₦airaland Forum

I know my eyes have been itching me lately but I'm very certain there's no asterisks beside the 2020 ring, neither is there a bracket that says 'bubble ring' Abeg make una help me check am well o

The refs allowing some physicality in this Grizz/T. Wolves game. I love it.

Thanos:
I go to ESPN, those mofos are talking about a lakers team that did not even make the play in. I run to Fs1, still Shannon and skip are yapping about LeBron and the lakers. I scoot over to nairaland. Yet na LeBron and LA matter them still dey drag. Na wa o. When utah and mavs just played a well contested game. Smh.

The combo of LeBron and the Lakers is media orgasm. Can't deny that.

The Mavs clawing their way back late here.

Khanben:
So you are basically stating injuries as an excuse, if that is the case why is the same leeway not given to the Lakers. lebron lost the later half of his first year and at least 1/3 of his 4th year because of injury, AD has also been injured for both his 2nd and 3rd year season with the Lakers.
So I reiterate, if the injury excuse is valid for both the Clippers and the Nets, why is the same not valid for the Lakers. At least the Lakers duo have a banner a show for all the investments, why is the same level of scrutiny not leveled on the Clippers and Nets franchise players. Remember, in both teams, these top guys also demanded their teams trade for specific players too.

PS: The Lakers have been healthy for 2 seasons since Lebron got there, and In those years they won 1 and lost in the 1st round of the playoffs in the other year

Would you even count the 1st round exit year as healthy? When AD got hurt and LeBron was literally limping.

Khanben:
I have a question, a lot of people keep talking about how the Lakers project with Lebron has been a failure. What with just 1 championship in 4 years. My question is, why is there not the same hang on about the Clippers project with Kwahi and PG13, or the Nets with KD and Kyrie, by my count both these projects are in year 3 and counting and the payout has been 2nd round exits so far. Why is there not the same aggro over the Clippers and Nets breaking up their younger core for already proven stars, but there seems to be an obsession to show that the Lakers and Lebron project has been an abject failure.

Who's even saying the LeBron project has been a failure? Where dem dey? Is it easy to win a championship? How many championships were they expecting him to win? There are 30 teams in this league, and each year at least 10 of them have some kind of shot to win it. They're not even considering the role injuries played in that 4 year run as well as the age of LeBron. He went there towards the twilight of his career and managed to win a championship. And somehow it was a failure. Lol. Again, different standards for LeBron.

Someone rightly pointed out that Kawhi did not play this season due to injuries, also that he got injured in the second round last playoffs. He also mentioned PG's injury. But injury to AD against the Suns don't count. Injury to AD for half this season doesn't count as well. Injuries to LeBron at various points of his Lakers career don't count. . Lmao. These people judge LeBron by a different standard and they don't even know it

KNIGHTBlaed:
I think na for around 5th pick someone pick LeBron, cos him been tay before Buddha pick am. That move turned out to be the pick of the season, cos baba was on fire. I don get my team down already for next season.

Lmao. E no go work. We go disrupt am.

KNIGHTBlaed:
Lol, na 2 early picks just waste. Last year I missed draft, them give me AD, Mitchell Robinson and Kawhi for early picks fa. Kawhi still better, but any back to back game, na minus 1 player for me same with AD. I just vex drop AD from my team
Na to make sure not to miss the draft, next year them go add like 2 surprise picks for top 20 again. E shock me when Steady pick J.Tatum as him number 1 pick (Tatum did well this season tho).

I missed the first 2 rounds. Tatum turned out to be a stud but PG, I no sabi wetin do that em elbow wey make am miss over half the season. Na LeBron I for pick sef

donlittle25:
Them give me Denver Porter and Anthony Davis. Season pafuka straight from the beginning.

Lol. AD suppose dey go around that kind 6th round.

KNIGHTBlaed:
Na vex I take play Killrhymz. Although with a bit of luck.
Even steady too, I just knew his weakness, I knew he would be picking guys to complete his roaster for every game day .
Although, this my championship get comma like Lakers own. I hope next season the injury no go worse like this season. I'd prefer to win when everyone has a fit team. I know say if no be injury, you and Smooch for shake us. Injury do una strong thing, I saw when you kuku gave up when go no go.
I still remember draft day when you say you wan pick Poz, hoping he'd do well I just dey laugh cos I know say Poz and AD na birds of a feather, very unreliable with Kawhi too (that one no kuku play this season) .
I hope more guys join up next season so we have a deeper league. Steady just proved that new comer no dey for fantasy, as long as you know the sport very well, you're good to go.
Special shout out to DonLittle and Buddha Skillz, them teams dey scary AF
And shout out to the bonus teams in our league Sodiq and Emmanuel, una too much. Sodiq has a solid team with all the star players on the bench all season.
Sylvanus wey like PGs, I don't know what happened this season, you been dey hot last season.

This is not my victory speech o. That one dey come later

That Killrhymz team looked unbeatable at full health. Your own too. E be like say una use jazz cover our eyes during draft. One thing I know now is be available on draft day, if not your entire season is fu*ked. We go again next year.

KNIGHTBlaed:
Na we assemble team for una? Sheybe when una dey gather experience, una think say una go laugh last.

Lol. I blame leGM for that

I just watch on TV that the Lakers were the only team in the league without a 5 man lineup that played up to 100 minutes. Damn. Apart from having the most number of starting 5, we couldn't even get 5 guys to play 100 minutes together?

birdman:
Special shoutout to steady986. I was worried for a minute that I had invited an untamable monster into the league. The way e dey para

Why dem put me for 4th na? No be draw me and Buddha draw? I suppose be T3

birdman:
Congrats to the new and reigning nairaleague champ! Very well deserved, I could not believe how you demolished Killrhymz. Scarily technical.

Props to killrhymz tho. He killed it all season, I was sure he was going to repeat as champ. I know he is already blaming me for blocking the Lillard-Fox trade

Lol. Killrhymz the regular season champ.

Khanben:
I am currently watching a bunch of the sets that the 2014 Spurs ran, and with due respect to anyone's basketball knowledge. I do not for the life of me know how handchecking would have impacted that team, with all their ball movements, swings, cutting and screens.
Another thing, has anyone noticed the amount of staggered screens that as now become a standard fair of most of the very good offenses.

The one Denver did to my team a few days ago. I just felt weak on my bed. How do you even guard such a play? Jokic had the ball on top of the key and Barton came to set a screen for him. As Barton was rolling away to the 3pt line Jokic set a screen for him. The result was an open 3. Golden State also does so many variation of that set to perfection. Guy, the tactical plays of this era is just unmatched. Coaches and players have a more indepth knowledge of the game.

And the truth is that hand checking still exists till this day. There are just a few players who take advantage of the rule. Harden comes to mind. Trae Young as well. We see menacing defenders like Pat Bev constantly placing their hands on their opponents to impede them. Avery Bradley, Jrue Holiday, to name a few. Hand checking is still very much alive, most especially in the paint where the ref ignores it most often.

Khanben:
Hand checking as I know it, is when a defender puts his palm on the hip area, or back of the offensive player and uses it, as an extra for want of a better word sensory guide to help predict where the offensive player would go with the ball. The very best even could use it to gradually move an offensive player to where they want the player to go.
Touching a player facing you up has always being a foul as far as I know. Yes you can try stealing the ball or disrupting their handle, but you cannot touch a player who has a dribble and is facing you up.
So,How do you hand check someone facing you? which part of their body can you touch? is it the arms, chest or shoulders? Touching any of the above has always being a foul.

They'll do anything to propel MJ as the GOAT. The hand checking rule has been in constant modification since the 90s. This one right here is a modification that was made prior to the 94 season.

birdman:
I dont disagree with anything you said. Just saying LBJ did not handle this situation with the appropriate level of tact. If we are talking technical reasons for Lakers failure, here are my top 3:

Injuries: Im not just talking about AD. Im looking more at Kendrick Nunn. This was the sleeper trade that I knew the team needed. Young legs, can get his own shot and would have greatly complemented Lebron even when AD was not playing. Btw I hear he is opting in to return to the Lakers next year, so this is some good news.

Westbrick: From jump, I knew this would be a minus. People (including you!) kept looking at his stats, and ignoring how it weakens every one else's game and destroys offensive sets. Magic is saying they are keeping him for next season. I hope not, because this guy is a camouflaged locker room cancer.

No Fizdale effect: Getting Fizdale as an assistant coach was another sleeper move I was sure would take Lakers to the Finals. But I saw none of his trademark defense being implemented this season. If Vogel leaves, I would hope they let Fizdale run things for a season. This will put Westbrick in the doghouse btw, because their bball philosophies will not mesh.

I honestly think Vogel should go. I think a lot of our failure was down to him. I know the personnel we had was not good enough for us to play the kind of defense we wanted but damn, some of his schemes were atrocious.

And our free throw shooting was abysmal to say the least.

DeeMain:
I will say he deserves at least half of the tonnes of criticism so far. If what Magic Johnson said is true that Demar Derozan was about coming to Lakers until Lebron started talking with Russ, and I'm sure Lakers top echelon must have asked him to leak that to the press, then Lebron should take more responsibility for how everything panned out, in his utterances, in his comportment.

Lebron, AD, Pelinka and Buss should share the blame for how the season turned out. Period.

Does it detract from his greatness? No. It just shows he has weaknesses like all the rest.

Sad no one in that organization had the cojones to stop him from blocking his own success and the team's.

If that's the blame we want to apportion to LeBron, I'm cool with it. Rather than all these extremes I'm seeing in the media. But in hindsight, it's easy to say that he should have gone for DeRozan instead of Russ. Who knew DeRozan was capable of producing the kind of performance he produced this season? We all thought he was on the decline. Russ on the other hand was instrumental in the Wizards' run to the playoffs. The plan was to be able to afford LeBron a lot of rest and let Russ and AD bear the brunt of the season. But AD's injuries happened. And Russ became the scapegoat of the team. And so he tried to be who he isn't. There were games where he had 2-3 assists. That is not Russ. We wanted him to be the 11 assists per game Russ. I don't care about the turnovers. That is who he has been his entire career.

But by and large, it all boils down to injuries. AD and Bron barely played 20 games together this season. And the big 3 played just about that same amount. Of course it wouldn't work that way.

[quote author=birdman post=111762320]This is a wack@ss take. You played seven games and got beat 4 times. Wether it was played in the bubble or the moon, those were the champs that year. It is not our fault you couldnt visit your favorite strip club to destress because of covid. Your indiscipline cost you a ring, take the L like that.[/quote]People are still crying about our "Disney" ring? Let them keep crying, I want to bathe with their tears

birdman:
The biggest blame goes to Lebron himself. See, when you talk too much, you better back it up. That is why even Steve Kerr was throwing shade openly. I have been following Lebron for a minute, and he tends to do badly when people are heaping praises on him. He needs this dose of humility, after all this foolish goat talk.

No GOAT refers to themselves as GOAT. It is a conferred title, it is not you that will use your hand and take it. I hope people keep throwing shade all off-season. It will get so hot all the sycophants will leave and we can get a grounded Lebron next year.

Lol. In other words you're saying the blame should go to LeBron because he talked too much. Perhaps he would receive less blame if he didn't talk too much. LeBron is LeBron, what he said is irrelevant. Everything should be analysed from a basketball point of view. When you pay three people over 80% of the team's salary, you know the rest of the team would be trash. The only scenario where this team would have functioned properly is if the three of them were healthy and playing. As fas as I'm concerned LeBron has an excuse. And people should realise this isn't 2016. This is 2022. LeBron is 37 years old and in his 19th season. We've seen LeBron carry worse teams to the playoffs before. The receipts are there. Everybody knows it. But that was in his physical prime. He played 56 games this season, not because of choice but because of injuries here and there. I dare say that if AD was playing and the team was doing OK, LeBron would have sat out more games. I don't get how people cannot understand that the end is near for LeBron.

Don't be surprised that during the off season, people like Stephen A would tip LeBron as the player with the most to prove going into the new season. A 38 year old man in his 20th season would have the most to prove going into the season. I'll be here to remind you when that happens. Bros, the real analysts out there are blaming everything but LeBron. The only thing they blame LeBron for is putting the team together. It's the Jordan fanboys that are blaming LeBron because of their insecurity.

*PS, if you watched NBA countdown a couple of days back, the same Stephen A had an entirely different view about the Lakers' failure this season. That man just loves to have notorious takes on his own show.

Stephen A saying the GOAT conversation is officially over because of what transpired this season is the most laughable thing ever . It just shows you how LeBron is held to a different standard from everybody who ever played the game of basketball. A 37-year old man in his 19th season who was on and off because of injuries, who was also missing his sidekick for more than half the season. Lmao. Where was MJ in his 19th season? That's right. He was eating cheese cakes and getting fat on his couch. Like I don't get. The same standard LeBron was held to at 27 is still the standard he's held to at 37. I know he's superhuman but come on

birdman:
You did well bro. The last 2 seasons have been rough, almost unplayable due to covid injuries. Im hoping next year things go back to normal. If you like, pick Ben Simmons again

Lmao. Baba just build estate for your IL

birdman:
Nairaleague semifinals ending tonite. I had high hopes for steady986 and smooshchn Donlittle25 how far lol

Follow here

Lol. My guys let me down when it mattered the most. Anyhow sha, dem try. I never expected to be there.

So the Suns really don't want to see the Lakers in the playoffs Even as we bad reach. They rested Book, Ayton and Crowder against OKC and now they're going to deploy all of them against the sorry Lakers to extinguish any chance of us making the play-in and thus 8th place.

steady986:
What a game in Brooklyn. Giannis is special.

No Middleton, no problem. Bucks with the dub. Giannis with the clutch 3 to send it to overtime and the clutch free throws to win it.

Apart from the iso ball Brooklyn can't really play any other way. And teams like the Bucks want you to play that iso ball. They have very good one on one defenders that will make you sweat for every point and wear you down in the process. I would love to see this matchup again in the playoffs sha, na very good watch.

What a game in Brooklyn. Giannis is special.

The NBA has said that both Embiid and Jokic would be designated as both Center and Forward for All-NBA selections. Lol anything to knock LeBron out of that first team. This prejudice is too much o, God epp

birdman:
I havent watched enough of his games to see how he plays. He does seem to be more serious post his mom's covid death. Before this, KAT was a chronic underachiever

Lol. You're only noticing him now because his team is good. That's it. In this league no one gives a hoot about you if your team is bad, and that's sad. I for one have always maintained that KAT is a top 5 big man in this league.

Congratulations to the KING on passing Malone to score the second most regular season points in history. Now let's stat-pad our way to number 1.

In a category all by himself

GOATs don't let GOATs leave when it's not time yet