₦airaland Forum

A40 how do you do it? The crazies come looking for you . next thing er san go show up as well

A40:
Which babalawo did Muscala go and visit. This guy was a running joke for a minute now and then cooked the Lakers and can't miss since

He is playing Horford's role. He has always had that stroke, just that Thunder were rebuilding and he didnt get PT. Should be interesting to see what happens to his PT once Horford is healthy.

Nets have to keep their heads up after this loss. They maxed out the 76ers and if they play like this every night, they are in the playoffs conversation for sure

aliondo:
Good to hear from you bro...You know what I've been anticipating for years is finally happening (CP3 playing with K.D) but dunno if it's late for them now cos of their age..

It pains me knowing what could have been. If CP3 had paired with Kobe in Lakerland, both in their prime. As much as I dislike Devin Booker, I will be rooting for Suns this playoffs. I feel like we gon see beast mode KD

Pls post more!

Roland17:
I need to see that first meeting

What is the plan of your Rockets? I mean, which direction are you guys heading?

We waiting on Wemby. Our high draft pick from 2 years ago is disappointing. Jalen's work ethic is subpar, and it looks like coach has lost the locker room. Our GM appears to be clueless as well. So yeah, we practicing how to spell Wembayama

Pat Bev is gone. Nooooooooo. I enjoyed watching him on the Lakers

A40:
They will probably buy him out and he lands with the Heat or somewhere. Who knows? Depending on Porter's injury

A buyout is what Im thinking as well. I would have preferred Lakers, but with DeAngelo Russell on board I dont think they need more guards

John Wall is back!!! After doing podcast trashing all the rookies. He called the rockets BEYOND TRASH like a month ago.

Man, this is going to be awkward



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLjdn1szd0I

so....right now its looking like Mavs-Suns in round 1 playoffs. Oh, I love dis game

donlittle25:
if he no make playoffs, we go take am laugh o.

Me sef I go laugh. They need to at least make playoffs imo

Durant is on this table as well. Must get to the Finals otherwise what would be the point

I thought it would take the whole season to maybe achieve this feat, but we arent even halfway and he is still at the top of his game. Greatness. Goatness!

all this noise making, be decent for once, congratulate the guy and move on

A40:
Grant Hill was basically Lebron without muscles.

Haaaaa!!! . No need to take you seriously after this bwahahaaha ol boy i go dey laugh all day 2day...lebron without muscles

benji93:
birdman, wetin dey do you? I get favorable physique no mean say I go love play in an era when everybody bumps everybody. Getting clobbered repeatedly is serious business. It doesn't favor anybody. Heck no. Do you not understand that while it's fair to argue that some of those bulldozing drives in the 90s would be offensive fouls today, breathing on Lebron could be considered a foul too? You don't get to pick one part and call him special.

Lebron like most bigs do not get calls. They get hacked and fouled often by smaller guards and are expected to take it. Embiid, Jokic also come to mind

Khanben:
The way people hype the 90s is just illogical, is it not the same 90s that Drexler was so dominant in the people erroneously said he was as good as MJ.
The same 90s that Grant Hill without a semblance of a jumper walked right in and was an all-star starter as a rookie.
The same 90s that sir Charles was giving the so called tough league, the business at 6ft5, at PF for that matter
I remember Kyrie's godfather, Strickland, the guy could not shoot to save his life and was as lanky as anything, but dude was still averaging double double on a steady.
Just leave them with their nostalgia that nobody can play in the 90s, na beer parlor talk abeg

Agreed to all this. Case in point, shawn kemp, that power dunker would be near useless in today's league. That league was more physical, but less skilled. And thats why a lot of guys didnt need to develop their shots. And the few who did were special. If Lebron had played in that league, he likely too wouldnt have had to develop more than a fadeaway jumper like Malone or Brand. The players in today's league are specimens. Less physical, but more athletic and waaaay more talented.

Roland17:
And before I forget, Ja needs to slow it down with his friends. I know he is young and wants to keep his friends but he needs to be careful before his friends ruin his career.

I hope he listens to what shannon sharpe has to say on this.

Roland17:
STOP IT!

Because no one plays defense in this era! Would he do it in the previous era? Yes, here and there but it definitely would not be his go to move or as easy as he gets it done now. Credit to Ajala he has evolved since he was drafted. He has improved his FT and not much of liability from the FT line and is a way better 3PT shooter. Making a case for Ajala doesn't translate into making a case for this era.

The term skilled is relative. The guys from that era were just as skilled maybe not as finessed as todays players. For example, the Centers and PF of that era were demonic under the rim with their foot works, movement and finishing. That was a skill you needed to have to succeed as a C/ PF in that era. Today, you have to be able to score 3's, set moving and weak screens and get out of the way of scoring guards. No one plays around Centers in the league anymore. So you see, skilled is relative.

Also, that era was more balanced in offense and defense 1-5. What do I mean? Offense was balanced between guards, forwards and Centers. Teams could beat you scoring on all 3 levels of offense and lock you down from all three levels. The case is not same today. Last year, I was discussing with someone on this thread, can't remember who but we were talking about how the mid-range shot was going extinct. We were praising the last rangers of the midrange like KD, CP3, Booker, Middleton, Kyrie, DeRozan.

On your last 2 points, thats exactly what would make Lebron thrive. The physical game was acceptable then, which would favor Lebron. A PG would never guard Elton Brand or Malone back in the day for example, because the refs will allow Brand to dominate physically. In today's NBA, Curry can guard Lebron and Lebron has to be careful - he cant just power over smalls. Back in the day, Malone is running towards the basket and you try to catch his body? LOL, joke is on you. Today, the big man will get an offensive foul. The game has moved away from bigs. The fact that Lebron can still have this type of success in a league designed for guards is very special. And just about every NBA player past and present recognizes this. This really is something to watch.

Roland17:
Don't forget, the NBA made adjustments to the schedule which means, no NBA plays 4 games in 5 consecutive days.

How about load management? Most star players do not play 3 games if they are occurring in consecutive days. We continue to see fans spend money to purchase tickets in hopes of watching their stars only to be disappointed because they don't suit up.

Finally and the most annoying, this same guys are asking for the league to cut the number of regular season games from 82 to 72!

You are right about all this. But I would argue the old rules would have favored Lebron just as well. Guys like Ewing, Elton Brand, Malone, The forwards of the 90s did really well under those old rules you mentioned. A skilled forward like Lebron would still have dropped 40+ nightly with a PG like Pippen or Stockton, or Mark Jackson.

I was watching Lebron the other night, almost 20 years in the league, dribbling from the top of the key, sidestepping 2 defenders and finishing with a left hand roll. With a PF/C body! I dont care what era, that is beyond special. No way around it.

Roland17:
Absolutely! All the Mavs have to worry about is getting Kyrie on the court, the off the court issues are what they are. I am not sure of a better scoring combination than Kyrie/ Doncic with the game on the line. They will rank top 3 in any list drafted today! Cuban knows he is running out of time with Doncic and at this time, a 1 year rental doesn't hurt anyone.

3 teams have tried to get rid of those off the court issues and failed. At some point, someone will realize the offcourt issues are way bigger than the on court. If you cant fix the former, best to stay away

afrodoc2:
I don't think they complement each other. Luka needs a superstar wing or big that can defend, not another ball dominant guard that can't defend.

Agreed. Luka needs shots to get his rhythm going, in fact he usually misses his first few. That is at odds with Kyrie who also needs the offense to flow through him to get him going.

Yes, in a late game situation having to guard both would be difficult, but playoffs Kyrie is nothing cant be tamed. Even with KD they couldnt do much last year. Granted they had a terrible coach and the team had not gelled, but Kyries one dimensional game does not translate well into playoffs like everyone thinks.

steady986:
Lakers and their drama sha, kai

Man, they made that game vs Pacers look like a playoffs game. Down to the wire. How many of these type of heartbeat games can a lakers fan take

On the other hand, you gotta love Pat Bev that guy makes any team interesting, and he is looking comfortable on the lakers right now. The guy is a perfect mix of ugliness and confidence

steady986:
Which stats? Show me the stats abeg



Who said we're a good team? We're a bad team that needs all the break we can get. But most importantly, this team has the potential to be better than it is now. Don’t forget we were missing AD for 5 weeks. That's almost half the season.

If I find it again, I will post.

I know you know you are a bad team . I jus dey talk my own, because Lebron has this excuse thing he likes to do, when he gets comfortable and everybody is praising him. He does better when the excuses stop and people are hating on him. So Lakers fans should not let him be using refs as excuse abeg. Bro has a down low lazy mode that we dont want activated lol

steady986:
That reaction in the Celtics game was a culmination of all the bad calls he and the Lakers have had this year. This team is not really a great team, and when you add the injuries it's even worse. Despite all that, we've been able to go toe to toe against the best teams in the league only to get undone by the refs. We need these wins for belief and motivation, and of course to improve our record. Like LeBron said after the game, there's no margin for errors at this point. The refs almost cost us yesterday again against a good Knicks team when they called goaltending on a clean block by Hachimura, which was overturned after review. If you've noticed, these close games that are marred by bad decisions have come against title contenders or at least playoff contenders. Philly, Mavs, Celtics, Kings. Recently the Lakers have been beating the teams they're supposed to beat.

I'm happy LeBron reacted that way that day sha, at least the league and everyone is now aware of what is going one. How that affects them going forward is still to be seen.

The stats say the opposite actually. Lakers have gotten more favorable calls than bad. Ill say it again, the easiest way to know if you are a bad team is if ref calls is being blamed for win/loss. Lebron has that whiny thing he likes to do every now and then. Abeg he needs to suck it up, what do you want the other superstars in the league to do? Have you seen how Jokic is reffed? Or Embiid?

steady986:
NBA refs looking for ways to screw the Lakers.

This is not a good sign for the Lakers. If refs are having that much effect on you, it means you are playing in a way that is allowing those calls to change your win to a loss. This is the definition of a bad team. There was home cooking for celtics in that game, but hey, you still lost in OT. Time to stop whining and buckle up! All that emotional energy Lebron spent whining cost Lakers in OT. Whining and winners dont go together. My $2.

Roland17:
Throughout this season I have expressed my frustration with our defense.. TimeLord’s return has not made anything better. We play 0 defense until the last 3 minutes of the 4th to force OT and still lose. This team thinks everyone in the East will lay down for them and give them the path to the finals..

Its difficult to play hard after the emotional rollercoaster of an NBA finals. I wouldnt worry too much about this yet. The serious teams will start shaping up after all star break - you still have to play till May!

steady986:
Even at 38. #LeBronNeedsHelp

I dont understand how he is putting up such numbers. Its not like he is a ball hogger but 40pts on 50% shooting is crazy

A40:
This Golden State Warriors are not a serious team. They keep playing and thinking there is one switch they can hit. Their lack of size is unreal. Made Nic Claxton look like Shaq

What can I say about the Blazers. Who blows a 25pt lead to a team that can't even shoot 3's?? Almost blew the lead in one quarter as well. Just an all round finished team

Gotta give Kyrie and the nets some credit tho

A40:
Social media is a wonderful invention. Daequan from South Carolina and Lil Jimmy from Idaho can argue with a man and question the knowledge of someone that coached in the NBA for 3 decades from the early 80s to the late 2010s

Im afraid Karl is right. I dont know about GOAT status, Ill leave that for folks who dont have jobs. But MJ being a guard would average 45 in today's NBA. Probably have some 100pt games as well.

We got issues in Houston. I was worried about this, that a new coach might not be able to discipline a roster full of rookies with no elder statesman in the locker room to keep folks in line.

John Wall says he told Jalen Green and Kevin Porter Jr: "This sh*t y'all getting away with here (with the #Rockets), if you go to any other teams, you would be out of the ****ing league. You wouldn't play. I'm trying to explain it to them because they think it's sweet." pic.twitter.com/xkckWAcYf5

— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) January 17, 2023

steady986:
The Lakers had a franchise low 2 turnovers tonight

Please, this was against the Rockets, who are trying every possible way to lose and get rid of the coach . The starting 5 shot 50%, even with our notorious spammer Jalen Green, so you guys were not playing defense. And Rockets returned the favor, allowing the old man to shoot 50% from 3

I feel more confident in my conclusion that Lakers are not mentally there yet, they are losing close games not because of AD, but because of they play to the opponents level. And it costs them the game in 4Q when they play the top teams.

steady986:
These narrow losses against supposedly championship teams. It hurts, but it's also encouraging. Leaves me wondering how much better we could be with the full complement of our squad.

Ya know, I was thinking about it as well. Two close losses to very good teams. I dont know if we are making too much of it though.

Speaking of trades, does a myles turner for westbrook trade make this team better in such close games? Hard to tell with the way Russ is playing these days.

Roland17:
The Bengals survive! I understand L. Jackson could have played if he wanted to but is using his injury to hold out because of his contract situation.. I can’t blame him to be honest…

Its his body, his career at the end of the day. these teams have gotten over on a lot of players that dont have the same level of clout.