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LeBron James

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I have rethought it, and I think AD is he most dynamic guy that Lebron has ever played with. Wade was smarter and Kyrie might be a better pure scorer, but I am starting to think AD can have the greatest overall impact. It will be interesting to see what happens.

I am not totally basing this on the pre-season game, but one thing I took away from that game was the Lakers defense. It was much better than I anticipated and everyone looked motivated. Them beating the Warriors means nothing, but that defense looks like it will be good.

With a great defense and AD and Lebron to bail everyone out at the end of games, they could beat anybody. Health is going to be crucial for them, but that is true for any contender.
 
Well, those couple months of not seeing this dickhole’s thread were nice while they lasted.

I watched the GS Lakers game and realized that era is over. GS isn't what it was, and neither are the Cavs. I just don't really care anymore. I am not rooting for the Lakers, but last year I avoided watching them. I'm invested in our new team now.
 
lol at the nba, lbj and the rest of woke players for not speaking out about human rights abuses in China. Guess the Houston GM learned that dollars are the important
thing.
 
Alright, you guys laughing at me will see. That Laker team is deep too. I know its pre-season and a lot can happen during the course of a season, but when i look at all those other Western Conference teams they just dont have an AD/ Lebron combo. Kawhi/George is close, but i seriously have my doubts on that duo staying healthy. Look, i hope i am wrong and the Lakers tank, but i dont see it happening. I see them as the top seed in the West barring a birage of injuries.
And Derek, Boogie was coming off that achilles tear. It usually takes guys a couple years to get truly come back from those. I believe he would have been much better this year.
Lee, thats a good question. I say its, PG-Lebron, SG-Green, SF-Kuzma, PF-Davis, C-Mcgee. Thats my bet.

I'm just not sure how this lineup manages to be successful defensively long-term. Who's LeBron guarding? Certainly not PGs. Has Kuzma shown any ability to be able to consistently guards SFs? Green and Davis can only cover for so much.

So is it Green on PGs, Bron on SGs, and Kuzma on SFs? Seems like a disaster. LeBron has never really been able to hang defensively with guards sans a few years earlier in his career. Breakdowns on the perimeter will just cause issues all around.

I'd have to say if one of Bradley or Rondo aren't in the starting lineup they'll have some real issues due to matchups. LeBron can still play PG, they just need someone that can pick-up the opposing teams guards. Bradley is likely the better fit at this point.
 
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LeBron has had the entire summer to rest and let his body heal up. For a 34 year old guy, that's huge. He can play on both ends of the court full-tilt like he's 25 again.

He may not look quite the same when it's May, and he's been lugging his now 35 year old body up and down the hardwood for more than 6 months. Especially on defense.

AD managing to remain truly healthy for 90+ games is going to be a nail-biter as well.
 
LeBron has had the entire summer to rest and let his body heal up. For a 34 year old guy, that's huge. He can play on both ends of the court full-tilt like he's 25 again.

He may not look quite the same when it's May, and he's been lugging his now 35 year old body up and down the hardwood for more than 6 months. Especially on defense.

AD managing to remain truly healthy for 90+ games is going to be a nail-biter as well.

Yeah for sure. The West isn't a conference you can just piddle around and win enough games to be safe. They are going to have to carefully balance the effort they use now and what they will save for the playoffs.

I thought the lakers looked really good defensively. They have guys that can really fly around.
 
I'm just not sure how this lineup manages to be successful defensively long-term. Who's LeBron guarding? Certainly not PGs. Has Kuzma shown any ability to be able to consistently guards SFs? Green and Davis can only cover for so much.

So is it Green on PGs, Bron on SGs, and Kuzma on SFs? Seems like a disaster. LeBron has never really been able to hang defensively with guards sans a few years earlier in his career. Breakdowns on the perimeter will just cause issues all around.

I'd have to say if one of Bradley or Rondo aren't in the starting lineup they'll have some real issues due to matchups. LeBron can still play PG, they just need someone that can pick-up the opposing teams guards. Bradley is likely the better fit at this point.

Bradley is a starter and will be guarding pgs and be free to pressure them and gamble a shit ton because of Mcgee and AD covering for him. This team will be running a shit ton and Lebron will have the luxury of resting on offense because of AD and in return will have the energy to defend.

I believe they will be extremely good on both ends.
 
Actually, Achilles tears have typically been career enders. Everybody that has had one returned as a shell of themselves with the exception of Nique.

Plus, he got hurt again toward the end of last season. There’s a reason nobody was ready to throw money at him.

The Lakers are not deep, but LBJ/AD are superb enough to carry them to a ship if all goes correctly.
I wonder wny achilles tears are a death sentence in hoops but Nfl players come back quickly and play fairly well. Look at Emmanuel Sanders this year. Steve Smith a few years ago. Is it all the jumping?
 
I wonder wny achilles tears are a death sentence in hoops but Nfl players come back quickly and play fairly well. Look at Emmanuel Sanders this year. Steve Smith a few years ago. Is it all the jumping?

It's the body mechanics of NFL vs NBA. NBA puts even more stress on achilles because of the constant start and stop.

In NFL, you have 30-40 seconds between plays, and then you line up and go hard for typically 4-6 seconds. Then you stop, recoup, rinse/repeat.

NBA is harsh on foot ligaments and tendons.

The amount of achilles injuries has gone through the roof the last 5 years too. Kids younger and younger getting them. One theory is over-use as everyone is pursuing their dream of being a professional athlete at a young age and kids are wearing their bodies out faster.

The more cynical side is, the supplements, nutrition, and likely performance enhancing drugs, are causing these athletes to essentially stretch and ruin their tendons and ligaments. You can substantially increase your muscle mass and speed with training, but your ligaments and tendons are your ligaments and tendons. Yoga and stretching certainly helps, but at a certain point, they give out.
 
Bradley is a starter and will be guarding pgs and be free to pressure them and gamble a shit ton because of Mcgee and AD covering for him. This team will be running a shit ton and Lebron will have the luxury of resting on offense because of AD and in return will have the energy to defend.

I believe they will be extremely good on both ends.
AD is pretty much the perfect complement to LeBron at this stage...a guy who can be a defensive anchor while assuming the bulk of the scoring load. LeBron can focus on facilitating and defending for longer stretches than he's been able to do in years.

Bradley was barely an NBA-caliber player last year, but if he's just asked to hound PGs and hit the occasional 3 I think he'll be money for L.A. Green has long been the NBA's prototypical 3&D guy while McGee and Howard are extremely underrated rim protectors who can rebound the hell out of the ball.

The Lakers have caught flack for their team composition following their failed pursuit of Kawhi, but I think this is LeBron's most balanced roster in years. The big question marks, other than health, will be outside shooting and whether or not Kuzma can be that ideal, elusive SF/PF hybrid that LeBron's always needed.

As for people questioning their defense, if the Cavs can win a title with Kyrie and Love in the starting lineup, I think this Lakers squad will grade out okay in that department.
 
lol at the nba, lbj and the rest of woke players for not speaking out about human rights abuses in China. Guess the Houston GM learned that dollars are the important
thing.

I mean Silver definitely came back with a solid statement.

To my knowledge, LBJ is in China currently, or at least was when all of this went down. Probably not the safest place to offer up his personal opinion...
 
I mean Silver definitely came back with a solid statement.

To my knowledge, LBJ is in China currently, or at least was when all of this went down. Probably not the safest place to offer up his personal opinion...
Silver pulled a fast one. He issued 2 statements 1 in English and 1 in Chinese and they were different.

You will be waiting a long time for Lbj to say anything about rights abuse in China.
Nike will instruct their stars to be quiet. No problem in China. Talk all the trash about the US you want but China is great. No reeducation camps, no restrictions on free speech, no problem with gay and women's rights. And wasn't the one child policy great. And great legal rights for all. The woke players love China.
 
Lakers are going to be too reliant on people who don't have great injury track records this season.

Boogie is already done. Dwight could pull a muscle in his back taking a shit tomorrow. Anthony Davis leaves a game to go to the locker room twice a week. Avery Bradley isn't the healthiest guy ever. Rondo breaks his hand every year. Even the almighty LeBron James was dinged up a lot last season.

If they find a way to keep the major guys (LBJ/AD) healthy all season long, then I think they're talented enough to win the whole thing. That's a huge if though with the track record of most of that roster.
 
Well, those couple months of not seeing this dickhole’s thread were nice while they lasted.

I could've swore there was a way to ignore/block threads. I'm pretty sure I did it when that one dude was spamming "The Cavaliers should hire Mike Brown as their next head coach!" "The Cavaliers should hire none other than David Blatt as their next head coach!" like crazy all over.
 

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