Watching SGA is just a gross style of basketball. Trying to draw cheap fouls so he can live at the free throw line.
NBA: *** 2025-26 NBA Thread ***
- Thread starter BigJCy
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This isn’t true. The Lakers were 18th/30 in defensive efficiency this year. The only playoff team worse than them was Denver (and Denver was awful).
The Lakers cannot continue to throw out both Reaves and Luka and a 40+ year old LeBron out there consistently. Especially with only Ayton in the back end to help
Did you see Luka basically carry the Mavs to the finals a few years back? He usually steps it up in the playoffs and I just thought it would have been interesting to see. OKC would probably still win, but it would have been a better series to watch.
“Carry them” is a stretch. He also had Kyrie Irving and a good front court to mask his defensive deficiencies. He’s also a mental case and fouled out in true meltdown fashion during the game 3 loss that sealed the series. Outside of the meaningless Game 4 win where he was +30, he was -23 in that series.
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Listen, I'm not trying to say they are anywhere near a great defensive team but they were decidedly average over the course of the year. When they were fully healthy they were a tick better as well, largely because of Marcus Smart. They are also 4th in DRtg in the playoffs so far, so clearly they are competing at a high level on the defensive end, but can't score.
The Luka hate is just a bit comical at this point in NBA fans. His supporting cast was trash in Games 1 and 2 of that finals and the Game 3 you're trying to pin on him he was +9.
Taking away Game 4, what did the rest of his main support do... Kyrie? -36(!!!), PJ Washington? -39 (!!!), Gafford? -28, Lively? -29. So yeah he had Kyrie, but he was dragging the majority of the weight. Also Daniel Gafford should worship Luka. He cashed in big time on the back of Luka spoon feeding him dunks and making him look like a good big.
I don’t hate Luka. I’m just saying that you can have him or LeBron on a team but not both. They both need the ball and are both defensive liabilities. Assuming LeBron moves on after this year I think they’ll be a better team if they can fill that role with someone that works better with Luka’s skill set.
I could rebut your points (and you make a good argument with the other players’ plus/minuses in the 2024 NBA finals), like the fact that Luka didn’t play in the Houston series so what does that say about his D that Lakers are 4th in D ratings in the postseason. But rather than go tit for tat, I’ll admit I don’t like Luka’s game.
He requires a very high usage rate and defensive specialists around him to be successful. There’s a ceiling on the level of success a team can have with that type of player (see James Harden).
He is the equivalent of Caitlin Clark. A great player - top 10 in the league - (top 5 in Clark’s case probably). But simultaneously overrated with on-court attitude problems.
Pistons home games have had the worst environments all postseason. Very flat comparatively to others. I would think they'd be hungry after years of not being in contention.
So they're better in their current form without Luka? That's a take.
Not better at all. But as they’d get swept with or without Luka, why rush him back? Just take the L and move into the offseason with a goal to get him healthy and build a team to complement his skills going forward. That probably doesn’t include LeBron.
Just stopping in to remind again that the way OKC gets officiated is an absolute joke. Small market team with one of the best players in the league should be loved by fans but that style of play, and NBA refusal to improve the officiating, makes them so hateable. Borderline unwatchable when they can do whatever they want on defense and flop all across the court on the other end. We could have had an actual ball game and some entertainment last night if not for that horrific officiating crew
I don't see how the league can look at the game and say they are officiated the same as others. Even without internet conspiracies it is obvious the differences between OKC and everyone else.
I didn't watch last night because I can't stand watching OKC but the clips I've seen today are horrendous. Bad enough the entire Lakers team was doing a post game "conference" with the refs on the court after the game. Every time I see OKC I flash back to this soccer/Saving Private Ryan mashup vid.
I must be in minority I don't think Thunder get an egregious amount of calls. Yes they got a friendly whistle last night but i think most home teams do. I've seen them enough that i don't think it's like that every game. Lakers will most likely get a favorable whistle in game 3. Everything they're ridiculed about (flopping/creating contact )has been rampant for about a decade now. They're just better at basketball and have a ton of quality players. I think because they're a smaller market media actually goes out of their way to bring up refs more often. It was that way with Chiefs too.
I'm not complaining as much about the calls they get because flopping is rampant in the league, but it's more about the calls their opponents DONT get. It's a 100% legitimate issue. They way officials allow them to defend is wild. They are allowed so much ability to grab, hold, wrestle, etc. opposing players. I think that fact is what gets them extra grief on the other side of coin, because fans watch it and see a game being called differently depending on who has the ball.
None of this is OKC's issue by the way. They have great players, are a great team and play the way they are allowed to play. It's more Adam Silver's issue for being spineless and useless as a commissioner. Their is zero effort from the NBA to improve the officiating, get flopping addressed, etc.
The unfortunate part is that you're already going to have a target on your back as OKC in what feels like an era they will be at the top of the heap for a while. All the extra stuff here, perception or reality, are making them extra hated by lots of NBA fans.
That's why I personally hope to see, and cheer for, the Spurs against the Thunder next round (don't really think LA has any shot to come back), because San Antonio gave OKC issues in the regular season and I think they are the best matchup to take them out.
I wouldn't say it's an OKC thing as much as it is an SGA thing.
The T'wolves series last year was an insane joke. Just constantly pushing off as blatantly as possible, and not only doesn't get called for an obvious offensive foul, he gets rewarded with FT.
OKC is a good team, and they were the best team in the league last year, and probably are again. And SGA is a great player. I could even handle it if it was just a lame style of play and he flails and draws legit fouls. James Harden feeling a guy hand check him, so he quick goes up with a shot to draw a foul is bad to watch, but at least it's an actual defensive foul.
The level to which SGA initiates contact on offense in a very much illegal way and somehow ends up getting the defender a foul is really hard to watch.
It’s a little rich for The Lakers to complain about bad officiating.
Every single time SGA drives he is either pushing off far enough that he can't sell a flop or is going for the call. They're flopping into charge calls all game by defending on their heels. If anyone get brushed near the face, they're flailing like they just got sniped from the top row. Meanwhile Dort is out there like he's playing linebacker. They're grabbing jerseys and attempting murder on the defensive side with nothing getting called.
It's egregious and it's every, *******, game. It's not that they're getting the whistle every time down the floor, it's that they're searching for the whistle every time down the floor. It's terrible basketball to watch.
Not really apples to apples when their more recent runs have been fueled by absolute units like Kobe, Shaq and LeBron. LeBron has never gotten the consistent whistle like other superstars because he's a tank and plays like it.
It's pretty bizarre and inconsistent how Refs call off ball fouls. Last night they did allow a ton of bodying and holding on LeBron from Dort and Caruso next game could be different. They certainly let them play last night I'll concede on that but i don't think it's a nightly thing. Let's see how they call it on road swing. Basketball of all varieties has most lopsided officiating in terms of Home/away of any sport. Football doesn't even come close to comparing.
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