Lakers (37-35) @ Bucks (34-36) March 28, 5:00PM

[AcecardZ]

Kobe is getting way too much blame.

I'm not saying Kobe isn't without some fault but he's one man. He can't defend the other team's five guys. Pau, Nash and Blake are absolutely worthless on defense. It should come as no surprise out team has struggled since Pau has returned and with Artest out our defense isn't going to get any better.

Take one minute to watch Pau run up and down the court. It's comical how slow he is. It's worse now than it's ever been in the past.

This team is done for the year guys! Seeing Nash and Blake play alongside one another for extended stretches was all I needed to see to know we were in serious trouble. Add in Nash and Kobe's most recent I juries and there's no reason to think we'll be able to win the games necessary to keep Dallas and Utah from surpassing us in the standings.

[stunnar0b]

I blame kobe for this failed season and nothing anybody says will convince me other ways. So theres that

[KB24TBOTB]

I blame kobe for this failed season and nothing anybody says will convince me other ways. So theres that

Dw we'll be much better without him when he's out for an extended period of time

[stunnar0b]

But to me, everybody knew exactly what they were going to get with Kobe. He's kind of the one constant in all of this, so I'm not sure how he can be the problem. He's doing exactly what he always has, only more efficiently and with an added facilitating aspect to his game.

This is just wrong, until the **** finally hit the fan was when he startd to facilitate. Before that it was nothing but kobe doing his usual act , which is why the meeting took place. But the past few games I havent seen any facilitating just kobe swaying from the gameplan losing us the lead.

You speak about this efficient kobe I havent seen it I just see 6/18 type games with no defence. And to me theres nothing worse then somebody who stops the ball jacking up bricks while not giving effort on defense. At that point the teams morality is just shot. So I dont put blame on anybody else cause at the end of the day who wants to play hard for somebody like that.

[IamBBAnalysis]

Kobe is getting way too much blame.

I'm not saying Kobe isn't without some fault but he's one man. He can't defend the other team's five guys. Pau, Nash and Blake are absolutely worthless on defense. It should come as no surprise out team has struggled since Pau has returned and with Artest out our defense isn't going to get any better.

Take one minute to watch Pau run up and down the court. It's comical how slow he is. It's worse now than it's ever been in the past.

This team is done for the year guys! Seeing Nash and Blake play alongside one another for extended stretches was all I needed to see to know we were in serious trouble. Add in Nash and Kobe's most recent I juries and there's no reason to think we'll be able to win the games necessary to keep Dallas and Utah from surpassing us in the standings.

Why not mention Kobe on defense too...since he is as big or bigger problem then the rest? Kobe, Gasol, and Dwight are the worst in transition. Just horrendous. They rarely run back. Blake and Nash do. They also try on every possession...unlike those mentioned above. Plus they do stupid and lazy stuff all the time to. Again, Nash doesn't do that. Its almost like you guys don't watch games. Yes, Nash is limited but the fact that he's not an idiot on D and tries brings him up and over the level of other guys most games.

Nash is simply not giving up the wide open looks of Howard, Gasol, and Kobe. Not even close. Can Nash contest as well as those guys when they do cover? No. Am I the only one who actually watches all these guys play D?

Also, Jamison/Artest are dumb on D too. They get lost. Artest tries really hard on some possessions and others he gets lost on. But he's a positive overall.

The two biggest problems on D are Howard/Kobe. Why? Because they are the two that can get it done and lead by example. But they are stupid, stupid, stupid on D. And they think they are all world. And they still are "ok" on defense overall but they are the two with ability to make the team great. And instead they're worrying about offense.

Guess what? If the team just mixed it up and did an even # of post ups with bigs, Kobe isos, and Nash pick and rolls and then everyone used that extra energy to play D then the team might be something. But no...they all want to be their touches.

And stop bringing up Nash first when you talk defensive problems. That's stupid. Pick and roll defense is two men and the second man is the key. Nobody is taking Nash in iso reguarly.

I love it with the posters here talking about Mike D as the problem (not that he isn't but that's not the point) when no one on here notices where the actual defensive issues are. Its hilarious. I wish I was a video guy and I would show you guys the tape and break down what is happening. Its pretty obvious. Blinders or what???

[stunnar0b]

And stop bringing up Nash first when you talk defensive problems. That's stupid. Pick and roll defense is two men and the second man is the key. Nobody is taking Nash in iso reguarly.

Actually he does get eaten alive on iso's but your point still stands. We knew how horrid nash was on d, how awful dwight is at free throws and how soft pau can be but we still saw this team playing great. I see a common denominator in all this and its just disappointing

[AcecardZ]

Why not mention Kobe on defense too...since he is as big or bigger problem then the rest? Kobe, Gasol, and Dwight are the worst in transition. Just horrendous. They rarely run back. Blake and Nash do. They also try on every possession...unlike those mentioned above. Plus they do stupid and lazy stuff all the time to. Again, Nash doesn't do that. Its almost like you guys don't watch games. Yes, Nash is limited but the fact that he's not an idiot on D and tries brings him up and over the level of other guys most games.

Nash is simply not giving up the wide open looks of Howard, Gasol, and Kobe. Not even close. Can Nash contest as well as those guys when they do cover? No. Am I the only one who actually watches all these guys play D?

Also, Jamison/Artest are dumb on D too. They get lost. Artest tries really hard on some possessions and others he gets lost on. But he's a positive overall.

The two biggest problems on D are Howard/Kobe. Why? Because they are the two that can get it done and lead by example. But they are stupid, stupid, stupid on D. And they think they are all world. And they still are "ok" on defense overall but they are the two with ability to make the team great. And instead they're worrying about offense.

Guess what? If the team just mixed it up and did an even # of post ups with bigs, Kobe isos, and Nash pick and rolls and then everyone used that extra energy to play D then the team might be something. But no...they all want to be their touches.

And stop bringing up Nash first when you talk defensive problems. That's stupid. Pick and roll defense is two men and the second man is the key. Nobody is taking Nash in iso reguarly.

I love it with the posters here talking about Mike D as the problem (not that he isn't but that's not the point) when no one on here notices where the actual defensive issues are. Its hilarious. I wish I was a video guy and I would show you guys the tape and break down what is happening. Its pretty obvious. Blinders or what???

Nash plays very hard but being 6'3" tall, old, slow and white pretty much means no matter how hard he tries he's going to be worthless as a defender in the NBA. Kobe putting forth half the effort is a better defender than Nash giving his full effort. Blake gives everything he has also but it just doesn't matter. Neither guy is capable of guardi anybody and it puts a lot strain on guys like Metta, Dwight, Clark, Kobe and Jamison. We put zero pressure on the ball handler whatsoever and you can't win in today's NBA without being able to do so.

Kobe can't be expected to run around all game chasing guys like Kyrie Irving, Chris Paul, Ty Lawson etc.

Nash is a phenomenal offensive player but his counterpart is more phenomenal than him almost every night out.

And this is just Nash...

Dwight's defense isn't yet where we hoped it would be although it was looking good for a week or two.

Metta's injury was a killer.

Blake is disgustingly awful even though he looked decent for a week and a half.

If I could rub a magic lamp and have say in who's on our team next year I'd want Dwight, Kobe and Clark to return. Everybody else is pure garbage! That includes Nash! Sorry Nash I love you but your defense is too porous to excuse.

I wouldn't mind Jordan Hill returning but he's a bit more injury prone than I'd prefer.


And Pau!?!? I don't know what to say about that pansy! He could be the best player in the league the rest o the season and I still wouldn't want him back. I'm tired of seeing him get beat every single damn play on defense then stand there with a dumb look on his face like it wasn't his fault the opposing team just got a layup.

Our team can compete for a championship with a core of Kobe and Dwight paired with some solid role players.

Jamison has been fine also. Bring that guy back!!!

If we see Metta, Blake or Pau in a Laker uniform next year our season will be done before it even began.

[Kilroy]

But to me, everybody knew exactly what they were going to get with Kobe. He's kind of the one constant in all of this, so I'm not sure how he can be the problem. He's doing exactly what he always has, only more efficiently and with an added facilitating aspect to his game.

This is just wrong, until the **** finally hit the fan was when he startd to facilitate. Before that it was nothing but kobe doing his usual act , which is why the meeting took place. But the past few games I havent seen any facilitating just kobe swaying from the gameplan losing us the lead.

You speak about this efficient kobe I havent seen it I just see 6/18 type games with no defence. And to me theres nothing worse then somebody who stops the ball jacking up bricks while not giving effort on defense. At that point the teams morality is just shot. So I dont put blame on anybody else cause at the end of the day who wants to play hard for somebody like that.

By the numbers, Kobe has been more efficient this season. The eye test and a few games this season would seem to contradict that. But he's doing what many of us have wanted him to do his whole career.

You're assuming that Kobe Facilitating is supposed to always be the game-plan for this team... If you think about it, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. We have Nash in the starting lineup... By anybody's imagination, Nash should be the logical facilitator on this team... And the one thing this team lacks are players that can create their own shots. Kobe's pretty much it.

I'm saying that coming into this season, the game-plan was for Kobe to be a pure scoring SG in order to spread the floor for the bigs inside. I'd also say that the reason he's gone back to that is because MDA thinks Kobe needs to score from outside to create spacing for the Bigs.

If you look back to when Kobe went off with the assists, that run came to an end in Phoenix with a rather weird game in which Nash, who hadn't been playing very well, was suddenly given the ball on every possession and asked to facilitate. Before the game, MDA was asked about the great play recently and Kobe's new found facilitation... He was asked what he thought needed to improve and said, "We need to get Nash more involved in the offense." That game was ugly with Nash throwing the ball away and getting trapped. Dwight didn't get going and our offense looked stagnant as hell. It just looked forced... Like MDA told Kobe to let Nash handle the assists and he should start shooting again... It didn't work... And in the 4th they tried to go back to Kobe facilitating...

My point is, Kobe shoots a lot because that's what MDA asks him to do... He still thinks in order for this team to be successful Nash has to be the primary ball-handler, and Kobe has to score at will to spread the floor for the Bigs. Kobe facilitating is breaking the system... The team said that... Pau said they were running their own system when Kobe started racking up assists... Kobe shooting at will is within the system.

[stunnar0b]

My point is, Kobe shoots a lot because that's what MDA asks him to do... He still thinks in order for this team to be successful Nash has to be the primary ball-handler, and Kobe has to score at will to spread the floor for the Bigs. Kobe facilitating is breaking the system... The team said that... Pau said they were running their own system when Kobe started racking up assists... Kobe shooting at will is within the system.

kobe can shoot all he wants, they have to be quality shots though. the problem is when he brings the ball up the floor and goes into isolation. it usually disrupts any rhythm or flow we had going and whats worse is more times then not hes the last one back on d. poeple need to understand that kobe going iso puts everybody in bad position getting back on d. nobody knows where the shot is coming from thats why its always a run out when kobe misses one on one.

just instil trust in your teammates and move the ball build some confidence. i cant believe that the season is already over and i still dont know whats our identity.

[JohnVancouver]

I'm out of things to say, and the injury fairy has paid us another visit? Sweet Suffering Hayzooz ...

one thing - I learned from watching seven years of PHX games, religiously, if Nash is missing shots, he's hurt, whether he says so or not. Every time, guaranteed

[leolozon]

I'm out of things to say, and the injury fairy has paid us another visit? Sweet Suffering Hayzooz ...

one thing - I learned from watching seven years of PHX games, religiously, if Nash is missing shots, he's hurt, whether he says so or not. Every time, guaranteed

Now that's true and Nash isn't the kind of guy to make excuse either. He usually don't talk about injuries even though he now played with a bad back for most of his career. I thought his poor shooting in the last 10 games (poor for him .470) was weird. And he usually came out strong in the first half, but shot badly in the 2nd half. Not surprising at all that he has been carrying injuries for some time.

I'm not sure how to find this, but I'm sure in that stretch he shot around .600 in the first half and .350 in the second half. It could be an even bigger disparity.