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The Blame Game

Discussion in 'Lakers Discussion' started by TIME, May 1, 2025 at 4:34 PM.

?

What was the biggest reason we lost the series?

  1. No Big to rebound and protect the rim

    21 vote(s)
    77.8%

  2. AR underperformed

    1 vote(s)
    3.7%

  3. Lebron and Luka could not close

    1 vote(s)
    3.7%

  4. Coaching

    1 vote(s)
    3.7%

  5. No bench production

    1 vote(s)
    3.7%

  6. Rob did a poor job of roster construction

    2 vote(s)
    7.4%
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  1. TIME

    TIME Administrator Staff Member

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    I'm interested to discover what the consensus main reason for the series loss is.
     
    TIME, May 1, 2025 at 4:34 PM
    #1
  2. lakerjones

    lakerjones Moderator Staff Member

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    No big IMO.
     
    lakerjones, May 1, 2025 at 4:52 PM
    #2
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  3. 432J

    432J - Lakers All Star -

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    no big or bench
     
    432J, May 1, 2025 at 4:58 PM
    #3
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  4. JSM

    JSM - Lakers Legend -

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    I voted that as well, but that can also be #6.

    Needed a big going into the season, didn't get one.
    AD asked for a big. Answer was no.
    Luka asked for a big. And we got him one until we didn't.

    I think a subsequent moved (like Sharpe) should've been made regardless. That wouldn't have been a series changer but he's an elite rebounder, certainly would've helped.
     
    JSM, May 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
    #4
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  5. Slick2021

    Slick2021 - Lakers MVP -

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    No big
    Fatigue
    HC got his bell rung in game 1, and never fully recovered.
     
    Slick2021, May 1, 2025 at 5:17 PM
    #5
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  6. Weezy

    Weezy Moderator Staff Member

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    Voted for Rob did a poor job of roster construction, which to me also covers no big and lack of bench production. AD asked for C for years, he never added one and clearly doesn’t value the position. This team also had almost zero 2-way players, not a lot of real athletes either, it was a concern coming into the season. He finally addressed part of that with the DFS trade and it immediately started turning things around. And again, the margins, we have been bad around the margins for a while, multiple wasted roster spots on borderline NBA players. It’s up to him to fix this stuff from here on out, he’s got job security now and no reason not to go for it. But yeah, no big was a huge reason, but I feel like even if we had a legit C we still didn’t have the athletes to match Minny, they consistently shot over us, blew by us, bullied us, this roster just had huge flaws.
     
    Weezy, May 1, 2025 at 6:05 PM
    #6
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  7. LakerFanIam

    LakerFanIam - Lakers 6th Man -

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    We all knew this Team was poorly constructed & unbalanced after the Luka trade. That's why they immediately went after Williams to get a Big. We overachieved in the regular Season just due to the natural skill & playmaking ability of our Big 3, but this Team was not built to go on a deep Playoff run.
     
    LakerFanIam, May 1, 2025 at 6:19 PM
    #7
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  8. wcsoldier81

    wcsoldier81 - Lakers All Star -

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    The FO since Summer 2021 ; no defense and no rebound
     
    wcsoldier81, May 1, 2025 at 10:10 PM
    #8
  9. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    yeah, couldn't decide, but went with no bench because i think if we make a few open shots in games 3 and 4, the series looks different even without a big. we couldn't force them to play our style because we couldn't make enough outside shots. that's how teams have played gobert off the floor. you can generate those looks, and we did--to an extent.

    anyway, i think both big and bench can be addressed with our current assets. maybe not to the extent we'd like, but we can find a center and POA defender this summer, imo.
     
    abeer3, May 2, 2025 at 5:31 AM
    #9
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  10. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    It is very difficult to pick between "No big" and "No bench production," but since we had to choose only one I went with the "No big" option. Both were absolutely critical for our first round exit, IMO.

    Yes, Austin under-performed, but that's not the main reason we lost. Yes, the roster construction is not ideal, but it was very difficult to build the team around Luka post-trade because the time was very limited. Additionally we had no time to gel and very few good practice sessions. You can't win like that.
     
    karacha, May 2, 2025 at 5:44 AM
    #10
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  11. gcclaker

    gcclaker Moderator Staff Member

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    Gobert would have voted for the first option...
     
    gcclaker, May 2, 2025 at 7:15 AM
    #11
  12. wcsoldier81

    wcsoldier81 - Lakers All Star -

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    Something which I think wasn't talk about : you can't play small ball if you"re going to play at a slow pace AND without moving the ball and bodies .
     
    wcsoldier81, May 2, 2025 at 7:35 AM
    #12
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  13. karacha

    karacha Moderator Staff Member

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    ^
    We're playing "big small ball" as opposed to "fast small ball," which, of course, is doomed to fail.
     
    karacha, May 2, 2025 at 7:54 AM
    #13
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  14. Juronimo

    Juronimo - Lakers Starter -

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    No bigs was the issue so I voted for that. We had a big team in 2020 and then mysteriously went away from that.
     
    Juronimo, May 2, 2025 at 7:58 AM
    #14
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  15. BadCoaching

    BadCoaching - Rookie -

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    A culmination of all of those things.
     
    BadCoaching, May 2, 2025 at 8:22 AM
    #15
  16. sirronstuff

    sirronstuff - Lakers Legend -

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    It’s Lebron’s fault tbh
     
    sirronstuff, May 2, 2025 at 8:53 AM
    #16
  17. sk2408

    sk2408 - Lakers 6th Man -

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    No playable big is probably the biggest reason but I think JJ's coaching was a close second. He did a pretty bad job even considering there was no playable big.
     
    sk2408, May 2, 2025 at 8:55 AM
    #17
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  18. ElginTheGreat

    ElginTheGreat - Lakers MVP -

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    I ended up picking no Big but I agree that a few of those things overlap.

    Ultimately I feel like even an adequate performance at center gets us over the hump but the same can said of having a couple of dependable guys off the bench.
     
    ElginTheGreat, May 2, 2025 at 9:15 AM
    #18
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  19. abeer3

    abeer3 - Lakers Legend -

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    interesting to me how overwhelming the difference is in the poll. is it just the gobert recency effect? because he was kind of a non-factor in games 1-4.

    as i said, it was tough to choose for me between the lack of a playable big and being short two rotation players total, but let's put it this way: if you forced me to choose what happens this summer and i either get 1 quality big or two good-fitting high quality role players (neither of whom is a big)...i might go with the latter.

    i do agree, though, that defensively not having a rim protector at any point during the game was a huge factor in this particular series. i'm just thinking larger picture that if you have enough talent, you can win without playing bigs much.

    i say all this as someone who was a big proponent of playing big back when AD was still here, too.
     
    abeer3, May 2, 2025 at 9:45 AM
    #19
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  20. KuzmoBall17

    KuzmoBall17 - Lakers Starter -

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    Definitely no bigs
    Look at all remaining teams
    Oklahoma Chet and Hartenstein
    Minnesota Gobert and Randle, Pacers Siakam and Turner
    C Bags 100 year old Horford and Kornet
    Cavs Allen and Mobley , Denver Jokic
    Even Clippers has Zubac
    Only GSW is excluded ,but they play small ball over 10 years and Green is allowed to play some dirty stuff different from others



     
    Last edited: May 2, 2025 at 1:18 PM
    KuzmoBall17, May 2, 2025 at 12:40 PM
    #20
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