Comments on: What is Wrong with the Lakers’ Offense?

By: Dunsmuir

Dunsmuir — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:05:26 +0000

When Kobe goes into ISO mode he is challenged. He is trying to prove to himself he can conquer the situation at hand. His competitive nature sometimes blinds him. He makes comments like “my boys have to step it up”. For who? For him? For the Lakers? Who are they playing for? He doesnt swing the ball in rhythm. Thats when those outside shots are made. He breaks the rhythm of the offense 80% of the time. Keep it real Mychal Thompson! Phil has to know what’s really going on. Yes Kobe is the truth but it shouldnt be all about him in the language. I have never seen that offense runs so sweet until Kobe was out. They only lost by one to Boston. That was no fluke. They could have easliy won by one. Then what would the conversation be? How about another offense to surprise teams. Flip the script!!! How about running different plays. Artest is not a triangle type player. You better ask somebody!!! He’s not used right. Phil you have to adjust to what you have. Triangle could work for you and also I see it hurting them as well in some games. Variety would really shift the paradigm!!!! Shifting the paradigm will allow them to repeat. If they dont, mark my word they wont make it to the finals. Kobe still has somethings to learn. Its not his actual ability, its an inner vision that has to mature even more now. Stagnation has set in. Laker fans know this is the truth. My varsity basketball team can see whats going on. A devotion to truth enables a revolution. The mentality of its Kobe’s team is too prevelant and it’s stated too much. It’s ISO conversation. Magic Johnson had a way of making everyone on the court look good.. Not for him but for the Lakers. haaaa. get it!! Its too much about Kobe. He needs to step it up but in a different way. He has to figure it out. He can’t do it by himself. It’s not about that. It shouldnt come down to last minute shots. I would want to depend on that type of side show to win everynight. People are missing the big picture here.

By: etreyy

etreyy — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:48:53 +0000

Ive said this since earlier in the season–that the lakers struggle to score 100+. I had the cause of that injuries and an inability or less focus on getting EASY transition buckets, something ARIZA did well for us las season. Artest has been hurt and while he gets steals he isn’t the slasher ariza was. Kobes injuries have limited his driving ability and we have virtually NO 3point specialist ala daniel gibson. Compound that with the fact that phil only plays an 8man rotation and we have wut we have. We need MORE guys to contribute. If were not trading vujacic than give him some min., hes doesnt look as horrid as he did last season. The past two seasons drew and pau hardly played together and i dont think theyre a great fit together since each one limits the others’ effectiveness. That said fisher has clearly showed his age this season and his numbers r down-way down. We need to acquire a pg that can knock down the occasional 3 and develop our guys into shooters.
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Just look at our cleveland losses this season. Were too predictable; shaq and z hounded the paint and kobe was double-teamed bcuz no team respects our shooters. We need them to make outside shots to space the floor and open up the game on the inside. Of course better passing can solve this dilemma but if our guys get OPEN shots and still dont make them then we have ourselves a problem…..Like i said, the team as it is will NOT repeat as champs. hopefully mitch can realize this and a change (minor) to improve our team. If buss is willing to spend to win a championship then he should continue to do so considering he has an ATM machine called staples center and the most profitable team in the league. Another championship can only increase his revenue.

By: Joel

Joel — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:45:12 +0000

83. Most refs probably don’t like Kobe, so they were probably like damn, not again. j/p

Lakers offense???? Maybe its not the fact that they aren’t are running the triangle well, maybe its the fact that Phil won’t let the lakers switch up their style of play when the triangle isn’t working. Does anyone remember the first game vs. Utah in L.A.? The Lakers were sluggish the whole game, couldn’t pull away from the Jazz. Then boom, the lakers ran Utah right out of the gym. Phil put in his up tempo line up with brown, lamar, farmar, pau, and i think kobe was in the game but not sure if he was. But the lakers have the luxury of playing many styles of basketball. They can slow it down and run the triangle, scrap the triangle and just pound it inside, play semi uptempo or umtempo and of course the “Kobe”. But I don’t think really went back to that uptempo style of basketball since. I think they’ve been stuck in this slow it down and grind out type of basketball.

I’m not saying whenever the triangle isn’t working just abandon it completely. But just change the pace of the game for a good stretch and put the other team on their heels, then go back to their bread and butter, the Triangle and of course Kobe.

By: Funky Chicken

Funky Chicken — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:41:51 +0000

Kobe IS the problem. He shoots far too much, and sets a very poor example for the young guards, who are the next biggest offenders. Bynum might be a “black hole” as Kurt claims, but he is also the Lakers most efficient scorer. When you give the guy 3 shots in a game (that they lose) you can expect this black hole phenomenon to continue. Feed him early and often, and watch how easily the offense will flow. This isn’t difficult to fix at all, except for the stubbornness of Kobe in giving up the rock.

By: Kurt

Kurt — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:30:32 +0000

Denver preview up.

By: firewalker

firewalker — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:29:03 +0000

It’s kind of funny that a thread identifying 3-point shooting as the prime suspect in the drop-off in offensive performance this season would also feature comments lamenting the “trade” of Ariza for Artest.

Ariza’s hot 3-point shooting in last year’s postseason led many sports journalists to speculate that the Lakers were giving up skill in that area. However, more reasonable analysis pointed to Ariza being a 30% shooter from beyond the arc (or in the “short” corner, eh joel?) during the regular season and Artest being closer to 40%. The reasonableness was in the assumption that these were better indicators of future performance than the playoff stats.

Guess what, that’s exactly what we got. So that means that Ariza instead of Artest would actually amplify the problem, not solve it.

I think it will take some luck (e.g., someone exhibiting an Ariza-like hot streak during the playoffs) o get the Lakers another trophy. Fingers crossed.

By: DirtySanchez

DirtySanchez — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:20:22 +0000

I have seen post before about Bynum coming off the bench and starting LO. Do you think he would accept that role now more than he would have at the beginning of the year? With the offense struggling and the rotation of him and Pau in the lineup together not efficient, would his mind be open to the spot that LO currently holds. I say its worth a try to see what happens, it cant get any worse than it is. I have seen the lineup with either Pau or Bynum on the bench at the end of games, so it wouldnt be that big of a deal to implement th switch to start the game.

By: penston

penston — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:14:15 +0000

81 and 82, moto and T. – Actually, Pau was showing A-Ron his bandaged finger when Kobe walked up and said, “You boys want to see a bandaged finger?” The photo captures A-Ron’s response, “You alpha, Bean. Pure alpha.”

By: lakersfansincemikan (tsuwm)

lakersfansincemikan (tsuwm) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:11:12 +0000

Hollinger writes today that two teams can challenge the Lakers in the West (Insider) – one assumes that one is Denver.. and the other? I’m guessing that it’s Utah (based on his infernal rankings).

By: MannyP13

MannyP13 — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:09:11 +0000

Kobe may say he wants to play. But Phil is the one that assigns play-time. So, we can be mad at Kobe for suiting up. But at the end of the day, Phil has the power to let him start and then bench him the rest of the game.