Re: The Lakers' Season after Starting 1-4

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:13 pm

bobheckler wrote:
steve3344 wrote:Here's a shocking stat: Orlando (coming in as the third worst offensive team in the NBA) scored 35 points in the last 6:47 of the game. THIRTY-FIVE points in barely more than half a quarter. It was LA 84, Orlando 78 when Afflalo hit a 3-pointer at the 6:47 mark. Final was 113-103 Orlando.

http://www.nba.com/games/20121202/ORLLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nbahpgt[0021200244]

I don't think I've ever seen 35 points scored that fast by anyone except maybe those Paul Westhead's "run and gun" Nuggets teams of the early 90's that completely ignored defense and routinely scored 140-150 points a game. And obviously their opponents too since they lost most of them.

steve,

The rumors are that Dimbo fired Mike Brown because the defense Brown promised he'd bring to the Lakers didn't materialize.

And then he hired Antoni, and then this happens.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy too.

bob

.

bob,

Do you give all of the credit for the good things that the Lakers have done to Kupchak and the negative things that have happened to Jimmy?
The Lakers front office has generally done a fabulous job, including the last two years.
Jimmy was mocked for shipping Odom to Dallas last year but that saved LA $17.8m, and without the trade exception from that trade, they couldn't have traded for Nash.
They got the better end of the Sessions trade, the Jordan Hill trade and almost stole Dwight from Orlando.
The Chris Paul trade was a mess, but that was not LA's fault at all.

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:21 pm

beat wrote:Looks like Nash is out for another 10 days to 2 weeks. Report says he can't run (yet) wonder just what kind of shape he can possibly be in when he does return??

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/21244883/steve-nash-hopes-to-be-back-in-10-days-to-two-weeks

Obviously they need him but just not sure what he can and will bring to the table....and when.

They need a Nash of 3-4 years ago not the 39 year old version.

beat

Last season Nash averaged 12.5 ppg and 10.7 apg.
His shooting percentages were 53.2 FG, 39% FT and 89.4 FT.
I don't expect his averages would all of a sudden plummet being with LA.
I do expect his apg will go down into the single digits.

LA just needs decent pg play.
Nash will be much better the ndecent in D'Antoni's offense.
Fisher and Blake were terrible.
Sessions was a disaster in the playoffs.
Morris and Duhon are providing the worst pg play out of all 30 teams.

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:32 pm

steve3344 wrote:Kobe on Dwight's foul shooting woes. From the LA Daily news article I posted a link to:

Howard is shooting 46.5 percent from the line this season (87 of 187).

"He should look at it as an opportunity because you know once he conquers the ability to make free throws, the sky is the absolute limit for him," said Kobe Bryant, the Lakers' leader.

Once he conquers the ability to make free throws? How's he gonna do that? He's obviously been shooting FT's without success since he was a teenager. If Kobe thinks it's possible to "conquer" an inability to shoot more than basically 50% from the line when your whole life you can't do that, he's dreaming. Just ask Wilt. Or Chris Dudley. Or Ben Wallace. Or even Rajon Rondo who's in his 7th season of shooting them in the low 60's without change, no matter how many he shoots in practice. Rondo's BEST season shooting FT's was his first (64.7%), oddly enough. For his career he is 61.9% and this year he's at 61.3%. Some things never change. Like Dwight's FT shooting. But Kobe says "the sky is the absolute limit for him" in that area. Funny stuff.

I'll never be a singer no matter how hard I try to conquer my inability to do it well.

You mis-interpreted Kobe's statement. He said "once he conquers the ability to make free throws, (comma) the sky is the limit for him."
He didn't say that the sky is the limit concerning Dwight's ability to shoot free throws.

by **Outside** Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:39 pm

tjmakz wrote:Yes, Howard has been terrible at the FT line. What's interesting is that almost every one of his misses has hit the back rim. Very few are left or right.
I guess that's a good thing...

Hitting the back rim as often as he does is indicative of a flat shot, which is to be expected by someone using his technique, which is no legs and using his wrist to propel the ball forward rather than using his legs and wrist to propel the ball up and forward. He may think he's using his legs, because he does a knee bend before releasing the ball, but he comes to a complete stop before releasing the ball, which means that leg motion is wasted and useless.

tjmakz wrote:Talking about free throws shooters, have you seen Andris Biedrins of GS shoot free throws?

Unfortunately, yes, I have.

steve3344 wrote:Once he conquers the ability to make free throws? How's he gonna do that? He's obviously been shooting FT's without success since he was a teenager. If Kobe thinks it's possible to "conquer" an inability to shoot more than basically 50% from the line when your whole life you can't do that, he's dreaming. Just ask Wilt. Or Chris Dudley. Or Ben Wallace. Or even Rajon Rondo who's in his 7th season of shooting them in the low 60's without change, no matter how many he shoots in practice. Rondo's BEST season shooting FT's was his first (64.7%), oddly enough. For his career he is 61.9% and this year he's at 61.3%. Some things never change. Like Dwight's FT shooting. But Kobe says "the sky is the absolute limit for him" in that area. Funny stuff.

I'll never be a singer no matter how hard I try to conquer my inability to do it well.

I'm half in Kobe's camp and half in Steve's camp. I cannot find any rational reason why a professional basketball player should shoot less than 75% from the line. I know that Dwight has had plenty of coaches try to teach him how to shoot free throws, so you'd think he'd have to improve, yet he doesn't.

I am convinced that if I could coach him, I'd have him shooting at least 70%. All I'd focus on would be arch, which is what I did with kid's basketball (I'm thinking of 3rd to 5th grade). For the kids, I showed them proper mechanics, but so few of them have the necessary size and strength that there's no way to execute a proper free throw, so I told them I didn't care what they did as long as it was (reasonably) repeatable and had a good arch. So for Dwight, I'd build a plexiglass barrier that allowed an unobstructed view of the rim but extended from 11 feet or so up to a foot below the height of Steve Nash's free throw arc. Flat shots would be rejected. The problem he has now is that he makes enough of the flat shots to think that his form is good enough to make free throws, but instead it reinforces a terrible technique that produces flat free throws.

So that part of me is with Kobe. Dwight is an athlete, and there's no reason he can't perform this minimally athletic skill. I'd let him find what's comfortable, even if it was ugly, as long as it was repeatable and had arch.

But I've seen too many cases like this -- Wilt, Shaq, Biedrins, Ben Wallace, Rodman, and others -- where it becomes a mind thing. Biedrins is defeated before he ever steps to the line. Shaq was stubborn and wasn't going to change. Rodman didn't seem to care half the time and probably would've been better off if he shot with his eyes closed. I don't know of any player who was epically awful at free throws and turned it around to become a decent free throw shooter. So why would Dwight be the first?

Still, I'd like to try my plexiglass barrier on him. Sigh...

by **Sam** Mon Dec 03, 2012 3:49 pm

If I were to compare the current Lakers with another team, it could well be the Celtics of 2010-11. Injury after injury to key people. Arguably the most important player unable to shoot freebies. But still good enough of a team to gel quite well by playoff time.

If I weren't a Celtic fan, I'd love to get Dwight on the court for a week of free throw practice. I believe I know his basic flaw and how to correct it.

Like many big men, his size growing up made him used to shooting down at the basket. He (like the others) never learned about the "feel" shooting with arc and nestling the ball on the fingers.

The good news for Dwight is that he seems to be shooting straight forward. The bad news is that he's shooting too straight in terms of lack of arc. Like many big men, he probably spent his youth shooting down on the basket. For many of them, having to arc the ball just opens up a greater distance the ball must travel—and more opportunity to make an error.

I'd place a piece of plexiglass, five feet wide and 12 feet high, between the free throw line and the basket. (The height of the plexiglass and the placement between the foul line and the basket could be adjusted as needed.) Then I'd have Dwight shoot free throws, necessitating that he'd have to clear the plexiglass to have a chance to make the shot. Sure, he'd ba a continuing clanker at the outset. But I'd bet dollars to donuts that, with repetitions, he'd start to get a "feel" for arcing the ball. Moreover, he'd almost have to cradle the ball on his fingertips to elevate it properly. If not, I'd just tell him to do it.

When I was a kid, I was never burdened by height. But I was initially burdened by the art of the free throw. I had no plexiglass (I don't imagine it was even invented by then), but I developed the practice of shooting the ball with an exaggerated arc. The freebies finally started dropping, as did my outside shots. As Outside suggests, it helped to bend my knees more too; but, at my minimal height, it didn't really matter a lot.

Before every game, as a reminder, I'd station myself about one inch in front of the basket and shoot again and again—perhaps 15 feet, straight up in the air—until I was regularly swishing that very awkward shot. It seemed to reinforce my "memory" of the feeling of cradling the ball, snapping the wrist, and ending up with a goose-neck pose, as I elevated the ball.

I wound up an 85% free throw shooter with a very accurate outside shot (from 70 feet in one game). My only problem was that I could never play on a court with a low ceiling. Forget it!

Psst. Quiet about this. I wouldn't want anyone to share this great idea with Dwight. I hope you'll all promise.

Oh....my....god! One of my shots from 1982 just landed beside me. I wondered where that ball had gone.

Sam

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:06 pm

Supposedly, Dwight makes 75+% of his free throws in practice and when working with Chuck Person. That doesn't convert well to the real games.

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:12 pm

Speaking of the Lakers continued pg problems, with Nash being out another two weeks or more most likely, now Steve Blake will be out an additional 6-8 weeks.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8706328/los-angeles-lakers-steve-blake-surgery-miss-6-8-weeks

by **bobheckler** Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:23 pm

tjmakz wrote:Speaking of the Lakers continued pg problems, with Nash being out another two weeks or more most likely, now Steve Blake will be out an additional 6-8 weeks.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8706328/los-angeles-lakers-steve-blake-surgery-miss-6-8-weeks

"Hello? Delonte? Hi, this is Mitch Kupchak. Are you tied up? You are? Literally or figuratively...?"

bob

.

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:44 pm

If I was the Lakers I would give Delonte's agent a call.
They should have signed him 2 weeks ago.
If they have to waive Earl Clark who never plays, so be it.
LA will then have 5 pg's on the roster....

by **steve3344** Mon Dec 03, 2012 6:12 pm

tjmakz wrote:
steve3344 wrote:Kobe on Dwight's foul shooting woes. From the LA Daily news article I posted a link to:

Howard is shooting 46.5 percent from the line this season (87 of 187).

"He should look at it as an opportunity because you know once he conquers the ability to make free throws, the sky is the absolute limit for him," said Kobe Bryant, the Lakers' leader.

Once he conquers the ability to make free throws? How's he gonna do that? He's obviously been shooting FT's without success since he was a teenager. If Kobe thinks it's possible to "conquer" an inability to shoot more than basically 50% from the line when your whole life you can't do that, he's dreaming. Just ask Wilt. Or Chris Dudley. Or Ben Wallace. Or even Rajon Rondo who's in his 7th season of shooting them in the low 60's without change, no matter how many he shoots in practice. Rondo's BEST season shooting FT's was his first (64.7%), oddly enough. For his career he is 61.9% and this year he's at 61.3%. Some things never change. Like Dwight's FT shooting. But Kobe says "the sky is the absolute limit for him" in that area. Funny stuff.

I'll never be a singer no matter how hard I try to conquer my inability to do it well.

You mis-interpreted Kobe's statement. He said "once he conquers the ability to make free throws, (comma) the sky is the limit for him."
He didn't say that the sky is the limit concerning Dwight's ability to shoot free throws.

My point is the statement "once he conquers his ability to make free throws" is preposterous because for people who have been lousy at it for so long it's not going to happen. So adding "the sky's the limit for him" for something that cannot happen is funny.

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:12 pm

Steve,

I agree that Dwight will probably never get much better at FT's.
I think 60-65% might be acceptable...
There has to be a reason why he has regressed over the last two years from his normal lousy FT shooting to dreadful.

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:47 pm

tjmakz wrote:Steve,

I agree that Dwight will probably never get much better at FT's.
I think 60-65% might be acceptable...
There has to be a reason why he has regressed over the last two years from his normal lousy FT shooting to dreadful.

hes doing too much deltoid work, instead of lifting so much, he should do more shooting and dexterity drills....go seek out Karl Malone, copying Shaq not working.

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 03, 2012 9:49 pm

tjmakz wrote:Speaking of the Lakers continued pg problems, with Nash being out another two weeks or more most likely, now Steve Blake will be out an additional 6-8 weeks.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8706328/los-angeles-lakers-steve-blake-surgery-miss-6-8-weeks

if I posted this you'd complain I'm bashing the Lakers and rubbing it in, actually this helps them cause Blake generally sucks, less of him is better for Laker fans

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:04 pm

steve3344 wrote:Here's a shocking stat: Orlando (coming in as the third worst offensive team in the NBA) scored 35 points in the last 6:47 of the game. THIRTY-FIVE points in barely more than half a quarter. It was LA 84, Orlando 78 when Afflalo hit a 3-pointer at the 6:47 mark. Final was 113-103 Orlando.

http://www.nba.com/games/20121202/ORLLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nbahpgt[0021200244]

I don't think I've ever seen 35 points scored that fast by anyone except maybe those Paul Westhead's "run and gun" Nuggets teams of the early 90's that completely ignored defense and routinely scored 140-150 points a game. And obviously their opponents too since they lost most of them.

I saw that whole stretch, easily worst defense I've seen in last 5 years, the coach was clueless, he doesn't know or care to know this end. At the end of his first tenure at Pheonix, Kerr wanted him to play some/any semblence of defense, even offering to hire a defensive coach, D'Antoni balked and left....I think he had a hissy fit. Knick players used to complain that they never worked on defense in practice.

Inside, outside Magic moved the ball and scored on so many wide open looks and dunks off penetration, I thought I was watching the 86 Celtics.

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:06 pm

cowens/oldschool wrote:
tjmakz wrote:Speaking of the Lakers continued pg problems, with Nash being out another two weeks or more most likely, now Steve Blake will be out an additional 6-8 weeks.

http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8706328/los-angeles-lakers-steve-blake-surgery-miss-6-8-weeks

if I posted this you'd complain I'm bashing the Lakers and rubbing it in, actually this helps them cause Blake generally sucks, less of him is better for Laker fans

Not true.
When someone posts some news from a reliable source, it is not rubbing it in.
When someone says that the Lakers are going nowhere with or without Blake, then I will share my thoughts about a comment like that.

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:21 pm

cowens/oldschool wrote:
steve3344 wrote:Here's a shocking stat: Orlando (coming in as the third worst offensive team in the NBA) scored 35 points in the last 6:47 of the game. THIRTY-FIVE points in barely more than half a quarter. It was LA 84, Orlando 78 when Afflalo hit a 3-pointer at the 6:47 mark. Final was 113-103 Orlando.

http://www.nba.com/games/20121202/ORLLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nbahpgt[0021200244]

I don't think I've ever seen 35 points scored that fast by anyone except maybe those Paul Westhead's "run and gun" Nuggets teams of the early 90's that completely ignored defense and routinely scored 140-150 points a game. And obviously their opponents too since they lost most of them.

I saw that whole stretch, easily worst defense I've seen in last 5 years, the coach was clueless, he doesn't know or care to know this end. At the end of his first tenure at Pheonix, Kerr wanted him to play some/any semblence of defense, even offering to hire a defensive coach, D'Antoni balked and left....I think he had a hissy fit. Knick players used to complain that they never worked on defense in practice.

Inside, outside Magic moved the ball and scored on so many wide open looks and dunks off penetration, I thought I was watching the 86 Celtics.

Your points about D'Antoni aren't very close to being factual.
The one that all could see is that D'Antoni only had 1 tenure with Phoenix.
There was no hissy fit. D'Antoni thought the grass (and money) would be greener coaching the Knicks.

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:23 pm

bobheckler wrote:
tardust wrote:
" D'Antoni said. " We're slow right now.It's just athletically, we're struggling."

I am not sure how this is going to change for them without some type of trade. They are a lot like we have been lately, not enough athletes to stay with the younger more energetic teams. With their big lineup it is going to be hard for them to stick with faster, younger teams anyway. Slow down and control the paint is their ticket to winning and that is not Mike D's style. Should be interesting out west.

tardust,

When the dissing of Phil Jackson and the announcement of the hiring of Antoni (no "D"), I just shook my head. I didn't get how the hiring of a coach whose professional resume is all about non-stop track meets would be the right coach for this Laker team, a team with 4 starters over 32, a soon-to-be 39 year old point guard and declining athleticism as we saw in the playoffs last year. This team was built for Phil's style, not Mike's.

For 2 decades the Boston Celtics wandered in the desert, like the Israelites of old. Some of this was bad luck (Reggie Lewis and Len Bias) but over that amount of time, practically and realistically, was due to bad ownership. The mug shots of Paul Gaston and John Y Brown are hanging prominently Celtics fans' Rogue Gallery. They are the ones who drive salary dumps and hiring decisions. John Y Brown orchestrated the trade for Bob McAdoo (who Red hated) and had to sell the team because he pissed Red off so much he almost left for the Knicks (wow, could you imagine if that happened?!). That's the good news. The bad news was that he sold it to Paul Gaston. He hired ML Carr as the GM. Carr fired Chris Ford and, with no coaching experience, became the head coach himself, and ownership let him. After a disaster of a tenure as coach, he stepped aside for Rick Pitino. Talk about going from the frying pan into the fire. It was only after Rick Pitino resigned that the title "Team President" was returned to Red. In 2003 Paul Gaston sold to Wyc's group, who hired Danny almost immediately. Danny hired Doc and the rest, as they say, is history.

I think the Lakers might be heading into a similar storm in ownership. If there is one delicate subject that recurs when I talk to my Laker fan friends it is the one of ownership. Jerry Buss is a shrewd, even brilliant, self-made man who is revered by Laker fans much the same way Ronald Reagan is in Orange County. He might not have the basketball acumen of Red, but he is comparable in his ability to manipulate trades and other teams to his benefit like Red could. His son, Dim Buss, is not a chip off the old block, he's barely a splinter. He has been given the reins of the franchise (his father is almost 79 years old) and has shoved his sister out of the way. He has dominated Mitch Kupchak (a superior GM). He is, it appears, an egomaniac.

His treatment of Phil Jackson was brusque and dictatorial. Phil, a 10-time championship coach, was expected to kiss his ring and when he didn't drop to one knee immediately, was dismissed with a sniff, a sneer and a wave. "We are not pleased. You may leave Our presence". His treatment of Phil's #1 assistant coach, Brian Shaw, was the same. Anybody in the Lakers organization who raises his head up will get Whack-a-Moled by autocrat and petty satrap Dim Buss.

I realize the Lakers could get it together, win the championship, and make me eat crow, but between his pole-axing of Mike Brown 5 games into the season, his circus act of a hiring process and his final hiring choice doesn't make me worried about getting feathers stuck between my teeth anytime soon.

bob

.

bob some very good points, however your giving Jerry Buss too much credit, I understand Buss signed the checks, the guy that built that team and made all the big deals was Jerry West.

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:25 pm

tjmakz wrote:
cowens/oldschool wrote:
steve3344 wrote:Here's a shocking stat: Orlando (coming in as the third worst offensive team in the NBA) scored 35 points in the last 6:47 of the game. THIRTY-FIVE points in barely more than half a quarter. It was LA 84, Orlando 78 when Afflalo hit a 3-pointer at the 6:47 mark. Final was 113-103 Orlando.

http://www.nba.com/games/20121202/ORLLAL/gameinfo.html?ls=iref:nbahpgt[0021200244]

I don't think I've ever seen 35 points scored that fast by anyone except maybe those Paul Westhead's "run and gun" Nuggets teams of the early 90's that completely ignored defense and routinely scored 140-150 points a game. And obviously their opponents too since they lost most of them.

I saw that whole stretch, easily worst defense I've seen in last 5 years, the coach was clueless, he doesn't know or care to know this end. At the end of his first tenure at Pheonix, Kerr wanted him to play some/any semblence of defense, even offering to hire a defensive coach, D'Antoni balked and left....I think he had a hissy fit. Knick players used to complain that they never worked on defense in practice.

Inside, outside Magic moved the ball and scored on so many wide open looks and dunks off penetration, I thought I was watching the 86 Celtics.

Your points about D'Antoni aren't very close to being factual.
The one that all could see is that D'Antoni only had 1 tenure with Phoenix.
There was no hissy fit. D'Antoni thought the grass (and money) would be greener coaching the Knicks.

the hissy fit was a joke you idiot

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:26 pm

but it is factual that when Kerr wanted to bring in help for the defense, D'Antoni balked

by **tjmakz** Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:45 pm

cowens/oldschool wrote:but it is factual that when Kerr wanted to bring in help for the defense, D'Antoni balked

You might be right, you might be wrong.
This article would make it seem like you are wrong about this.

Suns General Manager Steve Kerr and coach Mike D'Antoni disagree a lot, according to reports. They agreed on one thing Thursday: Those reports are wrong.

Kerr said he wishes people knew how he respects D'Antoni, embraces his style and talks with him daily.

"I'm not sure why it's being assumed," Kerr said in Los Angeles, where a newspaper mentioned a problem relationship and radio hosts went from calling for D'Antoni's firing to saying the team is out of sorts because Kerr forces it to be defensive-minded.
"With my affiliation with San Antonio, people assume I want to play like the Spurs, which is not the case at all," Kerr said.

"We have different personnel. We're built to play the way he coaches. I love our style of play. I have so much regard for Mike and the things we've done under him. We communicate every day and talk over a lot of things and work things out and have a great working relationship."

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0117sunsnb.html?nclick_check=1

by **steve3344** Tue Dec 04, 2012 6:11 am

OKC has won its last four games by a combined 100 points. They're on a major roll. I wonder what they're gonna do to the Lakers defense on Friday in OKC. Their fans will be in a frenzy for that one. Should be fun.

by **cowens/oldschool** Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:07 am

I'm looking forward to seeing Harden vs Kobe tonight too, Harden has an old school game similar to Pierce and Asik vs Howard should be a good match up too.

by **cowens/oldschool** Tue Dec 04, 2012 10:49 am

steve3344 wrote:
cowens/oldschool wrote:anyone see the Laker game? so now they're 8-9, Dwight Howards defense has never been so inconsequential, saw terrible pick and roll defense all game. D'Antoni proving his rep as a bad defensive coach is very deserving, so many holes on defensive end, back end, perimeter.....I don't see this getting better, they're defense gonna only get worse when Nash gets back.

Gasol has to be playing hurt. Reports were that he had tendinitis in both knees. He can't be healthy and playing this badly unless he's lost all motivation for whatever reason. He's now gone six straight games without scoring more than 13 points or having a single double-digit game in rebounds, averaging 9 points, 7.7 rebounds and only shooting 36% in that span. Can't believe he could be losing it this quickly at 32 years old but, at some point, your knees just can't take it anymore. And you never know what that's gonna be. Look at Brandon Roy.

just heard Steven A on First Take rant that Lakers problems start at top with Jim Buss decision to hire D'Antoni, saying that hes a coach who preaches his system over whatever strengths or weaknesses the personel may have and he said Pau Gasol is an all star caliber PF that needs to get touches down low, that D'Antoni has turned him into an outside jump shooter.....the guy is not a stretch 4. D'Antoni wrong/bad move for this franchise, that he doesn't care about defense.

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:05 am

cowens/oldschool wrote:
steve3344 wrote:
cowens/oldschool wrote:anyone see the Laker game? so now they're 8-9, Dwight Howards defense has never been so inconsequential, saw terrible pick and roll defense all game. D'Antoni proving his rep as a bad defensive coach is very deserving, so many holes on defensive end, back end, perimeter.....I don't see this getting better, they're defense gonna only get worse when Nash gets back.

Gasol has to be playing hurt. Reports were that he had tendinitis in both knees. He can't be healthy and playing this badly unless he's lost all motivation for whatever reason. He's now gone six straight games without scoring more than 13 points or having a single double-digit game in rebounds, averaging 9 points, 7.7 rebounds and only shooting 36% in that span. Can't believe he could be losing it this quickly at 32 years old but, at some point, your knees just can't take it anymore. And you never know what that's gonna be. Look at Brandon Roy.

just heard Steven A on First Take rant that Lakers problems start at top with Jim Buss decision to hire D'Antoni, saying that hes a coach who preaches his system over whatever strengths or weaknesses the personel may have and he said Pau Gasol is an all star caliber PF that needs to get touches down low, that D'Antoni has turned him into an outside jump shooter.....the guy is not a stretch 4. D'Antoni wrong/bad move for this franchise, that he doesn't care about defense.

cow,

I'm sorry to hear this. I hate agreeing with Steven A(sshole) Smith. I might have to re-examine the basic tenets of my life now.

bob

.

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:19 am

btw, part of this thread had to do with Orlando's destruction of the Lakers on Sunday.

Last night, I watched them do the same thing to the, now, 10-7 GSW (to put in this is perspective, GSW is trailing the division leading 11-6 Clips by just one game. The Clips nipped Utah for the extra 1/2 game). Orlando is playing really well at this time. We barely got out of Mickey Mouse Land with a W, if you remember, and thought that was evidence of just how weak the Celtics are. Last night I saw another unconscious performance by JJ Redick. 22 points in 35 minutes and most of them in the 2nd half. You can keep him out of rhythm only so long and, when he gets in rhythm, you have got to throw a double team at him immediately to get the ball out of his hands. Big Baby had 24 and Afflalo had 24 for a combined shooting of 19-36 (26-49 if you include Redick).

Orlando's defeat of the Lakers came at a bad time for LA, because they have the turmoil surrounding the new coach, new teammates, injuries to key players, etc. but it is now starting to look like the doormat Magic are figuring out their strengths and are playing to them.

bob

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