The Champs Escape The Beam & Now Face The King's New Regime! | Official Lakers (#7) vs. Warriors (#6) WCSF Thread

WHO WINS?

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Vintage Eclectic

Vintage Eclectic

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Looking at the roster, the team looks pretty evenly matched on paper. We already know what Steph is capable of but Klay and Wiggins can't go missing this series. I say it goes to 7
 
Flywin Lannister

Flywin Lannister

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I thought @2Quik4UHoes made these threads

My breakdown for the non-casuals but also for those who don't want to be hit with 100 StatMuse stats & analytics:
  • Kerr vs Ham
    • The most crucial factor of this series will be Kerr vs Ham's coaching and decision ma
    • Kerr's got CHAMPION EXPERIENCE (Bulls, Warriors, player, coach)
    • Ham's got experience too though (Bucks assistant coach that got the chip)
    • Kerr's advantage is, he doesn't mind making changes when necessary. Ham's VERY hesitant to change a game plan or rotation. People were talking about "Beasley needs to go" literally 10 games before he thought that is something he should try. But Kerr will keep Green coming off the bench if that means more wins. So there may not be enough time if Ham decides to go back to the old lineup and run that Bron/Rui + 3 guards rotation. He may think "we need to out three point shoot the Warriors" and go to Beasley and Brown. When he really should be cutting out 100% of Beasley's minutes, probably slash Brown's by 50% (he can add value on the defensive end, sometimes) and start seriously looking at inserting Lonnie and even Max Christie in the rotation (split Beasley's minutes between these 2 players - also because Kerr has NO tape on that rotation).
    • The big man rotation needs to start including Mo Bamba. And not using Tristan Thompson purely for foul taking and having a body that can take charges around the rim (because you'll see the defense over reacting when Curry or Wiggins drives and collapsing) someone needs to take those sure fire fouls. Gabriel, honestly I don't see it. He causes more issues than that he gives us solutions - he's enthusiastic and get us a few boards and a few points, but so can Bamba so use him as a later options in the rotation.
    • Looney's their only big man - if Davis stays 100% healthy, Lakers need to pound the paint and go to war with Looney. This should make him more tired and should lead to more free throws and more offensive rebounds for us and to him grabbing less offensive rebounds. Looney's a beast and this will be a real key matchup.
  • Pinstripe effect
    • Lakers were not supposed to be here. 0.2% chance it was at one point. I and nearly nobody really ever doubted the Warriors would be in the Playoffs. This effect that the Warriors have (just like the yankees have with their pinstripes) is that their name and team colors trigger the word "champion" in everyone head.
    • This could lead to situations where when the Lakers are struggling and the Warriors are doing well, that the Lakers -especially younger players- start seeing them as more of an unbeatable team than a team they can definitely beat. When Curry goes back-to-back from 3 and the crowd goes insane - this is when Ham needs to remind the team that it's a 1 or 2 possession game only. Lakers really need to avoid the pinstripe effect. These dudes can be beat, but they can also play.
  • Last thoughts
    • We have seen the Lakers start poorly all year: no aggression, no intensity, no passion, no fire. When the team comes out and makes multiple misses there's a "give up" sometimes, a really early "we can't do this" creeps into the team and play gets sloppy, and suddenly they are out there having a glorified 3-point contest while not really defending, rotating and following through on defense. IF the Lakers do that 1 or 2 games, this is over before it really started. Each game they need to match the intensity of Game 6 vs the Grizzlies OR they will get crushed by the energy the Warriors and their crowd will bring, with Green as the flag bearer for that.
    • Avoiding Green's tantrums and not playing into them and then losing a player to technicals or flagrant fouls or suspensions would be absolutely ridiculous. You KNOW he will try to hit a player in the groin area, you know he will rile up the away crowd when he gets fouled or t'd up. Just ignore him, ignore the antics, ignore ignore ignore.
    • The refs have been at a level that makes trash appealing the entire 2022-23 season. The amount of missed calls and calls for literally no fouls is insane. They played less of a role in the last Lakers Grizzlies game or the last Kings Warriors game. Let's hope they don't decide the series (by sending the Warriors to the line all the time basically)
 
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