Lakers need to follow the Spurs example

[That Nicka]

2007 Spurs won championship

2008 Spurs lost to up and coming Lakers in WCF (somewhat similar to us losing to up and coming Thunder now)

2009 lost in first round to Dallas

2010 swept by phoenix

2011 lost in first round to Memphis


what changed? They now play through the younger Parker instead of Duncan. Lakers need to play through Bynum and Kobe needs to accept a lesser role like Duncan has.

Spurs also started picking up pieces that FIT as opposed to just going with the cheaper option and hoping the top end talent carries them over. Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Gary Neal, Tiago Splitter, Stephen Jackson, Boris Diaw - all perfect fits in San Antonio. The Lakers have let solid players go because they could get cheaper players elsewhere. They pick up Matt Barnes and Steve Blake, Troy Murphy and Josh McRoberts not because they fit with our players but because they were cheap alternatives to what we had. Farmar was quicker and fit better, Sasha was a better shooter and spaced the floor much better than Barnes.

We really need shooters in the worst way. San Antonio has a plethora of them to open up the floor for Parker and Duncan.. We can't expect Kobe and Bynum to have too much success without shooters to space the floor for them, especially with Gasol disappearing during our last two post seasons.

How do you guys feel about this?

[dockingsched]

kobe does not have the mentality to do what duncan has gracefully done in SA.

this is a guy that shot at the highest rate of his career at the lowest efficiency of his career this season.

[Slava]

Spurs are not playing through Parker consciously. They upped the tempo of their offense to a ridiculous level compared to previous years. Duncan dropped a lot of weight and became a much more mobile center that runs the floor and pops from the FT line with Parker on the pick and rolls. There by allowing Parker the freedom to work his way to the rim.

Parker as the primary ball handler is taking advantage of this in an offense that perfectly suits his strengths. Their offense is based on unselfish passing and reacting to how the defense sets up, similar to what we did with Phil in 07-08.

Other than that they have ridiculously good ball movement, side to side and they pass more than they dribble. None of this applies to the Lakers with 2 lumbering bigs other than the fact that we need shooters desperately.

[Imadogg]

kobe does not have the mentality to do what duncan has gracefully done in SA.

this is a guy that shot at the highest rate of his career at the lowest efficiency of his career this season.

Yes.

Duncan is the anti-Kobe.

[DrewBynum77]

lol if you think what changed is that now they play off parker.. Secondly, Parker is a PG, a finals MVP Point Guard. we can play thru bynum lol. Did you watch the nuggets series? Bynum can't pass. If anything people would just double him and then laugh. or maybe they could just front him and he becomes useless, like Perkins did. he doesn't have the stamina to fight for position 36+ minutes per game.

oh and they be playing off parker for a long time.

they have 1 all star, 2 very good players, 10 good players, a GREAT COACH, great DRAFT GM (mitch is great at trades but doesn't draft well) AND NOT A SINGLE BAD CONTRACT. They are very different than us and we have NO CHANCE at copying their model in the short and mid term.

Anyway we got to the finals 3 times and won the title twice with this 'group' in the past 5 years while only now Spurs are doing something in the playoffs.

I know we are the Lakers but 3 finals and 2 titles after acquiring Pau is really great.

[supaflash]

I agree somewhat. It's pretty obvious the system didn't work well. Is it Brown? Kobe? Gasol?

I don't know, considering where we started the year and where we were even in this series, a couple plays and we might be going to the WCF... We didn't have much of a bench, we didn't have shooters which in turn made our spacing bad, we didn't have speed which hurt us.. They are fixable.

I think the system and some of the surrounding players need to change. We may not have a ton of options but it can be done and we can look to the Spurs for that.

I like Pau, I like his skills and what he has done for the franchise, and I think he CAN coexist well with Drew but... I don't think he will, he just doesn't quite have the mentality. I just don't like where he is defensively and his hesitations will always drive me nuts. I think what he brings offensively can be replaced with the right pieces. I think he's the piece we have to move to get something else. Of course there is the ideal deal, something like Gasol and Sessions for Deron, but it's a pipe dream. Perhaps there could be another deal out there though that might work. If Miami loses and decides to make changes perhaps a deal involving Bosh could be had. He's a great shooter and would be a nice compliment to Drew.

We need athletes and shooters if we are going to make teams pay for fronting Drew. We also need one other guy that can get and create shots. If we keep Sessions which is likely with our situation, a system that could utilize his style would be nice. If we could move Gasol for a shooter and great shooting 4, he could cause some trouble.

Change out Brown and Gasol and try and get some solid new pieces and give it another go imo.

[The Skyhook]

I think the Lakers can do something similar to what the Spurs did but they will have to reload by adding a superstar alpha dog that will stand up to Kobe and demand the ball. Sure Bynum demands the ball but how often is he in position when he is waving his arms up asking for the ball? I order for Kobe to take a back seat to someone it will take someone who Kobe has a ton of respect for. Bynum doesn't have the right mentality to e that guy alongside Kobe.

[milesfides]

Lol, there's only one person left worthy of any comparison to the Spurs organization, and thats Kobe.

From top to bottom, the lakers are not in the same class.

[Crooked-I]

There is nothing worse than an aging superstar that is in denial about his decline. There is no way Kobe hands over the team to Bynum, not gonna happen. Hopefully Kobe works on his contested fadeaways over the summer because were probably going to see the same amount next season as we did this season.

[Speedlot]

Poor Matt Barnes. It's almost as if he doesn't want a good contract. He just disappeared, like he did last season. He was playing so well all season long.. then

I miss Sasha Vujachic, of all people.

[milesfides]

Matt Barnes was trying to play through an ankle injury. Also he makes nothing.

[Speedlot]

Kobe went 29/5/5 this playoffs at 43%. Which is by all means NOT terrible.

[trufan24]

id keep our core for at least another year or two....we just need some new offense really, not just in and out plays, coz that ship has sailed in modern basketball......its all about quickness now

[carlquincy]

kobe does not have the mentality to do what duncan has gracefully done in SA.

this is a guy that shot at the highest rate of his career at the lowest efficiency of his career this season.

Perhaps. 16 yrs in, Kobe is not gonna change much. But having Brown as head coach does not help as well. We need a coach that, at the very minimum, able to install an offensive system for us.

[DrewBynum77]

Now please look at the pic above before saying we can copy their model.

Bynum will get the max this season so him+gasol+kobe will keep us without depth for a long time.

[WOX_69]

If we really wanted to be like the Spurs, we'd improve our scouting staff tenfold.

[TruSkool]

well to start and end things off quickly, kobe's ego and duncan's ego are like land and water.

[The Boot Room]

really funny how some people want bynum to lead a team (lead a team to win championships I guess) when he has the mind of a 15 years old kid.

[Jajwanda]

Anybody else think that perhaps L.A. trades Bynum, moves on with Hill at PF and says we'll do the best with what we have? That'll solve L.A.'s salary dilemma and they'll still have the chance to compete with a new bench and more cohesive group of starters.

[Asianiac_24]

Honestly, I'm not very comfortable handing the keys of this franchise to Bynum, whom both talent and maturity wise isn't capable of being a team leader.