2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

[OSUFan_88]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

This just isn't true. This year wasn't supposed to be as bad as it's gone but they still have AD on their radar and they have max cap room. I'd call this year a disastrous learning experience for Magic/Pelinka more than anyone else because they're the ones that constructed this roster. We'll see how they bounce back in the summer but without a doubt we'll see a completely different roster next year.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You really think AD is going to LA?

Nah, NO is NEVER going to do that. Not in a million years. They will get better offers from Boston, Philly and others. And why would AD want to go play with an aging Bron at this point? If you don't do what he wants you to do, he's going to pout, call you out in the media and then half *** it on the court.

They would be lucky to get Klay Thompson or some other B Tier FA at this point.

As for Magic and Palinka, how ****ing dumb are they? They tried to change a 35 year old MVP and one of the best players ever. They went with length in a league that is going to pace and space. They totally failed and it shows how out of touch and flat out poor they are at evaluating talent and the NBA landscape.

Any OS poster could build a better team around LeBron than those two did. Why should I trust their ability to evaluate well in the future?

[cima]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

You really think AD is going to LA?

Nah, NO is NEVER going to do that. Not in a million years. They will get better offers from Boston, Philly and others. And why would AD want to go play with an aging Bron at this point? If you don't do what he wants you to do, he's going to pout, call you out in the media and then half *** it on the court.

They would be lucky to get Klay Thompson or some other B Tier FA at this point.

As for Magic and Palinka, how ****ing dumb are they? They tried to change a 35 year old MVP and one of the best players ever. They went with length in a league that is going to pace and space. They totally failed and it shows how out of touch and flat out poor they are at evaluating talent and the NBA landscape.

Any OS poster could build a better team around LeBron than those two did. Why should I trust their ability to evaluate well in the future?

Eh, it's all just media noise to me at this point. I will only believe the Lakers won't land another top tier FA if they don't come July.

I think Magic and Pelinka tried to build a team that could compete with the Warriors and when healthy, you could argue that's a good style to go with. They have length to switch everywhere and they have LeBron to iso and slow it down. It was short-sighted and injuries/chemistry/coaching issues are too great to overcome. However, you can't say they didn't look really good around Christmas time.

Luke ain't the guy to get the job done and it's got nothing to do with LeBron, Luke clearly ain't Magic's guy. What they need to do is pay attention to what Milwaukee did; Milwaukee still has the same top 4 players from last year but they got a competent coach and some more shooters. What happened? Fringe 7th seed to #1 in the league.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

They’ll hire Jason Kidd and it’ll be the same mess that it is this year.

[JazzMan]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

Ty Lue FTW!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

[jfsolo]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

They’ll hire Jason Kidd and it’ll be the same mess that it is this year.

If they hire Jason Kidd, I'll have to suspend my Laker fandom until he's gone. The same if it is Mark Jackson.

[Vni]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

Blame Luke all you want, if you want to be the GOAT and "chase the ghost in Chicago", you cannot miss the playoffs in your prime years.

Bron ****ed up with this big time, he put his faith in the wrong people and now he's stuck in LA with no great future prospects of competing for titles and having Lakers fans turn on him to tarnish his legacy.

I blame the front office not resigning Lopez, letting Randle go for nothing and trading zubac for no reason.

The Lebron/zo's injuries really ****ed that team up aswell as the AD trade talks. Can you blame the front office for trying to get AD though? I don't know. I wasn't a fan of going after old Lebron either but can you really blame a front office for going at LBJ? Don't think so.

Now OSU you need to stop acting like this was ever supposed to be a championship team. It's not particularly well constructed though but we have no idea who they went after in the off season, who said no etc. Theses guys seem all like plan F type of guys.

If things actually went relatively well as one could have expected before the season started, I have a pretty strong feeling that team would've made the playoffs. They were getting better and on pace to do that before zo and LBJ went down.

Walton is definately gone but the sad part about that, his replacement might not even be better.

[The 24th Letter]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

Beat me to it.

I'm pretty sure this group of young guys and journeymen on one year deals were never meant to contend for a title.

Their ceiling even if healthy (IMO) was always a 5-7 seed and an early exit. Maybe get a bit of Playoff Rondo/Bron...get the young guys some experience.

End of this season was rough but I'd at least save the panic until the offseason if I'm a Lakers fan..

[lilteapot]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

Agreed with 24...I think Ingram took a leap this year despite the slow start and it should be encouraging for Laker fans. Not sure why anyone expected them to be very good...pretty sure everyone's reaction here when they signed Rondo, Beasley, Lance, and Javale was something along the lines of "Uh, what?"

Digging through old posts...

Team as it is isn't bad but it's going to be another group of guys that frustrate the hell out of LeBron... Young and prone to mistakes.

Sent from my SM-G955U1 using Tapatalk

Serious question, how much better is this Lakers team than the Cavs last year, if at all? I don't feel like the talent on this team is overall that much better. I think the Cavs were a much better fit for Lebron actually.

[lilteapot]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

I blame the front office not resigning Lopez, letting Randle go for nothing and trading zubac for no reason.

The Lebron/zo's injuries really ****ed that team up aswell as the AD trade talks. Can you blame the front office for trying to get AD though? I don't know. I wasn't a fan of going after old Lebron either but can you really blame a front office for going at LBJ? Don't think so.

Now OSU you need to stop acting like this was ever supposed to be a championship team. It's not particularly well constructed though but we have no idea who they went after in the off season, who said no etc. Theses guys seem all like plan F type of guys.

If things actually went relatively well as one could have expected before the season started, I have a pretty strong feeling that team would've made the playoffs. They were getting better and on pace to do that before zo and LBJ went down.

Walton is definately gone but the sad part about that, his replacement might not even be better.

There just isn't a great coach out there waiting to get hired. Who they gonna get? MJax who created dissent in the Warriors locker room? Kidd, Fisher, B Scott, Hornacek, Hoiberg who are all terrible coaches? Stan Van Gundy wouldn't get along with the team

[Master Live 013]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

Lakers started with a high variance in expectations: some thought they would make the playoffs and reach as high as the 2 seed while others thought they would miss the playoffs entirely.

Early season: Lakers started slow but then seemed to get better, raising expectations that not only would they reach the playoffs but would do so as a "decent" seed (between 3-6?). Then LBJ got hurt.

Now: Lakers are struggling, will probably miss the playoffs and will fail to meet (the new, mid-season) expectations which makes the season look like a disappointment.

Lakers, victims of their own rising expectations. But don't worry, they can hire Brad Stevens once he gets fired.

[OSUFan_88]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

They’ll hire Jason Kidd and it’ll be the same mess that it is this year.

Almost certainly.

Ty Lue FTW!

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

He's never going to coach in the NBA again. He made millions, won a ring, and put up with way too much bull**** to ever do it again.

I blame the front office not resigning Lopez, letting Randle go for nothing and trading zubac for no reason.

They did two of those things to have room for Bron and PG13. How'd that work out? Another misplay by Magic and Rob.

Zubac makes no ****ing sense at all. I'm glad we agree there.

The Lebron/zo's injuries really ****ed that team up aswell as the AD trade talks. Can you blame the front office for trying to get AD though? I don't know. I wasn't a fan of going after old Lebron either but can you really blame a front office for going at LBJ? Don't think so.

They were scummy, using Rich Paul and negotiating in the public to try and get AD. Do I blame them for going after him? No. Do I blame them for getting likely shut out of any future talks because of minor tampering? Absolutely.

New Orleans blames LA for this, 100%. They sabotaged themselves in negotiating with Rich Paul to put in the trade request then acting like AD was their birth right.

Now OSU you need to stop acting like this was ever supposed to be a championship team. It's not particularly well constructed though but we have no idea who they went after in the off season, who said no etc. Theses guys seem all like plan F type of guys.

The only reason this team wasn't supposed to be a championship team was because of the hubris of Magic and Rob. They let Randle and Brook go for nothing, because they thought they had PG13 in the bag. They then proceed to not even get to talk to him.

After making that mistake, Magic publically talked about how he wanted to challenge LeBron to play with pace and play with other ball handlers. The problem with that, is LeBron the universe, you don't try and surround him with other guys who aren't as good as him at handling the ball.

You surround him with scorers and guys who can shoot. The only scorer they have is Ingram, who is a marginal scorer at this point. But the other guys they brought in? Nah, I don't care if those guys were plan Z, you can build better than that. Find shooters, trade for shooters. If the Cavs could do it, if Miami could do it, why the **** couldn't the Lakers do it?

(Hint: Miami had Pat Riley and Cleveland had David Griffin. Both of those guys are miles ahead of Magic and Rob as front office guys.)

If things actually went relatively well as one could have expected before the season started, I have a pretty strong feeling that team would've made the playoffs. They were getting better and on pace to do that before zo and LBJ went down.

At best, it was the 7 seed in the West. Zo has nothing to do with it, it's all about LeBron getting hurt. They were screwed after that. Further more, this vaunted Lakers team that we were talking about that were trending towards the playoffs before injuries, were in the midst of the easiest part of their schedule. The playoffs were never likely this season.

Walton is definately gone but the sad part about that, his replacement might not even be better.

Agreed. Hopefully Walton doesn't sabotage himself in the future with going to a team with a poor front office.

Beat me to it.

I'm pretty sure this group of young guys and journeymen on one year deals were never meant to contend for a title.

Their ceiling even if healthy (IMO) was always a 5-7 seed and an early exit. Maybe get a bit of Playoff Rondo/Bron...get the young guys some experience.

End of this season was rough but I'd at least save the panic until the offseason if I'm a Lakers fan..

If you want to save the panic for the offseason, feel free. I don't see anything meaningful happening in the off season for them. LeBron's leaving his prime and the rest of the team is marginal at best. Maybe they end up with Demarcus Cousins. At best, they'll end up with Klay. No super team is on their way to LA.

[ojandpizza]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

Beat me to it.

I'm pretty sure this group of young guys and journeymen on one year deals were never meant to contend for a title.

Their ceiling even if healthy (IMO) was always a 5-7 seed and an early exit. Maybe get a bit of Playoff Rondo/Bron...get the young guys some experience.

End of this season was rough but I'd at least save the panic until the offseason if I'm a Lakers fan..

I blame the front office not resigning Lopez, letting Randle go for nothing and trading zubac for no reason.

The Lebron/zo's injuries really ****ed that team up aswell as the AD trade talks. Can you blame the front office for trying to get AD though? I don't know. I wasn't a fan of going after old Lebron either but can you really blame a front office for going at LBJ? Don't think so.

Now OSU you need to stop acting like this was ever supposed to be a championship team. It's not particularly well constructed though but we have no idea who they went after in the off season, who said no etc. Theses guys seem all like plan F type of guys.

If things actually went relatively well as one could have expected before the season started, I have a pretty strong feeling that team would've made the playoffs. They were getting better and on pace to do that before zo and LBJ went down.

Walton is definately gone but the sad part about that, his replacement might not even be better.

I feel like the general point from these posts was pretty obvious once they signed all these guys to 1 year deals. All the type of players who would take such a deal, provide some mentorship hopefully, and if they did make the playoffs maybe their experience helped make a little noise once getting there. I think that path was working well for them before injuries, more than just the LeBron injury. JaVale going out was big, not so much the initial loss but more so that it seems like he’s never recovered and gotten back to that point.

I expected them to make the playoffs before the season started, and into the season as well. But once they fell back to 10th during the injuries, and seeing how LeBron looked in his first game back, I thought it was a pretty obvious long shot. They have missed some opportunities with a couple of these games though, which could have changed some things.

I never loved the Randle fit with this group, but I think it’s pretty obvious keeping him would have probably pushed them into the playoffs. I’m assuming they figured they would make it regardless, and probably would have if not for the injuries, but that experience of getting in even in a sweep would be good for Zo, BI, Kuz, Hart, KCP.. now if/when they make it next year, and depending on what roster upgrades they are able to add, it’ll be their first rodeo and expectations will be 10 times higher than they would have been this season..

maybe they respond to that well, then again there was that same maybe for guys like Hood and Clarkson as well. You never know with the young guys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BleacherBum2310]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

no they weren't a championship type team but they were *many* proclaiming them a top 4 seed. The one thing CLE did right was to know what types of supporting cast non stars to fill Lebron with. LAL decided let's just do the complete opposite.

[23]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

Management ain't getting enough blame

Luke got a raw deal....

Hey can he at least get credit for Ingram's improvement?

Does this cast suck or not? Because people said they were good enough for Anthony Davis talent, but others call them trash.

I woulev gone after Paul George then Kawhi in the summer instead of old LeBron

Injuries excuse is ridiculous and being over used.

This same team has tons of injuries last year and won more games than they have now at this point...so it's an excuse among excuses




Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

[23]

Re: 2/26 - 3/4 Games Discussion Thread

How'd the Clippers put up 82 points on the Knicks by halftime?

Yikes