Game 63 Lakers (31-31) vs. Raptors (24-38) March 8 - 7:30PM

[DEEP3CL]

It's the 2nd Q that we usually fall behind, we really need Pau back can't have Clark playing center

The problem isn't Clark going to the 5, the problem is at the 1. Blake kills all momentum built once he enters. I've tracked this for weeks now since he's come back and have compared it to when he was out. Blake plays in a "fail safe" mode, meaning he'll bog down the offense to prevent from messing up because he won't be aggressive nor will he move the ball to whoever is 1st option with certainty. The ball sticks in his hands way too long.

[Jetset]

tbh, i don't think pau had ever fallen off that much. he's just been playing out of position. now that he's a center again and accepts his role off the bench he can put up double doubles.

I agree that playing out of position had some effect on Pau's effectiveness and attitude but there was a whole month there where one could visibly see Pau struggle to run up and down the court or get any lift. The guy is longer than a giraffe and he was barely able to jump high enough to dunk the basketball. He was frequently getting blocked or stuffed within a very short distance of the basket and that's the spot on the court he's most effective (ie not out of position on these attempts) and never had any trouble getting off shots until this year. I'm convinced his athleticism was limited to the point it made him almost worthless anywhere on the court. How he managed to regain most of his athleticism just prior to finally tearing the fascia in his foot God only knows but hopefully he'll be able to play at that level once he returns. If he can and we can get a little more consistent play from our PG's we have a chance to make some noise in the playoffs. Perhaps it's a very small chance but at this point we'll take anything we can get.

One of those coveted 8 playoff spots and a relatively healthy team once they begin is all I ask. if it's still not enough to make some noise once we get there I can live with it.

In reality, Pau should be the 5 and Dwight should be the 4 and Metta should be moved to the bench and Clark should be the starting 3. Fixes the slow rotation issue on defense also. Pau can defend centers just not PF's in todays NBA

If you want to fix the defense by doing that then that's fine, but that's not going to work offensively. Dwight's game outside of very few post moves so putting him at PF is absolutely terrible and would congest the paint more than it already was when Pau was the starting PF. If Pau's going to play C then he needs a PF that can stretch the floor a la Odom, Jamison is Pau's Odom of the second unit.

[AcecardZ]

In reality, Pau should be the 5 and Dwight should be the 4 and Metta should be moved to the bench and Clark should be the starting 3. Fixes the slow rotation issue on defense also. Pau can defend centers just not PF's in todays NBA

If Pau moves back into the starting lineup we just may see some hybrid of exactly what you're suggesting. My only concern with the lineup you're suggesting would be Dwight's discomfort with not getting as many touches near the rim and our ability to keep up with speedier teams when we have all that size on the court.

If Pau's feet are no longer an issue having him down low feeding a cutting Kobe or Dwight would be murder on opposing teams. Especially with Nash the sniper waiting on the perimeter to drain some wide open 3's.

Once Pau returns if we can find a way to keep him in the post our ball movement should improve dramatically. If we force Pau to play 20 feet from the basket the team might continue to struggle.

If I have one major concern it's this. Will our defense improve once Pau returns? If so how much? We score plenty of points. We need to figure out how to stop teams and once we do we'll start blowing other teams out and winning tons of games.

One last note... If you told me you have basketball team full of extremely talented players that's capable of scoring with the best of them but is still struggling mightily to win games because their defense is so awful I'd ask one question. Who's coaching the team? After being told it was MDA I'd laugh and say "you're kidding right?" Go figure a team coached by MDA is struggling to defend. smh!

You can have the greatest race horse in the world but if you don't have the right jockey riding it you're not going to win many races...
You can have the fastest race car in the world but if you don't have the right mechanic tuning it you're not going to win many races...

etc etc etc enough with the cliches.

[leeprettyp]

In reality, Pau should be the 5 and Dwight should be the 4 and Metta should be moved to the bench and Clark should be the starting 3. Fixes the slow rotation issue on defense also. Pau can defend centers just not PF's in todays NBA

If Pau moves back into the starting lineup we just may see some hybrid of exactly what you're suggesting. My only concern with the lineup you're suggesting would be Dwight's discomfort with not getting as many touches near the rim and our ability to keep up with speedier teams when we have all that size on the court.

If Pau's feet are no longer an issue having him down low feeding a cutting Kobe or Dwight would be murder on opposing teams. Especially with Nash the sniper waiting on the perimeter to drain some wide open 3's.

Once Pau returns if we can find a way to keep him in the post our ball movement should improve dramatically. If we force Pau to play 20 feet from the basket the team might continue to struggle.

If I have one major concern it's this. Will our defense improve once Pau returns? If so how much? We score plenty of points. We need to figure out how to stop teams and once we do we'll start blowing other teams out and winning tons of games.

One last note... If you told me you have basketball team full of extremely talented players that's capable of scoring with the best of them but is still struggling mightily to win games because their defense is so awful I'd ask one question. Who's coaching the team? After being told it was MDA I'd laugh and say "you're kidding right?" Go figure a team coached by MDA is struggling to defend. smh!

You can have the greatest race horse in the world but if you don't have the right jockey riding it you're not going to win many races...
You can have the fastest race car in the world but if you don't have the right mechanic tuning it you're not going to win many races...

etc etc etc enough with the cliches.

Just happy people can finally realize just how IMPORTANT a coach and their system is.

[AcecardZ]

Just happy people can finally realize just how IMPORTANT a coach and their system is.

I have nothing against MDA as a person or coach but I wasn't very happy when it was announced he was going to be the coach of our team. I was really hoping for Jerry Sloan or Phil "I could use one last ring" Jackson.

The thought of having MDA lead this team long term is kind of scary to be honest.

The Lakers have won 10 championships since 1980. 9 of those championships they've been coached by an HOFer. That's no coincidence.

[tms]

i.m Toronto here and tbh, i thought Nash was pretty garbage. anyone who thought he played well is a MMQB (David Aldridge?). he hit a few runners in the lane, meh, but otherwise he was running around w/ his head cut off. if he didnt drop those threes, open looks created largely by his teammates, it wouldnta bn pretty. he.s always bn a great shooter, no doubt, i cant hate on that, but he.s obvsly growing less and less useful for yall. he wasnt disruptive, your "two Steves" were almost like duplicates... six of one and half-dozen of the other. if anything one could say the Raptors were exploiting Nash on def when D12 was riding pine. if ur not playing a young team at home (in OT, no less), it prob doesnt end up like this. i dunno how u can possibly hope to win consistently if ur running a D'Antoni system and have absolutely no open floor game to speak of... 53 mins yall! and u dropped 118! and how many on the break?!?! i can think of two baskets mayb- and Stevie wasnt part of either one. and the Raptors r slow as molasses in transition, drag their feet in the backcourt and gamble like any quintessential lottery team- we aint the fkn Spurs! lol

listen, i aint trollin, i rly dont care. hell, i.m brewing my coffee right now! i.m just sayin the Lakers played their hearts out last night- and yet it wasnt effective. his stats may paint a diff picture but i.d say Capn Canada is quick becoming a major concern for u. but at least today u can enjoy the win, tru.

[leeprettyp]

Just happy people can finally realize just how IMPORTANT a coach and their system is.

I have nothing against MDA as a person or coach but I wasn't very happy when it was announced he was going to be the coach of our team. I was really hoping for Jerry Sloan or Phil "I could use one last ring" Jackson.

The thought of having MDA lead this team long term is kind of scary to be honest.

The Lakers have won 10 championships since 1980. 9 of those championships they've been coached by an HOFer. That's no coincidence.

Well this team is gonna sink or swim under this now OFFICIAL Jim Buss era. The Mike Brown hire was bad but then to follow it with this Mike D hire was even worse smdh

[IamBBAnalysis]

i.m Toronto here and tbh, i thought Nash was pretty garbage. anyone who thought he played well is a MMQB (David Aldridge?). he hit a few runners in the lane, meh, but otherwise he was running around w/ his head cut off. if he didnt drop those threes, open looks created largely by his teammates, it wouldnta bn pretty. he.s always bn a great shooter, no doubt, i cant hate on that, but he.s obvsly growing less and less useful for yall. he wasnt disruptive, your "two Steves" were almost like duplicates... six of one and half-dozen of the other. if anything one could say the Raptors were exploiting Nash on def when D12 was riding pine. if ur not playing a young team at home (in OT, no less), it prob doesnt end up like this. i dunno how u can possibly hope to win consistently if ur running a D'Antoni system and have absolutely no open floor game to speak of... 53 mins yall! and u dropped 118! and how many on the break?!?! i can think of two baskets mayb- and Stevie wasnt part of either one. and the Raptors r slow as molasses in transition, drag their feet in the backcourt and gamble like any quintessential lottery team- we aint the fkn Spurs! lol

listen, i aint trollin, i rly dont care. hell, i.m brewing my coffee right now! i.m just sayin the Lakers played their hearts out last night- and yet it wasnt effective. his stats may paint a diff picture but i.d say Capn Canada is quick becoming a major concern for u. but at least today u can enjoy the win, tru.

Thanks for the tip and insight. Now, one question. What the hell are you talking about? Do you have some kind of point? Obviously Laker fans know about Nash. They have been watching him all season.

Yes, Nash is not breaking down the D and getting guys wide open looks. Kobe is being used as the facilitator instead. Nash as the primary facilitator on this team just does not work that well. There is no roll man so working through Kobe isos or posts or Gasol/Howard is the primary focus.

I don't know what you're talking about with the "running around with the head cut off". I didn't see that at all. And you state the open looks were created by teamates. Also not true. The 3 he hit was just a slight screen in which Nash had the ball and he pulled up and hit it. Maybe half were Nash creating and 1/2 were from something Kobe did.

Also, again wrong that Toronto was exploiting Nash when Dwight sat. They basically play almost all their minutes together and you're thinking of Lucas going off on Blake.

Again, wrong on Blake and Nash the same. Nash does still create offense and can be a dynamic scorer while Blake is nothing of the sort.

Note: If you say "not trolling" in a post then you are trolling.

[TyCobb]

i.m Toronto here and tbh, i thought Nash was pretty garbage. anyone who thought he played well is a MMQB (David Aldridge?). he hit a few runners in the lane, meh, but otherwise he was running around w/ his head cut off. if he didnt drop those threes, open looks created largely by his teammates, it wouldnta bn pretty. he.s always bn a great shooter, no doubt, i cant hate on that, but he.s obvsly growing less and less useful for yall. he wasnt disruptive, your "two Steves" were almost like duplicates... six of one and half-dozen of the other. if anything one could say the Raptors were exploiting Nash on def when D12 was riding pine. if ur not playing a young team at home (in OT, no less), it prob doesnt end up like this. i dunno how u can possibly hope to win consistently if ur running a D'Antoni system and have absolutely no open floor game to speak of... 53 mins yall! and u dropped 118! and how many on the break?!?! i can think of two baskets mayb- and Stevie wasnt part of either one. and the Raptors r slow as molasses in transition, drag their feet in the backcourt and gamble like any quintessential lottery team- we aint the fkn Spurs! lol

listen, i aint trollin, i rly dont care. hell, i.m brewing my coffee right now! i.m just sayin the Lakers played their hearts out last night- and yet it wasnt effective. his stats may paint a diff picture but i.d say Capn Canada is quick becoming a major concern for u. but at least today u can enjoy the win, tru.

Can you just start with that next time?

[AcecardZ]

Kobe's been playing out of his mind lately and the Lakers are still struggling to win games against awful teams!

And people have the nerve to say Kobe isn't a team player! Surround him a damn team that can play for Christ's sake and Kobe may not be forced to try to do everything himself!

/rant

[leeprettyp]

Kobe's been playing out of his mind lately and the Lakers are still struggling to win games against awful teams!

And people have the nerve to say Kobe isn't a team player! Surround him a damn team that can play for Christ's sake and Kobe may not be forced to try to do everything himself!

/rant

Dwight has woken up now and we'll get Pau back soon. Also we stopped running Mike D offense. We'll be ok bro now we just need to get healthy. This is the Dwight Howard I signed up for

[Kilroy]

I went to bed when they stretched the lead to 7 with like 20 sec left or whatever... Honestly shocked we won the game... It didn't look like we could defend a high school team last night. Every time we scored, they got a layup...
Glad Kobe keeps winning games for us, but this is no way to head into the playoffs... Barely ticking off teams we should beat easily.

I guess we'll see what happens when Pau comes back.

[tms]

Also, again wrong that Toronto was exploiting Nash when Dwight sat. They basically play almost all their minutes together

yeah i was tryna give him more credit than he was due, i guess. hopin u wouldnt notice. i remember the Raps running that high S&R in the first half w/ or w/out D12 involved. you can have it your way: its even more of an indictment of the lil white guy that they werent deterred by the multiple-x DPOY behind him. but second half, ur right, its hard to ignore Casey deploying his well-oiled "Attack Meeks" offense until we were all blue in the face.

I don't know what you're talking about with the "running around with the head cut off". I didn't see that at all.

apologies, i could be 'mistaken' again... must b confused with the sequence where Nash tried 'cutting off' D12's head by throwing the ball through his face.

u can have the last word (preferably a zinger!) if u want, brother. its all good. just remember that we.re all aware of the media groupthink talking points- doesnt mean we agree or that theyr necessarily true. its my fave thing abt forums like RGM, tbh. bottom line: if ur running halfcourt sets for 53 mins w/ MDA on ur sidelines and Steve Nash on the floor, i.d say thats not an ideal proposition heading into the last quarter of the season.

Note: if you say

Thanks for the tip and insight

then ur probably not thanking anyone for the tip or the insight. (we can all play this game!)

[IamBBAnalysis]

Kobe's been playing out of his mind lately and the Lakers are still struggling to win games against awful teams!

And people have the nerve to say Kobe isn't a team player! Surround him a damn team that can play for Christ's sake and Kobe may not be forced to try to do everything himself!

/rant

You sound like you're 12 when you say stuff like that. Just FYI.

[IamBBAnalysis]

I went to bed when they stretched the lead to 7 with like 20 sec left or whatever... Honestly shocked we won the game... It didn't look like we could defend a high school team last night. Every time we scored, they got a layup...
Glad Kobe keeps winning games for us, but this is no way to head into the playoffs... Barely ticking off teams we should beat easily.

I guess we'll see what happens when Pau comes back.

Watch the 1st quarter again. Most of it was not bad. Toronto was just hitting jumpers. It happens. The players were trying on D. Not like the Hornets at all. I know its the usual thing to just say "they scored so and so points so its terrible defense" but that is not always the case. After the 1st though the Lakers did not play D as well and the lead was maintained because of that. And again in the 4th the Lakers attempted to play D again.

So the Lakers are capable...they just do not do it most of the time.

[IamBBAnalysis]

Also, again wrong that Toronto was exploiting Nash when Dwight sat. They basically play almost all their minutes together

yeah i was tryna give him more credit than he was due, i guess. hopin u wouldnt notice. i remember the Raps running that high S&R in the first half w/ or w/out D12 involved. you can have it your way: its even more of an indictment of the lil white guy that they werent deterred by the multiple-x DPOY behind him. but second half, ur right, its hard to ignore Casey deploying his well-oiled "Attack Meeks" offense until we were all blue in the face.

I don't know what you're talking about with the "running around with the head cut off". I didn't see that at all.

apologies, i could be 'mistaken' again... must b confused with the sequence where Nash tried 'cutting off' D12's head by throwing the ball through his face.

u can have the last word (preferably a zinger!) if u want, brother. its all good. just remember that we.re all aware of the media groupthink talking points- doesnt mean we agree or that theyr necessarily true. its my fave thing abt forums like RGM, tbh. bottom line: if ur running halfcourt sets for 53 mins w/ MDA on ur sidelines and Steve Nash on the floor, i.d say thats not an ideal proposition heading into the last quarter of the season.

Note: if you say

Thanks for the tip and insight

then ur probably not thanking anyone for the tip or the insight. (we can all play this game!)

If you are saying the Lakers are not as good as expected and the Nash/D'Antonni thing has not worked out as expected. Yeah, everyone agrees on that. But if you follow the Lakers what you are seeing this year is a very slow adjustment. Nash being used as a scorer more and more with some facilitating here or there. Kobe as the playmaker. When Kobe and Gasol were playing with no Dwight the offense was different then too. And this is not a fast breaking team.

The players just don't seem to fit. Nash/Dwight especially have not been at their best consistently. But you see signs of improvement for both. The Lakers will need all 3 of them if they want to make any kind of push this year.

By the way...Lowry is out of shape, right? He looks slow and chubby.

[AcecardZ]

Kobe's been playing out of his mind lately and the Lakers are still struggling to win games against awful teams!

And people have the nerve to say Kobe isn't a team player! Surround him a damn team that can play for Christ's sake and Kobe may not be forced to try to do everything himself!

/rant

You sound like you're 12 when you say stuff like that. Just FYI.

I turn 13 in two months.

[GeneralNash]

Lakers were tired last game. The back to back games prior to this one has not left the laker legs.

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