Impressions after going to last nights game (Long read)

[Jazza2319]

First off, Steve Nash was there and worked out for about 20-25 mins before tipoff. He did some shooting but mostly ball-handling drills. His shooting form looks great still, but he barely gets off the ground and his leg is obviously affecting his jumping. His dribbling though seems off, his timing and handle on the ball seemed off (may have just been rusty). If i were a betting man, i'd say he's at LEAST, 2.5 - 3 weeks away from coming back. Unless something amazing happens, i dont see him playing a game in November. He was in great spirits though and didn't seem too down on himself, but he was visibly upset when he would lose handle or do anything he would normally be able to do with his eyes closed

Steve Blake also warmed up for a good 20 mins, and he was bad. His shot looks awkward, and for some reason he insisted on practicing fade-a-ways that dont agree with his forward-fling release. Chris Duhon worked out on the same end for about 12 mins and looked much better, especially shooting off the dribble in the pick and roll. I have no idea why he hasn't been given a shot yet. Steve was probably the second most frustrating laker behind Pau, mostly because of his decision making. His hesitation shooting the ball led to a lot of bad shots from other guys

Mike Brown's whole demeanor as a coach is negative. He rarely looked in charge, and if he wasn't letting the players walk over him, he was letting the assistants do the talking. I'm not sure how else to describe it, but to me it was obvious that he doesn't grasp the attention of the players or even try to.

Dwight Howard is a cool guy, but i can see how his joking demeanor was interpreted as him not being serious about winning. Warming up before the game and at half-time, he was taking long jumpers and three-pointers. Granted this was only warmups, but the fact he seemed more intent on shooting shots he'll never shoot in a game did get to me. He was awesome in stretches though, but i think its fairly obvious he is not close to 100 percent. He looked gassed mid-way through the first quarter, and he was definitely much less aggressive because of it. Jefferson/Favors played his sweeping hook decently but his fatigue made that move slow and predictable, otherwise a healthy dwight could've abused that all night. Also, Dwight was visibly pissed off at Dwight several times when he had to help on Gasol's man but then Pau didn't get the rebound.

Pau Gasol looks no different physically than he did back in 2008. The difference now is purely mental, and i don't think its something that will change. Similar to Dirk, i think he's a guy who is happy with what he won and wont ever come close to that level (mentally) again. His jumper is off, he's not even looking to go to the basket, and his defense was atrocious. He got schooled all night because instead of holding his ground in the post, he'd keep pushing with his body which is why he got spun out multiple times. He kept playing right up tight on Millsap for some reason, and got beaten off the dribble almost all night because he refused to take a step back and use his long arms to his advantage. Around the rim he's also gone soft, i've never seen him so un-sure around the basket in all the games i've seen. It almost looks like he's more interested in just getting the foul call then getting an and-one. Not sure he'll ever be the same tbh

Metta World Peace looked in great shape physically, but he looks even a step slower than he did back in 2010. I sat 3rd row in 2009 when he played for Houston and he looks 3 steps slower than that MWP. His movement is so robotic, yet his three ball in warmups was money. It might be a mental issue in-game, but his set shots from three all went in for about 10 mins during warmups. Ron putting the ball on the ground is an automatic turnover at this point, yet i think he truly believes he's still an all-star because of what he does when he is in with the bench. He got burned all day on the pick and roll, mainly because of communication. The PNR could be seen from a mile away, but there was no communication between Ron and his teammate, and he waited until he got hit with the pick before he decided how to defend it. I dont recall him every going under the screen, he almost always took the screen, got hit, then got beat. If i didn't know any better, i would've thought he was intentionally getting beat.

Kobe was awesome as always, and he actually looked better than he did back in 2010. It was obvious all game though that he was frustrated with the offense, he was constantly glaring at Steve Blake for passing up shots and Pau for not even looking at the rim. The return of kobe ball was a sad sight to see, as i didn't think it'd ever happen with Dwight, Nash and Gasol on the same team.

Morris is garbage, but his quickness with the ball and his ball pressure were actually a welcome change of pace to Blake getting burned, or Pau/Metta getting beat

Going forward, i'm not sure i like where this team is headed. The effort on defense, both player effort and preparedness, was horrible. The fact that Pau/Dwight had the ball at the three point line more than anybody else made me sick. The offense seemed unncessarily complicated, filled with crappy little back picks and re-sets. The team would've flourished if guys cut to the basket after passing, and every guy was aggressive taking his man off the dribble if it were there. The offense to me looked like a horrible high school effort to replicate a complicated triangle offense.

Feel free to ask me any questions, i've been to every laker game since 2008 in Utah and was at the Clips/Lakers game in April

[KB24TBOTB]

A very well thought out post. Everything you said was true. Our team looked like a bunch of babies last night and gave no effort what so ever. The point of Mike Brown not being able to control the team was well known

[crazy8ights]

yea feels the offense is doing too much all the time, glad to know Kobe looks to be in top shape despite the (foot) Kobe and Dwight might not be enough to carry this team all the way through as crazy as that sounds

[Jajwanda]

You need to take the good players and drop the anchors. If there is a deal for Pau take that deal and go sign Kenyon Martin. Even a guy like that would bring a nice mid-range, good P and R D, and is the right type of PF for the offense. As far as SF, you need a relatively smart, solid defender, that can shoot the 3 and play off the ball.

For the value of Pau and Metta you should be able to get that. All of a sudden you'll see the defense tighten up significantly and the offense begin to flow.

Despite all that the Lakers lost the Utah game due to the bench rotation. There was a -13 differential due to that Morris, Ebanks, MWP, Hill, and Gasol/Howard group.

[leeprettyp]

I dont think trading Pau is the answer at all. I just believe having him so far out on the floor (he's pratically spotting up for 3's these days) is the problem. But btw great well thought out assessment of the game vs. Utah

[Bandwagon1]

They seem to close gaps but too late. Kobe went nuts in the 2nd half.

[Run-MKE 311]

Great post, I have seen the Lakers every year for the past 5 years straight here in Milwaukee, always great to have the show come to town.

Haha I feel depressed after reading that well thought out post though. Outside of Kobe and Dwight, everything in there just smells of old age, lack of motivation, lack of talent, and zero control from the coach.

Lakers are here in March, so hopefully things will look a lot different at that time.

[LAKESHOW]

Its a bunch of things, that I hope get turned around. But one thing is the rotations. Even Brown doesnt even know . . . who he is sticking in. Dribble penetration by opposing point guards. ridiculous. We need to get this fixed