I appreciate the praise, but could it be that I'm just a knowledgeable jerk? Have you considered that? Like I know a ton about basketball but I'm kind of a dick about it? Actually in all seriousness, you'll find I'm only hostile to certain things. Ad hominems and namecalling from other posters, people pretending they have any idea what they're talking about when they try to make coaching distinctions using information they couldn't possibly have access to, etc. It's a short list.
Mike Brown is gone.. this has nothing to do with Mike Brown anymore.. We can see it wasn't his fault as they used him as the main scapegoat. Truthfully the players didn't like him, especially Kobe. From what we saw in the preseason, they weren't that great either even with Nash, but people kept saying, preseason doesn't mean anything. Duhon isn't running the team, Kobe is. Everybody knows that. Mike Dantoni has a system that he will not budge from, and even though it hasn't produced him any rings, he won't change it anyway. He's not a leader, and it's evident. He's also halfway clamped down to a box because he can't risk being the reason Dwight doens't re-sign and he can't risk getting the death stare either, so he lets Kobe shoot his team out of games, and he lets Dwight stay in late even if his ft numbers are atrocious We just keep hearing the same stuff everyday. Oh wait for Nash, Oh they aren't healthy... Well most teams aren't 100% so that's no excuse, and Nash is basically the excuse for them to put up even more shots, but he's not a defensive hero. What's telling about this team is their inconsistency. That's a bad bad sign, not points, not assists, but how bad they've been, how awful their road record is, and how they have a losing record to teams that actually have decent squads.
A_3PO brought up Mike Brown as a trolling point for Lakers fans, not me. And you seem to be undervaluing the importance of a coach being liked and respected by his own players. Oh, you mean when they were playing under Mike Brown? So you DO think those games are important now? Which is it? I don't know what you think "running the team" means, but it sounds like from context that you think it means advancing the ball past half court and initiating the offense. In which case, you're dead wrong. Chris Duhon was handling the basketball a lot last night. Too much, considering he is Chris Duhon. He even notched 11 assists! Note that this doesn't change the fact that Duhon-Morris is easily the worst point guard rotation in all of NBA basketball right now, and it's not close. I'm curious, what do you know about Mike D'Antoni's system, other than it exists as an either much praised or much criticized thing in basketball circles? Are you at this point in your understanding of that system where you are able to differentiate, on the court, between things that are a part of it and things that are not, in order to actually inform your criticisms (or praise) of it?
^lol at this point phil would be demanding 3x salary & ownership shares if the Lakers would even agree to look that bad, firing yet another coach so early.
Didn't Bickerstaff, the assistant coach have the highest winning percentage with the Lakers this season of the 3 head coaches they've technically had?
I know a coach needs to be respected, but Mike Brown was still a scapegoat, the same as Gasol became as soon as he was gone. I don't think preseason games are unimportant, I'm just telling you what the excuse from lakers fans were... It was just that, an excuse. Duhon hasn't been bringing the ball up the court all the time every game is the point. Kobe has been doing it ALOT, and either turning the ball over, or jacking up shots at the like of Bad Russ What do you want me to say about DAntoni's system besides he hasn't won a ring with it yet? Without certain players it flops, it flopped in NY, and now it's flopping again in LA. The Pick and Roll part of it is a staple of basketball period, so again to say they can't run that now is an excuse. What Mike's issue is, when a player doesn't adjust to what he wants, he sits them, or trys to trade them. In the dog house Jordan Hill was a recipient of that in NY and here also until Gasol went down injured. They dont have enough corner shooters to cover the pick right now if it fails the ballhandler or the roll man, and even then Kobe has decided that he's going to expend ALL of his energy to take as many shots as he wants and continue to ignore defense.
Offense is the problem? They need Nash? Really guys. Maybe with Nash they would gel better together but their defense will be MUCH worse. Steve couldn't guard at the age of 30 and he's 39 now. They seem to play fine offensivly, having no problem scoring more than 100 pts a game. Hiring D'Antoni was a big mistake. Gasol is not a problem when they're scoring 110 pts a game. The problem is when the opponent scores 120 and that seems to be normal as for now for the 'Lake show'. They don't fit together and they have no defense on the perimeter which is connected with their age, especially with Bryant declining bit time in that aspect of the game. He's a poor defender now, just doesn't have that same quickness.
LOL@ Kobe taking 30 shots and Dwight consistently getting shots in the single digit category Its just something wrong with that picture though on the offense
Absolutely. Lakers fans are almost as bad as Knicks fans when it comes to the blame game. If it helps any, the Lakers' pitiful preseason performances under Mike Brown, running the Princeton offense, helped contribute to getting Brown fired. It was meaningful in the sense while it was unimportant who won or lost those preseason games, the product out on the floor was still garbage. Again, apples, oranges, and the legacy of a coach who is no longer with the team. Literally all the time? No, the shooting guard for the Lakers will occasionally advance the ball and initiate the offense as well--just like on every other NBA team ever. I think you're arguing semantics here. There's so much more to it than that. Watch this video (I'm not awesome enough to know how to embed them): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ga49vPn2ao That's just for starters. Notice how the onus is always on the point guard to make the right decisions, perhaps more so than in any other system? And so what do you think happens if that point guard is a goober like Chris Duhon instead of a hall of fame stud like Steve Nash? Exactly.
yeah, but i doubt it's sustainable. more likely the typical "the coach got fired" energy boost. he didn't really teach them anything, rotations were odd, they just played with high intensity. If they had that same intensity right now, they'd be winning.
Dwight gets fouled a lot when he catches the ball and attempts shots in the post. So, if you look at his "usage rate," which accounts for possessions that ends up with an official FGA, FTs or TOs, he's getting quite a few touches.
offense is not the main problem, but Nash should make it even better. Their defense won't get much worse, because there isn't much room to drop. Also, it seems like Dwight needs the offensive touches to play at that DPOY level on the other end. Right now he's just not running that hard. Nash might actually upgrade their D if he gets Dwight engaged.
Im not arguing at all to be honest with you. Its not just any SG here its Kobe who has been doing his best impersonation of bad russ, and as a matter of fact Morris was starting for awhile not Duhon. Sure the PG needs to do this and that, but don't you think its a sad shame that this team can't even reach .500 If I told you a year ago that the Lakers would be sub .500 with Kobe and Dwight Howard on the team, would you believe me? Freaking Tracy McGrady did better than that in ORL with sucky Tyron Lue running the point. What im getting down to is that its all an excuse. Smuch Parker, Derek Fisher, Ramon Session, Duhon, whoever it is..... One man being the blame for them having this record is a pathetic excuse. Basketball should never be about one guy..what if Nash has pain for the rest of the year? Do you think you can get a fracture in your leg and come back swinging like a 28 year old for a season? If this man can't make an adjustment, what does that say about him? He should just give Nash his paychecks then right, becuase he's a phony.
You know what. I took a look at the Lakers' team stats among the league-wide numbers. http://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2013.html They are doing fine at everything crucial category that usually indicates where the problems are. They are above average in ORtg, eFG%, ORB%, DRB%. They are right at the league average in DRtg. So their offensive efficiency is pretty good. Their defensive efficiency is average. Their shooting is good. Their rebounding is sound. So what's wrong? One thing they are almost dead last: turnovers. They are 29th in coughing up TOs, and 27 in causing TOs on defense.
Interesting to note Dwight's shot attempts. In Orlando his career high in shot attempts was 13.4 per game. He's currently getting 11.4 (which is higher than many of his seasons in Orlando). Since D'Antoni took over, he's at 12 per game (so more than his season average). He's never been a great passer out of the post to the open 3 point shooter (this despite having 4 guys standing around on the perimeter waiting for him to find them) - in fact he's averaging a career high in assists this season. Sure, he's probably got a slightly lower usage rate this season, but it wouldn't be astronomical. In terms of defence, once again he's having a stellar shot-blocking season, but to make the most of that requires his team-mates buying in to a 'funnel' system where they send the traffic towards him and ask him to 'anchor' the defence. I wonder if that's the kind of thing that can happen overnight just because he's done it well elsewhere? I also wonder if it's the kind of thing that can happen 20 games into a season when you're onto your 3rd coach! I also wonder if D'Antoni has a method of coaching towards that end result?
