West Conference playoff thread

[Q-is-here]

Looks like Ja broke his hand.

Dlo, Rui and Reaves all came up big today

No problem theyve got Tyus Jones.

I had the same (sarcastic) thought when I heard about Ja's unfortunate injury. But then last night happened, and the Grizzlies won again without Ja. The Griz are now 27-8 when Ja doesn't play. 35 games is almost half a season...that adds up to 63 wins when projected over an entire season! When does the sample size get big enough that this trend can no longer be ignored?

A year ago some were excited about what the tandem of KAT and Dlo could do after we stioe a game in Memphis (good thing Ja played, right? ), but last night once again showed that neither regularly shows up when the bright lights are on. KAT basically cost us the game, and DLo was badly outplayed by a backup point guard. DLo missed 9 out of 11 shots, and had almost as many turnovers (3) as assists (4). It was clear from the start that the Russell/KAT experiment was doomed, and kudos to TC for moving on. Now the question is whether KAT fits with Ant and Rudy. I'm optimistic, but I understand why many here are not on board.

It's quite an amazing thing that a team can adjust and play so well with such contrasting styles running the ship. I mean, Ja is a high usage singular player and Tyus is a game manager. Yet they don't miss a beat and someone other guys pick up the Ja usage without much of a problem....even better a lot of the times!

[KG4Ever]

I wanted to keep Tyus here and think he was a better fit than DLO. I think Tyus is available again after 2024 season, so maybe he can be the Conley successor. I'd also look at signing Shake Milton cheaply this offseason and see what he can do with more minutes. He's stuck behind Harden and Maxey in Philly and has looked good when he's gotten lots of minutes.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Kawhi may still be the best player in the NBA. Crazy.

... and the softest/most selfish/injury prone?

For today's better/best players... it's in their best interest NOT to play all that much. Imagine being able to extend your career another few years while making $50M annually.

Kawhi Leonard knows somebody will pay him that whether he plays in Game 3 or Game 4 or whatever or not. The guy has been skating off 2019 for quite awhile now.

[kekgeek]

Dlo is cooking. Good for him

[Q-is-here]

Dlo is cooking. Good for him

Gotta give them credit. They scraped together a pretty decent team with trades and getting everyone healthy. And while LeBron is still really good, they don't over-rely on him. They have multiple ball handlers and guys that can create shots, including DLO.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Ugh.

Teams I wanted to lose in the 1st round... in order of really wanting them to lose:

Denver
Lakers

76ers
Heat
Knicks
Suns

Go Celtics and Warriors... I guess.

[Carlos Danger]

Dlo is cooking. Good for him

Gotta give them credit. They scraped together a pretty decent team with trades and getting everyone healthy. And while LeBron is still really good, they don't over-rely on him. They have multiple ball handlers and guys that can create shots, including DLO.

I haven't been watching much of the Laker series, but just checking stats, it doesn't look like DLO is doing anything too special IMO. VORP is zero. He's their 5th leading scorer in PPG. In fact, DLO's traditional stat line is basically what we are getting from Conley in the playoffs:

Russell: 14.5 points, 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 turnovers
Conley: 13.3 points, 5.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 turnovers

DLO's line is a little better (except the turnovers). But not a huge separation IMO. Still, DLO is probably due for a 30 point game which is something we won't get from Conley - so I give them that. But up to this point, I'm happy with what Conley has done and have zero regrets from the trade. I'm also very curious if the Lakers re-sign DLO and for how much.

[Q-is-here]

Dlo is cooking. Good for him

Gotta give them credit. They scraped together a pretty decent team with trades and getting everyone healthy. And while LeBron is still really good, they don't over-rely on him. They have multiple ball handlers and guys that can create shots, including DLO.

I haven't been watching much of the Laker series, but just checking stats, it doesn't look like DLO is doing anything too special IMO. VORP is zero. He's their 5th leading scorer in PPG. In fact, DLO's traditional stat line is basically what we are getting from Conley in the playoffs:

Russell: 14.5 points, 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 turnovers
Conley: 13.3 points, 5.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 turnovers

DLO's line is a little better (except the turnovers). But not a huge separation IMO. Still, DLO is probably due for a 30 point game which is something we won't get from Conley - so I give them that. But up to this point, I'm happy with what Conley has done and have zero regrets from the trade. I'm also very curious if the Lakers re-sign DLO and for how much.

Agreed. DLO for Conley wasn't going to propel us to greatness nor was it a step back. Hopefully he provides another strong veteran voice that pays dividends in future years as his knowledge is passed down to guys like Ant, NAW (if he's still with us), and Jaden.

But unlike the Wolves, the Lakers have multiple other guys stepping up. Using your VORP stat, guys like Rui, Vando, and Reaves are all making positive contributions toward winning basketball. So they don't need AD or LeBron to go nuts every game. And DLO can just be mediocre DLO. The West seems wide open.

The Wolves on the other hand have one top-end guy doing his part (Ant), a few vets doing OK-ish (Conley, Gobert, Anderson) and then a bunch of other guys that are neutral at best (NAW) or hurting us (KAT, Prince, Nowell, McLaughlin).

[AbeVigodaLive]

Gotta give them credit. They scraped together a pretty decent team with trades and getting everyone healthy. And while LeBron is still really good, they don't over-rely on him. They have multiple ball handlers and guys that can create shots, including DLO.

I haven't been watching much of the Laker series, but just checking stats, it doesn't look like DLO is doing anything too special IMO. VORP is zero. He's their 5th leading scorer in PPG. In fact, DLO's traditional stat line is basically what we are getting from Conley in the playoffs:

Russell: 14.5 points, 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 turnovers
Conley: 13.3 points, 5.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 turnovers

DLO's line is a little better (except the turnovers). But not a huge separation IMO. Still, DLO is probably due for a 30 point game which is something we won't get from Conley - so I give them that. But up to this point, I'm happy with what Conley has done and have zero regrets from the trade. I'm also very curious if the Lakers re-sign DLO and for how much.

Agreed. DLO for Conley wasn't going to propel us to greatness nor was it a step back. Hopefully he provides another strong veteran voice that pays dividends in future years as his knowledge is passed down to guys like Ant, NAW (if he's still with us), and Jaden.

But unlike the Wolves, the Lakers have multiple other guys stepping up. Using your VORP stat, guys like Rui, Vando, and Reaves are all making positive contributions toward winning basketball. So they don't need AD or LeBron to go nuts every game. And DLO can just be mediocre DLO. The West seems wide open.

The Wolves on the other hand have one top-end guy doing his part (Ant), a few vets doing OK-ish (Conley, Gobert, Anderson) and then a bunch of other guys that are neutral at best (NAW) or hurting us (KAT, Prince, Nowell, McLaughlin).

I know he's annoying as hell and has underperformed... but grouping Towns in with Prince (7 - 23 fg), Nowell (5 - 25 fg) and McLaughlin (0-4 fg) seems extra harsh.

[Q-is-here]

I haven't been watching much of the Laker series, but just checking stats, it doesn't look like DLO is doing anything too special IMO. VORP is zero. He's their 5th leading scorer in PPG. In fact, DLO's traditional stat line is basically what we are getting from Conley in the playoffs:

Russell: 14.5 points, 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.3 turnovers
Conley: 13.3 points, 5.8 assists, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 turnovers

DLO's line is a little better (except the turnovers). But not a huge separation IMO. Still, DLO is probably due for a 30 point game which is something we won't get from Conley - so I give them that. But up to this point, I'm happy with what Conley has done and have zero regrets from the trade. I'm also very curious if the Lakers re-sign DLO and for how much.

Agreed. DLO for Conley wasn't going to propel us to greatness nor was it a step back. Hopefully he provides another strong veteran voice that pays dividends in future years as his knowledge is passed down to guys like Ant, NAW (if he's still with us), and Jaden.

But unlike the Wolves, the Lakers have multiple other guys stepping up. Using your VORP stat, guys like Rui, Vando, and Reaves are all making positive contributions toward winning basketball. So they don't need AD or LeBron to go nuts every game. And DLO can just be mediocre DLO. The West seems wide open.

The Wolves on the other hand have one top-end guy doing his part (Ant), a few vets doing OK-ish (Conley, Gobert, Anderson) and then a bunch of other guys that are neutral at best (NAW) or hurting us (KAT, Prince, Nowell, McLaughlin).

I know he's annoying as hell and has underperformed... but grouping Towns in with Prince (7 - 23 fg), Nowell (5 - 25 fg) and McLaughlin (0-4 fg) seems extra harsh.

I was using Carlos's preferred stat, which is VORP. What VORP doesn't account for is how much attention he might be drawing, the tough shots he's taking others don't have to, etc. But still, relative to expectations, he's not just underperforming. He's way underperforming. I'd argue he's underperforming his role as much as Prince is underperforming in his role.

Per game averages this series: 16 pts, 10 rebs, 2 assists, 3.8 TOs, 43% FG, and 28% 3 pt%. I mean, he's a big reason our offense hasn't really gotten off the ground. He turns it over too much and is missing shots.