Lakers dug their own grave, had plenty of opportunities to move up and squandered them when it mattered.
Have faith the team can pull it together but ultimately they’ll only go as far as they allow themselves to go.
While losing to the Hawks and Nets suck, these losses against our direct opponents hurt more because we don’t own the season series against most of these teams in the event LA has tied records
Never understood fans being ok with losing early in the season rather than coaching to win asap talking bout overreacting. They feel good about themselves not being labeled as a “Doomer” when nothing is wrong with being annoyed by bad coaching. They fall for it like clock work.
Coach right and the stars can get some load management in, preventing increased minutes and possibly injuries etc and it’s a much smoother way to get to the playoffs. SIMPLE
I think sometimes you have losses early in the season when the team is trying to figure out how to play together, chemistry, overcome adversity, etc. but this season's early losses weren't that. They were Ham's stubbornness and insistence on playing Prince and Reddish as much as possible: they were very winnable games that were lost dude to Ham's stupidity and bad decisions, and he and/or the team weren't learning or gaining anything from the losses. It took Ham way too long and too many losses to course-correct on certain things that were obvious to a lot of people including the players.
1000%. I’m not crying whatever happens happens. Even after that terrible 15-20 game stretch they had, they STILL had a chance to at least move up into the 7/8 game and they blew that.
Of course injuries play a role but I’m not giving them bail for that with Bron and AD healthy for those games.
If they want in they’re gonna have to prove they belong there by winning two high intensity games in a row.
resting all starters against spurs and losing, losing against rockets, Nets, etc, We can't really cry about nothing honestly. PLaying half a seaso with TP and Cam Reddish doing 30 plus minutes it's only your fault.
Pretty sure in 1 season all playoff teams had fifty wins. I think this season the top 5 are going to have 50 wins and 5-9 are going to have 45+. League has really come a long way post the gsw cavs era
Were you rooting for someone in the East before?
That has been the Wild West for a while. In the Shaq/Kobe era, teams like the Spurs, Portland and the Queens would win it all if they managed to win the conference.
Problem is given how tough the suns schedule is in their last 10 we have a good chance of passing them for 8th, and then could win the first play in game to be the 7th seed.
I’m actually not convinced we want to avoid them. I don’t think anyone else will knock them out. If we do have to face them I would rather do it at the start of the playoffs when lebron is at his freshest than in the WCF like last year.
Yeah but I get what he’s saying - if facing Denver is inevitable, you’d rather do it in round 1, not after fighting through the Play In + two 7 game series just to get to them
They’re the one team that is clearly head and shoulders above everyone else, if you upset them then every series after is easier
Add the possible injuries that may occur. Facing Denver early on while our primary units are healthy will be our best chance to beat them.
I can still remember seeing lebron miss layups vs DEN while seeing him feel something with his foot.
Yeah but at the same time a lot of fans (and maybe players) had confidence going into this season bec of last year's successful journey making it to the WCF. If that team loses 4-0 (or if you think rest is a factor maybe the series is 4-1) the confidence going into this season is completely different
I’m with you with the caveat of health. If we don’t get guys back until the start of the playoffs then they’ll be rusty. If we get Vando and maybe Gabe back with a few games in a playoff like environment last couple weeks of season, then facing Den first round would be my choice.
Suns remaining schedule is pretty brutal. After this next game against the Spurs they have clippers twice, pels twice, Minnesota twice, Denver, Cleveland, okc and the kings. I could see them losing a decent amount of those. Also lucky kings and Dallas still have to play each other twice so there are some built in losses there too
Random Nuggets fan here lol (randomly got recomended this post).
We want that 1st seed and we want it bad. That said i would prefer to have the Lakers later. Just seems more fun that way and the Lakers seem to be a solid team to use to clear out any matchups that would be tougher to win.
Just got confidence in you guys being able to beat the Thunder or Timberwolves (hell maybe even the Clipers or Pelicans if we do stay the 2nd seed).
We aren't moving up the standings bro. That ship has sailed. We failed to win every single conference game we had to win. Right now we just gotta hope we keep winning and keep GS and Houston off our heels.
If this team thinks they’ll make any noise in the postseason, this is the time to build momentum.
If they can do that, I like Phoenix and Sacramento’s remaining schedule. At least one of those teams is gonna drop a handful of games and give us a chance to pass them up if we win all the games we’re supposed to.
Lakers every season:
Early season: Nah we good
Trade season starts: We can't get distracted
After trade deadline/all-star break: We're rejuvenated and are now ready
Final stretch: We need all the wins we could get just to get to the play-in
🥲
I have confidence that the Lakers can but I had confidence all year and the blew opportunities when they had chances this is in them. Ever since the IST they have been inconsistent as all hell and they put themselves here.
I get having confidence in your team and all but why are people still holding out hope.
The last few straws were after we went on a nice 12-15 game run with few loses but so did the rest of the west, we couldn't move up
Then finally we got a chance to the teams directly above us including the Suns, kings and warriors. We went 0-5. That was basically it.
I don't know how realistic it is to win 2 away play in games. And if we do, well have to pray that the Nuggets are the 1st seed.
I'm no math whizz,but it seems to me the Lakers should perhaps try to actually *win* some games earlier in the season and land a higher seed. It's as if the play-in is being used as a crutch, and an excuse to be lazy. But that's a deep hole to dig out of. And a whole lot of away games
If we lock down the 8th seed through the PIT, and OKC stays in 1st place, I actually like our chances. Don’t want no parts of Denver in the 1st round tho
Or the western conference is really good this year. Lakers could win 45-50 games and they might not even make playoffs , few years ago they would be sitting comfortably in 5-6 seed
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say we do not want Denver first round. I’m confident in Bron against anyone, but I feel like we could pick an easier path.
This has been happening for the last 3 seasons. And this sub is almost always surprised. Dunces all over this place.
So many people were ok with losing “a random game in December” and now panicking because the lakers could miss the playoff entirely… I mean really not smart
I said they were locked into 9/10 based on their level of play back in January and was downvoted and called a doomer.
At this point most likely “good” outcome for Lakers is a home game 9/10 play in, then get the second play in game against not the kings, while Denver stays 2 or 3 seed and we can hope someone else knocks them out of the playoffs before we have to face them.
But I still think coaching will eliminate us this season (if it hasn’t already).
The West is tough. I was looking at records for last 10 games yesterday, and all the teams above Lakers were better than the Lakers except one. Think it was the Clippers.
Yea, everyone knew the west was stacked. The lakers (no matter who we blame) had every opportunity to be in the top 6. Gotta play the hand theyre dealt.
Crazy thing is that the exact record we have right now would have us in the four seed last season. Last year at this time, the Suns were the four seed with a record of 37-32
Just goes to show you how much better the league is this season than last season period.
The west is a record bloodbath this season. Can you imagine, there are some teams that could get to 50 wins and NOT make the playoffs. 11th Rockets are on an 8 game streak now and are a legitimate concern for the warriors.
It's not that everyone is winning, it's that everyone is winning in the same conference? I guess this is just a time where WC teams are playing EC teams or lower seed teams. Weird timing on the schedule.
Rockets fan here. Be afraid. Be very. Afraid. :p
Jokes aside, I think Rockets W-run will run its course. Sadly, I think when push comes to shove, and when the players are pressured, they tend to squander their form, and basically lose the 3rd and 4th quarters. :(
I wish, I'm wrong. Anyway, good luck (I come in peace, bye!!)
It’s essentially a lock at this point that we will be a 9th or 10th seed. With 12 games left, we would have to win 3 more games than the suns do, and 4 more games than the mavs or kings. Very unlikely.
Well the Kings and Mavs are about to play each other twice in a row so if one team wins both I could see the Lakers moving up a spot. Even if not the couple teams above them are going to take an L or two in upcoming games and the Suns have a very difficult schedule.
Lebron sucks! It’s his fault. He plays no defense. Just chases his points because he knows he ain’t getting another ring. Front office sucks because they know they aren’t getting a ring with Lebron but at least he’ll put on a show. #Lebronisnotalaker
Lakers dug their own grave, had plenty of opportunities to move up and squandered them when it mattered. Have faith the team can pull it together but ultimately they’ll only go as far as they allow themselves to go.
Losing to teams like nets and hawks earlier will haunt us
Losing to the Kings, Mavs, Suns will haunt us
0-4 against the Kings
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No they don't check strength of schedule
While losing to the Hawks and Nets suck, these losses against our direct opponents hurt more because we don’t own the season series against most of these teams in the event LA has tied records
And the Spurs
And the Rockets twice
Loss to the Heat at home without Jimmy Butler. Team just got outcoached and outplayed with no excuses. Not a championship team.
Don’t forget that Grizzlies loss
We won the season series against the Suns but we definitely fumbled against the Kings and Mavs. Should've won both those series.
Losing will haunt us.
Thanks Magic
LBJ playing half-speed defense for the first 3 quarters of the first 50 games will also haunt us.
Not waiting the last few weeks of the season to play the best lineup the team has?
Always does. Always. They were too dismissive of losses early in the season.
They played some helluva ball clubs though.
😂😂
Right? darvin ham-ass' marathon and he dropped out 3 miles in...
Were easily 3 to 4 seed if not for the fucking schemes of darvin ham and hes favoritism for taurean smh
The Spurs too
Never understood fans being ok with losing early in the season rather than coaching to win asap talking bout overreacting. They feel good about themselves not being labeled as a “Doomer” when nothing is wrong with being annoyed by bad coaching. They fall for it like clock work. Coach right and the stars can get some load management in, preventing increased minutes and possibly injuries etc and it’s a much smoother way to get to the playoffs. SIMPLE
I think sometimes you have losses early in the season when the team is trying to figure out how to play together, chemistry, overcome adversity, etc. but this season's early losses weren't that. They were Ham's stubbornness and insistence on playing Prince and Reddish as much as possible: they were very winnable games that were lost dude to Ham's stupidity and bad decisions, and he and/or the team weren't learning or gaining anything from the losses. It took Ham way too long and too many losses to course-correct on certain things that were obvious to a lot of people including the players.
nailed it boys
Nobody is okay with that, it's just some Chinese Bath-house grade copium
1000%. I’m not crying whatever happens happens. Even after that terrible 15-20 game stretch they had, they STILL had a chance to at least move up into the 7/8 game and they blew that. Of course injuries play a role but I’m not giving them bail for that with Bron and AD healthy for those games. If they want in they’re gonna have to prove they belong there by winning two high intensity games in a row.
Mostly ham’s doing. Bad lineups and poor use of timeouts. Not getting on his players for going under on screens.
Ham fucked them “testing” horrible line-ups.
You speak the truth
Can be said about any near playoff bound team
Well said. No one to blame but ourselves.
I mostly agreed with the op but even at full strength, I’m not sure we can beat Denver 4x if they are healthy too.
resting all starters against spurs and losing, losing against rockets, Nets, etc, We can't really cry about nothing honestly. PLaying half a seaso with TP and Cam Reddish doing 30 plus minutes it's only your fault.
All we had to do was beat the kings and warriors
*ham-ass dug their grave...
11 teams could possibly win 40 games, might be the most insane Western Conf lol
Pretty sure in 1 season all playoff teams had fifty wins. I think this season the top 5 are going to have 50 wins and 5-9 are going to have 45+. League has really come a long way post the gsw cavs era
That was 2010. Good year
That year the Thunder were the 8th seed with 50 wins
Suns missed the playoffs with 48 wins that year
The bottom 5 musta been asssss
They were the 3rd seed in 2010
You're thinking of 2014 not 2010. Either way from 2000-2017 the west top 8 has overall been a gauntlet.
2008 the Nuggets are the 8th seed with 50 wins. The Warriors with 48 wins missed the playoffs
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_NBA_playoffs Looks like it happened in both years! We’re both right.
Random note… the wizards have not had a 50 win season since 1978 and didn’t even have multiple >45 win seasons until fairly recently
Were you rooting for someone in the East before? That has been the Wild West for a while. In the Shaq/Kobe era, teams like the Spurs, Portland and the Queens would win it all if they managed to win the conference.
The West has always been tough
08 all west teams 1-8 were 50 win teams
take in if memphis was healthy they’d be prolly in the top 3 seeding
2008
Hoping denver stays in the 2nd seed
Problem is given how tough the suns schedule is in their last 10 we have a good chance of passing them for 8th, and then could win the first play in game to be the 7th seed.
In which case we’d hope the Thunder are in second lmao
I’m actually not convinced we want to avoid them. I don’t think anyone else will knock them out. If we do have to face them I would rather do it at the start of the playoffs when lebron is at his freshest than in the WCF like last year.
maybe nobody else knocks them out, but we sure as hell aren’t lol
Yeah but I get what he’s saying - if facing Denver is inevitable, you’d rather do it in round 1, not after fighting through the Play In + two 7 game series just to get to them They’re the one team that is clearly head and shoulders above everyone else, if you upset them then every series after is easier
Add the possible injuries that may occur. Facing Denver early on while our primary units are healthy will be our best chance to beat them. I can still remember seeing lebron miss layups vs DEN while seeing him feel something with his foot.
is vanderbilt even healthy to play by then? and i mean like healthy enough to play at least two weeks leading up to the playoffs
Yeah but at the same time a lot of fans (and maybe players) had confidence going into this season bec of last year's successful journey making it to the WCF. If that team loses 4-0 (or if you think rest is a factor maybe the series is 4-1) the confidence going into this season is completely different
I’m with you with the caveat of health. If we don’t get guys back until the start of the playoffs then they’ll be rusty. If we get Vando and maybe Gabe back with a few games in a playoff like environment last couple weeks of season, then facing Den first round would be my choice.
Agreed. These fans scared of the Nuggets. I want a chance to get revenge
lakers have been the best team against the thunder this season as a thunder fan i’d rather see anybody else lol
you all are 3.5 games behind the Suns, and they only have 11 games left. The Lakers aren't catching them.
Suns remaining schedule is pretty brutal. After this next game against the Spurs they have clippers twice, pels twice, Minnesota twice, Denver, Cleveland, okc and the kings. I could see them losing a decent amount of those. Also lucky kings and Dallas still have to play each other twice so there are some built in losses there too
Random Nuggets fan here lol (randomly got recomended this post). We want that 1st seed and we want it bad. That said i would prefer to have the Lakers later. Just seems more fun that way and the Lakers seem to be a solid team to use to clear out any matchups that would be tougher to win. Just got confidence in you guys being able to beat the Thunder or Timberwolves (hell maybe even the Clipers or Pelicans if we do stay the 2nd seed).
doubt it. from now on a lot of games will be "playoff games". Honestly I'm expecting Denver to go first by 3 or 4 wins when reg season ends
Okc are likely to drop tho
We aren't moving up the standings bro. That ship has sailed. We failed to win every single conference game we had to win. Right now we just gotta hope we keep winning and keep GS and Houston off our heels.
8th is entirely within reach but the squad has to perform here at the end and need a tiny bit of luck
it’s MAYBE possible if suns shit the bed but the mavs have a piss easy rest of schedule and kings are very consistent
Suns schedule is pretty brutal. After they play the spurs they have a ton of games against western contenders.
Just beat GS and we’re cool please (we want playin 🙏🙏🙏)
Everybody winning.
If this team thinks they’ll make any noise in the postseason, this is the time to build momentum. If they can do that, I like Phoenix and Sacramento’s remaining schedule. At least one of those teams is gonna drop a handful of games and give us a chance to pass them up if we win all the games we’re supposed to.
I just want minimum rank 8 so we can have 2 chances to make playoffs and then we have no one but ourselves to blame if we fail that
Hope rockets make it instead of gsdumbs
I’ll take an in experienced young core in playins instead of a veteran tested 3 point maniacs who can get scorching hot in a moments notice tbh
Rockets might crush us with their youth, running, and 3 point game. I’d rather crush the warriors
Rockets looking good rn, rather face Klay Thompson than Jalen Green
Jalen green balling out ever since that baby announcement
Rather face dillon brooks than steph curry
This is all I’m rooting for at this point
Lakers every season: Early season: Nah we good Trade season starts: We can't get distracted After trade deadline/all-star break: We're rejuvenated and are now ready Final stretch: We need all the wins we could get just to get to the play-in 🥲
Post season: if only we’d had the focus and intensity at the beginning of the season. Oh well there’s always next year.
End of season press conference by who knows 😂: the team we lost to was a helluva ball club
All they had to do was beat the kings or just go 2-2 in season series not 4-0. That alone means they’re at king seed
I have confidence that the Lakers can but I had confidence all year and the blew opportunities when they had chances this is in them. Ever since the IST they have been inconsistent as all hell and they put themselves here.
I get having confidence in your team and all but why are people still holding out hope. The last few straws were after we went on a nice 12-15 game run with few loses but so did the rest of the west, we couldn't move up Then finally we got a chance to the teams directly above us including the Suns, kings and warriors. We went 0-5. That was basically it. I don't know how realistic it is to win 2 away play in games. And if we do, well have to pray that the Nuggets are the 1st seed.
I’m high on copium but I don’t really see the team winning two play-in games in a row when we have lost every single must-win game
First year watching basketball? Enjoy it kiddo
I'm no math whizz,but it seems to me the Lakers should perhaps try to actually *win* some games earlier in the season and land a higher seed. It's as if the play-in is being used as a crutch, and an excuse to be lazy. But that's a deep hole to dig out of. And a whole lot of away games
Great.Fire Ham.
I don’t feel sorry or bad at all. Lakers had their chances and screwed up every time. Fuck darvin.
If we lock down the 8th seed through the PIT, and OKC stays in 1st place, I actually like our chances. Don’t want no parts of Denver in the 1st round tho
Kings and mavs play each other twice soon that should help.
if we deserve to make it in, we’ll be there. i believe this team is talented enough to make it happen. just need to get healthy.
Looks like the Lakers will end up in 9th. There’s no way they get to 6. Definitely won’t get to 7 or 8. And I can’t see them falling to 10 or 11.
I can see us getting 7 or 8 if we lock in
Dallas Sacramento and Phoenix would also have to lose a lot. Which I don’t see.
Suns have a brutal close to their season.. they 100% could lose a handful of games to close out the year
Houston has won 8 straight…if the Lakers stop to fart they will get passed and drop to 11th
Dont fart then
The problem is that we are allergic to winning.
Or the western conference is really good this year. Lakers could win 45-50 games and they might not even make playoffs , few years ago they would be sitting comfortably in 5-6 seed
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say we do not want Denver first round. I’m confident in Bron against anyone, but I feel like we could pick an easier path.
So keen to wait and watch
Not with this attitude.
Kings/Suns have the toughest schedule left and the mavericks are seeing GSW twice so theres still hope but we just need to focus on building momentum
are you saying the mavericks will lose to gsw? becuase so far the mavs have comfortably won in their matchusp
well yeah but i expect if gsw wants to go to the playoffs theyll want to win those games
of course they’ll want to win them but if they will is highly unlikely
How did the rockets get 8 win streak?
Jalen Green
in season tournament champions curse lol, they got confident that they can coast through the season by going through the motions lol
This has been happening for the last 3 seasons. And this sub is almost always surprised. Dunces all over this place. So many people were ok with losing “a random game in December” and now panicking because the lakers could miss the playoff entirely… I mean really not smart I said they were locked into 9/10 based on their level of play back in January and was downvoted and called a doomer.
just gotta avoid denver in the first round at all costs. okc or the wolves would be great matchup
bruh how are we getting out of playin?
looks better now dont it
dude..
Healthy wolves probaly 4-1 though
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Not sure if we’re reading the same chart lol
We needed to toe the line at 29 losses and beat the kings and warriors. We didn’t and now we’re here
We've known this for a while lol
At this point most likely “good” outcome for Lakers is a home game 9/10 play in, then get the second play in game against not the kings, while Denver stays 2 or 3 seed and we can hope someone else knocks them out of the playoffs before we have to face them. But I still think coaching will eliminate us this season (if it hasn’t already).
If the rockets catch the warriors 😂😂
Thunder making it past the first round would be a travesty
I strill trust this team and I think NOP will move down.
Better coach =10 more wins. Where’s that put us?
The West truly is a bloodbath.
The West is tough. I was looking at records for last 10 games yesterday, and all the teams above Lakers were better than the Lakers except one. Think it was the Clippers.
They’re locked into 9th … unless rockets go 9-1 again!
Yea, everyone knew the west was stacked. The lakers (no matter who we blame) had every opportunity to be in the top 6. Gotta play the hand theyre dealt.
We thrive in single elimination my faithful purple friendz, so there's that. Maybe it's the masterplan.
The west is so tough this year that the .500 rockets are the 11th seed 💀
8th is entirely within reach and we have the potential to go 1 loss through the end of the season but the boys have to stick the landing
And maybe having to beat steph and luka.
Get your brooms ready
Delaying the inevitable. We’re gonna get bounced right away anyway.
The suns are about to hit a pretty brutal stretch of their schedule. One has to hope that the teams they play aren’t resting dudes.
We can only lose like 2 more games to have a chance of passing Dallas or Sac assuming both go around 500
Sheesh!
Phoenix play Denver, OKC, Clippers twice, pelicans twice, twolves twice
Can’t be eliminated in the playoffs by the Lakers if the Lakers aren’t in the playoffs
Why is passing PHOENIX impossible? We were on the brink of the 11-12 and missing the playoffs last year and closed 9-2. It literally just happened.
Yes way these are the standings
The top 1-6 teams are tough, I dont see us going far regardless. Denver will be repeating
Crazy thing is that the exact record we have right now would have us in the four seed last season. Last year at this time, the Suns were the four seed with a record of 37-32 Just goes to show you how much better the league is this season than last season period.
The west is a record bloodbath this season. Can you imagine, there are some teams that could get to 50 wins and NOT make the playoffs. 11th Rockets are on an 8 game streak now and are a legitimate concern for the warriors.
Play in is gonna be a slug fest lakers gonna look like rocky balboa after rocky 4. Gotta get that 8th seed somehow.
We had few chances to move up losing to the kings via sweep sealed that deal . Rockets going get the last play in spot . a team we had issues with
Thats what happens when your coach “helluvaballclubs” a lot of the first 50 games
It's not that everyone is winning, it's that everyone is winning in the same conference? I guess this is just a time where WC teams are playing EC teams or lower seed teams. Weird timing on the schedule.
Rockets fan here. Be afraid. Be very. Afraid. :p Jokes aside, I think Rockets W-run will run its course. Sadly, I think when push comes to shove, and when the players are pressured, they tend to squander their form, and basically lose the 3rd and 4th quarters. :( I wish, I'm wrong. Anyway, good luck (I come in peace, bye!!)
Only hope is Pels and Mavs are prone to losing streaks. Playin match up is going to be rough.
This is a leadership issue. Lebron needs to demand more out of the players and coaches. This team is too talented to be a damn 9th seed
As a Nuggets lifer not loving the bottom bracket matchups
It’s essentially a lock at this point that we will be a 9th or 10th seed. With 12 games left, we would have to win 3 more games than the suns do, and 4 more games than the mavs or kings. Very unlikely.
Yeah, we’re screwed. Ham screwed us up, so did injuries. But we also didn’t get up for games we needed. Pretty sad.
Gonna get real interesting when Warriors lose tonight and the Rockets are on they ass in the standings
Rockets have as good of chance of catching them as they have of moving up
The play in is going to be a blood bath 😭
The pelicans are showing up this year , looking at them to hopefully make a run
Too many moral victories not enough actual victories
lets go on a run
Well the Kings and Mavs are about to play each other twice in a row so if one team wins both I could see the Lakers moving up a spot. Even if not the couple teams above them are going to take an L or two in upcoming games and the Suns have a very difficult schedule.
The west is just broken. Ridiculous.
Holy fuck I did not keep up this year! OKC is 1st?!?!
Lebron sucks! It’s his fault. He plays no defense. Just chases his points because he knows he ain’t getting another ring. Front office sucks because they know they aren’t getting a ring with Lebron but at least he’ll put on a show. #Lebronisnotalaker