₦airaland Forum

steady986:
E be like say we go carry our one win dey go back LA. Because the refereeing has been shocking so far. Shocking. And it doesn't look like it'll change.

I wasnt capping when I said this is a nightmare matchup for the Lakers. Some folks wach for names. Others watch the games themselves. They way the Grizz play, if they are clicking, the Lakers cant stop them. The only hope for this game is to hope the young team relents late 3q, try to cut things to 10 points and see what happens in 4q.

The only other team I fear more in terms of matchup is Denver. If Jamaal Murray plays anything like the last time he was healthy, they coming out in the West. Lebron iced him the last time, but that was 4 years ago. Legoat don turn to papa smurf

A40:
Be like the players still know what time it is

Out of 100 players, 30 chose Lebron. Ol boy, I will take it. A win in my books

donlittle25:
Birdman he be like say Dallas no make playoffs o?

I hear Kyrie aint returning either

O btw roland17, I thought you would like to know we are likely interviewing Ime Udoka this week. If we can land Jaylen and Udoka, safe to say the leprechaun has a second home in htown.

Roland17:
The reaction from the Warriors bench after the Draymond incident was replayed on the jumbotron was one of obvious disgust. When he got to the bench, he could barely get anyone to support him and that entire sequence tells me there may be some serious bullying related issues going on inside the Warriors locker room. Only Andre Iggy kind of engaged him, the look on the faces of the other players just confirmed everything I have suspected.

last year I brought up Steph's leadership style, especially when it concerns issues like Draymond etc. I was shut down, folks thought I was looking for a way to hate on him. But this issue will keep popping up, the best player by far on the team, an all time great, cannot be a backseat leader on a bball club like this. Kerr cant be the only disciplinarian. You need the Draymonds for the spark they give you, but you also need to manage them so the spark does not turn into fire that consumes you. Anyhow, lets see how GSW responds at home

A40:
Wetin concern young legs with playoff basketball?

Who and who agreed the Grizz are young legs? Only JJC fans get carried away by youth talk, in playoff type basketball where every game will be slowed down possession by possession. Your youth is not as important as experience and talent level. Aside Lebron who are the other old legs on the Lakers? Nobody is over 30

It should be a thing of embarrassment and shame that an Anthony Davis and Lebron James led team are considered underdogs in a playoff series against the freakin Grizzles

I take the embarassment and shame on Lebron's behalf. Pls forgive us

benji93:
You don start ooo. You don start ooo. The Lakers were not the underdog. AD and Lebron cannot be the underdog in this series. The only thing that makes it look like it is the uncertainty surrounding your glass of a person. This two have won together(even though na bubble, all win na win. ) and Lebron's tremendous experience is very important here. Interestingly, i would rather they dispatch you guys, so we can make quick work of them again if and when we go past the Kings. No hard feelings. . Your team may be uncertain, but your upside is high. Your supporting cast is showing up too. More dangerous than I even thought.

papa benji stop eet. We all agreed last week Grizz are the young legs, and they will run Lakers out of town. Now you want to change story. wickedness. Grizz are still the favored to win this series, if Ja comes back. Their style of play is exactly what the Lakers do not want to see. Note how the the young legs on the Lakers team scored the most points

Roland17:
This is exactly why I said I did not want to see the Heat. They are controlling the pace of this game and are matching the physicality of the Bucks. Make una beat una selves well well, me likey!!!

I mentioned this to you sometime back. And I thought Heat would win their playins and get #7 seed. Heat are a tough team to beat in the playoffs, always.

But dont worry, 76ers coming up!

steady986:
This victory is all down to the role players. Reaves, DLo and Rui. They turned up. But what about AD with 7 blocks?

No doubt. It allowed AD to get meaningful rest, and Lebron as well

steady986:
Make I enjoy my win abeg. Na win I win, I no kill person.

I was about to tell you that. Ja or no Ja, the Lakers played well, they calmed the grizz fast game. And Lebron played exceptionally well, man I mus enter gym tomorrow, no excuses. What he is doing right now, man, I would not believe it if I didnt see it. And a lot of the "post analysis" you are seeing here is jealousy the old man actually played a great game.

This series still belongs to the grizz, but I think overconfidence did them in in this game. When Lakers were still returning punch for punch with 4 minutes left in the game, Grizz became worried and started losing their composure. Otherwise this game should have been tight to the end.

Roland17:
Na tears and epistle of excuses go end am

I fully expect the Grizzlies to run them out of the gym.

Indeed, I think the Grizzlies are the worst matchup for the Lakers, in that they neutralize a lot of the advantages a Lebron brings by being on the court. 40 minutes a night at full pace will wear any 40year old out

steady986:
Oh well, he scored more points so nothing else matters.

Its a superstar league. No one remembers the runner ups. Yeah, MVP has always been a political title, many times, the person most deserving is not shiny enough.

steady986:

you are feeling yourself innit?

Khanben:
Even Charles said he was never as heavy as Zion or as explosive. Zion excuse isn't mental health, he is just too big for his level of explosiveness and his body just breaks down. Sadly some people's body are just like that. There is more than one reason why Shaq was a freak of nature, but the main one was how he could carry that much weight, be explosive and still not get his body breakdown on him.
The issue now is I don't know if he's able to shed weight and keep it off easily. Sometimes it looks like most of his weight is muscle which means he can't cut the weight at all.
It just like with Chet and Victor, with their body type, foot injuries will always be a concern

Yeah, Zion himself has said he doesnt feel comfortable losing weight. I think he is very muscly beneath the fat, and he has learned to play knowing he is stronger than anyone on the floor. That being said, Lebron looked freakish, but leaned out over the years, this is something Zion could do if he wanted to. But I dont think he wants to. He likes to play like a bear rather than a tiger. Guy should at least try it and see, he might find out he prefers it. No painful joints and ankles, not need to rest double every one elses time, etc

steady986:
This really doesn't feel like an upset. OKC got dogs. If the Lakers had lost to the Wolves I'd rather play Pelicans than this OKC.

Its like march madness. Every dog has its day

Roland17:
The Pelicans are going to go from making the playoffs and pushing the Suns last season to not making it to the playoffs this season

I did not see this loss coming. Wow. The only greater upset I can think of for this playins is if Heat miss playoffs

steady986:
And talking about last year, there were 3 all-stars on that team. Steph, Wiggins and Dray. You can say what you want about Dray, but when a guy averages 7/7/6 and still makes all-star, then there must be something fantastic he's doing on the court. Then you add a Klay who was at 75%. I say 75% while recognising that his numbers were similar to what he was having pre injury.

Other teams had all stars, did they win ring? Did minnesota win ring? You are making excuses to justify failure. I hope Trae becomes more like Curry than Lillard. Funny how hardwork and luck go together

steady986:
He's played with an all-time great player in KD
He's playing with an all-time great shooter in Klay
He's playing with an all-time great defender in Draymond.

Lets take this one by one:

- He won 2 rings without KD, KD hasnt won any without him, even on a stacked team, so we see who is the head honcho here.

- Was Klay a great shooter or all time great last year? No. But they still won ring with younger core that was inexperienced. Again, Curry was in the mix

- When Curry was injured and only Draymond was playing, the team sucked, as did Draymond's defense. So Curry is the all time great here, not Draymond who is good, but regardless of how you want to exaggerate him, Draymond could not move the needle one iota by himself. I dont see greatness there. Unless you want to redefine it. In which case find us a GM that will give him max type contract.

So, we see its the Curry effect right? What do you think Curry would have done with McCollum, and even Nurkic. Way more than Lillard ever did. Or you want to argue that too?

steady986:
Like i said, until we see it, we can't judge. Curry has had the luxury of playing alongside all-time great players, Dame hasn't. Nurkic is not Embiid neither is Anfernee Simons Klay Thompson. All these issues you raised about double teaming and playing off ball and what not, they are taken care of to a large extent by playing alongside another great player. Try double teaming Embiid or Jokic with Dame on the court and see how that works out.

Who is the all time great Curry is playing with?

steady986:
You keep bringing up Lillard. Are you saying a paring of Lillard and Embiid for example won't go all the way? Until he requests to be traded or the FO brings someone in (which might never happe), we just have to accept that his chances of success are limited.

No, it wont. Its a game, not a movie. The other team is not in awe asking for autographs.

What do you do when you get double teamed? Can you find the open man? Can play off the ball? Can you read the defensive changes your opponents made at half time to slow you down. Can you give Embiid the ball at the right time so he doesnt get stripped or fronted. Do you even know where he likes the ball? Lillard has played with skilled bigs, and skilled guards, and generally, he tries to win games more on heroics than anything else. Like the run first QB that relies his own speed versus learning to read the play.

Curry is the deadliest shooter, but d guy man works at getting into the paint and finding the open man like his life depends on it. There is a mindset to this thing. Not just pairing big names and thinking the other team will just fold and siddon dey look.

steady986:
Trae has achieved more in his first 4 years than Curry did in hjs first 4 years. What are you now complaining about? Does Trae have an all time great shooter or a top 3 scorer of all time or an all time great defensive player for him to go and win a championship like Curry? The answer is NO

thats the point. he has the skills to become just as good. but he needs more than a good team right now. he still has work to do on himself. before you start asking front office to assemble you a big 3 or whatever, you too must be in that category. He is not there yet, and there is no point psyching him up - he has a lot to still work on to get there. Otherwise, you become like Lillard...dropping 50 pts and getting swept year after year. Like LASTMA

afrodoc2:
Dinwiddie regressed mainly because of his ACL injury. His numbers had already dropped before he moved to Dallas.

I wasnt aware of that injury

steady986:
How can you compare Trae to all-time greats like Curry and KD. Trae will probably never be a no. 1 option. We haven't seen him alongside a great big or wing for us to judge him. And besides, he's an unathletic 6 ft guard and so there's a limit to what he can do on the court. But I like him for just mere controlling an offense and getting others into play. His scoring is just a secondary attribute. But having said that, he'll still give you 25 a night.

He has the skillset to become a great as well. He is further along in his NBA career than Curry was when he started. Curry was never considered a great in his first few years either. Gotta start somewhere

Last day of game for the season. And last day for nairalegue as well. Head to Yahoo fantasy NBA and watch KNIGHTBlaed vs Hohenheim as they duke it out. We have never had a repeat championship, but if Knight wins this, he will be the first.

Honorable mention to Killrhymz, steady986, smooshchn, aliondo, donlitle25, Joephemzyz and Hardetayour. These guys are acrimonious. I be like Luka this year, from #1 seed to not making the playoffs

steady986:
What do you mean exactly? Is Damian Lillard a bust or is he playing below his talent level?

Too one dimensional. That scoring capability does not translate into championship like game. The discipline and defense and x/os that is supposed to come with that unguardability is not there. Compare him to say, Curry, or even the bigger Durant. We know he can get hot. Thats it.

steady986:
Our 3 point spammer will lead the league in total assists for the second year running.

Some really bad habits have been learned. He is playing below his talent level. I fear he becomes another Damian Lillard

Roland17:
BACK OFF JAYLEN BROWN

I feel it in my bones, the young brotha is a rocket next year. Get you some good tex mex, not that flavorless "chicken" they serving you up dia

steady986:
So this is the West standings as of today. The Clippers have 2 games left while the Lakers and Warriors both have one game. The Clippers are in an advantageous situation, in that they can decide who they play in the 1st round. Win both their games and they get the 5th seed and play the Suns. Lose one and they get the 6th seed and play the Kings. The Warriors don't have that luxury because they could fall to the play-in if they tank their last game. My best guess is the Clippers win their next game which is against Portland, and tank their final game against Phoenix.

UPDATE

The Clippers would have to win out their games if they want to finish top 6. This is due to the Pelicans having the tiebreaker over the Clippers. If the Clippers, Lakers and Pels all finish with the same record, the Pels automatically move to 6th because they have the best conference record among the three, even though they don't have the tie breaker over the Lakers. So it would be Pels at 6, Clippers at 7 and Lakers at 8. So it's 5th or 7th for the Clippers.

thanks for this.

nobody wants to face the suns right now, so no one wants #5. Except maybe the warriors

A40:
Dinwiddie regressed? He was hardly an Allstar before coming plus he played pretty well in the Utah series.

Dinwiddie is a solid PG IMO. So long as he focuses on facilitating and doesn't think he's Kobe I would rank him above average. He's been playing pretty well for the Nets.

He was dropping 30+ before the unit was traded for the big 3

A40:
What does this mean? He will get to Mavericks and start playing nonsense

Its happened to everybody else. See the way Dinwiddie regressed. Guy man has not recovered till now

A40:
If the Lakers don't pay Austin Reaves I hope Mark Cuban is watching with his cheque in hand. Those are the kind of guys you surround Luka with

Cuban has a bad eye for talent, so for Reaves sake, I hope he ends up elsewhere. Maybe Utah

Roland17:
Away from Luka and the Mavs, what to are your thoughts about the MVP race? Jokic or Embiid?

cmon, its embiid. they know its embiid, but this title has always been political, and Embiid is refusing to play the game. all this advanced stats nonsense, its Embiiid.