It didn’t take advanced statistics — or half a brain, for that matter — to see that the Lakers biggest problem last year was defense. Which is why the first notes I’m reading out of training camp in Hawaii make me smile. Chris Mihm told ESPN that two-third of the early practices focused on defense, […]
Lakers Analysis
If They Can Keep Their Head…
This season’s Laker team has more “ifs†than a Rudyard Kipling poem. As training camp starts today, no team in the NBA is harder to forecast than these Lakers. That is due to so many “ifsâ€, so many unanswered questions. They could be a solid playoff team, they could make us fondly remember last season. […]
Little Help Here
If there is one thing I hope and expect to see more of from the Lakers this season — and one thing that will be a good test for how well they are adjusting to each other and the triangle offense — it is passing and assists. The triangle is an offense largely about spacing […]
Should He Stay Or Should He Go Now?
It was one of the most common refrains of Laker fans and management last year — “Just wait until 2007 when we clear out some cap space.†Allow me to translate that: “Just wait until 2007 when we don’t have to pay Brian Grant $15 million a year to be a washed up power forward […]
The Chicago Bulls, circa 1993-94
The knock on Phil Jackson has long been that he walked in to situations tailor made for championships — all he had to do was roll out the balls and stay out of the way. If you really think it’s that easy you should ask Del Harris about it, but that’s another discussion for another […]
Not A Savior, But A Start
Apparently, Phil Jackson is not a Thomas Wolfe fan. That’s okay, he can come home and myself and most Laker fans will welcome him (I’m celebrating this with a Duff beer tonight, maybe two). This is a great first step. In the disastrous aftermath of this rudderless past season I felt (and wrote) that charting […]