NBA Playoffs 2023

[celticsclay]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

Can’t say I understand unless they completely bench deangelo russell. If these other guys are guarding curry that would mean russell is guarding klay Thompson? That wouldn’t seem to go well for them.

[#1P4P]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

There's a video highlight on Youtube of Vanderbilt guarding Steph while JV was with the Timberwolves. It was impressive, to say the least. To have a 6'8 forward lock in step with Steph, pressing him full court and maneuvering through screens with the quickness to keep up with Curry and the length to closely contest every shot; the Lakers couldn't have asked for a better defender for Steph.

His motor and defense, especially on Steph, are the main reasons I wanted the C's to trade for him; he would've been perfect on this defense and for a potential Warriors matchup.

Schoder's on ball and full court defense is good too. No doubt they are tough matchups for Curry.

[Neurotic Guy]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

There's a video highlight on Youtube of Vanderbilt guarding Steph while JV was with the Timberwolves. It was impressive, to say the least. To have a 6'8 forward lock in step with Steph, pressing him full court and maneuvering through screens with the quickness to keep up with Curry and the length to closely contest every shot; the Lakers couldn't have asked for a better defender for Steph.

His motor and defense, especially on Steph, are the main reasons I wanted the C's to trade for him; he would've been perfect on this defense and for a potential Warriors matchup.

Schoder's on ball and full court defense is good too. No doubt they are tough matchups for Curry.

Giving a tougher than usual matchup I accept.  Shutting him down to any significant extent, I’ll believe it when I see it.

[Vermont Green]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

There's a video highlight on Youtube of Vanderbilt guarding Steph while JV was with the Timberwolves. It was impressive, to say the least. To have a 6'8 forward lock in step with Steph, pressing him full court and maneuvering through screens with the quickness to keep up with Curry and the length to closely contest every shot; the Lakers couldn't have asked for a better defender for Steph.

His motor and defense, especially on Steph, are the main reasons I wanted the C's to trade for him; he would've been perfect on this defense and for a potential Warriors matchup.

Schoder's on ball and full court defense is good too. No doubt they are tough matchups for Curry.

I didn't know that about Vanderbilt (hard to follow the detailed nuances of the west coast teams).  But if that is true, that they can put Vanderbilt on Curry, even if it is just for 5 min or so per half, that is a really nice option to have.  Maybe that is a way to counter a run by GSW.  I don't think you can do that all game of course, but why not deploy that at times.  Try to go really big on them.  Let LeBron be the PG.  How does GSW counter that?

[Ed Monix]

Honestly, for the NBA to have a conference finals with:

Knicks - Heat
Celtics - 76ers
Nuggets - Suns
Warriors - Lakers

It’s Adam Silver’s dream scenario.

Ratings Bonanza

[celticsclay]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

There's a video highlight on Youtube of Vanderbilt guarding Steph while JV was with the Timberwolves. It was impressive, to say the least. To have a 6'8 forward lock in step with Steph, pressing him full court and maneuvering through screens with the quickness to keep up with Curry and the length to closely contest every shot; the Lakers couldn't have asked for a better defender for Steph.

His motor and defense, especially on Steph, are the main reasons I wanted the C's to trade for him; he would've been perfect on this defense and for a potential Warriors matchup.

Schoder's on ball and full court defense is good too. No doubt they are tough matchups for Curry.

I didn't know that about Vanderbilt (hard to follow the detailed nuances of the west coast teams).  But if that is true, that they can put Vanderbilt on Curry, even if it is just for 5 min or so per half, that is a really nice option to have.  Maybe that is a way to counter a run by GSW.  I don't think you can do that all game of course, but why not deploy that at times.  Try to go really big on them.  Let LeBron be the PG.  How does GSW counter that?

Is deangelo russell going from averaging like 32 minutes in first round to like 15 this series or something? People are talking about Schroeder and Vando. Who is Russell guarding? He is going to have a very significant overlap with starters playing 30 minutes a game. I certainly can’t see him on klay or wiggins. Also, are people aware ham isn’t exactly famous for making adjustments? Most lakers fans hate him.

[#1P4P]

The Warriors and Lakers ranked in the top 4 in Pace.

Both teams will key in on limiting the other's transition points and it will lead to slow, plodding games. The Lakers offense has to consistently get in transition to score well since their half court offense is middling; the Warriors half court offense is better, but I see both teams finding ways to keep it close.

The Warriors are coming off of a grueling 7 game series with the Lakers being relatively fresh with the personnel to match. I might be reading too much into it, but the Green-Poole drama and Curry's speech points to chemistry issues.

Like the Knicks-Heat series, in a tossup series, I go with the better coach. If it were Kerr vs. Ham it'd be a gentleman's sweep for the Warriors, but Lebron is the de facto coach; he knows how to play these Warriors and has the team to do it. I can't believe that I just talked myself into picking against Curry's Warriors and the Lakers winning in 7.

[#1P4P]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

There's a video highlight on Youtube of Vanderbilt guarding Steph while JV was with the Timberwolves. It was impressive, to say the least. To have a 6'8 forward lock in step with Steph, pressing him full court and maneuvering through screens with the quickness to keep up with Curry and the length to closely contest every shot; the Lakers couldn't have asked for a better defender for Steph.

His motor and defense, especially on Steph, are the main reasons I wanted the C's to trade for him; he would've been perfect on this defense and for a potential Warriors matchup.

Schoder's on ball and full court defense is good too. No doubt they are tough matchups for Curry.

I didn't know that about Vanderbilt (hard to follow the detailed nuances of the west coast teams).  But if that is true, that they can put Vanderbilt on Curry, even if it is just for 5 min or so per half, that is a really nice option to have.  Maybe that is a way to counter a run by GSW.  I don't think you can do that all game of course, but why not deploy that at times.  Try to go really big on them.  Let LeBron be the PG.  How does GSW counter that?

Vanderbilt is the starting 4. I expect him to guard Curry for stretches while switching Russell onto Thompson or Wiggins. Not too many teams do, but the Lakers matchup well with the Warriors.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5So-Ow_7Lfo&t=47s&pp=ygUbdmFuZGVyYmlsdCBkZWZlbnNlIG9uIGN1cnJ5

[celticsclay]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

There's a video highlight on Youtube of Vanderbilt guarding Steph while JV was with the Timberwolves. It was impressive, to say the least. To have a 6'8 forward lock in step with Steph, pressing him full court and maneuvering through screens with the quickness to keep up with Curry and the length to closely contest every shot; the Lakers couldn't have asked for a better defender for Steph.

His motor and defense, especially on Steph, are the main reasons I wanted the C's to trade for him; he would've been perfect on this defense and for a potential Warriors matchup.

Schoder's on ball and full court defense is good too. No doubt they are tough matchups for Curry.

I didn't know that about Vanderbilt (hard to follow the detailed nuances of the west coast teams).  But if that is true, that they can put Vanderbilt on Curry, even if it is just for 5 min or so per half, that is a really nice option to have.  Maybe that is a way to counter a run by GSW.  I don't think you can do that all game of course, but why not deploy that at times.  Try to go really big on them.  Let LeBron be the PG.  How does GSW counter that?

Vanderbilt is the starting 4. I expect him to guard Curry for stretches while switching Russell onto Thompson or Wiggins. Not too many teams do, but the Lakers matchup well with the Warriors.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5So-Ow_7Lfo&t=47s&pp=ygUbdmFuZGVyYmlsdCBkZWZlbnNlIG9uIGN1cnJ5

Ok so than klay and wiggins obliterate russell. They both have like 3 inches on him and 30 pounds. Plus russell is not even a good defender for his size. The lakers definitely have an advantage in frontcourt with Davis and Lebron. But acting like russell can just hide on defense against a really smart coach in a playoff series is getting into quite the stretch.

[gouki88]

Lakers v Warriors will be interesting. Shooting of GSW should be less monstered by AD than Sacramento’s interior offence, but conversely I doubt Looney dominates AD like he did Sabonis

[celticsclay]

Lakers v Warriors will be interesting. Shooting of GSW should be less monstered by AD than Sacramento’s interior offence, but conversely I doubt Looney dominates AD like he did Sabonis

If will be pretty darn disappointing if I am wrong on this but I just don’t see how a beat up Lebron coupled with Kerr coaching circles around Ham leads to anything but a warriors series win (probably in 6). The memphis team was clearly mentally weak and were down two of their best three frontcourt players and memphis pushed them to 6 including a Lakers overtime win they kind of stole.

[celticsclay]

I’m at this nuggets game and I’m so annoyed I don’t really even feel like being here. $&&’nre

[Phantom255x]

I’m at this nuggets game and I’m so annoyed I don’t really even feel like being here. $&&’nre

Whoa really? That’s awesome. Hope you enjoy 

[kraidstar]

I’m at this nuggets game and I’m so annoyed I don’t really even feel like being here. $&&’nre

I find that drinking copious amounts of beer and yelling at the refs usually helps my mood

[hpantazo]

At least the Nuggets and Suns are playing defense tonight. 42-40 halftime score is old school