The Lakers' Season after Starting 1-4

I do think that the backup PG position is important because Nash was down to 31 minutes per game last season and certainly won't play more than that this season, leaving 17-18 minutes a game for the backup. That's more than a third of the game.

I've also heard one other point about the Princeton offense that makes sense -- that it doesn't leverage the established strengths of the Lakers' players. For example, Nash is outstanding in the pick and roll game, but that's not part of the Princeton offense, and neither is a clearout and post entry pass to Dwight. It may be that the Lakers are good enough to adapt, get comfortable with the system, and leverage their skills within the system, but at a minimum, it will take extra time to get to that point, and the worse case scenario is that the offense is the wrong one for the personnel they have.

I'm not that familiar with the Princeton offense, other than all the backdoor cuts that were made by actual Princeton (not NBA) players and that it's like the triangle in that it's based on reads, meaning that your actions are dictated by what the defense does rather than running set plays where players go to specific spots regardless of what the defense does. Again, it will take time to see how the experiment pans out.

Outside,

It certainly is an offense that's getting the attention of the NBA, with several teams trying it or experimenting with it for periods of time to some degree. Hard to say if it's something that will take root or just the flavor of the month. It is a more "natural" way to run an offense rather than trotting out the usual batch of often plodding plays.

For NBA players it's a big departure from what they've become used to, so for teams like the Lakers that go all in it's going to take time to see a payoff. They're probably doing it right though; commit to an offense rather than just poke at it.

If the Lakers begin to show success with it, it will probably be all over the place next year.

Regards

I know everything has to have a name nowadays. And I don't claim in-depth knowledge of the Princeton offense. But I'm wondering how that offense differs from having seven basic plays with multiple options for each play, resulting in numerous possible responses depending on the reading of the defense.

In each case, the key would seem to be how instantly and unanimously the team can read the defense and instinctively react in concert with one another. It will be interesting to see how well today's players are up to the challenge.

Sam

....so what has Princeton ever won?

cowens/oldschool wrote:....so what has Princeton ever won?

They have probably won quite a number of academic awards.

Being born and raised in NJ, I watched Princeton over-achieve year after year with inferior talent on the basketball court.

Amazing school, including athletics.

Two of my HS football teammates went there, one was also a baseball teammate. Needless to say they had nearly perfect academic records and that's why they attended. Being top athletes rounded out their resume for the school, however. Considering Princeton never gets the top athletic talent, since that's not what their primary mission is, they're highly competitive in many sports. They've had several notable alumni go on to play professionally in a number of sports/leagues.

No surprise they would be a source for new ideas on the fields and courts as high as the NFL and NBA. It shows that brains do count.

NYCelt,

Whether or not said brains are widely replicated on NBA courts and translated to high basketball IQs would make for an interesting discussion. By the way, our old friend Dslack teaches at Princeton. I believe he has a Doctorate in astro-physics, which I probably didn't even spell correctly.

Sam

beat wrote:Certainly you have time to get better in November more so than May BUT............... that said when the numbers begin to line up at the end of the year for seeding purposes a loss now counts every bit as much as a loss in May. They really are not meaningless.

And Bob I don't think you want to look like Einstein............. he's been dead for a few years and I assume your very much alive. ( just don't let Steve Blake read your posts) Ah hell if he tries to shoot you he'd miss anyway.

Bob, I just gotta wonder, did Steve Blake steal your car, forge your ID, rape your children, or your dog (or both), drink milk straight from the jug out of your fridge, track mud on your new carpet or burn your house down or something?

beat

beat,

If Blake did those things, there'd be avenues of recourse available: the judicial system (BOY, would I love for you to be his parole officer!), poisoning my milk and leaving a trail of breadcrumbs leading to the fridge for him, blowing up his car with his kid and dog in it. As it is, we just have to watch him play basketball and that's cruel and unusual punishment being inflicted on innocent people.

What's my beef with Steve Blake? Probably the same ones TJ has.

Other than the fact that Blake is slower than snail shit in winter, can't pass, can't rebound (2.6rpg this year), can't run an offense (3.6apg this year, despite playing 29mpg), isn't a good defender and can't shoot anything except face-up 3s (35% fg%, 44% from 3 this year, which means that if you take the 3ptrs out his 2pt fg% is pure excrement)? His lifetime blocks/game average is a joke .1/game. He's not even doing that with 0 blocks so far. What's my beef with Steve Blake?

There are good players, like Dionte Christmas, who are jumping through hoops of fire to get into the NBA and this player, who has never had a good year in 9 years, has a multi-year contract on a good team.

I'm not a Schadenfreude type of guy. Misery might love company, but that doesn't mean he deserves to get it. Just because Blake is a Laker doesn't make me happy (although there is a certain poetic symmetry to the backcourt pairing of a hyper-competitive perfectionist like Kobe with "Larry Fine" Blake).

And yes, I still am very much alive. Thanks for noticing. :-) As far as looking better than Einstein, time will fix that.


bob


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According to ESPN-LA, an unsuccessful homestand (5 games coming up against GSW (without Bogut and Brandon Rush), Sacto, San Antonio, Phoenix, Houston, Brooklyn) will put Mike Brown's job in "immediate jeopardy".

LA should beat at least 3 if not 4 of these teams.


bob

.

Bob

slower than snail shit in winter...........


Jeb would love it!!

Funny you mention shit and my job..... this very afternoon I have to go out to see a local farmer who is accused of damaging a country road..... and you guessed it.... FOR SPREADIND MANURE on the highway.

now in over 25 years this is a first !!

Can life get any better??

DA wants him in jail??? I think I need to retire very soon !!
(District Attorney NOT our Danny Ainge)

beat

Sam,

I haven't heard anything about Dslack in what must be more than a year. I wonder where he wandered off to? I'm sure he'd add some commentary about the Princeton Offense; from courtside!

Regards

Beat,

It might be a good time to use a sick day...

NYCelt wrote:Beat,

It might be a good time to use a sick day...

But I'm already here !! Too late for that ! They know i'm not "sick" at least no in the way you mean !

Nice idea though !

beat

NY Celt,

Well, dslack still has his own forum with two members (Moolkitron and Nick Faldo whom we banned. Both Mool and dslack are members of our forum but almost never post here.

http://celticshub.com/celticsboard/viewforum.phpf=2&sid=114fb6bbbdcdb5ae48ec26b6a01bb9e7

Brown fired:

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/11/09/mike-brown-fired-as-lakers-coach/?ls=iref:nbahpt3a

Hi,
Good for LAL.
Now they have to find someone who can make it work.

AK

beat wrote:Bob

slower than snail shit in winter...........


Jeb would love it!!

Funny you mention shit and my job..... this very afternoon I have to go out to see a local farmer who is accused of damaging a country road..... and you guessed it.... FOR SPREADIND MANURE on the highway.

now in over 25 years this is a first !!

Can life get any better??

DA wants him in jail??? I think I need to retire very soon !!
(District Attorney NOT our Danny Ainge)

beat

Dang Beat, that is a common occurance around here. Half the farmers here would be in court if this were the case. Everywhere from the main roads to the county roads.

swedeinestonia wrote:Brown fired:

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/11/09/mike-brown-fired-as-lakers-coach/?ls=iref:nbahpt3a

The moral here is "if Jim Buss expresses confidence in you, pack your bags because you'll be gone before the weekend".

I must admit, I am surprised at the speed of this. I'm not a big Mike Brown fan, never have been, but I didn't think he'd take a bullet 5 games into the season, coaching a team that's implementing a new offense, has their starting center coming back from back surgery and a starting point guard who is out with a broken leg.

He inherited Blake. He probably shares some of the blame for Jamison, he probably asked for him after their stint together in Cleveland. Jodie Meeks hasn't exploded for a big game yet but fer Keerist's sake it's only game 5 and he's new too!

I'm calling this "The Kobe Effect". That Death Stare he gave Brown was real. The only thing Kobe didn't do is lean over and kiss Mike Brown on the lips for a Sicilian "kiss of death" (Kobe grew up in Italy).

It's freaking chaos out west.


bob


.

bobheckler wrote:

swedeinestonia wrote:Brown fired:

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/11/09/mike-brown-fired-as-lakers-coach/?ls=iref:nbahpt3a

The moral here is "if Jim Buss expresses confidence in you, pack your bags because you'll be gone before the weekend".

I must admit, I am surprised at the speed of this. I'm not a big Mike Brown fan, never have been, but I didn't think he'd take a bullet 5 games into the season, coaching a team that's implementing a new offense, has their starting center coming back from back surgery and a starting point guard who is out with a broken leg.

He inherited Blake. He probably shares some of the blame for Jamison, he probably asked for him after their stint together in Cleveland. Jodie Meeks hasn't exploded for a big game yet but fer Keerist's sake it's only game 5 and he's new too!

I'm calling this "The Kobe Effect". That Death Stare he gave Brown was real. The only thing Kobe didn't do is lean over and kiss Mike Brown on the lips for a Sicilian "kiss of death" (Kobe grew up in Italy).

It's freaking chaos out west.


bob


.

bob,

The Death Stare might have been the end of Brown as coach.
It's being reported that Brown sold ownership on the defense he would bring to the Lakers.
Their defense has deterioriated under Brown and has been putrid this year.
It is smart to let him go now if they didn't feel he is a championship coach.
They have some easy games coming up.
Those wins could be fools gold to a bigger problem.
I think most Lakers fans feel like a burden has been lifted.

Bobh,
As they say you don't appreciate the "good" until you experience the "bad". I guess Bass and/or Kobe were so accustomed to the first rate coach that they couldn't stomach mediocrity for more than a year. 1-4 start was just a proverbial last drop.

AK