Current Team Chemistry

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Is bad. Most of it is due to Kobe, but it's not all his fault. Gasol isn't playing any defense, Blake is playing like a scrub, and the backup C position has been up-and-down for weeks now. Farmar's absence has been very noticeable, and the longer he's out, the longer we'll struggle.

Kobe playing means the ball is sticking to his hands a lot, and our other players aren't used to standing around and watching a player go to work, which leads to chemistry issues.

There's no doubt in my mind we would have crushed both Toronto and Phoenix if we had the same lineup that we had during the Nets/Pistons road trip. This isn't a knock on Kobe, but rather an awareness that chemistry will be an issue for a little while longer. Whether or not we'll return to a +.500 team is a good question.

[stunnar0b]

Before Kobe came back team was 6-2 in its last 8 games with a three game winning streak on the road. Now Kobe comes back **** everything up and has the nerve to say it's not like they were "gang buster". No but they had something good going.

A lot of the issues are chemistry based and I hope Kobe gets back to his old self with a couple of games under his belt. But man it's just looking painfully obvious that Kobe won't regain most of his burst that made him so amazing to watch.

Hopefully I'm wrong and eventually everybody will learn to play with Kobe, I just don't see it

[IamBBAnalysis]

Before Kobe came back team was 6-2 in its last 8 games with a three game winning streak on the road. Now Kobe comes back **** everything up and has the nerve to say it's not like they were "gang buster". No but they had something good going.

A lot of the issues are chemistry based and I hope Kobe gets back to his old self with a couple of games under his belt. But man it's just looking painfully obvious that Kobe won't regain most of his burst that made him so amazing to watch.

Hopefully I'm wrong and eventually everybody will learn to play with Kobe, I just don't see it

A lot of it is team energy more so then Kobe playing good/bad. Without Kobe the team plays with more athletes on the floor, the ball won't stick as much, and you'll see more energy and floor spacing. Its a tough situation. I thought Kobe was pretty ok in game 2. But not the Kobe that wins games by himself. So you needed the team to win the game...and the "team" was not as good overall then in games past.

Plus Gasol is liability on both ends right now.

[ngcoolman]

While I agree Kobe's return has negative impact on team chemistry in short term, I think it is good for the team in long term. Kobe actually played quite well against Phoenix and I think we would have lost anyway even if he didn't play because neither our starters nor bench could stop the sun's fast break.

At this point of his career, I don't think Kobe is suitable for high-tempo offense. I think what will happen is when Kobe is in the line-up, we will play slower and do more post-up. This doesn't necessarily a bad thing, Kobe is one of the best post-up players in the league. He can provide us reliable scoring options. I know our team play some exciting basketball with good ball movements before his return. However, it is also frustrating to see us without a reliable scoring option and have a long draught in the game (especially against team with elite defense). So I think Kobe's return can potentially solve that problem. Our bench can always push up to the tempo of the game when Kobe is resting. I think in long term, this will make our team more consistent and dangerous.

[stunnar0b]

Yup it's a **** up situation any way you slice it. But Kobe's the man we're rolling with so just gotta see how it plays out

[Slava]

Its not chemistry, its called re-figuring rotations in the middle of a season. This was always going to happen even if it was Nash and not Kobe coming back. Bad chemistry is when people don't want to help each other on the court, set strong screens or make the extra pass.

Watch the game without Kobe and you'll see Jordan Hill posting up, taking turn around jumpers, Swaggy P over dribbling etc.., if its not Kobe, someone else will hold onto the ball because NBA defenses, even the bad ones are good enough to not bend over backwards on every possession.

Blake almost had a double double last night, same as he was doing before Kobe came back, Pau put his customary 19/10 line with bad defense and Kobe got 20 points off 11 shots. If anything, its taking minutes away from Meeks, Young & X on alternate days and they were all playing very well before Kobe.

We'd have beaten Toronto but Phoenix have a better record than us this season and Morris twins played well last night and we sucked at defensive rebounding.

[ROballer]

Before Kobe came back team was 6-2 in its last 8 games with a three game winning streak on the road. Now Kobe comes back **** everything up and has the nerve to say it's not like they were "gang buster". No but they had something good going.

He's right in what he said....we're not the **** Pacers and he's Granger(contending team even without him)
We're a mediocre team talent wise who overachieved to start the season(possibly because we're not some juggernaut from the past and some teams took us lightly,like we used to during our championship yrs and often got burned)

That's the **** point,that's what he meant and he's absolutely right.....we're not anything special without him and I'd argue we're not even with him at close to 100%

About chemistry issues,read Slava's post.....don't think many even know what chemistry actually means

[stunnar0b]

While I agree Kobe's return has negative impact on team chemistry in short term, I think it is good for the team in long term. Kobe actually played quite well against Phoenix and I think we would have lost anyway even if he didn't play because neither our starters nor bench could stop the sun's fast break.

At this point of his career, I don't think Kobe is suitable for high-tempo offense. I think what will happen is when Kobe is in the line-up, we will play slower and do more post-up. This doesn't necessarily a bad thing, Kobe is one of the best post-up players in the league. He can provide us reliable scoring options. I know our team play some exciting basketball with good ball movements before his return. However, it is also frustrating to see us without a reliable scoring option and have a long draught in the game (especially against team with elite defense). So I think Kobe's return can potentially solve that problem. Our bench can always push up to the tempo of the game when Kobe is resting. I think in long term, this will make our team more consistent and dangerous.

the thing is when Kobe's in the line up we play slow especially on defense, so a lot of those runs out from last night probably wouldn't of happened if Kobe wasn't playing.

Also I'm sure people remember that kings game on Friday when we took the lead at the end with young setting up pau for a jumper. Next possession we get Meeks a wide open 3 from the corner then we give the ball to young to kill some clock and drains a jumper one on one. That was just beautiful basketball.

Ever since Kobe came back the energy is sucked out if this team. And the worst is when you see Blake bringing the ball up and Kobe is chasing him calling for the ball. The team more or less knew their roles and played for each other now it seems like we're reverting back to everybody getting theirs while they can.

[kblo247]

its a process. Dirk dealt with it last December where he only averaged 7ppg after the first layoff of his career

All that ball movement and their offense rating without Kobe was still a pedestrian 19th in the league. They were 28th in free-throw rate, 25th in 2PT%, and bottom 3 in ORB%. But hey, the ball was moving!

Meanwhile, their offensive rating tonight (113.4) was amazing and among their best for the season.

They are clearly going to make strides as an offensive unit and as a defensive unit. But the thing that's telling about the D is that we have guys looking for individual stops asides from Williams. We have tried to implement some traps as we all see in this past home stand but it's all a work in progress. A bump in the road can build character if they are willing to climb out it together

[leeprettyp]

A fan or even player on a 10-9 team has no right to complain about reintegrating the best player on the team. We knew it would take time for Kobe to get back into game shape. And to be honest the ball sticks in superstars hands across the league. Its a reason these guys are paid the big bucks. I really hate how Kobe is getting the blame when in reality our INTERIOR DEFENSE has been awful in both of these past two games. Amir Johnson and the Morris twins shouldnt be destroying us like that. But I get it.... Its just easier to blame Kobe because thats what people do blame Kobe. He hasnt been horrible out there. In reality the offensive coaching Philosophy and the best player on the team playing style (Ummm btw which one has actually won titles?) will never mix. BTW last night Kobe more off the ball than the 1st game and Blake got his 10 asst. But it doesnt matter how many points we score if we dont defend. At this point we gotta figure out what were gonna do at the starting Center position because Pau is giving us nothing on both ends of the court.


IMO this should be the starting lineup right now

Blake (until Farmar gets back)
Meeks
Kobe
Wes Johnson
Jordan Hill

Besides the Memphis game coming up we really dont face a bruising front line (you could argue Charlotte with Jefferson tho)


I really wonder if people are really watching these games. We're back to switching the big and small on our pick n roll defense and that isnt a great idea with Pau Gasol in the starting lineup. And on the offensive end because Kobe isnt back in game shape we're lacking on athleticism

[Danny Darko]

This system doesn't fit Kobe. While I was enjoying watching the scrub system more than I enjoy watching Kobe ball, I do concede we won't make much noise with that lineup. This brings up more than just lineup though... we are back to system issues at this rate. Soo.... basically do we hang loose until free agency or try to win now (axe a coach who is actually doing some good things and basically go back to triangle or something that supports hog ball) ?

[Desiderium]

Our problems start and end with Pau Gasol. No rebounding, no hustle, no heart. He's given up on life.

[ngcoolman]

Our problems start and end with Pau Gasol. No rebounding, no hustle, no heart. He's given up on life.

I think Kobe is desperate to fire Pau up by keep passing the ball to him to post-up. Hope that Pau can react positively to Kobe's trust.

[Desiderium]

Our problems start and end with Pau Gasol. No rebounding, no hustle, no heart. He's given up on life.

I think Kobe is desperate to fire Pau up by keep passing the ball to him to post-up. Hope that Pau can react positively to Kobe's trust.

to be honest, i was happy when dwight left which would leave pau to operate on the post. but i forgot to take into consideration that he no longer has this capability. his knees are pretty much shot, he has a vertical jump of 1.98 inches and he gets pushed out 20 feet from the basket. His conditioning is VERY poor, he looks almost chubby out there. As you get older, it catches up with you. He needs to lose weight and go back to his finesse game

[Slava]

Once Kaman gets back,we could revert to what we did in those late Phil Jackson teams and play two systems, a more triangle, post oriented system for the starting line up and a faster running system with the bench.

Blake | Farmar | Nash
Meeks | Young
Kobe | X
Pau | Johnson | Williams | Kelly
Kaman | Hill | Sacre

[leeprettyp]

This system doesn't fit Kobe. While I was enjoying watching the scrub system more than I enjoy watching Kobe ball, I do concede we won't make much noise with that lineup. This brings up more than just lineup though... we are back to system issues at this rate. Soo.... basically do we hang loose until free agency or try to win now (axe a coach who is actually doing some good things and basically go back to triangle or something that supports hog ball) ?

It all comes back to the coach and the scheme that we're running. Once it was apparent Nash wasnt gonna be himself again after the injury last year Mike D couldnt be viewed as a long term option. Is he a good coach in the NBA? IMO Yes... Does he get the most out of role players or lower tiered players? Yes...Is his system fun to watch? I guess depends on your expectations... But we all agree he will never lead us to a championship contending ring and will continue to bump heads with potential superstars going forward. His share the ball system isnt catered to a central player outside of the PG position. I want to get the path back going to contending again. I'd even believe we would be in a better position if we'd kept Bernie Bickerstaff last year. We ran the triple post offense with Kobe/Dwight/Gasol and was dominant in that short span. Mike D wants to speed up the game and our best players want to slow up the game and turn it into a half court technical/skill type of game. Do I blame Mike D for taking the job... Of course not because he thought his system could revive Nash but in reality their were better options that could've catered to our roster. But at this point Pau isnt even a reliable post option or pick n pop option to open up the floor for Kobe. We're gonna really need to find that star to put alongside Bean because Pau has really fallin off the map at this point.

I never been a fan of this chuck a 3 offense anyway. I dont need role players focused on shooting the ball +10 times in a game.

[leeprettyp]

Once Kaman gets back,we could revert to what we did in those late Phil Jackson teams and play two systems, a more triangle, post oriented system for the starting line up and a faster running system with the bench.

Blake | Farmar | Nash
Meeks | Young
Kobe | X
Pau | Johnson | Williams | Kelly
Kaman | Hill | Sacre

I really thought this was going to be the plan from the beginning but injuries happened and I guess things changed. Starters should be half court orriented and the bench should be fast pace push the ball type

[kblo247]

Our problems start and end with Pau Gasol. No rebounding, no hustle, no heart. He's given up on life.

I think Kobe is desperate to fire Pau up by keep passing the ball to him to post-up. Hope that Pau can react positively to Kobe's trust.

to be honest, i was happy when dwight left which would leave pau to operate on the post. but i forgot to take into consideration that he no longer has this capability. his knees are pretty much shot, he has a vertical jump of 1.98 inches and he gets pushed out 20 feet from the basket. His conditioning is VERY poor, he looks almost chubby out there. As you get older, it catches up with you. He needs to lose weight and go back to his finesse game

Luke Walton on Pau’s D: “Even if he has to get into foul trouble to send a message, put someone on their butt when they come in the paint and let them know we are not going to have easy buckets in here all game.”

I remember. Luke and Lamar agreeing with Kobe in the 2010 WCF on the word hate to describe how they felt about the suns. Pau rustled Walton's jimmies in the studio with that layup line to that team

I remember Luke putting Tim Thomas on his ass and Kwame doing the same to Diaw. And Luke was being real, until Pau lays someone on their ass out there teams are going to single him out like Phoenix ran the last 8 plays of the game at him

[kblo247]

Kobe to get some PF time ... Fml

Ramona Shelburne ‏@ramonashelburne 3h
Word is Lakers expecting to use @kobebryant more as a 3/4 going forward, than as a facilitator.
Expand

[ngcoolman]

Kobe to get some PF time ... Fml

Ramona Shelburne ‏@ramonashelburne 3h
Word is Lakers expecting to use @kobebryant more as a 3/4 going forward, than as a facilitator.
Expand

Actually, Kobe is quite bulky. He did look a little bit like Carmelo out there. So I guess that means he can be a 4 in MDA system.