maybe he should. Or maybe he needs a sports psychologist. Something's wrong, but apparently it's not work ethic.
I think it affects effort on defense too. For the record, I saw the Orlando game and (unfortunately) missed the Rockets game. The explosion by the Magic started with about 6-7 mins left when Howard came back in.
yes, basically when they went to starters and took Pau out. Jamison and Duhon were getting murdered on rotations. If you allow 30 points in 6 minutes, you are putting yourself in a terrible position. re defensive effort --- well, the Lakers need to buckle up, then. I don't see why a team would stop defending because it gets fouled. Though again, their opponents started making runs long before hack-a-Dwight. So it's hard to blame it, if the problem starts much earlier. As a side note.. i think I said it before, but if there's hack-a-Dwight going on, why not put your best defenders in? Jordan Hill is no all-defense guy, but he'd be such an upgrade over Jamison. Darius Morris was defending much better than Duhon in most games. Your guys are getting killed defensive in the 4th, you get to a stretch where it's only hack-a-Dwight and defense, and you still keep the bad defensive unit in? I just don't get that part.
Like I said, D'antoni has got to go. He can't control any of these guys. Right now, he's just praying Nash returns and saves the day. And you know what is funny in all of this? Blaming Pau. Sure Pau isn't playing his best ball, but he's not their problem. They lost to the Magic once Pau left the court. And the same defensive problems remain last night. And today as I'm listening to ESPN LA radio, Dwight and D'antoni still insist FT shooting isn't the problem. Jesus, dumbasses. That's not a problem if you put up 28 and 12 like Shaq.
To an earlier post (heh): What will happen to the Lakers defense when Kobe, Nash & Jamison are in at the same time? It's easier said than done to "buckle up" on the effort. Repeated failure on offense has long sapped the defensive intensity of NBA teams. It doesn't help that D'Antoni is the coach. t_mac1, Nash will help the Lakers turn it around but he won't make them a championship contender. Stabbing PJ in the back and twisting the knife, then hiring D'Antoni was dumb. Lakers are stuck with him at least 2 years. If Kobe ever starts showing signs of disgust with D'Antoni, Lakers will remain a circus the entire season with or without Nash.
Somewhere, Shaq, Mike Brown, Lebron, Andrew Bynum and Phil Jackson are laughing their rich asses off :grin:
Well, their defensive issues seem to start before Dwight's free throws so far. So if they are going to blame hack-a-Dwight for their defense, they really need good mirrors to look at. re Nash --- i suspect about the same as Kobe-Duhon-Jamison, tbh.. Duhon just looks horrible. He hasn't had any athleticism for years, but he's supposed to be a smart team defender, and so far it's not showing. His D in that Magic game was just ridiculous. He's a far better offensive "D'Antoni" player than Darius Morris because Duhon moves the ball and doesn't over dribble, so I get why D'Antoni prefers him. But at least when it's hack-a-Dwight time, he has to put the better defender in.
Sounds like a bunch of excuses to me. The Lakers lost because they cannot defend and because Dwight Howard is a poor free throw shooter and a fraud alpha male.
Multiple Superstars sound great, but if there is no team chemistry it doesn't do much good. I really thought that Dwight was a lock to stay a Laker, but now I'm starting to wonder. Dwight cannot be happy at all. The thing is, Dwight couldn't get the job done in Orlando with several different casts of supporting players. And now that he is in L.A., the team is a train wreck. I think things will improve, but it looks bad right now. The pressure will be on Nash to put all the pieces together.
Its easier to get superstars to play with chemistry than to get role players to play like superstars, so LA's blueprint seems a good one to me. But if Dwight decides the pastures are greener somewhere else next season...
I hate the Lakers, but you guys better crap on them while you can, because they are about to get it all turned around.
