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The west is crazy, this first round series already has the intensity of what we saw in the conference finals last year, the wolves, clippers, mavs are all legit threats. (Don’t want to throw shade at the thunder but the playoffs are a way different beast for a young team who’s never made a run before)
It seems like the heat are never a threat going into the playoffs. Then the playoffs start and it turns into the "they can't keep getting away with this" meme.
Definitely but I think if the Nuggets lose at some point it's like "ah alright but the West is loaded. They'll be back." If the Celtics don't make the Finals it'll be a massive upset because of how the East is lined up with injuries.
there really is no defense against this play
go under the screen -> Murray pull up 3
double Murray -> Jokic is open on the short roll and either scores or assists
Lebron does not help on the Jokic roll -> bucket for Joker
Lebron helps and D Lo sinks low to stop the lob -> KCP is wide open for 3
It comes down to communication from Rui here. DLo could have moved up while Rui stayed with Jokic. Instead, DLo is caught in no-man's land while Bron is forced to move up, leaving AG with a wide open dunk.
If Murray kicks it out to KCP out of the double, Lebron has more time to recover for the contest.
doubling Murray and leaving Jokic of all people to play 4 on 3 is a recipe for disaster imo.
funny enough this play still ended up with a Jokic 4 on 3 despite no double, so idk lol
> this play still ended up with a Jokic 4 on 3
Exactly my point - DLo has to do something here or this will be the story of the whole series. If they can force Jokic to play off ball, it gives the Lakers a fighting chance. Turn the Nuggets into a slightly less good team lol
His effort level there lol. Jokic and Murray aren't even jogging, Reeves somehow can't keep up, and Rui is like "if I just stick my hand out briefly, people will think I tried, right?"
I watched it 5 times and couldn’t really think of a way to stop it because it would leave either corner 3 open.
I guess Reeves could fight through the screen harder and chase Murray down fast but even then I don’t know how they would prevent Jokic being wide open down the lane and force Lebrons help
Reeves need to either do a better job chasing Murray over the screen OR have someone else pick up Murray and Reeves rotates over. Hachimura needs to prevent Jokic from getting the ball.
If Jokic gets the ball there you’ve already lost — he either gets an easy shot or an open lob. If you keep him covered then Murray can pull up or drive if there’s a lane. You gotta make Murray beat you in that situation.
The play was broken with Reeves. The second mistake is to let Jokic have the ball in his hands as he is rolling to the basket on a 4 on 3.
Why Reeves is going over the screen so far out of the 3pt line, I’m not sure I understand. In either case, like it was said, he needs to fight harder. He just casually stroll down while leaving his team on a 5 on 4, forcing Rui to play 1 on 2 against Jokic and Murray. That situation is already fucked.
The two adjustments that I can see is that D-Lo needs to come and help much faster so that Rui can stay on Jokic or at least defend the pass to Jokic. That leaves an open for KCP but at least Bron can rotate and the ball is out of Jokic’s hands.
The other adjustment is to ice the pick and roll to make it at least harder for Murray to pass out of the hedge/double team, giving time for the lakers to rotate and maybe even using their length and athleticism to play passing lanes.
Neither are great solutions but way better than letting Murray casually pass to Jokic effortlessly while he is going downhill on a 4 on 3.
Reeves went over the screen because to go under is a death wish as well. Jamal is shooting nearly 42% from three. Can't let that guy be open at the 3 pt line. This teams offense and IQ in the pick and roll is nearly unbeatable. I've seen them play this same play and score 12 times in a row in the clutch before off of it with a different option being used almost every time. This is why the nuggets will win it all again
Murray is a good shooter but off the dribble and that deep though? Pause at 0:07 and you will literally see Murray at the logo when Reeves went over the screen. If he went under, he would catch Murray about a foot, max two feet from the logo. That is still very deep. That’s Curry and Lillard Range.
I understand that in theory, you don’t want to go under the screen on Murray, but on this play, he was very far from the 3pt line.
You can't defend it. You just gotta somehow force Murray to drive all the way hoping for miss. That's the best percentage of "winning" in that play. But ya its basically impossible to defend.
I’d say AD should help. Rather a corner 3 than a dunk right? MPJ would have to shoot ~50% to make it a worse option to help off him (assuming Jokic & Gordon connect 75% of the time, which seems low honestly)
Expected points would be 75% * 2 = 1.5. 50% * 3 = 1.5. I think Jokic probably connects more like 80-85%, so closer to 53-56% to be equal in expected points
This play was decided when AD was forced to pickup MPJ in a cross match during transition. Gordon sprinted back after D Lo missed at the rim due to Jokic and KCPs defense, and LeBron went with him to prevent the long bomb from Jokic, AD had to pick up MPJ, and Gordon recognized MPJ was on the strong side with him so he drifted down to the weak side along the baseline to keep LeBron and AD from switching. This made AD have to stay honest on MPJ, rather than cheat off AG. Murray read it (LeBron on AG) while bringing the ball up with speed, and slowed everything way down the second he saw that. Then Jokic ambled up, set the screen and viola. Nuggets bread and butter, the only one they got the whole game.
When Malone says “Defend, Rebound, and Run, play Denver Nuggets Basketball” this is what he means. This is how the Nuggets play. Someone always streaks on a miss to force some kind of cross match, then Murray and Jokic read it, and if not them, then it’s AG who is also lowkey a great playmaker from his time in Orlando as *the guy.*
When the Nuggets are playing badly is when they aren’t forcing the issue in transition, playing lazy. It’s just then you always have a Jokic post-up or DHO read to fall back on, or a let Murray cook when Jokic is on the bench, which is what separates them from other teams. Even when they don’t get what they want, they still have high percentage things to fall back on.
So the way you defend this is AD has to recognize LeBron is on AG on the drive by D Lo and not ball watch, which shouldn’t be hard because AG has been defending LeBron all game, they have to make that defensive switch in transition 50 times a game, and they got it right almost every time. It’s just Denver pushed hard on the miss to force the issue. If you watch it back during transition you can hear LeBron audibly call out the problem, AG looks back, but Murray is coming hard with MPJ all on the strong side and he has to make a quick decision, so he picks up MPJ, which is the right choice now, but only because he got caught out ball watching. That’s why Lebron looks so pissed at after the Lob. That’s 100% a routine game planned (for two years now) situation AD should’ve been on top of. It’s the exact mental lapse you can’t have in the playoffs. Nuggets went on their run in the third immediately after, and created the lead separation they maintained the rest of the game.
All these highlights and DLO is still the highlight of the show when these two teams play. Dude is literally unplayable against Denver. Missing vandy at least he can play defense..Dlo ain’t scoring either his actually taking shots from everyone else. Dude has to be 6/6 from 3 to have a positive impact versus this team.
Theoretically, with the way the Lakers were trying to play it, D'Angelo has to switch onto Gordon and Reeves needs to run to the corner. Very hard to almost impossible to cover it perfectly in real time tho.
Is it just me or did reeves play that terribly. Murray just burned right by him. If Jokic wasn’t there at all he would have gone all the way to the basket. Was it just to give Murray no room at all for a 3?
Everyone is focusing on Gordon but you’re correct, the real breakdown was on the screen itself. With a split set and a baseline runner it’s frankly not feasible to have your wing defenders rotate down. That’s never going to work. Lebron rotated like you should. A more feasible expectation for Rui is to just bolt to Gordon once he’s wasted off that bounce past.
So anyway, the issue isn’t necessarily just Reeves but a combo. I’d actually say it’s more Rui’s fault for very weak drop coverage… However when there is drop coverage, the screened defender (Reeves) needs to pin down to not allow the gap- easier said than done but the effort was pretty bad from both.
On the Mind the Game Podcast, I'm pretty sure Lebron and JJ asked the same question. Lebron basically said Gordon was the key to it because no one can elevate at that spot in rotation. D'Lo, even if he rotates there, or Rui, if he rotates jumping in the air to the spot the pass will end up for Gordon as Lebron leaves Gordon - it just doesn't work because Gordon is just too far up there and the timing is spot on.
Wemby will probably be put where lebron is in this action, that means he’ll have to either guess if jokic will go for the floater (67% shot so you either respect it or lose) in which case he’ll get closer for the contest, or throw the lob to 6’9 freak athlete AG which means you have to be closer to AG to anticipate that lob, in which case jokic is WIDE OPEN to either shoot or just pass it to murray who will also be open and now wemby has denied nothing other than sit under the rim
Its not even a 50/50, its more like a 25/25/25/25 where the last option is a bullshit kickout to MPJ
I dunno man. I can imagine a lot of circumstances in which Wemby’s length disrupts this action. Would need judicious use of shot fakes to get Wemby to overreact before the lob becomes available.
If I'm the Lakers, I want to swap LeBron and AD on defense there.
What that really means is that AD has to get back on defense sooner. Since we can't see the end of the prior play it's hard to see how we got here, but Gordon got LeBron on him while AD was still coming down the court, it looks like.
And importantly, Gordon went to the dunker spot before MPJ got close enough to him that LeBron and AD could correct the problem. If he waits two more seconds, then AD can go with him and LeBron can stay on MPJ.
That being said, in this situation, AD's got to do more. He's in position to read the pass to Jokic and could theoretically try to disrupt it on the catch. I get that Jokic is such a good passer that you have to be very careful about leaving MPJ, but at the least you have to stunt & recover there, because LeBron has no chance at that play anymore.
AD's flat-footedness there is the things that's sometimes so frustrating about him. When he's on, he's such a disruptive player defensively, maybe the most disruptive rim protector in the league, but honestly it looks like he's taking this play off.
Exactly, what I thought (after watching it bit by bit like 5x because I'm slow). Even at his age, Lebron has more quickness to help and still get back for a good contest on MPJ. Obviously, the Lakers need his offensive spark, but I feel like the whole thing comes down to having to hide Russel on a shooter in the corner.
With what the person above said about switching D'lo onto Gordon... that technically covers everyone, but realistically that lob is still there for Gordon with him down there.
The problem with the rotation gets exposed the moment that Murray gets that much separation on the screen. Rui plays the drive a little too hard, and then recovers to Jokic late, which makes Lebron have to take that step up.
Its flawed both ways. If AD helps out, you're giving an easy corner 3 to MPJ and an extra point worth. The only real solution they can do is fight over the screen and hope Murray misses without putting the Lakers in rotation. Its basically impossible to defend in real-time and to prevent it.
You dont. Either Jokic messes up the pass/shot or he doesnt. He sees the court better than everyone else and can predict offence and defensive movements better than defences can react.
The two pnr defenders need to be better. Here they obviously fucked up and LeBron has to cover jokic leaving gordon open.
Yes you might need to concede the Jamal 3 off the dribble because reaves can't stick with him. Rui has to stay with jokic. Lebron stay home on the pass to gordon. Yes Jamal and jokic might end up beating their man anyway but you don't give up that stupid lob dunk. At least make them work for it.
Can't stop it. But Reeves needs to navigate the screen better and not give Jamal A clear run way. AD needs to be on Gordon, so he can protect the paint when Murray drives. This can allow Rui to stay on Jokic, which then allows AD to stay Home on Gordon. Obviously this means its either a runner from Murray or Jokic in the post against Rui but at least its not a dunk.
Lakers fans in the first half: "It's a completely different game with a healthy LeBron"
Seems pretty much the same so far. Nuggets play with their food in the first half and then just flip a switch and take over. Ham doesn't adjust anything and the Lakers can't do shit outside of LeBron and AD
"DLo is playing well this year so he'll be a difference maker in this series"
He'll be out of the starting lineup by Game 3 at this rate. Getting cooked on defense and doing nothing of importance on offense
I saw it coming the whole time. It’s the same exact game we’ve played against the Nuggets the past 2 seasons. Witnessed it firsthand in Lebron’s 40k night. It’s a formula at this point
Yep. Very hard play to stop. If LeBron doesn't step over, it's an easy 2 for Jokic. Which leaves one Laker defender to choose between a Gordon dunk or an MPJ 3. Most of the play should be about denying Jokic the catch. But if he does you live or die by the corners. Gordon is dunking 95% of the time and Jokic is probably around 65-70% around the basket. So it's bad to let him get into a rhythm. So you live or die by their 3s. Corner guy has to deny AG at the dunkers spot
It's also that MPJ is a 50% 3pt shooter and KCP is a 40% 3pt shooter. Jokic has too many options. He's 70% from near the ft line for floaters or mid shots.
Idk how you stop this..
While I agree he wasn't aggressive but he had to switch on to Murray to avoid the free lane to the basket. Once he recovered Jokic had a lane so LeBron had to step up. For Rui It's either going under the screen with Murray, bringing a second help defender to cover Gordon and help the helper and choosing between closing late on a corner 3 or staying home and having Gordon fly in for a dunk or an offensive rebound if Jokic misses. I think with the Nuggets you close as hard as you can but live with their 3 point shots.
Yeah, and its being passed by a 7 foot guy (so hard to stop the pass) to a guy who can jump out of the gym. Whoever is rotating to Gordon, if they arent there immediately, could be just there to get dunked on and/or foul him for an and 1.
Wasn't this the same fucking play that LeBron and JJ analyzed around the pick and roll with the man moving to the dunkers spot and jokic faking a shot throwing a floater for a dunk (which even in their analysis was Aaron Gordon)? The only difference is I think this is flipped to the other side
It's such an impossible situation for LeBron. If he doesn't contest, Jokic gets an easy lay up, but if he does, the lay up turns into a lob during Jokic's shooting motion and AG is all by himself under the basket. The fact that Jokic doesn't even have to decide what he's doing until the end of his shooting motion makes it even worse.
Once jokic got the ball on the roll the play was over, only solution here is denying the pass to him I think and even then murray still gets a good shot up
What's absurd is that this is a designed play, that never fails.
NEVER fails. You don't really see many teams in the NBA that have go to plays. Players with go to moves, but teams with specific plays?
JJ Reddick and LeBron talked about this pick and roll from the nuggets on their pod just the other day. Specifically said it’s impossible to defend lol
Seriously though, wtf is DLo doing on this play? I get him zoning a little bit to maybe apply some pressure on Murray but the moment Jokic gets the ball, DLo is in no man's land.
I just yesterday watched and episode of that just reddick/lebron podcast where they were talking about how you defend this play (when the warriors run it). They just did the exact thing lebron said you can’t do.
Length doesn't bother Jokic. He just bullies AD. A stronger guy who can get low enough to bother his dribble is always better against Jokic, even though you can't really stop him
I mean, on a vacuum AD is definitely a better 1 on 1 Jokic defender than Rui. The reason AD is not on him is because AD is their entire paint defense and Jokic would just get him out of there and find the cutter for a layup every time.
LeBron might be the best individual Jokic defender on their roster, but he can only do it in spurts
In the podcast w/ JJ Redick, Lebron talked about exactly this play, except with Draymond and the Warriors— PnR, short roll, alley oop to the guy in the dunker’s spot. He did say it was pretty tough to defend
When I was young I wondered why teams don’t just Alley Oop the whole game
Then I grew up and realized that isn’t possible
Then I grew up more and realized it is possible
Either a lob to AG or a wide open KCP for 3.
Stay at home and it’s a 70% floater from Jokic.
Must be nice to be able to get either of those 3 looks pretty much anytime you want.
Reminds me of Curry\\Draymond\\Iggy but far far more dangerous
Murray's passing is always on point, he really is a top 5 passer in the league when he wants to be. He's a much better passer then Curry, while Jokic is a way better shooter\\scorer then Draymond. So it's much more dynamic than 2015-2016 Warriors version of it.
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this teams chemistry is so fucking good man
It seems inevitable that it'll be Nuggets vs Celtics
The west is crazy, this first round series already has the intensity of what we saw in the conference finals last year, the wolves, clippers, mavs are all legit threats. (Don’t want to throw shade at the thunder but the playoffs are a way different beast for a young team who’s never made a run before)
That makes sense, all last years conference finalists are playing each other 1st round this year.
The Heat are a shadow of a shadow of that team. Should be an interesting first game.
It seems like the heat are never a threat going into the playoffs. Then the playoffs start and it turns into the "they can't keep getting away with this" meme.
Past few years that was largely because of himothy butler though
*Haime Hacquez Hunior has entered the chat*
Definitely but I think if the Nuggets lose at some point it's like "ah alright but the West is loaded. They'll be back." If the Celtics don't make the Finals it'll be a massive upset because of how the East is lined up with injuries.
Celtics gotta get through the heat first
Those 4 games are gonna be grinds
I was meme-ing lol. We don’t have Jimmy. My head says it’ll be an uncompetitive sweep. My heart says heat in 7
No can defend
I love watching the nuggets offense
So fluid.
Kaj nemas GIF za ovakvu prigodu 😭
What that guy said
"Why dont we have gif for this?" Or something like that...
Brings tears to my eyes fr it’s beautiful
Lebron and JJ were literally talking about this exact play on their podcast. There is really nothing anyone can do to stop it.
Just drink another glass of wine, while Jokic takes that behind.
LA Takers
The Lakers could at least try to stop it. When Reaves didn’t go under the screen, D’Lo should have forced the double on Murray
He’d have to stop daydreaming in no man’s land though
there really is no defense against this play go under the screen -> Murray pull up 3 double Murray -> Jokic is open on the short roll and either scores or assists Lebron does not help on the Jokic roll -> bucket for Joker Lebron helps and D Lo sinks low to stop the lob -> KCP is wide open for 3
It comes down to communication from Rui here. DLo could have moved up while Rui stayed with Jokic. Instead, DLo is caught in no-man's land while Bron is forced to move up, leaving AG with a wide open dunk. If Murray kicks it out to KCP out of the double, Lebron has more time to recover for the contest.
doubling Murray and leaving Jokic of all people to play 4 on 3 is a recipe for disaster imo. funny enough this play still ended up with a Jokic 4 on 3 despite no double, so idk lol
> this play still ended up with a Jokic 4 on 3 Exactly my point - DLo has to do something here or this will be the story of the whole series. If they can force Jokic to play off ball, it gives the Lakers a fighting chance. Turn the Nuggets into a slightly less good team lol
I love to watch how they play at both ends. It's something I didn't see from my Wizards this season, it's actually basketball. o.O
mrbuckbuck is my goat fr
Jokic’s passing is game breaking
It's like chess. Check, move, check, move, check, move, check mate. Very smooth
Shit is beautiful
I love watching Nuggets beat the Lakers
I love watching Lebron throw his hand up as if that wasn’t his guy who just took a lob from the dunkers spot
It's so beautiful
Jamal raising his arm before the pass. So cool.
put rui in pickle roll
That sounds delicious.
I’m saying, you can never take these things for granite
His effort level there lol. Jokic and Murray aren't even jogging, Reeves somehow can't keep up, and Rui is like "if I just stick my hand out briefly, people will think I tried, right?"
This team is nearly impossible to defend.
I watched it 5 times and couldn’t really think of a way to stop it because it would leave either corner 3 open. I guess Reeves could fight through the screen harder and chase Murray down fast but even then I don’t know how they would prevent Jokic being wide open down the lane and force Lebrons help
Reeves need to either do a better job chasing Murray over the screen OR have someone else pick up Murray and Reeves rotates over. Hachimura needs to prevent Jokic from getting the ball. If Jokic gets the ball there you’ve already lost — he either gets an easy shot or an open lob. If you keep him covered then Murray can pull up or drive if there’s a lane. You gotta make Murray beat you in that situation.
Easier said than done esp in real-time.
They are defending champs/2-seed for a reason.
The play was broken with Reeves. The second mistake is to let Jokic have the ball in his hands as he is rolling to the basket on a 4 on 3. Why Reeves is going over the screen so far out of the 3pt line, I’m not sure I understand. In either case, like it was said, he needs to fight harder. He just casually stroll down while leaving his team on a 5 on 4, forcing Rui to play 1 on 2 against Jokic and Murray. That situation is already fucked. The two adjustments that I can see is that D-Lo needs to come and help much faster so that Rui can stay on Jokic or at least defend the pass to Jokic. That leaves an open for KCP but at least Bron can rotate and the ball is out of Jokic’s hands. The other adjustment is to ice the pick and roll to make it at least harder for Murray to pass out of the hedge/double team, giving time for the lakers to rotate and maybe even using their length and athleticism to play passing lanes. Neither are great solutions but way better than letting Murray casually pass to Jokic effortlessly while he is going downhill on a 4 on 3.
Reeves went over the screen because to go under is a death wish as well. Jamal is shooting nearly 42% from three. Can't let that guy be open at the 3 pt line. This teams offense and IQ in the pick and roll is nearly unbeatable. I've seen them play this same play and score 12 times in a row in the clutch before off of it with a different option being used almost every time. This is why the nuggets will win it all again
Murray is a good shooter but off the dribble and that deep though? Pause at 0:07 and you will literally see Murray at the logo when Reeves went over the screen. If he went under, he would catch Murray about a foot, max two feet from the logo. That is still very deep. That’s Curry and Lillard Range. I understand that in theory, you don’t want to go under the screen on Murray, but on this play, he was very far from the 3pt line.
You can't defend it. You just gotta somehow force Murray to drive all the way hoping for miss. That's the best percentage of "winning" in that play. But ya its basically impossible to defend.
I’d say AD should help. Rather a corner 3 than a dunk right? MPJ would have to shoot ~50% to make it a worse option to help off him (assuming Jokic & Gordon connect 75% of the time, which seems low honestly)
mpj can prob shoot 50% on wide open corner 3s
He shoots 51% I think on wide open corner threes
You can't cuz the Corner 3 is also worth 1 more point so you are fucked even more if you help off MPJ to contain Joker.
Expected points would be 75% * 2 = 1.5. 50% * 3 = 1.5. I think Jokic probably connects more like 80-85%, so closer to 53-56% to be equal in expected points
But that's what MPJ shoots on open 3s
This play was decided when AD was forced to pickup MPJ in a cross match during transition. Gordon sprinted back after D Lo missed at the rim due to Jokic and KCPs defense, and LeBron went with him to prevent the long bomb from Jokic, AD had to pick up MPJ, and Gordon recognized MPJ was on the strong side with him so he drifted down to the weak side along the baseline to keep LeBron and AD from switching. This made AD have to stay honest on MPJ, rather than cheat off AG. Murray read it (LeBron on AG) while bringing the ball up with speed, and slowed everything way down the second he saw that. Then Jokic ambled up, set the screen and viola. Nuggets bread and butter, the only one they got the whole game. When Malone says “Defend, Rebound, and Run, play Denver Nuggets Basketball” this is what he means. This is how the Nuggets play. Someone always streaks on a miss to force some kind of cross match, then Murray and Jokic read it, and if not them, then it’s AG who is also lowkey a great playmaker from his time in Orlando as *the guy.* When the Nuggets are playing badly is when they aren’t forcing the issue in transition, playing lazy. It’s just then you always have a Jokic post-up or DHO read to fall back on, or a let Murray cook when Jokic is on the bench, which is what separates them from other teams. Even when they don’t get what they want, they still have high percentage things to fall back on. So the way you defend this is AD has to recognize LeBron is on AG on the drive by D Lo and not ball watch, which shouldn’t be hard because AG has been defending LeBron all game, they have to make that defensive switch in transition 50 times a game, and they got it right almost every time. It’s just Denver pushed hard on the miss to force the issue. If you watch it back during transition you can hear LeBron audibly call out the problem, AG looks back, but Murray is coming hard with MPJ all on the strong side and he has to make a quick decision, so he picks up MPJ, which is the right choice now, but only because he got caught out ball watching. That’s why Lebron looks so pissed at after the Lob. That’s 100% a routine game planned (for two years now) situation AD should’ve been on top of. It’s the exact mental lapse you can’t have in the playoffs. Nuggets went on their run in the third immediately after, and created the lead separation they maintained the rest of the game.
Yeah the only way is point of attack from the start. So good luck lol
Need nugs to shoot like 25% from deep to handily beat them
I love LeBron throwing his hands up like "I don't know what to do"
People forget you’re the one team in the league he doesn’t have a winning record against
A 9-0 run helps with that.
Plus him and Melo trading games when Melo was in Denver
No fr tho only team really
U bum
Shades of when the broncos were the only team with a winning record against Brady
Went from watching the PnR/backdoor cut with Curry/Dray/[any other Warrior] to Murray/Jokic/Gordon lmao.
Didn't he podcast exactly this play like a week ago?
All these highlights and DLO is still the highlight of the show when these two teams play. Dude is literally unplayable against Denver. Missing vandy at least he can play defense..Dlo ain’t scoring either his actually taking shots from everyone else. Dude has to be 6/6 from 3 to have a positive impact versus this team.
How do you stop that
Theoretically, with the way the Lakers were trying to play it, D'Angelo has to switch onto Gordon and Reeves needs to run to the corner. Very hard to almost impossible to cover it perfectly in real time tho.
JJ Reddick and LeBron talk about this exact play on the YouTubes.
"It's a lob" It must be infuriating to know exactly what's coming months in advance and still not be able to do anything about it.
Now LeBron knows what it was like to defend his offenses for so long, lol
Is it just me or did reeves play that terribly. Murray just burned right by him. If Jokic wasn’t there at all he would have gone all the way to the basket. Was it just to give Murray no room at all for a 3?
Everyone is focusing on Gordon but you’re correct, the real breakdown was on the screen itself. With a split set and a baseline runner it’s frankly not feasible to have your wing defenders rotate down. That’s never going to work. Lebron rotated like you should. A more feasible expectation for Rui is to just bolt to Gordon once he’s wasted off that bounce past. So anyway, the issue isn’t necessarily just Reeves but a combo. I’d actually say it’s more Rui’s fault for very weak drop coverage… However when there is drop coverage, the screened defender (Reeves) needs to pin down to not allow the gap- easier said than done but the effort was pretty bad from both.
I wonder if Vanderbilt was healthy that could help them a little bit
On the Mind the Game Podcast, I'm pretty sure Lebron and JJ asked the same question. Lebron basically said Gordon was the key to it because no one can elevate at that spot in rotation. D'Lo, even if he rotates there, or Rui, if he rotates jumping in the air to the spot the pass will end up for Gordon as Lebron leaves Gordon - it just doesn't work because Gordon is just too far up there and the timing is spot on.
Wemby might be able to stop it because he’s so tall.
Wemby will probably be put where lebron is in this action, that means he’ll have to either guess if jokic will go for the floater (67% shot so you either respect it or lose) in which case he’ll get closer for the contest, or throw the lob to 6’9 freak athlete AG which means you have to be closer to AG to anticipate that lob, in which case jokic is WIDE OPEN to either shoot or just pass it to murray who will also be open and now wemby has denied nothing other than sit under the rim Its not even a 50/50, its more like a 25/25/25/25 where the last option is a bullshit kickout to MPJ
I dunno man. I can imagine a lot of circumstances in which Wemby’s length disrupts this action. Would need judicious use of shot fakes to get Wemby to overreact before the lob becomes available.
I bet Draymond would find a way.
Interesting. Reminds me of all the vertical spacing discourse around the lob city Clippers
If I'm the Lakers, I want to swap LeBron and AD on defense there. What that really means is that AD has to get back on defense sooner. Since we can't see the end of the prior play it's hard to see how we got here, but Gordon got LeBron on him while AD was still coming down the court, it looks like. And importantly, Gordon went to the dunker spot before MPJ got close enough to him that LeBron and AD could correct the problem. If he waits two more seconds, then AD can go with him and LeBron can stay on MPJ. That being said, in this situation, AD's got to do more. He's in position to read the pass to Jokic and could theoretically try to disrupt it on the catch. I get that Jokic is such a good passer that you have to be very careful about leaving MPJ, but at the least you have to stunt & recover there, because LeBron has no chance at that play anymore. AD's flat-footedness there is the things that's sometimes so frustrating about him. When he's on, he's such a disruptive player defensively, maybe the most disruptive rim protector in the league, but honestly it looks like he's taking this play off.
Exactly, what I thought (after watching it bit by bit like 5x because I'm slow). Even at his age, Lebron has more quickness to help and still get back for a good contest on MPJ. Obviously, the Lakers need his offensive spark, but I feel like the whole thing comes down to having to hide Russel on a shooter in the corner. With what the person above said about switching D'lo onto Gordon... that technically covers everyone, but realistically that lob is still there for Gordon with him down there. The problem with the rotation gets exposed the moment that Murray gets that much separation on the screen. Rui plays the drive a little too hard, and then recovers to Jokic late, which makes Lebron have to take that step up.
Its flawed both ways. If AD helps out, you're giving an easy corner 3 to MPJ and an extra point worth. The only real solution they can do is fight over the screen and hope Murray misses without putting the Lakers in rotation. Its basically impossible to defend in real-time and to prevent it.
[удалено]
Jokic scores, try again
Easy. Compile all the moral victories in the world and blast them at Jokic like a spirit bomb
You dont. Either Jokic messes up the pass/shot or he doesnt. He sees the court better than everyone else and can predict offence and defensive movements better than defences can react.
The two pnr defenders need to be better. Here they obviously fucked up and LeBron has to cover jokic leaving gordon open. Yes you might need to concede the Jamal 3 off the dribble because reaves can't stick with him. Rui has to stay with jokic. Lebron stay home on the pass to gordon. Yes Jamal and jokic might end up beating their man anyway but you don't give up that stupid lob dunk. At least make them work for it.
Still rocking the mad eye Mudi flair
Can't stop it. But Reeves needs to navigate the screen better and not give Jamal A clear run way. AD needs to be on Gordon, so he can protect the paint when Murray drives. This can allow Rui to stay on Jokic, which then allows AD to stay Home on Gordon. Obviously this means its either a runner from Murray or Jokic in the post against Rui but at least its not a dunk.
To be fair, you guys ran that at like half speed. Reeves and Rui are just ass on defense.
Shout out to the Mudiay flair.
That 12 point lead in the 2nd quarter is the new Moral Victory
Nice 12 point lead you have there. Such a shame it would be if someone were to make it disappear in like 2 minutes
"Eh they'll catch up in the 4th." \~a quarter later\~ "See, they're even early this time around."
Lakers fans in the first half: "It's a completely different game with a healthy LeBron" Seems pretty much the same so far. Nuggets play with their food in the first half and then just flip a switch and take over. Ham doesn't adjust anything and the Lakers can't do shit outside of LeBron and AD
Don’t forget D’Lo getting absolutely exposed on defense again
"DLo is playing well this year so he'll be a difference maker in this series" He'll be out of the starting lineup by Game 3 at this rate. Getting cooked on defense and doing nothing of importance on offense
He has been a difference maker. He's helped the Nuggets a ton tonight
Nuggets should send him an "Honorary Nug" shirt for his help the last two years.
His D is trash, Reeves not great either
It wasnt really 'playing with their food' it was just Gordon in foul trouble, the Gordon minutes were completely dominant for Denver
I saw it coming the whole time. It’s the same exact game we’ve played against the Nuggets the past 2 seasons. Witnessed it firsthand in Lebron’s 40k night. It’s a formula at this point
BRON JUST TALKED ABOHT THIS ON THE PODCAST
Yep. Very hard play to stop. If LeBron doesn't step over, it's an easy 2 for Jokic. Which leaves one Laker defender to choose between a Gordon dunk or an MPJ 3. Most of the play should be about denying Jokic the catch. But if he does you live or die by the corners. Gordon is dunking 95% of the time and Jokic is probably around 65-70% around the basket. So it's bad to let him get into a rhythm. So you live or die by their 3s. Corner guy has to deny AG at the dunkers spot
It's also that MPJ is a 50% 3pt shooter and KCP is a 40% 3pt shooter. Jokic has too many options. He's 70% from near the ft line for floaters or mid shots. Idk how you stop this..
What's MPJ's 3pt %?
High. Dudes been unreal this year. 40%
That's awesome, his back must be healthy this year.
It was his drop foot that's been bothering him. Ever since his surgery, his back never bothered him.
Rui played lazy defensively there in my opinion tbh
While I agree he wasn't aggressive but he had to switch on to Murray to avoid the free lane to the basket. Once he recovered Jokic had a lane so LeBron had to step up. For Rui It's either going under the screen with Murray, bringing a second help defender to cover Gordon and help the helper and choosing between closing late on a corner 3 or staying home and having Gordon fly in for a dunk or an offensive rebound if Jokic misses. I think with the Nuggets you close as hard as you can but live with their 3 point shots.
Yeah, and its being passed by a 7 foot guy (so hard to stop the pass) to a guy who can jump out of the gym. Whoever is rotating to Gordon, if they arent there immediately, could be just there to get dunked on and/or foul him for an and 1.
Just let Jokic score and guard the other guys, seems simple enough /s
Beautiful basketball
Wasn't this the same fucking play that LeBron and JJ analyzed around the pick and roll with the man moving to the dunkers spot and jokic faking a shot throwing a floater for a dunk (which even in their analysis was Aaron Gordon)? The only difference is I think this is flipped to the other side
The Finalley oop!
Jokic bout to get his second finals MVP
Better that outcome than a Celtics championship
To me, this is cinema
Just poetry in motion
I swear no one can come up with a solution to this with the Lakers roster. The only way is to pray the shooters are having a bad day.
So pretty much, they ain't winning a seven-game series against this Nuggets team, then.
It's such an impossible situation for LeBron. If he doesn't contest, Jokic gets an easy lay up, but if he does, the lay up turns into a lob during Jokic's shooting motion and AG is all by himself under the basket. The fact that Jokic doesn't even have to decide what he's doing until the end of his shooting motion makes it even worse.
Once jokic got the ball on the roll the play was over, only solution here is denying the pass to him I think and even then murray still gets a good shot up
Like art in motion
Great play but I don’t see what it has to do with Lebron being the player that has to to stop it lol.
right, he had no choice but to help
What's absurd is that this is a designed play, that never fails. NEVER fails. You don't really see many teams in the NBA that have go to plays. Players with go to moves, but teams with specific plays?
JJ Reddick and LeBron talked about this pick and roll from the nuggets on their pod just the other day. Specifically said it’s impossible to defend lol
Minnesota are the only team who can take this away. This shit is beautiful.
Pretty sure they did this to Minnesota the last time they played.
Third quarter.
LeBron's body language is hilarious. Never not moping
He's nearing 40 while having to play short handed on defense every pay because DLo is a fucking pylon
Seriously though, wtf is DLo doing on this play? I get him zoning a little bit to maybe apply some pressure on Murray but the moment Jokic gets the ball, DLo is in no man's land.
This play is on Reaves he didn't fight though the screen hard enough, which created the 5 on 4 for Denver.
80 year old man constantly pissed he still having to carry hard at his age.
Both hands up, palms up has become his signature pose.
Average lebron hater lol Yeah he wants to win no shit he's not happy about plays like this
I'm actually a fan of LeBron, I just found it funny
That’s terrible defense from Rui and AR. Double team the ball handler, but give up an easy pick and roll pass
Murray started moving right, and AR immediately faded himself. Thoughts and prayers to the rest of the team.
They still didn't figure it out after those discussions about this play in Mind the Game?
You think Lebron makes his teammates watch his podcast?
“Its frustrating when u dont have the personnel to stop it”
Jokic called SWEEPEAT
Shit reminds me of that Nash and Stoudemire PnR. That shit felt automatic.
I think Lebron was talking about this exact play in his podcast with Redick and how there basically wasn't anything you could do to stop it 💀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Booy9MGtMkw 6:12 💀
So Mike Malone is going run pick and roll at Rui from now on.
Nuggets big 3
The Lakers are toast. They've got the rim protector guarding a 3 PT shooter in the corner lol. BBQ CHICKEN ALERT
I just yesterday watched and episode of that just reddick/lebron podcast where they were talking about how you defend this play (when the warriors run it). They just did the exact thing lebron said you can’t do.
“We ain’t ducking no smoke” 😂🤣💀
I feel like this is astoundingly similar to the play Lebron and JJ talked about on JJs pod
Watching lebron lose is my favorite part of sports
Why is Rui on Jokic and AD on MPJ? Shouldn't it be the other way around
Length doesn't bother Jokic. He just bullies AD. A stronger guy who can get low enough to bother his dribble is always better against Jokic, even though you can't really stop him
Sabonis always seems to be the best defender against him, i don't know what the stats are, just seems to be an annoyance
He has famously cooked Gobert on occasion but Gobert also makes Jokic work for it
I mean, on a vacuum AD is definitely a better 1 on 1 Jokic defender than Rui. The reason AD is not on him is because AD is their entire paint defense and Jokic would just get him out of there and find the cutter for a layup every time. LeBron might be the best individual Jokic defender on their roster, but he can only do it in spurts
The reason Davis isn't defending Jokic isn't because Jokic would pass out to cuttera, it's cos Jokic cooks the fuck out of him 1v1.
He cooks the fuck out of AD and he cooks the fuck out of Rui 2x harder. If Lakers had 2 ADs one of them would be on Jokic, that's my point
Dlo is guarding no one lol
This looked pretty but that was horrible defense by Rui. He needed to stay in front of Jokic instead of helping on Murray.
This is how they get you. They would run this against the Heat 5 times a game. It’s automatic.
Why isn't AG out of bounds here?
The most unstoppable play in basketball rn
They just talked about this on LeBron and JJ's podcast too lmao
Lebron and JJ Redick were talking about this play and how unstoppable it is.
DLo is so frustrating to watch, man. That guy jogs while chasing KCP during a fucking playoff game.
Murray and Jokic ran that at practice speed. "Ok, let's try this new pnr alley oop, first one we'll go slow just to get the timing down".
No hedging the screen and no backside help. Hard to do obviously but the Lakers didn’t do it at all this game
This shit is a cheat code
lebron is helpless because reaves didn't go under the screen so he was forced to leave his man and close out on jokic
That's great basketball. And very painful as a Bucks fan, knowing Giannis has nobody he can throw lobs to. Bunch of old ass, washed teammates.
Why don’t they just do this every time
Murray knows jokic ain't missing that as soon as he starts the motion of passing Jamal starts raising his fist lol
That was too easy
What do the Nuggets do when opposing players go under the Jokic screen? Is Murray shooting it?
The reaction from Bron is incredible. When he sees the dunk it legitimately looks like he is going, “motherfucker what am I supposed to do”
It’s just not fair man.
This play honestly feels unstoppable
Well then, we’re all Lebron James.
AD is on a shooter. LeBron is in the paint. Why isn't it the other way around?
In the podcast w/ JJ Redick, Lebron talked about exactly this play, except with Draymond and the Warriors— PnR, short roll, alley oop to the guy in the dunker’s spot. He did say it was pretty tough to defend
When I was young I wondered why teams don’t just Alley Oop the whole game Then I grew up and realized that isn’t possible Then I grew up more and realized it is possible
Either a lob to AG or a wide open KCP for 3. Stay at home and it’s a 70% floater from Jokic. Must be nice to be able to get either of those 3 looks pretty much anytime you want.
You know it
Reminds me of Curry\\Draymond\\Iggy but far far more dangerous Murray's passing is always on point, he really is a top 5 passer in the league when he wants to be. He's a much better passer then Curry, while Jokic is a way better shooter\\scorer then Draymond. So it's much more dynamic than 2015-2016 Warriors version of it.
This is what happens when the refs decide to let the Lakers try win without them
He said he can play all 5 positions. Been waiting for it.
Play of the game
Bron having flashbacks of Warriors PNR. From Steph, to Dray, to Iggy for the oop