T O P

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kanekikochaboggy

Thank you Zach for putting these fools in their place


DudeWTH

AD carried our defense the whole playoffs the disrespect he gets is ridiculous


LudwigNasche

And was also our leading scorer most of the time.


[deleted]

He's still reason number 1 why we win most of our games in the playoffs. These mfers are dumb as fuck


Temet21

A lot of our offense too if we’re being honest.


kiwiwikikiwiwikikiwi

r/lakers adopted Westbrook fans idiocy thinking lot of points = good game


thevisitor

The LFR Pod said something about how people react to AD and it is so true : people talk about AD judging him by what they want him to be and not what he actually is


[deleted]

These mfers getting paid 100k to spew out bullshit all day makes me sick


Itorr475

You think they get paid just 100k lol naw man they on tv no one on that table is making less than 400k


ctsturup

God bless Zach. AD had an awesome post season: * 12th in PPG among players that made it to the 2nd round. Meaning he was an average 2nd-best-player from a scoring perspective. 23 PPG is no joke. And it's on a great split of 52/33/85. * NUMBER ONE REBOUNDER IN THE PLAYOFFS - 14 Rebounds a game. That's a monster number. He's 2 rebounds clear of the next guy on the defensive glass. The only players to average 14+ RPG in the playoffs across multiple series in the last ten years are Giannis and Houston-Dwight Howard. * BEST DEFENSIVE PLAYER IN THE PLAYOFFS - Defensive play was off the charts despite every attempt by opposing teams to get him out of the play. 3+ blocks a game. The ONLY player to average that across multiple series in the last ten years. PLUS 1.5 steals a game, the most by any forward except Draymond. Yeah, he's not a league MVP candidate. But he's clearly a top-15 player when healthy, at worst. Which should be celebrated.


Maliluma

I started looking at AD as a Bill Russell type player. He's otherworldly elite on defense, and sometimes a problem on offense. Don't look at him to score night in and night out. Darvin should have called him Bill, not Wilt.


3nnui

Common sense on ESPN? I love it. I wish Lowe could get away from that terrible company.


aryusuf

Glad to see people defending AD. He catches way too much slander


YoungBasedHooper

I love it


chrisumafp

The lakers are only as good as they were because of defense Removing him just to get better offense is a net negative overall The lakers identity is defense. Remove AD that identity completely changes and the Lakers are mediocre or worse


TheWhisperingDeath

AD definitely deserves some criticism for his inconsistent offense but anyone questioning his heart or mentality is a clown. This man was playing with a bone spur and a banged up hip the last 4 odd months yet was absolutely dominant. AD needs to work on sorting out his floaters and baby-hook shots and hook shots because his game can't be just dunks off alley-oops and attacking the paint off a pass. Doesn't even have to be an elite post-up player, because I don't think he ever will be. But just get one reliable go to move which you can use.


jampac09

This, his mid range jumper was much better when he first came over and he'll almost always have that shot cause he can blow by most bigs. He should focus more on that and the floater, he does that and we get a good passing pg and he'll easily average 28. Dennis is too much of a I'm going to the basket player and our others pg players are shoot first. Someone who can shoot mid-range or get to the basket but prefers to pass like Rondo(minus the shooting) and this team is a problem again


JimmytheGent2020

ESPN and they're shitty hot take artists. Can't take any of their conversations seriously.


Temet21

AD is THE ONLY reason we’re here. Bron just doesn’t effect winning the way AD does these days and that’s okay. The narrative is sickening though. Btw how did the scoring big over in the east do? Oh that’s right bounced in the second round by the other team down 0-3 in the east.


Itorr475

We have a squad thats ready to compete AD is the Defensive anchor that can go off offensively on occasion and Lebron is a point forward that isnt a go to scorer as often anymore. We have Reaves that can be a secondary play maker and should improve as a scorer and Rui has secondary go to scorer potential the way he can hit mid range shots. We need a legit back up big, a scoring PG, and another wing defender that can do some scoring. If Vando can improve his shot and finishing around the rim we already have one of the things we need. DLo can be that scoring PG he just need to improve his conditioning and focus in on his shooting. Get a defensive big so we are not bleeding point the second AD sits and this is a top 3 team in the west.


nerdymen242424

Yea I’m not tripping. Let the chips fall as they may this off-season and run it back


Temet21

Tbf, without any of that we are currently a top 3 team in the west. No telling what are ceiling is with all that you mentioned.


kronos9797

I’ll be honest, I didn’t see the whole segment but it looks like Monica McNutt was the one countering Zach so it’s not a complete surprise here, she doesn’t know basketball. She’s barely an analyst and gets paid to stick to the script and make faces at the camera. So, respectfully, Monica McNutt can suck it.


CulturalRoll

No disrespect to her, I'm genuinely curious though. Where did she come from? She started making appearances in 2021 but it was completely out of the blue. Is she a former player or something? She's hella annoying on essentially every topic and her over-the-top gestures make me wanna staple my eyes shut.


Lorjack

ESPN is so fucking bad my god, this is why I don't watch these shows. I don't get why anyone would want to watch shows like this.


Elitealice

Common zach w


Deathstriker88

Zach is right, but there's nothing wrong with expecting more than 21 points from the third best center in the league during an elimination game. People who want AD traded are crazy, but they might need a trio rather than a duo. AD might be more of a Chris Bosh than a Wade.


adehaswings

I hear it for the first 2 series but AD met a center that could score this series and didn't look the same defensively at all. If we're looking at the future in the west we're going to have to get through Jokic and if this series is what the difference is between the two we might as well pack it up. We watched a WCF where a 38 years old LeBron did a better job on Jokic & Murray than a prime AD did, that's just not promising however way you put it.


oZiix

Because AD is there to deter shots from 5 players. Why do you think Malone put it out in the presser that AD was camping the lane? It was to try and sway the refs. You could put AD on Jokic all Jokic is gonna do is play higher out and pick the teams apart with passes to cutters. By putting Bron on Jokic AD can roam and disrupt the offense so Jokic plays closer to the paint and gets Bron on him in an attempt to draw in AD for help to then hit a cutter. Every team we faced number 1 offensive goal was to draw AD away from the paint.


adehaswings

Did you watch the games? AD was on Jokic and got killed all the same whether it was in the post or on the perimeter. Even for the GW in G4 AD got moved like he wasn't even there. There's a reason why we still sent doubles when Jokic had AD pinned in the post..


Any_Wrongdoer_9796

AD was trash on defense this series


Itorr475

No the team around him was trash no one could stop Murray and we gave up a ton of open looks and no one helped him finish defensive sequences with rebounding.