. He’s adjusted his game a lot with Davis on the team. He drives to the basket a lot less, and has improved his 3PT shooting considerably. And not just threes...very deep threes. And he’s banking them.

It’s all about maximizing his longevity in the league. The fact that he can do so so successfully is why he’s the GOAT.

 

[kidduck]

JBB:

Game not lost but our effort, gave us what they had, played together.

Game lost by momentum changing calls that were made or not. Our
guys made plays that deserved the same level of calls as Lakers. Lakers
deserved what they got. hard to overcome when playing uphill.

 

[Cavatt]

Yeah they are just too good. Cavs are playing well, but they are not capable of the mistake free basketball you need to compete in this game.

When Sexton turned it over in the last minute, he should have shot it from 3. Lots of missed bunnies tonight especially by Sexton and Okoro.

Drummond and Javale gave Bickerstaff some ammunition not to play them in the 4th.

I think Windler and Cedi could have played more.

We needed a pf, especially Larry to take some of the load off Okoro on Lebron.

Anyway, yeah, Cavs made too many mistakes.

Great great game by the Cavs, they just had too many mental errors. Could have won it otherwise.

Cavs needing better decision making in crunch time is the type of criticism I would expect of a young team.

The fact Drummond and McGee turned it over 2x in the fourth when Collin was pushing every time to put pressure on the D, is not what I want to see in crunch time.

 

[shoes22]

People going off on Drummond are nuts. Without his production and defense, we lose this game by 25+ easy. Complain about his decision-making all you want, but if he wasn’t on the floor, this isn’t even a game.

 

[kidduck]

More JBB:

Okoro got good experience guarding a player that gives you
no possessions off. Isaac took the challenge but its a learning
experience, on the court where you learn stuff not on film . We're
putting alot on a 19 year old kid.

 

[kidduck]

JBB:
Dre did a phenomenal job getting the ball and he was aggressive but
didn't get calls. We ask him to keep going what he's doing because he is
doing a great job.

Dre did a great job on AD.

Lebron just went off, willed them to victory.

Thats all from JB.

 

[Rich]

People going off on Drummond are nuts. Without his production and defense, we lose this game by 25+ easy. Complain about his decision-making all you want, but if he wasn’t on the floor, this isn’t even a game.

Yea like his mistakes are easy to call out because they are blindingly bad.

But he was really good most of the night.

If we have Nance tonight, we win thegame. We just needed someone else to not have to play McGee so many minutes AND to throw a different type of defender at LeBron.