From Kevin Ding, OC Register: Kobe Bryant saw the monster of malaise infiltrating this post-championship camp months ago. He elected not to try and play ghostbuster. He couldn’t, really. Even though he carried the Lakers to a hot start a year ago while Pau Gasol nursed his hamstring, this time Bryant was coming off offseason knee surgery. And in a quiet moment on the road a few weeks ago, Bryant showed even he had become comfortable with the shadow of complacency, saying the Lakers were “not even close” to laser focus and adding: “Nor should we be right now.” This was Bryant’s analysis then: “We’re not playing with the passion that’s needed on a nightly basis. It’s just not there. We went to seven games in the NBA Finals series. That’s looking at the lion the face. So now a game Thursday night in December doesn’t seem like much of nothing.”
From Mark Medina, LA Times: Their 104-85 loss Sunday to the Memphis Grizzlies sparked a spattering of boos that sounded as half-effortless as the team’s performance itself, marked the team’s fourth loss in six games, the first time Memphis has beaten the Lakers at home since March 28, 2008 and resembled the same problems that have plagued them all season. The Lakers ran no semblance of the triangle: The Lakers’ strength involve setting up their big men, as Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom combined for 16 of the 18 points. They would score seven the rest of the game because the team’s impatience with setting up the offense, poor entry passes from the backcourt and poor post position from the frontline. It’s simply too lazy to chalk this up as the Lakers mailing in another performance. While that complacency is still a factor, it’s the team’s unwillingness to be patient in setting up the offense that’s dooming this team.
From Elliot Teaford, LA Daily News: The Lakers continued their meandering ways Sunday night at Staples Center, wandering off course far too often to defeat a team, the Memphis Grizzlies, they probably should have dispatched with only a minimum of effort. And perhaps that’s the biggest problem with the Lakers these days. They’re relying too much on reputation and swagger and not enough on the blood, sweat and tears it takes to be a championship-caliber team. They’re not fooling anyone, not their opponents, not their fans and not themselves. The Grizzlies certainly didn’t seem to care about the Lakers’ superior pedigree while running circles around them en route to a 104-85 victory.
From Brian Kamenetzky, Land O’ Lakers: When the dust settled after what can rightly be called the worst of the Lakers’ 11 losses this season, an embarrassing 104-85 debacle on their home floor vs. Memphis, Andrew Bynum summed things up well: “We kind of get into these situations, and put ourselves into these situations where there’s a snowball effect. We’re not playing for each other right now. We’re not playing to set the next man up, and consequently, that’s definitely causing us faults on defense,” he said. “Right now, we’ve got to be concerned. We have to be. Teams coming in here, three straight times we get dropped by 20 at home, good teams are looking at us like, “Oh, they’re soft.” We’re letting everybody come in here and get comfortable. Guys like Darrell Arthur just catching the ball, almost at the three point line, turning around and shooting it like he does it every day. We’ve got to stop that.”
From Brian Kamenetzky, Land O’ Lakers: I realize my fantasy team isn’t a top priority for most Lakers fans, but that Gasol is currently hurting my squad means he’s hurting yours as well. Tonight, save a few plays early in the first quarter, Pau completely lacked any snap. The Lakers rely on him to be not simply a producer of points, but also a pivot point for the offense, helping take the burden off Kobe Bryant. Sunday, in that role, Gasol turned the ball over five times, whether making bad passes or, as it was in the fourth quarter, being physically bullied off his spot and forced into a travel. Defensively, he was often a step slow, or simply slow, as it was on a listless, barely there contest of a critical corner three from Rudy Gay, helping quash what was a solid run for the Lakers. I have no idea if a better close would have prevented the shot, but we’ll never know.
From Dexter Fishmore, Silver Screen and Roll: Perhaps the world shouldn’t be overly impressed with the Miami Heat’s blowout victory at Staples Center on Christmas Day. Apparently, hammering the champs in their own building is something anyone can do. Doesn’t matter if it’s a title contender, a sub-0.500 lottery team or a traveling junior-high AAU squad. If you’re in the market for a road win – maybe something with a margin of victory, say, in the high teens? – well, come on down to Figueroa Street and take advantage of our special holiday rates. The Lakers these days are nothing if not hospitable. Tonight’s guests, the perpetually rebuilding Memphis Grizzlies, would no doubt be happy to keep playing in Los Angeles for as long as the Lakers will have them. They humiliated the purp and yellow this evening in a 104 to 85 walkover. It’s their second win over the Lakers this season and the champs’ third home loss by 16 or more points. And the Grizzlies, to put the event in an appropriately embarrassing context, played in Utah and traveled over 600 miles last night, though you’d have no idea from the way this one unfolded.
From Matt McHale, Basketbawful: Remember how hot these guys were to start the season? They broke out of the gates 8-0 and were 13-2 after 15 games. During that opening stretch, they scored 100+ points 14 times and had 12 games in which they scored 110+ points. And there were whispers about whether they might be able to win 70+ games. In the 19 games since then, the Lakers have gone 10-9. They’ve lost four of their last six games, and those four losses have been by 19, 16, 15 and 19 points. Three of the defeats happened on their homecourt. L.A. was outrebounded 44-37, got outscored 50-36 in the paint and 28-5 on the fast break, and gave up 18 points off 20 turnovers. They trailed by as many as 26 points and got rightfully booed by the home crowd in the waning minutes of their 104-85 loss. Huh. I thought Andrew Bynum coming back was supposed to fix everything. Instead, it looks like pretty much everything needs fixing.
DY says
What concerns me is that in previous years, I was fairly confident about the Lakers flipping the proverbial “switch” whenever we had losses like this.
I’m worried that somewhere along the arc of this year, the fuse for the switch went out and no one knows how to turn it on again. Kobe is on the verge of going super nova on his teammates. The bigs (Gasol and Bynum) constantly insinuate that they need the ball more, but don’t work as hard to establish position.
I believe that the coaching staff, or maybe even the FO, needs to break the team’s malaise by giving the newcomers more playing time. Yes, Blake and Barnes haven’t been setting the world on fire as of late, but what in the world has happened to Fisher and Artest? Also, now would be a good time to throw in the rookies (Ebanks especially) to hopefully spark the interest of Artest.
I’m running out of ideas for this team. But someone please fix the fuse box so the team can flip the “switch” and play some winning basketball.
Lakers8884 says
I would argue that Bynum and Lamar are the only ones working hard other than Kobe. I love Pau but the guy isn’t cutting it right now so if he is injured or whatever rest him or bench him. I agree with what everyone is saying too about time for some new blood in the lineup, more playing time for Barnes and Blake.
This Lakers team has always been notorious for taking care of business at home, and its worrying me that they can’t even get motivated to play in their own building. I wouldn’t care if they were winning at home and losing on the road but they are getting butchered at home and occasionally winning on the road (but against a weak schedule).
Matt R. says
I found Ding’s article somewhat reassuring if only because my inclination the past few weeks was that the Lakers are not getting along. I’ve considered that possibly Pau and Kobe are not on the same page just because I’ve been looking for anything to explain the ebb in Pau’s game and decision making.
Ding says that there isn’t any contention in the locker room, but that maybe there should be. Whatever it is, something needs to make these guys focus.
You can see it in the games that they lose. They start off right and you can see the “Yep, still works” attitude hit and they just stop doing everything that made it work.
It’s an intriguing idea that someone other than Kobe needs to step up and kick this team’s ass – that maybe everyone INCLUDING Bryant needs a challenger to arise and call every single player to the carpet, but that appears to be what needs to happen.
I think part of our problem also stems from our early season success. In that 8-0 start the bench was hitting a lot of shots that we were not used to seeing them make and I think it made them lazy – gave them the feeling that they could depend on Shannon’s (or really Insert-Bench-Player-Here) 3-point ability to carry the offense rather than depending on running the offense to get things going. I think there were sowed the seeds of complacency.
Lakers8884 says
Double post time.
I just watched Phil Jackson’s post game comments and I’m beginning to question the method to his madness. Saying Kobe “Screwed up the game” seemed really out of line. People here have said it Kobe had 6 shots in the first half so clearly he was playing within the offense, but the offense clearly wasn’t doing anything because the Lakers still found themselves down by 9. Kobe came out after the half and said this team needs my energy and he scored 17 points in 10 minutes. I wasn’t able to watch the game but John Ireland said that if he hadn’t been scoring the Lakers would have been down by 40, even Darius said that initially Kobe reenergized the team however they were not able to get stops at the defensive end. So really what is Phil trying to accomplish by saying that?
3ThreeIII says
I wonder if Bynum will step up and become a team leader now.
That would make this stretch worth it.
exhelodrvr says
I think there is a “perfect storm” at play here right now.
Jackson’s general philosophy is to let them figure it out themselves.
A number of the Lakers are struggling on offense.
For the most part, the Lakers are not personally aggressive when it comes to demanding a role in the offense.
Kobe’s “default” position when the offense isn’t going well is to try to do a lot (often too much) on his own.
Take away any one of those four, and they would be running the offensive system more and better, and they would have several (maybe more) fewer losses at this point.
They need to be more patient on running the offense, and they need to actually start playing defense.
Matt R – I agree on Ding’s article. I don’t think that Kobe is physically capable of providing that “spark” by himself anymore. He has also contributed to the problem, so someone needs to address his part as well. I don’t know that any of the other team members have that personality trait, other than Fisher, and his play has not been up to par, either.
So I think it needs to come from the coaching staff.
robinred says
@ 4,
IMO that’s just Phil. I thought it was dumb but he seems to make that stuff work.
The issue that I see is lack of team speed, quickness and athleticism. I am sure that focus etc. is important, but the recent adds have made the team slower and older.
And, as everyone has said, Gasol is not himself.
Chownoir says
I’m waiting for Pau to step up and challenge Kobe, the team and himself. Last two years when the team was going through a similar funk, Pau was a lot more assertive in action and words in going after and getting the ball. Which lead to a more efficient offense and better defense.
Pau is the only guy on the team with superstar talent that has the credibility to go toe to toe with Kobe and not create locker room dissension.
This is not an argument to say that Pau is soft or Kobe is selfish. I think this is one of those times where everyone has lost their way somewhat. Whether it be due to complacency, new territory with new teammates or combination of those and other factors. But right now, there’s only Kobe trying to pull the team through and not necessarily always the right way.
The team is lost in the woods and they need to get back to the point where they can challenge and hold each person accountable. A communal voice instead of individual voices all shouting.
Lakers8884 says
6. Didn’t Kobe provide a spark and carry the offense in the 3rd quarter? Who’s to say if the defense was playing to even half their capability and getting stops like they are supposed to that the Lakers pull even or take the lead? If anything lately we have seen that Kobe is still capable but he needs another player or two to step up.
T. Rogers says
I like Andrew Bynum’s comments. He was spot on. The Lakers are losing their ability to keep up with fast teams. But the way they can counter that is to pound the ball inside to their seven footers. Of course those seven footers have to play well.
I sure hope Pau Gasol can get his mojo back. He can get a lot closer to his 2009 version than Kobe can. If Pau doesn’t snap out of it soon the Lakers won’t be able to turn the corner.
Rudy says
I think we all have to face the fact that the Lakers are built for the playoffs. We don’t get any easy baskets. Everything is a grind. Kobe has to work hard to get his points, Pau and Bynum have to work hard to get post position and our bench which gave us a great spark in the beginning of the season has disappeared.
I know people don’t want to hear this but offensively I think a lot of our problems falls within the triangle offense in of itself. Yes, I know we have won multiple championships while playing in this offense, but maybe I really feel that most teams have a good feel for exactly what we are going to do on offense. How many times do you see opponents playing the passing lines anticipating every pass that is going to be made? That’s why we have so many turnovers in my opinion.
Either way, we can just hope to be at our best going into the playoffs.
exhelodrvr says
9) They got close during Kobe’s scoring burst but then Memphis pulled away again, while Kobe was still on the floor.
That shows the limitations of Kobe trying to be the offense. It sometimes works for a little while, but not for an extended period of time.
Darius Soriano says
#12. I don’t think you can speak in absolutes when it comes to “what works”. Just last season, Kobe carried the Lakers for long stretches of multiple playoff games and was the driving force behind a lot of wins in the 2nd round and Conference Finals. I understand that this season hasn’t played out the same way, but to say that it won’t/can’t happen that way still isn’t entirely true.
Last night, I thought Kobe stayed with the approach of taking over the offense for a couple possessions too long. When the Lakers’ deficit was around 6, I thought it was time to start to shift back and find that balance again, but it didn’t happen. The Grizz, to their credit, made their push and that was that. (On a side note, the Grizz did an excellent job of countering any Laker push all night. This is why I was more concerned with the Lakers defense for most of the night because they really needed stops that they couldn’t get. Obviously, offense and defense are invariably linked so you can’t escape how the Lakers’ inability to execute on O fueled some of their defensive woes, but I thought a couple stops once the gap got closed were more important than another basket. But I digress.)
Again, though, I agree that the offense needs to be run better, but that’s still going to involve Kobe going off on his own or aggressively looking for his own shot. To say that it *shouldn’t* be that way is a step in a direction that this team has never gone in. Essentially, you’re saying that Kobe should no longer play like himself – like the guy that’s been a leader on 5 championship teams. I’m not there yet. I’m sure one day I will be, but it’s not today.
lil' pau says
The State of the Triangle, Jan 3, 2011:
Stuck Inside of Immobile with the Memphis Blues Again.
Lakers8884 says
Darius I couldn’t have said it better myself, comments like that remind me why you are running this site.
12. But that’s my whole point, they aren’t getting stops when they need to especially when they get down. They haven’t been able to come back and wins games against anyone this year because they haven’t been able to stop anyone defensively. If they play defense last night they are in the game. Nobody was stepping up last night so someone had to and Kobe filled that role, unfortunately nobody else stepped up with him.
I agree with what Kobe said in the post game comments, coaching, game plans, offensive and defensive schemes aside their problems lie individually. Each player needs to take accountability for their own actions and look inside themselves to see what they are or aren’t doing to help this team. Bynum is the only one I see trying to do that right now, other than Lamar and Kobe. Bynum heard the knocks on his defensive effort and what did he do? Go out and get 5 blocks and play a pretty solid game. Lamar had an off game last night but he was dynamite the two games before this. Kobe has been his consistent self, and contrary to what people think yes Kobe is the leader but how has he always led for this team? As a scorer, that’s his role, he generates points when the team needs them, you can’t expect him to switch that up overnight. He’s trying to but a guy with that much pride and fight in him won’t let his team go down without a fight, and while he may be slightly slower he is still the best SG in the league and he is still capable of going supernova when he needs to.
Every player needs to get back to the basics, I would also agree with sentiments that the triangle needs to be set aside and a new offense tried at this point just because there is time to correct things and try new ideas because it is not yet playoff time. Phil can try to tweak things to see what works come playoff time.
Fisher needs to just play defense and take shots when they come to him, and if he feels he isn’t in the flow of the game he needs to be a veteran and ask Phil to give Blake more playing time. Wishful thinking but a guy with his intelligence I hope he would be able to see thats what is best for the team.
Kobe needs to try to find a balance on the offensive end, even when it looks like his teammates aren’t cutting it (although I don’t blame the guy for taking the majority of the shots because if I didn’t trust or like what I saw from my teammates I’d do the same thing). He’ll figure it out he did it last year too.
Bynum I see is the only guy trying to improve his game right now. The only thing I see is that he needs more touches, even more than Pau does because he is converting his attempts at a much more successful rate than Pau has been for the past 2 months.
Lamar needs to keep playing the way he has all year, I think more than Pau he should be an all-star because he has been nothing short of dynamite. He needs more playing time if Pau isn’t getting it done.
Artest needs to just keep playing defense, and take shots confidently because that’s all he’s needed to do in this offense. I think defensively he’s lost a step but he’s still as tenacious as anyone on the team. The Lakers didn’t need him as a scorer last year nor do they this year, he needs to mentally just get in the game (which is asking alot), but if he doesn’t get it together it’s time to try someone else at the SF with starters (Barnes, Luke?)
As for the bench, they need to play within their strengths and realize who they are. I think there is too much talent there to not regain their early season form, I think they will be okay because most benches in the NBA are up and down all season, it’s just a fact of coming off the bench.
Finally, Pau, the key to the whole team. I think everyone on here can agree that when Pau plays like himself it allows the Lakers to be the best in the league. If he’s hurt he needs to sit himself out, he did it last year and by doing it, it gives Bynum more time to get into game shape. If Pau is not hurt, he needs to return to the basics of being a big man (Center or PF). This means first and foremost rebounding and protecting the paint, because if he is out of sync on offense this is the area he can help the team the most. I think defensively he has been a huge disappointment starting way back against the game in LA against Roy Hibbert. He should own whoever he plays against with the exception of a few big men who give him trouble consistently. Offensively this means truly fighting for position when trying to receive the post entry pass, he has to be the softest big man I have seen when it comes to fighting for consistent position. I think the biggest area he can improve is not playing so slow with his post moves, he is not Shaq so he doesn’t have the size to take his time. He needs to be quick and go as soon as he gets the ball and definitely be more assertive on the offensive end. Guards don’t like to pass to big men that look shaky in their confidence or post moves. He needs to know his point of attack before he gets the pass, and he is capable of these things we know this. Like I said he is the key to the team but if he doesn’t return to his old form then he needs to take a backseat to Bynum and allow him to develop because quite frankly I think Bynum has been the only truly bright spot for a long time with this team.
Finally I have one quip about coaching, since this is Phil’s last year I wish he would show more emotion and get angrier at the team because why hold back if this is it. I know it’s not in his character and it’s wishful thinking but maybe the team is feeding off his lack of intensity as well?
Those are just my thoughts, respond and pick them apart as you like.
T. Rogers says
Rudy,
My one complaint about the Triangle is sometimes the philosophy behind it can get in the way of it. It is about taking what the defense gives you. Now in most cases this is the correct way to play basketball on offense. However, sometimes the team needs to impose its will offensively. That is where the bigs come in. Teams have become a lot better at crowding the post against the Lakers. But with two very effective seven footers on the floor the Lakers have to do a better job of (figuratively) punching teams in the post. With Gasol’s skill and Bynum’s power the Lakers should be killing teams in the post EVERY night, zone or not. They have become too comfortable with conceding the best positions on the floor and testing their luck with jump shots. That is not going to work. That is especially true with a diminished level of athleticism on the wings. To be fair, Bynum is still working his way back into the flow of things. So their front court is still rounding into form.
I still echo Bynum’s sentiment. The Lakers need to use their size to pin teams down for at least 20 seconds when they have the ball. They have to punish the quicker teams with power. Because, as we have seen so far, they can not get out in the open floor and match other teams’ speed.
Paul says
I would start Blake, Kobe, Barnes, Lamar, Bynum for a while until Fish, Ron-Ron, and Pau start putting in the effort that they need to.
Craig W. says
Lakers8884,
Phil adopted the philosophy of calling out Kobe in the Kobe/Shaq era, because Shaq simply could not deal with criticism and Kobe had the hide of a rhinoceros. He falls back into that mode of communication whenever he gets really frustrated.
The triangle is an offense uniquely suited to adapting to any basketball situation – it takes real bball IQ – and not simply repeating a previous passing pattern. It also sets up players to be in place to fall back on defense.
Our problems arise when the triangle is abandoned and players start standing around. This may not hurt us during the immediate offensive play, but it does mean those players will not be in good defensive position when the other team gets the ball.
The other problem is players not having the greatest bball IQ – I’m thinking of Shannon and Lamar here. In Lamar’s case he has a habit of passing into traffic, regardless the situation. Shannon seems attached to the Hero Mode mentality and he feels he has to do it himself.
Lately Pau has seemed flat-footed and seems to have lost his mind in his passing mentality, but I have confidence he will come out of this funk – he is too smart a bball player.
exhelodrvr says
13) I agree – when he does it too long, the rest of the team has a hard time getting back into a rhythm.
But it is pretty clear that at this point he is not capable of doing what he used to do, at least for as long a period of time.
Darius Soriano says
A new post is up.
http://www.forumblueandgold.com/2011/01/03/searching-for-an-identity/
DirtySanchez says
To say just because you have had success in the past doing something, doesnt mean it will have the same results in the future. The primary scorer on a losing team means nothing, I could drop 20 for the Wizards. So you want Pau to play aggressive D, while the perimeter players play the role of a matador letting the bull through. If defensive effort is lacking, then why hasnt #24 stepped up his defense( what the team needs). Thats right he’s to busy filling his role as the primary scorer(on a .500 team over the last 19 games) leaving the rest of the work on that end to his teammates.
jordan says
kobe’s team defense is horrendous. he sags off shooters and doubles for no reason. he closes late, and we get burned every time. think about it. spurs game, RJ had so many open threes because kobe doubled for no reason. last night he did the same thing. i don’t know why he thinks these guys won’t make open shots. they’re professionals, making open shots is their job. we have enough length inside that we don’t really need to double. stick to your man, kobe, please. i beg u.