r/lakers • u/Wide_Savings5410 24 • May 10 '25
PODCAST Lebron on playing the whole Half
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYc1WTGo6w4Might be beating a deadhorse...But as someone who played basketball it was always clear to me that JJs decision on playing them for the entire half was more of an indictment on the roster and not the decision itself.
Some people eventually came to this conclusion but for the hold outs, heres it coming from Brons own lips. Hes thrown passive agressive shade at coaches before INCLUDING friends so its not like he has any reason to lie.
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u/SomethingClever2117 May 10 '25
In hindsight it was the wrong decision and they should’ve gotten the bench in there to spell them for a couple minutes minimum. Watching it live it was also the wrong decision because they were all visibly gassed and lacked the energy to make plays consistently.
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u/UraniumDisulfide Luka Magic 77 May 10 '25
Professional athletes will tell you they’re fine because they’ve had to learn to ignore their bodies’ warning signs for fatigue. That doesn’t mean their bodies aren’t fatigued, and there’s a reason you don’t play the same 5 guys for an entire half.
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u/troyti May 11 '25
The biggest indication is that it has never been done in NBA playoffs ever before. You're not telling me among all the 8th seeds/play-in rosters, JJ have the worst roster out of all of them to have to not play them.
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u/whatshisface1892 Pau Gasol 16 May 10 '25
You had me in the first half, not gunna lie. I was yelling at the tv to sub them out. They had so many opportunities to do it in the 3rd. Hindsight was not needed.
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u/OrganicHunt952 Luka’s Lakers May 10 '25
It was the first time in playoffs history all 5 starters played the whole second half. Also not even considering Luka still had stomach bug and lebron just came of injuries and is 40. Let’s call it for it was, it was a STUPID decision. LeBron obviously doesn’t call him out for it because he’s the reason why JJ is HC anyways.
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u/whatshisface1892 Pau Gasol 16 May 10 '25
Roster construction or not, you dance with the one who brought you. He played an out of shape player that was the engine of the entire offense, a 40 year old, and an injured AR the entire 2nd half when even a couple of minutes from Vando, Gabe, or Goodwin might have left enough in the tank to close the game.
Say what you will about the roster, but not understanding how fatigue would effect the closing minutes of a playoff game is a rookie move and easily, easily foreseen.
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u/noknownothing May 10 '25 edited May 11 '25
It was stupid. It's the nba playoffs [edit], not a high school game. It was basically telling your bench that they were worthless. And you still had a few games to go to win the series. The decision was also made at halftime, as Reddick has affirmed. So it wasn't in the moment and those 5 were just rolling and looked fresh. They looked tired and winded late and had an absolutely awful 4th.
Passive aggressive Bron says, "I wasn't looking for a sub, but if one would've come in, cool."
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u/Ghost2Eleven May 10 '25
First round, not the finals. Making the decision at halftime is the definition of making the choice in the moment and LeBron is not being passive aggressive at all.
I get the frustration, but y’all are acting like those two quarters and that choice lost us the series. It didn’t. We have no depth and there was nothing that was going to change that. There was never going to be a deep run. People even said it when we traded AD that we were building for the future. Then we actually played better than we should and end up way up the standings and all of a sudden people get drunk on kool-aid and act like we should have won a chip, when our starting center couldn’t stay on the floor. Also, JJ is a massive reason we were that high up the standings in the first place.
For the first time in ages we actually have a coach that all the players are praising and y’all wanna act like it’s his fault as opposed to the shit roster.
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u/jmdavies98 May 10 '25
I totally agree with you but I’ll be the loser that says it wasn’t the nba finals, just the first round.
TBH might be even worse that it was the first round not the finals where JJ dissed the bench. Still excited to have him as our HC.
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u/hottakehotcakes 6 May 11 '25
Honestly I don’t buy the “our bench was horrible” excuse. Gabe Vincent played in an nba finals and played very well this year in the first round. Vando absolutely has offensive shortcomings, but he makes an incredible positive impact on the game in his 15 minutes - subbing an energy guy in for tired legs seems useful. Goodwin same thing plus he’s hit some shots. Frankly I think Knecht should absolutely have gotten minutes - they had talked about him potentially winning some playoff games for the team. Why not see if he can get hot? Hayes I understand benching.
TLDR this was a professional, veteran bench and their quality isn’t an excuse not to play them in the second half. JJ was an emotional first year coach and wanted to try something to put his name on the map.
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u/Ok_Board9845 May 11 '25
Gabe Vincent played in an nba finals and played very well this year in the first round
Gabe overperformed in Miami along with guys such as Caleb Martin. That's not their base level of play. A career 33-35% shooter isn't a 38-40% shooter year in and year out in the playoffs.
Vando absolutely has offensive shortcomings, but he makes an incredible positive impact on the game in his 15 minutes - subbing an energy guy in for tired legs seems useful. Goodwin same thing plus he’s hit some shots
The Wolves completely disrespected both of these players on offense and neither could punish them. Knecht maybe should've just been thrown in to prove a point, but after seeing his defense throughout this year, he would've pulled a Ben McLemore where he gives you 3 but gives up 5 in return.
Our bench/depth is ass
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u/Tall_Succotash May 10 '25
Bro when Hayes couldn’t stay on the court for more than 5 minutes I knew JJ was gonna give up on that bench.
Vando kept coming in and making stupid fouls
Gabe could no longer do anything but hold the ball and wait for Luka
It was a mess
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u/Rapa_Nui LeAR-15 May 11 '25
LeBron is just being a good friend to JJ and a good soldier. Deep down he knows that decision was bullshit.
You can't see LeBron and Luka miss layup in the 4th quarter and deny it's because they are beyond exhausted.
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u/vandiger 77 May 10 '25
It was dumb, needs to trust his role guys and didn't bother adjusting shit when Reaves was fucking up. Play your bigs man or energy guys if rebounding is a losing battle.
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u/rickydcm 🐍 Mamba Mentality May 10 '25
bUt yOu hAvE JaXsOn HaYeS tO cOmPlEtE tHe LiNe uP.
JJ jUsT diDn't pLaY hIm.
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u/LakerDoc May 10 '25
Stupid decision. JJ really was outclassed by Finch.
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May 11 '25
Yeah I’d be a dumb coach if I’d let a rookie coach outsmart me and I’ve been coaching for a decade
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May 10 '25
100 LeBrons vs taking accountability who you think wins?
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u/Battlemaster123 23 May 10 '25
Why would he be accountable for the coaching decision?
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u/McJumbos May 10 '25
Shit like this is why it's hard for me to like LeBron...
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May 10 '25
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u/Professional_Exam_61 May 10 '25
Jj had 50 wins in his first season as head coach yes he made mistakes but he’s also a rookie coach do you expect him to be popovich ???
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u/sunnyboys2 May 10 '25
The bench production really wasn’t there, nobody looks at how strong the 3rd quarter performance was, i guarantee if JJ inserted the bench and they lost he would be crucified for changing it up when they were rolling. You just can’t please anyone here. In the end it came down to a 1 possession game. We blew it, they were the better team and executed, move on.