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What Exactly Is The Issue?

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What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#1 » by EnigmaticProblem » Wed Jan 2, 2013 6:55 am

What's the issue here? Why isn't this working? Is it 'cause Mike D'Antoni hasn't had a full training camp? Is it 'cause he doesn't have the proper system in place? Is he mismanaging our resources? Why isn't he pounding the ball on the block? I doubt Howard is as inept at operating in the post as we're being led to believe; his last four seasons exemplify this. Is it due to poor spacing? The Spurs have been exceptionally successful fielding a front court of Duncan-Splitter-Leonard. Is Pau that much slower than Duncan, or Splitter, on the defensive end? Is this a leadership issue? Does the team not have a real leader? Is the problem Kobe Bryant? Is he putting up far too many shots, taking the team out of rhythm, and perhaps, just perhaps, souring some of his All-Star team-mates along the way? Is the issue here a lack of depth?

Personally, I think it's a combination of everything here. D'Antoni is misusing the pieces he's been given. Our advantage is our size, not our speed-- We're not making use of this, though. Howard is still recovering, which is probably affecting his play (offensively), but we haven't dumped it down to him enough times to see what he is capable of. Again, D'Antoni's fault. I don't think spacing is the issue-- I always find spacing to be an incredibly poor excuse. I honestly believe you can force the issue-- You can force your style of play, and we're simply not doing that. Pau obviously has seen a noteworthy decline in his performance. It may be an age issue, or it may be a psychological one. Personally, I thought Pau would snap out of it; for the past two seasons, I've been thinking he'll snap out of it, maintaining he's an integral part of this puzzle. However, it's obvious we need to move him. I have no idea for who. I'm not a fan of this PnR, run&gun offensive game plan, but if this is something the organization is adamant on, Josh Smith comes to mind. Sure, he may not have Pau's IQ, but what good is Pau's IQ nowadays, anyway? If it were up to me, though, I'd move Gasol for someone like Randolph, and we'd keep banging down low, more than ever. I also believe this team has no true leader. I don't believe Kobe Bryant is essaying this role appropriately. He's playing selfish basketball, and his "beat some asses in practice" charade is falling on deaf ears. I truly believe there are people on this team that tune him out from time to time, and are tired of his tough love nonsense. Personally, I love me a true exhibition of some tough love, but your leadership style has to adapt to your circumstances and personnel.

P.S., Is it just me, or Kobe's ball IQ overrated? This isn't the first time where it's been a two-possession game down the stretch, and he comes up and chucks a three. He does it far too often, and if he just had some patience, we could get a two, trust our defense to get a stop, and come back down with 15-18 seconds left to try to make it a game.
P.P.S., I hate the idea of Artest at the four. Who exactly is he going to stop? Kevin Love? LaMarcus Aldridge? Tim Duncan? Blake Griffin? Millsap? David Lee? Believe it or not, but these guys have far too much weight and length on him. He might give them trouble for a few minutes, but they're just too big. The game is definitely more perimeter oriented, but he just doesn't have the size to consistently play the four. Put him back at the three, permanently.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#2 » by Gunner24 » Wed Jan 2, 2013 7:15 am

I don't think anybody knows exactly what the issue is. I think offloading Pau Gasol for some younger talent would certainly help though.

What worries me is that we have had an easy run so far. Every time I look at our schedule we have a 2-3 day break after each game.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#3 » by TyCobb » Wed Jan 2, 2013 7:25 am

Gotta move Gasol unfortunately.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#4 » by GeneralNash » Wed Jan 2, 2013 7:35 am

Let's see, what the issue is....well we lost by 4 points...and Lakers were 3 for 22 from 3 point land.

3 FOR 22 FROM THREE POINT LAND! THAT IS 13% SHOOTING FROM BEYOND THE ARC.

If we were 5 for 22 instead and shot a whopping 22% from 3 point range, we could have won the game! We could point fingers all day, but in the end, the bigs shot poorly, whole team shot very poorly from 3...

Metta FG 6-16
Pau FG 2-12
D12 FG 1-7
Darius FG 0-4

Kobe said it best...it was a poor shooting night. Kobe shot pretty well, 48%. The defense could not compensate for the terrible shooting...you can't shoot that horrible and expect to win.

Maybe credit the 76ers defense...but I saw very wide open looks the whole game that bricked badly.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#5 » by TyCobb » Wed Jan 2, 2013 7:40 am

Defense. That is what keeps you in games when you do shoot poorly.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#6 » by JustAwesome » Wed Jan 2, 2013 7:41 am

EnigmaticProblem wrote:What's the issue here? Why isn't this working? Is it 'cause Mike D'Antoni hasn't had a full training camp? Is it 'cause he doesn't have the proper system in place? Is he mismanaging our resources? Why isn't he pounding the ball on the block?


Not only did D'Antoni not have a full training camp, he didn't have one at all with this team. It's hard to completely change a system after the season has began. That's why I was against the idea of changing head coaches this season.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#7 » by Asianiac_24 » Wed Jan 2, 2013 9:11 am

Lots of issues with this team, but the two main ones IMO:

1. Coaching. Still don't understand the coaching change to MDA. Why are we running a fast paced offense? We can't outrun Miami or OKC or practically every team in the league. Coaching is the first problem. I was all for firing MB, but if I knew MDA would be the replacement I'd rather just stick with MB instead. Lesser of the two evils here. I actually thought we played our best ball under Bickerstaff, when the players had more freedom.

2. Defense. The other team just running P&Rs with Gasol's man kills us every single night. Gasol needs to either play at C or sit down for Jordan Hill.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#8 » by swag2011 » Wed Jan 2, 2013 9:47 am

Too many problems with this team, main ones are coaching, lack of leadership, and defense for anyone who doesn't wanna read it all.


everything is the issue honestly. the blame for me goes to mostly jim buss. If Nash and Dwight were truly his idea, then i can't fault him. He gets full credit and praise for those decisions from me. But my issue is his "ego" that we hear alot of analysts speak about. Why does he have a huge ego for? He hasn't done ANYTHING but be born into a rich family. His FATHER is the reason the lakers have been successful, not him. He needs to step aside and let the basketball minds make the real decisions. His first and biggest mistake was passing on Shaw and Adelman. Mike Brown set us back. If he didn't want Shaw, cause he was associated with Phil, then why not Adelman, when he clearly wanted to be here? He was the best coach available and Jim Blew it.

Next mistake is not hiring Phil. I don't understand the beef with Phil. Why fire all of his staff, when he is the reason we have an extra 5 championships? Phil would've realized that this team is NOT run and gun, not 3 point shooters, and he would utilize our bigs. Not mention he would keep Kobe in check. Jerry Sloan should've been 2nd choice, if he was an option.

With this team, coaching is a problem. I'm wondering how long will it take D'Antoni to figure out that this team is not built for his system. We don't run and gun, we don't have alot of 3 point shooters. I don't know what's hard to understand. He doesn't have a stretch 4 (well he has Jamison, but doesn't play him). Offense isn't even our problem, it's DEFENSE and has always been defense.

We can't defend even if our lives depended on it. Can't get a stop at all. Every scrub has a career night on us. It's always either a lay up drill or a 3 point drill. We only have 3 legit defenders in Hill, Howard, and MWP and they can't do it all. Pau and Kobe are huge disappointments and liabilities on defense.

Look, kobe is my favorite player and the reason i got into basketball, but i expect more out of him. He has become a huge ball stopper. In order for D'Antoni's system to be moderately successful, we need constant ball movement. Everytime he touches the ball, he is gunna shoot it. He wont pass unless it's an absolute last resort. And even then he still may not pass the ball. I'm not looking for kobe to get 10 assists a night, or only shoot 10 times, but he does not even try to get his teammates involved anymore. Obviously i know dwight and gasol played poor, but kobe will not pass at ALL. It's like since Nash has came back, Kobe is like Nash can handle all the facilitating and Kobe can just shoot, shoot, and shoot. I dont care if he shoots 30 times a game, as long as it's in the flow of the offense, and alot of times he takes the most ridiculous shots for no reason. He's playing like it's 06 and he has no help, when he has 3 other guys who can legit give us 20 points. He averages 5 assists in his career, no reason why he shouldn't still be facilitating at least a little bit. We can't even run a play with him in there because he won't pass the ball, it all stops when he touches it. That's why i wanted Phil, b/c Phil would pull him out and keep him in line.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#9 » by Gunner24 » Wed Jan 2, 2013 10:55 am

Please stop blaming the coach. Our offense isn't that up tempo. Sure we jack up a few quick 3 pointers, but other than that I wouldn't call it 'up tempo'. Some of you are just using the stereo type put upon him by other fans. Do you even watch our games? We are nothing like his Phoenix Suns team.

I guess for some of you blaming the coach is the easy option to explain our struggles. How many coaches can we go through and blame though? Have you ever thought that we are just old, and Pau Gasol is not half the player he used to be?

I'm sticking behind D'Antoni through and through. If anything he has emphasized defense, not offense. I'm seriously questioning whether some of you actually watch Laker games or just like to complain. Our offense isn't that up tempo!
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#10 » by albasuna » Wed Jan 2, 2013 11:06 am

lol people still thinking its coaching. Have you seen what Dwight and Gasol have been doing in the post the times they get it down there? It's clear they are not 100% and Dwight is not even known to have a spectacular low post game. The problem is youth/health (which translates to defense) and three point shooting. Just so we're clear here, three point shooting is essentially for a low post offense not just for a D'Antoni offense.

Gasol is an excellent player but I don't think the Lakers need him to win the championship.. he himself is not the "key" but the assets he can bring in are.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#11 » by contract » Wed Jan 2, 2013 12:40 pm

EnigmaticProblem wrote:D'Antoni is misusing the pieces he's been given. Our advantage is our size, not our speed-- We're not making use of this, though.

That!
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#12 » by ShowTimeERA » Wed Jan 2, 2013 2:24 pm

swag2011 wrote:Too many problems with this team, main ones are coaching, lack of leadership, and defense for anyone who doesn't wanna read it all.


everything is the issue honestly. the blame for me goes to mostly jim buss. If Nash and Dwight were truly his idea, then i can't fault him. He gets full credit and praise for those decisions from me. But my issue is his "ego" that we hear alot of analysts speak about. Why does he have a huge ego for? He hasn't done ANYTHING but be born into a rich family. His FATHER is the reason the lakers have been successful, not him. He needs to step aside and let the basketball minds make the real decisions. His first and biggest mistake was passing on Shaw and Adelman. Mike Brown set us back. If he didn't want Shaw, cause he was associated with Phil, then why not Adelman, when he clearly wanted to be here? He was the best coach available and Jim Blew it.

Next mistake is not hiring Phil. I don't understand the beef with Phil. Why fire all of his staff, when he is the reason we have an extra 5 championships? Phil would've realized that this team is NOT run and gun, not 3 point shooters, and he would utilize our bigs. Not mention he would keep Kobe in check. Jerry Sloan should've been 2nd choice, if he was an option.

With this team, coaching is a problem. I'm wondering how long will it take D'Antoni to figure out that this team is not built for his system. We don't run and gun, we don't have alot of 3 point shooters. I don't know what's hard to understand. He doesn't have a stretch 4 (well he has Jamison, but doesn't play him). Offense isn't even our problem, it's DEFENSE and has always been defense.

We can't defend even if our lives depended on it. Can't get a stop at all. Every scrub has a career night on us. It's always either a lay up drill or a 3 point drill. We only have 3 legit defenders in Hill, Howard, and MWP and they can't do it all. Pau and Kobe are huge disappointments and liabilities on defense.

Look, kobe is my favorite player and the reason i got into basketball, but i expect more out of him. He has become a huge ball stopper. In order for D'Antoni's system to be moderately successful, we need constant ball movement. Everytime he touches the ball, he is gunna shoot it. He wont pass unless it's an absolute last resort. And even then he still may not pass the ball. I'm not looking for kobe to get 10 assists a night, or only shoot 10 times, but he does not even try to get his teammates involved anymore. Obviously i know dwight and gasol played poor, but kobe will not pass at ALL. It's like since Nash has came back, Kobe is like Nash can handle all the facilitating and Kobe can just shoot, shoot, and shoot. I dont care if he shoots 30 times a game, as long as it's in the flow of the offense, and alot of times he takes the most ridiculous shots for no reason. He's playing like it's 06 and he has no help, when he has 3 other guys who can legit give us 20 points. He averages 5 assists in his career, no reason why he shouldn't still be facilitating at least a little bit. We can't even run a play with him in there because he won't pass the ball, it all stops when he touches it. That's why i wanted Phil, b/c Phil would pull him out and keep him in line.


This is the main reason for the struggles...
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#13 » by Michael Lucky » Wed Jan 2, 2013 3:16 pm

This blaming Jim because he didn't hire Phil needs to stop. Phil cannot cure old age, he cannot cure old feet, and he sure cannot cure a bad back.

Sure we can trade Pau for a younger player and trust me it won't be an all star talent since Pau's value is about as bad as it will ever get, but in the end we'll still be old on the perimeter, and there's simply not much the lakers can do about it over the next couple of years.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#14 » by tviper » Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:07 pm

there are a lot of things wrong, obviously, but the main one is DH12. he is not anywhere near what was expected. he cannot score against Myers Leonard, JJ Hickson, Hawes, etc. he doesn't even jump for rebounds most of the time. if he isn't healthy, sit him out. Hill looks much better, unfortunately, and LAL would be much better off with the minutes between the two switched.

Also, Pau should have been traded already, his value decreases with each passing game, and there has to be numerous teams that would be able to put him to better use.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#15 » by Cashin out » Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:15 pm

Kobe said it we are just a old team.

Gasol needs to be traded for younger pieces,the problem is his value isn't high with his play this season.The only deal I can see happening is with Toronto.Word is their GM wants to keep Calderon over Lowry and they want to pair Calderon with his buddy Pau,they also want to get rid of Bargnani in a Lowry deal.

Would you guys make this trade if it was offered... Gasol/Blake for Lowry/Bargnani?

Lowry alone is enough to make this deal to me,he is a good defensive pg and he can play alongside Nash in the 4th qrt,he would provide that scoring punch off the bench.

4th qrt lineup

Nash
Lowry
Kobe
Bargnani
D12
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#16 » by J-Mezzy » Wed Jan 2, 2013 4:55 pm

I'm glad to see Lakers fans holding Kobe accountable. Not only is he a ball stopper, but he has become a 1 dimensional player. He has become solely a scorer. He doesn't create for others and he is a liability in defense. I am not saying he is the problem, but most people ignore that he is part of the problem simply because he is Kobe Bryant.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#17 » by Cashin out » Wed Jan 2, 2013 5:12 pm

J-Mezzy wrote:I'm glad to see Lakers fans holding Kobe accountable. Not only is he a ball stopper, but he has become a 1 dimensional player. He has become solely a scorer. He doesn't create for others and he is a liability in defense. I am not saying he is the problem, but most people ignore that he is part of the problem simply because he is Kobe Bryant.

Yeah Kobe needs to take some blame everybody in the media has blamed everybody on our team except Kobe.I see today that Kobe is all over Sports Center about calling our team old,now he is about to appear on Sports Center and talk about our old team.

*But the media will never blame Kobe because he is looked at like some sort of God.No matter what happens Kobe will never be blamed by the media.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#18 » by semi-sentient » Wed Jan 2, 2013 5:13 pm

This isn't some sort of new trend. We've always held Kobe accountable.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#19 » by semi-sentient » Wed Jan 2, 2013 5:42 pm

As for the topic, I think our biggest problem right now is our FC rotation. Simply put, our FC defense is trash because we've got liabilities at two vital positions (PF = Pau, SF = Kobe). These two clowns don't play any sort of man or help defense (which is extremely important) and they're transition defense is just as bad (constantly whining about calls instead of running the floor, not stopping the ball on the break, not contesting shots, etc.). This has a trickle down effect and just makes our entire defense dysfunctional. For all the love that D'Antoni is getting for his tinkering with the rotations he should be getting roasted for allowing Pau to continue starting.

Howard alone can't clean up for every mistake and so the only way for us to improve is to get utilize our best defensive players. If it were up to me I'd put Metta at the 4 and play Ebanks at the 3. This worked extremely well when we tried it for a few games but somehow we went away from it. I don't even want to hear this BS about Ebanks being an inconsistent defender because that's garbage. He plays hard out there, doesn't make a lot of silly mistakes, and is far more effective than Kobe because of his length and quickness. Perhaps it was because Ebanks isn't a big time outside threat, but he's not totally useless on offense as he's a good cutter and can hit the occasional 20-footer.

Kobe would move back to his natural position and Pau would play the backup 5 (and perhaps 10-12 a game at the 4 next to Howard) so we'd maximize his strengths on offense. Hill plays next to Pau to strengthen our defense and if we work the rotations properly then Metta can be on the floor with those two to provide some additional floor spacing along with Meeks. Morris plays the backup point.

Everyone in the organization seems to be acknowledging that defense is the problem and yet we've taken no steps to actually address it. We're witnessing poor leadership from top to bottom.
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Re: What Exactly Is The Issue? 

Post#20 » by GAME TIME » Wed Jan 2, 2013 5:42 pm

The real issue is our bigs in the paint.

Dwight missing to many easy baskets, and Pau getting pushed around like a rag doll. You all can blame Kobe, but he actually keeps us in games because of his offesnse. He is the one keeping it close.

Bynum was our only low post player last season, and now we are struggling with our low post offense even if our defense has improved with Howard in the paint...

People say it's our defense, but I think it's always has been our offense. Our inside/outside game doesn't work when our bigs can't score off on a one on one

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