2020 NBA Finals: Miami Heat vs. Los Angeles Lakers.

[Fresh Tendrils]

What is LeBron's vendetta against Riley?

[cima]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fresh Tendrils

What is LeBron's vendetta against Riley?

LeBron made a comment about "certain people" telling him leaving Miami was a huge mistake and he'd regret it, never win anything without them. So he redeemed himself when he won in Cleveland...but I'm sure he can't help but re-visit those feelings now that he's going head-to-head with his former team.

Riley even publicly stated the beef, at least from his side was squashed 2 years ago. But if you know anything about Riley and LeBron, they're both obsessed with winning. And Riley was PISSED when Bron left.

"I was silent," Riley said. "I didn't say anything. My mind began to just go. And it was over. I was very angry when LeBron left. It was personal for me. It just was. I had a very good friend who talked me off the ledge and kept me from going out there and saying something like Dan Gilbert. I'm glad I didn't do it."

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by Heat_Fan

The reason you haven't seen Leonard is because he lacks defense and is essentially a Big floor spacer. Sure you could put him on the floor for his potential 3's but you give back on his lack of defensive skills. Wrt AD, that's where Crowder, Iggy and Bam comes in. Miami could compliment them with shooters. Again, it's not about stopping LeBron or AD, it's about limiting the damage. This series is going to look pretty much like the Miami v Boston series. The Lakers pummeled the Heat out West and back in Miami it was a 3 point loss which could have gone either way. It was a close game from start to finish and to paraphrase, LeBron James, he said "it felt like a heavyweight fight". Back then Miami did not have Iggy or Crowder. Crowder is the scarier of the two because not only does he bring the D but can quickly get hot from behind the arc. Whereas Iggy is just Iggy during the Playoffs as he showed last night dropping five consecutive 3's. I'm not saying Miami is going to beat the Lakers. I hope they do but I would not sell Miami short because they have the personality of Jimmy Butler which is they may not have the talent but they make up for it by working harder. That's Jimmy Butler's credo, He may not have LeBron's talent but he's going to worker 6 times harder to compete with LeBron. That attitude is what got them this far. I can also say that the Lakers would not wanted a Celtics Finals. The Celtics are a damn good team that the Heat should not have taken down. It was a well coached team with a bunch of young Superstars.

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

AD is much more skilled than Giannis on offense. Giannis plays bully-ball and does nearly all of his damage at the basket. That's why building a wall works against him. AD on the other hand can hurt you all over the floor and especially from mid-range, which also happens to be the most susceptible part of the 2-3 zone should they choose to run it. I don't know if you remember their first matchup when they ran that zone but it was mostly AD hitting mid-range jumpers or Lakers getting alley-oops. Both games the Lakers won against the Heat this season were in 2019 and before the trade for Iggy/Crowder. I remember seeing a lot of Meyers Leonard but these playoffs it seems like he's been lead cheerleader. I wonder though due to the Lakers size if we will see him again? If you matchup Bam with AD then who are you gonna put on Howard? He's still got something in the tank too.

Quote: Originally Posted by Heat_Fan

How so, please explain? Bam made the League's defending and reigning MVP look average and frustrated both during the season and during the Playoffs. Bam can easily guard 1-5 and defensively is just a bigger, quicker younger version of Bron who Coach Spo labeled as Mr. 1-5 in 2010. The Heat are not out to shutdown AD or Bron because they can't. They will get their points no matter what. What Coach Spo is looking to do is what he did with Giannis, i.e. slow him down and make the others around AD and Bron beat you. The Lakers are basically a 2 player Elite team. The Heat are basically a 7 player team. On any given night you target one player and another is capable of going off and changing the game. Shutdown Bam and you risk his assist helping Herro go off on you, or Robinson hitting 3's from the parking lot. Iggy was quiet for most of the Playoffs and last night he hit 5 3's in a row. That's what the Lakers should fear. The Miami Heat are essentially the Miami Hurricanes of the 1980's with a badass dude named Jimmy Butler who has made the Heat his team and they love him and his chip on the shoulder attitude. I would say the Miami Heat are the Lakers "worst nightmare". That said I still favor the Lakers in 6-7 but only because of Bron and AD. But don't be too surprised if the Heat put another notch on their belt if the beat the Lakers because they've done it thru play and coaching and beat two teams that had MORE talent than the Miami Heat from a Superstar level.

I think you're both right, I think Miami is a tough matchup for them and absolutely can beat them. I think from a Lakers standpoint they have to treat Dragic and Herro the same way they did Dame, Harden, Murray.. Dragic is still their leading scorer through the playoffs, Lakers can't let up on the gas and not treat those guys the same way they did the elite guys they've already faced because once they do that those guys have 20 a piece on top of what they get from Jimmy, Bam, etc..

I think for the Lakers they need Davis to hit shots, he wants those little jumpers and they will be available in this zone. If Miami does go to more of a man matchup I think Bam is a great player but Davis should be just a little too big. As good as Bam is on the other end I don't see Davis needing help on him. I don't see them leaving all the shooters and getting off balance defensively for a guy like Bam. Even if he gives Davis the business on that end he's not erupting for 40+ and just taking the game over. Lakers have been incredibly disruptive all year on passes coming from inside out, lots of transition with Rondo, Caruso, Bron and Miami doesn't have the guns to slow down LeBron in the open court.

Lakers are poor with quicker guards and elite outside shooting. They were able to slow it down enough in the Portland, Houston, Denver series to where their strengths outweighed all the other teams strengths, this will depend heavily on doing that yet again. Miami does make the ball bounce around a little better than most of those teams, Lakers have to be able to close out.

I will say this has been the moment Anthony Davis has waited his whole career on, why he came to the Lakers. This should be a great matchup for him individually. He can get comfortable if they stick to the zone scheme, he has mismatches everywhere on the floor if they go man. Lakers are great at forcing a switch and Bron/Rondo getting it to AD after, Miami will have to live with Herro, Duncan, Crowder getting stuck on AD from time to time. AD should be able to dominate this series and take himself home a finals MVP trophy, unless Bron keeps putting up all these triple doubles and has another monster close out game... That said they have the two stars, Miami has the better "team", those stars have to continue to do their job and be the best two players on the floor.

It is interesting the matchup from a depth standpoint though. Miami has been going really shallow, I think a couple games I watched they only played 7-8 guys. Lakers have been sticking pretty heavily to a 10 man rotation when JaVale plays, 9 when he doesn't. It'll be interesting to see if that continues or if they shorten that a little with Bron and AD playing closer to 40 minutes a night instead of low 30s. Anybody know if they are sticking to the 1 day of rest or not?

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by cima

I'm amazed that so many people continue to disrespect and underrate the Lakers. They were #1 in the West all year and could've challenged Milwaukee for best record overall before the shutdown. Here they are finishing off every team in the playoffs in 5 games and some people still think the Clippers, Celtics, Heat, Bucks, and hell even the Nuggets are better than them.

This is actually true to an extent. The Lakers were the number 1 ranked team in the league this year in RPI which basically weighs your opponent strength vs your record. Lakers also had the best record in the league against .500 or better teams. Also Lakers had the 4th toughest schedule in the league this year, Milwaukee the 3rd easiest, Clippers middle of the pack.

All of those were reasons given in some of the Bron for MVP arguments. Yes Milwaukee had the best record and some of the on court stuff for Giannis was high, but they/he wasn't doing it against quality teams and all of those numbers were inflated to an extent based on them bullying poor teams.

That said you could watch a handful a "meaningful" Laker games this year and get a better picture of what they should look like come playoff time. Those end of the year games against the Clippers/Bucks, the bubble game against the Clippers, you knew that was playoff indicating performances just by watching.

So I would agree there has been some underrating of them just based on record and how shallow they are, and the inconsistent offense, etc.. That said I think some people were still hesitant because they were waiting to see if Bron could still do what he did in that last game also. So I think it's fair. He's looked really fatigued at times during this stretch of only having one day off, so it's not like people were just making stuff up with doubt for no reason.

[cima]

I think the Lakers will definitely shorten the rotation. LeBron has only played over 40 minutes 2/15 games. He's ready for more and he will have to be with AD hobbled. I hope/won't be surprised if McGee is completely out of the rotation, he only got about 2 minutes last game.

[Master Live 013]

Against Boston I picked the Heat because even though the Celtics had the best player in the series in Tatum, he had never done it before and because the Heat seem to have the next 3 best players in the series. Against the Lakers, LA has the 2 best players, who are both better than Tatum and at least LeBron has certainly done it before.

For the Heat to win, they need to be great from 3, Bam to nearly draw AD and to have the next best 4 players in the series (Bam, Dragic, Buttler and Herro).

No disrespect to Vogel, I think Spoe has the edge coaching wise.

Really excited for this series.

[cima]

Funny you give the edge to Spo cause I appreciate Vogel now more than ever. He was regularly taking the Heatles to 6-7 games with PG, Roy Hibbert, David West, and George Hill.

I'd call it even. Vogel thus far has made all the right adjustments that many of us didn't think he would make and it's got them at 12-3.

[ojandpizza]

Yeah this would be the series for Kuzma to wake the **** up if he's going to at all. He should get all the back cuts cutting behind that zone that he wants and great looks from three as well if they can get the ball to Bron/AD in that high post area.. He would be better at attacking the gaps in the zone than Morris, Green, Dwight, as well, and quick enough/good enough defensively to be serviceable enough on guys like Crowder and Iggy.

If there was ever a time for him to be that "third guy" he and everyone on their team says he can be this would be the best time for it. I'm not optimistic of that at all lol but if it happens the Lakers should have this in the bag. Otherwise I expect a dog fight.