Ajaxtalk

Wie kent Cees de Wolf nog? schreef:Het is toch écht een bizarre uitslag...?

Duke schreef:Denk je? Hier zijn toch geen grote belangen mee gemoeid?

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to miss the postseason for a fifth consecutive year. Here are some things they could do to end that streak.

As you may have heard, the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention this year after losing to the Detroit Pistons on Monday 112-106. Currently, this team has won 32 games so far, which is most since the 2012-13 season when they had a 45-37 record.

Ironically, that was the last time they qualified for the postseason. Lakers legend Kobe Bryant literally carried that team to the playoffs before tearing his Achilles in the third to last game of the regular season. They would get swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round without the Black Mamba.

Since then, they have a combined record of 124-277 record in the next five seasons, including this year. The rebuilding process was longer and harder for any Lakers fans who are used to winning championships. But this season could be the turning point for this franchise. They have young and upcoming squad to be excited about led by Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart and Julius Randle (assuming they re-sign him).

They have been competitive this season against the best teams in the league like the Houston Rockets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, and took the defending champion Golden State Warriors to overtime twice. With a couple of game-changing plays, they could be in the playoffs right now. They aren’t that far away from their goal and here’s what they should do to make it happen.
https://lakeshowlife.com/2018/03/29/los ... xt-year/2/

Marillion schreef:Allebei 3-2 achter in de Conference Finals tegen respectievelijk Boston en Houston. Was denk ik voor de NBA niet slecht geweest als die andere ploegen het hadden gered. Of in ieder geval één van de twee.

I truly believe that USA could've won GOLD in the 2004 OLYMPICS...But to me they made several mistakes....
1st.....THE TEAM...
Lebron, Duncan,Wade,Carmelo,Iverson,Boozer,Stoudemire,Lamar Odom, Richard Jefferson,Shawn Marion,Stephon Marbury and Okafor.....Who ever chose this team, picked players that were finishers..The team had no reliable outside shooters...No true point guard...And only 1 center..That was Duncan...without him i think they would've won only 3 games..
2nd..THE COACH....Larry Brown is 1 of the best coaches in league history..But they should've chosen someone that knew international basketball....For 1 thing he didnt prepare his players for international style of play..Plus he did a bad job of managing minutes and using his strengths..With all the great finishers on the team.. Brown should've ran more and played an up-tempo game..Or dumped the ball inside to Duncan & Amare more often....
3rd..LACK OF OUTSIDE SHOOTING.AND ROLE PLAYERS...The team should've chosen some reliable outside shooters..Guys like Rip Hamilton or Brent Barry and Mike Miller ..Role players like Ron Artest or Sam Cassell
4th...LACK OF PREPARATION.....Most International Teams play together for years & year after year..The USA only had 2 weeks to put together a team..Putting together a team of All-Stars that might have trouble coming together as 1 and adjusting to not being the number 1 option on the team...And most of the players weren't use to international rules
5th...TEAM PLAYED NO DEFENSE.....They made journeyman bench player Carlos Arroyo look like a Hall of Famer..ENUFF SAID
6th..SAFETY & SECURITY...After 9/11 the world became aware of terrorists and their attacks...And with the game being playing in a foreign country..Several top players were concern about their safety..All-Stars like McGrady, Chris Webber,Paul Pierce,Reggie Miller & Mike Bibby refused to go there...
7th...NO POINT GUARD..Even though Iverson & Marbury had played point guard..They were shoot 1st point guards..On a collection of all-star type players u need pass 1st guards that would keep players happy..Why didnt they add a college point guard future All-Stars Chris Paul or Deron Williams?
8th..STARS INJURED..The majority of the superstars who had participated in international games turned down invitations becuz of injuries....Players like..Shaq,Karl Malone & Jermaine O'Neal & Jason Kidd..While players like Garnett, Ray Allen & Vince Carter turned down invites ,becuz they were getting married that summer...
9th..LEBRON, CARMELO & WADE...Should've been giving more playing time...These 3 emerging superstars had just finished sensational rookie campaigns..Today some might say they're 3 of the best 4 players in the league..Anthony was the team leading scorer and dominated the preliminary rounds..But coach Brown sat him during the olympics.Brown gave those minutes to veterans Jefferson & Odom..When they could've used Melo's all around offensive game...Lebron was the best passer & playmaker on the team..There were some games during the olympics that Lebron dominated in the 1st half of some games..But for some strange reason..Coach Brown didnt let him play in the 2nd half...The team seem to play together when he was on the floor..While Wade was given a few more minutes than lebron & melo he didnt have the complete all around game that he does now.....
10..KOBE DIDN'T PLAY..The team could've used his competitive spirit ..But Kobe had his trial for sexual assault that same month..

Magic Johnson’s time with the Los Angeles Lakers is done.
Johnson abruptly stepped down as the organization’s president of basketball operations on Tuesday night, less than two hours before the Lakers’ regular-season finale against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Staples Center.
“I had more fun when I was able to be the big brother and the ambassador to everybody,” Johnson said.
The 59-year-old said he officially made up his mind on Tuesday to step down, but that a lot of factors went into the decision.
Johnson said that the rules regarding tampering in the NBA was a big issue for him. One example he gave during his announcement was that he couldn’t congratulate Russell Westbrook when he dropped 20-20-20 last week, or that he couldn’t congratulate Dwyane Wade publicly in his home finale.
“That was a great feat the other day, and I couldn’t even tweet it out and say, ‘Hey, congratulations man,’” Johnson said. “If I had did that, everybody would have been, ‘Oh he’s tampering!’ I don’t like that. I like to be free.
“I got a great life. I was like, ‘Damn I have a great life outside of this. What am I doing? You know, I have a beautiful life.’
“I’m going to go back to that beautiful life. I’m looking forward to it.”
Johnson, who played 13 seasons for the Lakers, was hired as the president of basketball operations in February 2017.