The 2012-2013 Los Angeles Lakers thread

[Joe L]

Good win yesterday afternoon. Got yourselves a nice streak going.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Good win yesterday afternoon. Got yourselves a nice streak going.

14 is cute. Let me know when you guys get close to 33. That's a streak.

 

[D-Dogg]

Ball is out of Kobe's hands, and he's efficient and not turning it over. Dwight is making free throws. Pau is still scratching out an identity in the offense. Atawn is in the doghouse. We still need a backup PG that plays a penetrating type of game, not Duhon and Morris. Glaring weakness. Crawling back into the playoff seedings, especially quickly if they can bounce Denver tonight on the road.

 

[Joe L]

14 is cute. Let me know when you guys get close to 33. That's a streak.

That is impressive, no doubt. Too bad most Lakers fans ( not you or DDogg) probably don't even know about it.

Serious though, that was a good win. Artest is balling right now and I'd be lying if I wasn't impressed by that.

 

[Joe L]

By the way, the architect of Showtime passed the torch last night. Gotta love Magic.

 

[Cheesebeef]

a couple of good W's by the Lakers before tonight's inevitable loss on the road in Denver on a back to back. I just love that DA's gonna keep playing Kobe a bajillion minutes... and once Nash is a little healthier, he'll do the same to him. They'll be nice and worn down by the playoffs... just like they both were by the end of the last two seasons.

 

[D-Dogg]

If D12 had to get tossed, at least he got tossed by high-fiving Faried in the face. I can't stand Faried.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

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[D-Dogg]

LOL!


That's awesome. What I'm truly not impressed by is Meeks, Pau and MWP shooting 5-25 though. McKayla's smirk would fall off over that.

The Lakers can't keep digging big early holes then try to dig out of them. It is such a freaking drain to play from behind all game and have massive furious runs at the end, win or lose. It just can't happen.

Pau was useless out there..absolutely useless. I see him being traded for a couple of shooters soon, unless Mitch can magic wand a three way trade for Rudy Gay and ship Pau somewhere else, which I would consider pipe but Mitch has done more than that before.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

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[Cheesebeef]

man... there is just zero chemistry on this Laker team.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

man... there is just zero chemistry on this Laker team.

 

[D-Dogg]

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LOL!

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

man... there is just zero chemistry on this Laker team.

Not surprising. Class clown D12 with Kobe and Nash desperately trying to define their respective legacies was never going to mesh unless Howard adopted a similar outlook. It's possible Phil Jackson could have made it work but certainly not D'Antoni.

 

[Cheesebeef]

do the Lakers actually can DA at some point this season? I mean... this team is a disaster.

 

[D-Dogg]

Nash + Kobe = success

Nash + Dwight = fail

Kobe + Dwight = fail

Dwight + ball = fail

MWP + dribbling = fail

Jordan Hill plus anything = success

Team is a trainwreck right now. This is a huge loss, as they are sitting right around four teams in the loss column, but keep losing. Once again, let the other team get a lead and try to rally for a win.

Is it effing crazy that Nash tries harder on D than almost anyone else on the team? tries, that is. But still. Kobe has a higher efficiency and lower use rate, and the team is worse. Bizarre. Pau is an effing useless clown. Dwight is stripped of the ball roughly 70 percent of the time, and I'm not exaggerating.

Not a lot of time to get some games together and get a run going...but still not in bad shape in the loss column.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Give the job back to the coach with the highest winning percentage in Lakers' history - Bernie Bickerstaff.

 

[Joe L]

Kobe is culprit, plain and simple. There is nothing wrong with the offense if you like depending on Kobe to make or break you. It's his lack of effort on the defensive end. Team defense falls apart cause Kobe doesn't go through screens, fails to switch, or close out on his man. Then he usually tries to act as if the breakdown was caused by someone else. A lot of times, you see other players run out and cover for him and they tend to get the blame.
I've seen this happen the last few seasons but this season, it's just too obvious. At this point, Sarver is licking his chops thinking about the Lakers' pick.

 

[D-Dogg]

Kobe is culprit, plain and simple. There is nothing wrong with the offense if you like depending on Kobe to make or break you. It's his lack of effort on the defensive end. Team defense falls apart cause Kobe doesn't go through screens, fails to switch, or close out on his man. Then he usually tries to act as if the breakdown was caused by someone else. A lot of times, you see other players run out and cover for him and they tend to get the blame.
I've seen this happen the last few seasons but this season, it's just too obvious. At this point, Sarver is licking his chops thinking about the Lakers' pick.

On defense, yes. Kobe is a big problem on defense, but he's not the only one. There is a total lack of communication on d. The problem is you have to cover for Nash, and Kobe is a gambler. That means he's out of position to cover, then D12 is having to rotate a man before he should have to. If Kobe could stay at home, or Nash could guard better, the interior d wouldn't collapse as much.


However, the offense should be good enough to carry the D, even with lapses. Kobe is having a career year...his usage rate is lower this year, and efficiency up. Missed shots by Pau, MWP and Meeks, plus massive turnovers by D12 (he is stripped every other time with the ball, and makes a weak post move 2 out of 3 times) are the offensive problems. These also lead to runouts for the opposing offense, and massive turnovers. Kobe is very guilty of ballstopping, but he is actually improving there. But the WORST culprit in ballstopping is MWP. He gets the ball and pounds it into the floor. That does not work in Dantoni's system.

Pau can play the role needed, but doesn't want to. He's going to be traded, it is a certainty. I'm only wondering if Metta joins him. The ballstopping from both of them kill the offensive flow. Kobe is buying into the non ball stopping (other than when they ISO him still, which is still way too much) but MWP won't. He wants to drive and screw up a shot at the rim.

Meeks needs to never dribble, just shoot...but he too wants to make plays and dribbles into turnovers. Overall, this team is just not cohesive. Honestly, the two guys who seem to be on the same page are Kobe and Nash, who a lot of people thought would have problems playing together. Nash and Pau haven't resulted in anything at all, and Nash and Dwight have been lukewarm at best. Kobe and Nash play really well with each other, but it starts to become a bit of a two man game with them on the perimeter and that doesn't bode well for crunch time either.

Kobe and Nash are smart enough to figure it out. Dantoni might not be, but he's got two high IQ players out there that better get this team winning some games soon.

 

[Joe L]

W-O-W!

Howard out at least a week with a torn labrum
Pau not going on road trip- concussion
Hill not going on road trip- Hip

 

[D-Dogg]

No size. Ouch.

 

[D-Dogg]

While I love moral victories as much as the next guy, it's time to get some real ones guys.

 

[desertdawg]

I'm so glad Nash went over to LALA this year. I wouldn't have been following this galactic breakdown as closely. Howard should have been C.O.D.
Lakers would be miles ahead if the Commish had gotten them a better center. Whoever put Dantony and Howard on the same team should be shot....or actually let's make a statue in their honor because this is so cool.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

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[D-Dogg]

Hill out for the season.

Thank goodness Earl is blooming.