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Reflections

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Aloha,

I am pretty pumped up about the coming finals. I have been thinking about what got us to this point.

1. Defensive wins championships. It always has and always will. And this team was built around defense. We are number 1 in the playoffs and this is without our best perimeter defender. I know some grumble about some inconsistent scoring with guys not named LeBron or AD but we are here because of our defense that the other guys are playing. I understand that 3 is greater than 2 And that we are not A great 3 point shooter team. But 3>2 only works if you are getting the 3’s. We dominate paint scoring while contesting 3 point shots and running guys off the 3 point line. While I would love to have guys that were as good at defense as our current group and were very good 3 point shooters. But those guys are few and far between and they are expensive. We will not have the cap space or realistic trade chips to land them. So give me defense first. Beside we have guys that do hit 3’s enough to make our offense work.

2. Our star duo. There are a lot of star duos in the playoffs. But the Lakers are still standing is because of the consistency our stars have played with. While other teams stars have had off nights, the Lakers stars haven’t. Our stars games have ranged from very good to great. When very good is your worst games, you have something special.

3. The myth of the 3rd option. Coach Vogel said it best when he said the 3rd option is the open man. Our offense runs through LeBron and AD. Many want Kuz to be that 3rd option. But he doesn’t get the shots to be a 3rd options. Most of his points comes from activity. Running the floor, cutting to the basket and put backs. He gets very Few plays run for him.

When you have LeBron or Rondo running the offense, they search out the open man. What makes this offense click is several guys can score so teams have to defend everyone. I think that’s better having a 3rd guy. You never were the points are coming from. KCP had been the closest to a 3rd scorer we had but last game he only took 2 shots, while points came from several other players.

4. Depth and versatility. it still amazes me how We can play so many different ways with so many different line up combinations. In today’s NBA I feel that 2 stars and a deep versatile line up is now the winning formula. While we maybe able to do a few small upgrade this off season, I believe the two stars and a deep team will be the road map for the team going forward.

LeBron James Shows Why He’s Still the MVP and Best Player on the Planet

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No disrespect to Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kawhi Leonard but LeBron James took over Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals and showed the world why, at 35-years old, he’s still the MVP and best player on the planet.

While Antetokounmpo’s Bucks and Leonard’s Clippers succumbed to the perils of the bubble, LeBron’s Lakers rolled through three straight tough opponents with five-game series wins and are headed to the NBA Finals. While a flawed Giannis and Bucks team crumbled in five to the Heat and a overhyped Kawhi and Clippers team blew a 3–1 lead to the Nuggets, LeBron and the Lakers showed how true champions perform in the playoffs.

While Giannis and Kawhi stumbled in the clutch, LeBron closed the Lakers’ final two wins against the Nuggets with four straight stops defending Jamal Murray in Game 4 and four straight baskets to clinch the series in Game 5. LeBron dished out 19 dimes with only 2 turnovers in those two games. He finished Game 5 with 38 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists, and his 27th playoff triple-double, trailing only Magic’s 30 postseason triple-doubles.

Smartly pacing himself through the playoffs, those last two games were the first in these playoffs where LeBron James played more than 40 minutes, testament to the Lakers’ depth and Frank Vogel’s fine rotation management. These Finals will be James’ 10th as a player, which is more than 27 of the 30 franchises in the league can claim. For the Lakers as a franchise, this will be their 32nd Finals appearance and, if they win, their 17th championship.

As LeBron James again reminded us as he sat relaxed on the floor with the confetti falling as the Lakers accepted the Western Conference Finals trophy, we’re now “one step closer to the goal but the job is still not done.” Standing between the Lakers and their league leading 17th championship are whomever wins the Eastern Conference Finals, in which the 5th seed Miami Heat hold a 3 games to 2 lead over the 3rd seed Boston Celtics.

The emergence of Playoff LeBron has been a transformative moment that could change the historic legacies for him, his superstar teammate Anthony Davis, and the franchise he inherited after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. The 2020 NBA Playoffs will be momentous to LeBron James’ quest to be the GOAT, Anthony Davis’ odyssey to take the mantle from the King, and the LA Lakers’ challenge to surpass the Boston Celtics for most championships.

With all that on the line, LeBron, AD, and the Lakers only need four more wins to turn the greatest playoff challenge an NBA team has ever faced into the most satisfying and rewarding championship in the league history.

LeBron credits coach Frank Vogel for Lakers being ‘great’ this season

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“He’s just always been the anchor, and our coaching staff has been right behind him,” James said of Vogel. “I can’t say anything more than that. Just happy to be on the floor to kind of be his coach on the floor and just command to my teammates the same message that he’s given to me and be an extension of his mind. It’s been great.”

“He’s done a great job with all of us. He shoots it straight to us,” Davis said. “He wants to win. We want to win. So he comes to me and LeBron with a lot of questions and ideas. We give him our opinion on certain things, but we trust him. He comes in and puts the game plan together. He spends hours and hours of watching film and breaking down games and breaking schemes down to try to figure out what’s the best solution for us, what’s the best recipe for us to be successful, and he puts the right players on the floor at the right time.”